Summer is travel season, which means pet sitting season is in high gear.

My mother has a favorite saying: no good deed goes unpunished. This aphorism seems to hold especially true in the field of pet sitting. I work at an emergency veterinary hospital, and I regularly see unfortunate pet sitters who are forced to make important medical decisions on behalf of owners who are completely unreachable because they are on flights to Europe or cruises to Antarctica or halfway across the trans-Siberian Railroad. These poor pet sitters often have no prior instructions or advance directives for veterinary emergencies. They often have no means of paying for expensive veterinary procedures such as surgical correction of gastric dilatation with volvulus (known colloquially as bloat) in the owners’ absence.

I recently returned from a trip to Bolivia. I was unlucky: Denise couldn’t come with me. However, this was lucky for my pal Buster, since it meant he got to stay home with his mom. If something goes wrong with the dog while I’m out of town, Denise has a large network of my friends, colleagues, coworkers, and former vet school drinking buddies that she can call day or night.

Most people aren’t so fortunate when it comes to pet sitting and veterinary care. Sadly pets get sick, sometimes fatally, at a disproportionately high rate when in the care of pet sitters or boarding facilities.

It is true that, in very rare instances, pet sitters allow their wards to run free in fields of foxtails located between 100 foot cliffs and busy highways. The inevitable problem that occurs as a result of this behavior is caused, proximately, but the pet sitter. But the ultimate cause of the problem in these cases lies with the pet’s owner, who should have chosen a better pet sitter. It is the pet owner’s job to do his due diligence.

The overwhelming majority of pet sitters are not irresponsible. In fact, I see a different scenario far more frequently than the one mentioned above. A concerned and responsible pet sitter brings in a pet. She states that the owner mentioned, prior to leaving for his ascent of Everest during which he will be unreachable for 21 days, that the dog had been vomiting and not eating for about a week. The dog is really sick now, and needs major treatment. But the dog was sick before the owner left him with the pet sitter, and the pet sitter must now deal with the crisis. I believe that teenagers these days refer to the owner’s actions in this scenario as a “douchebag move.” It’s an appropriate term.

However, by far the most frequent scenario of all is as follows. A seemingly healthy pet is left with a pet sitter. The pet was slowly developing an illness prior to the owner’s departure but was showing no outward symptoms of disease. The stress of the owner’s absence disrupts the pet’s equilibrium, and the pet gets sick while the owner is away. Neither the owner nor the pet sitter has done anything wrong whatsoever. But the situation is the same: the pet sitter must now make important medical decisions, and possibly pay for treatment on behalf of the owner.

These situations are unfair to pets, pet sitters, and pet owners. Fortunately, there are some tactics that help all parties involved in these sorts of crises.

Here is my advice for pet owners:

Here is my advice for pet sitters:

As an aid to both owners and pet sitters, I am happy to provide a copy of the written instructions that Denise and I leave with our pet sitter when we both go out of town and can’t take Buster with us. The instructions haven’t been reviewed by an attorney, so I can’t vouch for their legal validity. But I think you’ll still get the point.

[Date]

To Whom It May Concern:

[My pet sitter], [my sister-in-law-to-be] and any staff veterinarian at [my vet clinic or my local emergency clinic] have authorization to make medical decisions regarding the care of my dog, Buster in my absence from [date of departure] to [date of return].

Major procedures such as surgical correction of gastric dilatation with volvulus, enterotomy to remove gastrointestinal foreign body, bone plating for fractures, and others are authorized as long as a veterinarian at [one of my trusted facilities] believes there is a reasonable chance the procedure will result in a successful outcome.

I ask to be called on my cell phone at XXX-XXX-XXXX or XXX-XXX-XXXX in the event of any medical problem involving Buster. However, if I cannot be reached then the people listed above shall have decision making power. I agree not to hold any above party liable for competently performed treatments that do not succeed.

Medical bills can be charged to my MasterCard: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Signed, Eric Barchas

Photo: Irkutsk. Middle of Siberia (in the dead of winter). A very bad place to be if your pet is sick at home.