The ONLY thing I hate about cruising

[localady]

We lost our dear Border Collie Jane about 3 years ago from a stroke. :o Part of my reluctance to get another dog is that we do enjoy traveling right now, and Jane used to really "pout" and misbehave when we came home. It is hard to leave ones dogs when traveling, even harder than it is for me to leave my kids with their Dad!:eek:

[CJC]

In my experience there is a huge difference between how cats and dogs react to our absence (and this is why I'm a "Dog Person").

 

As I said in a previous post our dog loves going to the kennel as she gets to be "down and dirty" while we are gone. However, when we return, she is SO happy to see us, jumping up, spinning in circles, wagging her tail. She will spend the next week sitting in one of our laps.

 

The cats, who stay home with someone feeding, cleaning litter boxes and checking on them daily have a much different reaction. We walk in the door, they saunter down the stairs, give us a dirty look and go back upstairs. They will have NOTHING to do with anyone for at least a week!

 

I can't understand what anyone sees in cats!

Our cat's (2) do not behave as you describe. When we return from our trips they are clingy and follow-us everywhere around the house. They wait for us at the door everyday. And hang around with us most of the time when we are home and are very loving. I have have had 2 other cats that were the same way. Cats (especially indoor) are basically clean conscious animals. They won't even use a dirty cat box. And they are pretty low (at least lower than dogs) maintenance. I have left my cats alone for two days, although I don't like to. I miss them both when we go on our trips.

[herb]

When we go on a cruise it costs us a FORTUNE to board 4 cats and a dog at our animal hospital. They only accept pets for boarding who actually are "patients" at that hospital and all shots must be up to date before boarding.

 

Our dog Molly misses us the most

 

[rucruizin]

We have had cats before but because we live in a rural area most cats don't last long.

 

When we first moved here we had a cat named Snickers...now Snick didn't like most people but he loved me and my two girls.

 

We also had a german shepherd rescue that had been severly abused.

 

We went away for the holidays and borded the shepherd but left the cat at home. When we picked up the dog from the kennel she was so excited, she ran around the house, jumped on the bed where the cat was sleeping and then ran from room to room.

 

Snickers came out of the bedroom, looked up and down the hall with a cattitude like I had never seen, walked stiff legged down the hall looking at the dog like he was gonna kill her. She must have recognized the look because she stopped dead in her tracks. That cat walked up to her and started to box. She didn't even have time to turn and run away. He knocked her a few good ones, ran her into the coffee table, made some weird growling noises at her, then turned around and headed back to the bedroom.

 

My husband and I about died laughing. Best we could figure is that he had enjoyed the peace and quiet while we were away and he was cussing her out for making such a ruckus.

[daniTS]

Well I have to say I thought you were going to say you hated getting off the boat :D , but i TOTALLY know what you mean! I moved 3000 miles across the country for university this year (from Victoria, BC to Toronto), and I miss my dog (and all my other pets, but especially him) soooo much!

 

Sure, I can msn and phone my mom and grandpa and my friends, but I had to wait until Christmas (nearly 4 months) to see my elliot (overgrown black standard poodle) again. We were both VERY happy, and he didn't leave my side for my whole visit back :)

 

Everyone give your dogs big hugs for me! There's nothing like a doggy hug and those big huge brown eyes!

 

Dani

[scrapycruiser]

CRUISEOFTEN...We have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Casey is 1 1/2 yrs. He is the love of my life, don't tell my husband ! We are on a waiting list for a blenheim girl ? He goes to the kennel with his brother, Bailey, a bichon. They love to go , infact they wag their tails and get all excited ! BUT, I still feel guilty. For this reason, we will not go on a cruise longer 2 weeks. What about yours ?

 

REV...your bassett is adorable, my son has one that is so spoiled.BTW, thankyou for all the pictures and reviews of your sailings ! I hope I can meet you one day. We lived in Ft Worth for 7 yrs ( but don't hold that agn me :D ).

 

GINA

[LHC]

My baby (who will be 10 the end of March) is a min. (the runt) dachshund. She is this little red 8 inch long, 6 lb alpha spoiled brat. When I left Penny this morning, she was on her bed with the heating pad on low, with all four feet in the air, smiling at me (I swear she smiles and smirks).

On the other hand a yr and a half ago, an injured Neopolitan Mastiff girl showed up on our back patio. She had been chained up close to bobwire, got out and dangled up in it and was so very sick with cellulitis. After getting her on antibiotics, daily bathes and creme applied to the boils and feeding her a very bland but nutritious diet she perked right up. Unfortunately, I also have a son who is handicapped from a severe closed head injury/car accident almost 3 years ago, so I tend to be a caregiver 24 hours a day. Josey's owner (I did not know her name for 2 months) had abused and abandoned her because she was BIG and destructive (imagine that)! I had her from July to November that first year and the jerk came into town to have Thanksgiving with his parents (who live in the neighborhood) and picked her up out of our yard on a Sunday while I was at church. He kept her one month (where she had his couch, tore the blinds and curtains down in his apartment, and chewed the legs off his kitchen table)! He brought her back right before Christmas and signed her over.

Immediately she went to get fixed (as she had a period when she was with us very interesting when something is the size of a small tank). After Penny explained who is boss, life has settled in. The only quirk with Jo is that she must have a car ride everyday...and I do mean a ride even if just around the block. It is a hoot to see this massive dog ( approx. 120 lbs) in the back of an old Honda Accord with her head to the wind and her eyes closed in Paradise. This old car was meant for her.

During our Christmas Cruise I am fortunate to have an older son who does well with both of them. Princess Penny sleeps with a human and when I boarded her once for a trip to WDW, she went on a hunger strike. Did not eat for a week.

I would not trade doggie hugs and being hit by a large obnoxious tail for the world or the breathe of a dachshund for the world.

LHC

[FlorenceItaly]

that my dog is SO high maintenance(spoiled!!!) that sometimes it's nice to be away from his demands, lol, :).

 

Marie

[rucruizin]

Ok just wondering???

 

How many of you have called the house when you were say...out to dinner and talked to the animals via the answering machine? IE: "Hi guy, mommy loves you." "Be good dogs."

 

Yeah me neither...:rolleyes: ;)

[RuthC]

Ok just wondering???

 

How many of you have called the house when you were say...out to dinner and talked to the animals via the answering machine? IE: "Hi guy, mommy loves you." "Be good dogs."

You just caused a major bad flashback for me! Once upon a time I had a secretary who (unbeknownst to me) called home to talk to her parrot every lunchtime. On the office phone! Long distance! For the better part of her lunch hour!

When I found out I wanted to kill her. Should have, too----it would have been a whole lot easier than getting her fired was.

[rucruizin]

Wow, a parrot? Um I think maybe locked up would have been better.

 

We are crazy about our dogs but I can't imagine carrying on for an hour.

[babyher]

After a recent Conquest cruise, a group of us (strangers) hopped on a shuttle to our parking lot.

 

Our doggies were the topic of conversation. Not one person mentioned children or grandchildren.:) I got a real chuckle out of that!

 

 

*LOL* thats because when you get home, the dogs give you the warmest welcome :)

 

The kids just want to see what you got them and then they are bummed out because you're home and the party's over *LOL*

[K&RCurt]

*LOL* thats because when you get home, the dogs give you the warmest welcome :)

 

The kids just want to see what you got them and then they are bummed out because you're home and the party's over *LOL*

 

LOL Babyher

 

While I'm annoyed at the cat's indifference the KIDS...OMG.

 

They have to slave away at school while we were on a cruise.. How selfish of us. This was from our 19 & 20 y.o.DDs away at college. Our 11 yo DS (who was with a good friend of ours) was happy to get a T-shirt, some shells etc. We pointed out to the girls that we could afford to take them with us IF we didn't have to pay tuition for 2 kids! That and the ever popular "Maybe you two should get JOBS if you want to do fun things" shut them up for a while!

 

Ewok (our dog) was simply overjoyed to see us!

[rucruizin]

Really, the dogs don't care that we are on a cruise, they are just happy to have us home.

 

Have your pets ever tried to prevent you from leaving?

 

I have one dog in particular who is very sensative and he tries to stop us. From the time the suit cases come out he drags around looking depressed, then he's jumps in the suitcase and will not get out. He will run down the hall and stand in front of the door and will not move until you pull him out of the way. If that doesn't work, he jumps in the trunk.

 

Now, if that were my kid I'd probably spank her, but the dog...he just makes us feel terrible.

[nobbync]

Have your pets ever tried to prevent you from leaving?

 

When our suitcases come out our dog doesn't stop us but she knows we are leaving and Yoshi has the sadest face :( you'd ever seen. She won't move but she'll just sit up and she's ready to cry. At least with us our neighbors have 2 dogs she is friendly with and they take care of her while we're gone so she gets to stay in the house most of the time.

 

Our neighbor said anytime Yoshi hears a car she runs to the window to look to see if it is us. When it finally is us she just goes crazy and wants out of the neighbors house immediately.

 

Nobby

[millercat]

It's funny but we were just talking about this..........I am fine for the first couple of days and then I really start missing the "kids". For now (and this is always a tempory head count) we have 4 cats, one dog and a grandpuppy that we babysit. From the time we get the luggage out they start pouting. The cats will not leave the suitcases alone. We are very lucky that even though we worry about them while we are gone since we have to have someone stay with my mother-in-law there is someone there 24/7 to take care of the animals too. Each pet reacts differently to us being gone, some are thrilled when we get home, others act quite indifferent. The best is our big orange tabby that may not be the brightess crayon in the box but certainly is the sweetest. When we get home he does not react when he first sees us but an hour or two later he will seek us out and actually freak out when he has realized that we are home. First week back, they usually all sleep with us! It is nice to know that we are not the only one's who care so deeply about our four legged family members

Take care
^..^

[mr green]

The only thing that I don't like about cruising is staying with my daughter and son in law, the day before the cruise/flight. Don't get me wrong, my wife and I are very fond of our daughter, but----! At 70 years plus, we are a little old to sleep on a futon, athough in her last place it was worse, the floor. At both places, we had to suffer visitations by cats, and four [count them], VCRs clicking on and off throughout the night. One memorable visit at the first suite, all of 550 sq ft, our son stopped over. He had to sleep UNDER the dining room table, and he was mad! The next morning all he said to us was 'You both snore!' Strangly that made me happy, for years I complained that my wife snored, but she never would believe me. :eek: john