Have any of you left a pet behind?

I re-homed my cat several years ago, when I was first planning to travel. The new owner was lovely and the new home sounded great - but some aspects weren’t as advertised - another cat moved in, there was a possibility for the family to sell the house and go their separate ways, and he ran away in the first few weeks and they only found him again by accident.

I’ll always feel guilty about letting him down and will never forget that look on his face when he knew he was being kicked out.

So, be very sure that you are definitely moving, and if you aren’t prepared to cover the cost/trauma of bringing you pet with you, then do organise some sort of trial period with the new potential owners so that everyone is happy that it is a good fit.

I travel with my little dog. It is not easy, but I couldn’t do otherwise. While she lives, she will travel with me and I only go where I can carry her. Except, if it is for a month or less; more than this period I can’t stay far from her. If somebody wants to follow us, this is our page “Giros da Cacau” on Facebook.

I’ve had my cat since I was 16 and then at the age of 22 I moved out of the family home, went to live in the UK. She stayed with my mum, but she didn’t care either way. I’d visit 1-2 times a year.
She wasn’t really an ‘attached’ cat, she slept with us if she wanted, meowed when she wanted something, headbutted us when she wanted. A typical cat. We served our purpose I guess She would get a little bit upset with us if we left her alone for a longer period of time, like couple of days (we’d always arrange for a friend to come and give her food/water/clean the litter box), but other than that she didn’t show she missed us.

It’s a different story with dogs, though!

My 4th year in London my mum told me some lumps appeared on my cat’s back. After the visit to the vet, she was diagnosed with cancer. She had a surgery and I was very upset not to be there with her, but she had my mum. Some time after the surgery I went back home and when the lumps grew again and she had another surgery I was there. When the vet told us the cancer will come back again and there won’t be anything he could do, I decided to stay, until she ‘leaves’. I gave her medication, changed the dressings on her wound…And I was there to say the final goodbye. I stayed home for that year and half not wanting to go anywhere and wouldn’t change it.

I won’t try to leave my pet behind me. I had a dog before and when I go out for 1 months, I set him on my aunt home.My aunt took good care of he but my dog may thought that I left him behind me and unhappy ereryday then he got ill. When I came back home,I never have the chance to see he again.

Aww, I left my Labradoodle Charlotte and my cat Felicity in Santa Monica with my parents. I miss them. Good thing there’s Skype.

I just left my two rescue dogs, Lucy and Zed, three days ago.

Zed, left | Lucy, right.

I adopted them with my ex but due to circumstances (him having a good reliable job and me wanting to travel), he’s the better fur parent to look after them at the moment. He loves them as much as I do, so I know they’ll live a fantastic life. He’ll let them sleep on the bed, terrorise the dog walker, go to doggy daycare and run around at the lakes/beach at the weekend.

There’s still the possibility that I can have them if I decide to settle down at any point but I’d rather not fly them too frequently - Lucy gets motion sickness as badly as I do.

It’s been tough, I’ve cried more than I’d admit to. The ex has been a good sport by sending me photos every time I ask.

I doubt I’d have decided to become nomadic if he wasn’t happy to take sole custody. If the circumstances were different, I’d sate my need to travel by remaining an expat and move around much more slowly 6-12 months. For me, the responsibility of adopting an animal would come first. Mainly because they rely on you. I couldn’t give mine back up for adoption.

I left my little dog with friends last summer. I had a rough couple years of trying to bring her with me places and leaving her with different friends/ sitters when I couldn’t. Finally I realized we’d both be happier if she was with my friends. I do miss her but it wasn’t feasible to bring her with me on the road.

I left my 2 dogs behind at my parents when I initially left on my nomad adventure 4 years ago. I missed them terribly. One adjusted well, the other did not. Around a year ago I was going to be nearby and a flight was cheap so I went to pick one of them up to go on vacation with us for 6 months in Mexico… When the 6 months was up, I couldn’t bring her back so now she travels with us. She’s small, but it’s still a huge pain in the ass to travel with a dog. She’s so much happier to be back with me and loves the road. So I guess I have to deal with the extra logistics and cost.

Over 90 million people travel the USA with pets each year, and that is why I started xcDOGS nationally. If anyone is looking to find a host for a longer time, say a year or more, let me know and I may be able to reach out to some of our members in your state to help you out (in the US).

Left my Great Dane behind! Was great to go home and see him in October though.

Didn’t really care about seeing any family, just the dog! lol

I got great news tonight. A friend has volunteered to adopt our cat! Woohoo!

@DanielGenser I was in the same position. It was definitely the hardest part of getting rid of everything. We had a few options that were supposed to work out and then fell through at the last minute.

I used every method possible: created a website, used twitter, fb, posted flyers, etc. I even advertised using Google Adwords. I eventually found a good enough home for my kitty, but I still feel bad about it.

I know how hard it is and I feel for you. Try to think of any creative ways to get the word out: reach out to people in your area that love animals and have big followings on social media and ask them to help spread the word. Put fliers up at the coffee shop, etc.

It’s really tough and I don’t have any solid answers, but do know that others have been there. Good luck!

My gf has a small dog and this somewhat limits travelling. Do any of you guys have a dog/pet or know someone who is travelling with one?

I have been known to leave our 2 cats with various relatives in various countries until we’re settled enough in the next country to feel comfortable enough to import them. Our eldest cat is sick of being stuck with rabies vaccines and shoved into planes, so he’s staying behind with a family member that he likes better than me. It all works out somehow.

I’m a big pet lover and i don’t really catch idea of ‘owning a pet’.
I love reptiles, they are most wonderful creatures on earth. I always dreamed of having one, but my mother always refused to have one saying ‘you’ll be living outside with him’ and later my girlfriend refused to have one with popular excuse “it’s me or him - pick”.

So after i broke up with a girlfriend i immediately went and got this guy and named him “Afonja”:

Actually my mother felt in love with him, but before going away i left it with my good friend. The animal is doing great, i’m checking out on it.

But while traveling i was crossing a temple and some woman approached me and told me i should take rabbit for take care. She didn’t wanted any money, but i gave her 100 baht (because it’s normal in my country). It was a special rabbit it was not used for eating, because it was really small (even for his age). So, i decided to help him grow in safe environment and then move it to www.workingretreat.com so it can run around freely. Rabbit had a great personality - she loved all people, it runs to people once she sees them and stays near by all the time.

But then i left for a nomad Christmas to Koh Phangan and left it at a retreat. Some nasty cat killed it. :\

I’m still feel a little bit down because of it, i was hoping to give a rabbit a chance and free life (or in a bigger cage if you may say so), but failed to provide proper safety while she was young. :\

I left my dog Hulk with my parents. I miss him everyday.

Dont you have a friend or family who can adopt her?