What is Respite Care for Pets?

Love & Cuddles Pet Respite Care is designed to help people who can’t afford boarding costs when they need medical care or have a family crisis, such as a spouse with cancer. These people are seniors, disabled, veterans, and others, who are low income and need medical care, rehab, or time to care for a family member–just to name a few possible situations we consider. People in these situations value their pets. Often, it is the only companion they have left, and the pet aged with them. Frequently, they put off their own medical care to protect their pet’s life.

Smokey a diabetic kitty molly, a Basset Hound, on the floorThe owners love their pets. These pets have homes. To relinquish them to a shelter puts a needless burden on the shelters and on the municipalities that fund the shelters. Frankly, the owners are right to feel that it is a death sentence for their pet, especially if the pets is older, needs medication, or can’t adjust to the changes.  In an attempt to protect their faithful companions, people refuse medical care which may eventually result in a bigger crisis for both of them. The question is, why isn’t this need already being addressed?

A few small attempts are being made in some programs and shelters. We know that in a few places shelter staff takes pets home when they hear about such problems. We haven’t yet found strong models and programs that focus on solving this problem. We haven’t found any statistics on how much impact solving this problem could have on the thousands of aging or disabled pet owners’ welfare, as well as the pet’s future. We hear from many, many social service programs tell us there is a need. Our goal is to build a program and a model. We are starting slowly, working primarily with social service agencies that serve a pre-selected population who are in need.

Fostering for this need is complicated and carries many challenges. Initially, our goal is to begin by networking and building a respite care fund to provide boarding and medical care, as well as needed food and supplies for the pets and their families. Please just let us know in the donation comments when you want a donation to go specifically to this fund. 

We serve Austin, Texas and the surrounding metro areas. We need you, and they need you!