Mike said last night Chevy that we could camp when we go to west Virginia. But I told him again that would be at the state parks and what would we do with Shadow (my kitty) we couldn’t just leave her there all day by herself in a cage (remember, we tent camp). He said, yea, that’s right I forgot about her. Then he said the most unforgivable thing. That she didn’t want to go with us anyway.

I just don’t understand why the state parks will allow campers to bring in their pets when camping, but if you want to rent one of the cottages within the state park, they don’t allow you to bring your animals. It just doesn’t make sense to me. My cat is fully declawed and very well behaved. The worst thing she’d do is shed (she’s a medium length hair black cat) on the furniture or rub against the furniture to mark it. This is just beyond me. If they said you couldn’t bring your animals to the state park at all, it would be easier for me to accept that animals weren’t welcome.

There are a lot of reason why cabins do not allow animals. The first is that there are many folks that are allergic to cats. They would not be able to rent a cabin if a cat had stayed there. And although our cats may be the model of decorum and refinement, other cats would quickly shred pholstery and woodwork. Male cats will often “mark” any new territory, especially if another male cat was there before him. And there is the problem of fleas (not on my cat, but…) that once established would be impossible to eradicate during the rental season, and very difficult to get rid of in the off season.

When we camp and no one will be home, we have friends come in daily to feed and water the animals and sit with the cat. They can relax and watch a movie with our cat, Casey. We make sure there’s drinks and snacks available, etc. Two years ago we tried leaving her with someone in their home for one week, but she barely ate, didn’t clean herself and just sat all day on the windowsill waiting for a familiar car to come. So now she stays home and seems to be very happy. Your cat may do very well staying with another family but ours doesn’t handle it well.

You mentioned a few things I hadn’t even thought of, like allergies. I guess they would have to fumigate after each guest because of that.

I find that pets are more comfy in their own homes too, if you have someone reliable to sit for them. Although in Rosco’s case, that wouldn’t work either. I couldn’t ask anyone to open 115 lb. dog’s mouth and put 11 pills a day down there hehe. Also, I would feel just awful if he had a seizure while we were gone. He is very mobile during them and even I have gotten hurt holding him down. Anyway, it’s a great choice for people that have someone to trust doing it.

I can understand why they wouldn’t want pets in the cottages and cabins. They just don’t have the funding to replace or deep clean them in case something happens. You are a responsible pet owner but how many aren’t? If a dog or cat pees, poops or pukes in our tent or camper it’s our problem lol but if it happens repeatedly in the cabins or cottages that gets expensive and the parks probably don’t have the funding to take care of that sort of thing.

Well tent camping would certainly solve your problem. ~Gasp~ on Mike saying Shadow didn’t want to go hehe! That is the hard thing about Rosco too, what to do with him if we want to go sightseeing. We can’t really leave him with anyone cuz of his epilepsy, so if we go somewhere, he goes.

I do understand about not renting the cabins to people with pets. If a pet rips up your own tent or popup that’s one thing, but if it rips up their cabin, that can be big bucks. Just look at how much they charge for a security deposit on apts. if you have a pet, there is always an extra charge for that. Not everyone is a responsible pet owner like us here, and one out of control pet could do thousands of dollars worth of damage in a very short time. I guess what I mean is it would be impossible for them to tell beforehand who’s pets are well behaved and who’s are not. I do feel for you though. Do you have family that could come watch Shadow while you are gone? I take care of a lot of my friends pets when they leave. I will go to their house several times a day and feed and visit, my son helps me with that too. I have thought about starting my own pet sitting service, but there’s a lot of legal stuff involved, so I just do it for friends right now. I wish you luck whatever you decide to do.