Leaving pets at home when traveling can be a financial and emotional burden, so many pet owners have opted to travel with their pets. Kennel or pet sitter fees and the thought of your pet being cooped up in a cage all day can make a vacation less enjoyable, and cause you to worry about your pet instead of relaxing on vacation. To accommodate travels with pets, many vacation rental property owners have begun allowing pets at their properties. If you want to travel with your pet on your next vacation, make sure that you know what to expect when bringing a pet with you to a rental property.

When you begin your search for a pet-friendly vacation rental property, look for rentals that specifically state that they are dog and cat friendly. If a rental property doesn’t include this in the listing, they probably do not allow pets. This will allow you to narrow down your search instantly so that you are only looking at pet-friendly properties.

Next, you’ll need to review the pet policies for each rental property that you like. Some rental properties only allow pets under 25 lbs, while other allow pets of all sizes. Rental property owners will also most likely charge you a non-refundable pet fee to cover additional cleaning costs and any extra wear and tear on the home and furnishings. This fee will still most likely be less than what you would pay to have someone, or a kennel, watch your pet while you are on vacation.

Be sure that your pet is on its best behavior when staying at a rental property to avoid accruing any other fees for damages that will be taken out of your security deposit. Most rental agreements will have specific conditions for pets at the rental property, so also review these conditions carefully. When checking out of the rental property, tidy up any messes that your pet may have caused.