Everything You Need To Know About Travel Nursing With Pets

You can’t live without your beloved cat Frankie and that sweet little pooch you named Princess, but you also want to adventure as a travel nurse. When my husband and I started throwing the travel nursing idea around, there was no question that our sweet, first-born fur baby was coming with us. For us, there were no reservations. As with anything worth doing in life, traveling with a pet has benefits and challenges.

Here are some tips for traveling with a pet as well as some ways your travel nursing agency can make things easier for you and Fido on the road.

Benefits of Travel Nursing With Pets

The first few years of our travel nursing adventure, my husband Ryan didn’t have a job, so if Pearl hadn’t been there, he might have gotten pretty lonely on the days I worked. The same is true if you’re traveling solo.

A four-legged companion is just what you need to curb any feelings of loneliness or homesickness. Nothing feels better than getting home from a long day at work and being greeted so excitedly by little fur babies who love you so much! 

Most travelers I know travel with a dog, but that’s not saying you can’t travel with a cat or other animal. I actually met a couple who traveled with a cat, a bird, and some sort of lizard. They fit all of them with all their stuff in a little Toyota Camry. The options are limitless!

Pets can help you get off the couch to go outside for fresh air and exercise. Plus, they’re great for starting conversations with new people. “Well, hello, I see you have dogs. I have dogs, too. See how cute they are? Let’s be best friends.” And there you have it. New hiking buddies. You’re welcome.

Challenges of Owning Pets As a Travel Nurse

Transportation

Pets will make it more necessary for you to drive from one travel nursing assignment to the next instead of flying. Regardless of the type of vehicle you have, most pets will fit. Ryan and I jam pack our Ford Escape. I would imagine that as long as you have front passenger seat space, you’ve got enough space for pets.

Cost

Pets travel in cars for free, but if you need to fly somewhere at any time during your contract, it will cost you. Having pets in the cabin will cost you around $100 a pet, give or take $20, depending on the airline. Storing pets in the cargo area is going to be closer to $250, and quite frankly, it sounds horrible. Plus, most housing providers will charge an additional pet fee or pet rent in anticipation of damage being done. Sometimes that is refundable if there is no damage caused by your pets when you leave.

Records

You’ll want to keep any vaccination records in case you need to visit a new vet. It’s almost essential to ensure you have an up-to-date registration for your pet in your new city. You should also update your pet’s license tag to reflect your new address and any new contact information — and their microchip if they have one.

Boarding

If traveling with your pet isn’t an option, there are plenty of reliable places to board your furry friend. Price per night is typically anywhere from $25-$40/pet. Big pet stores like PetSmart have boarding kennels, some vets offer boarding, and now there’s even an Airbnb-esque app where you can find regular ol’ pet people who keep them at their house. We used it most recently in Denver and loved it! The sitter even sent us texts and photos letting us know how they were doing. Side note: if you feel guilty about leaving your buddy at home during long shifts, then the same app has dog walkers available for a reasonable price.

How to Find Travel Nurse Housing With Your Pet

What Your Agency Can Do For You

“Travelers who know they want to travel with their pets should look for a pet-friendly company when agency shopping,” says Sarah Wengert, senior creative content wordsmith at Medical Solutions, a travel nursing company in Omaha, Nebraska.

Ask questions to make sure the company you choose is actively pet-friendly and not just advertising itself as such. Ask your recruiter what the company does to be pet-friendly, and make sure that what they offer suits your (and your pet’s) needs.

Housing is the main area where a company can be of help, Wengert says. The most pet-friendly companies offer to exhaust every possibility in finding you housing that allows pets. This can take extensive research and negotiation on the agency’s part — which is of huge value to the traveler. Most pet-friendly companies also offer to cover pet deposits upfront and may also offer pet SWAG or other goodies to help pamper you and your pets.

If I were traveling for the first time with my pet, I would definitely take company housing with a pet-friendly company at least on the first go-round. Let your agency do all the leg work.

In my personal experience, it is much easier to travel with a pet if you take your agency’s housing. They already work with so many housing complexes and have many more pet-friendly housing options.

Going with this scenario, some things to expect are familiar if you’re used to living in an apartment: pet deposits, pet rent, pet fees, and breed restrictions. Some nursing companies will take care of all of those things for you provided your pet doesn’t tear up the place.

Others will ask you for a deposit upfront that will carry over to each new assignment. Then, if at some point you leave or decide to take the stipend, they’ll give it back to you. With these companies, you’ll usually be responsible for any extra pet fees or pet rent as well.