This time, after the trip to Lithuania, the lady who looks after Lulu has charged me double what she usually does! She used to charge me £5 a day as 'Lulu was no trouble at all & sleeps most of the time'. Now she wants £10 per day.
She could have told me that before I went away! She also wants me to pay her 'in cash' this time. 
I have to say I was a bit dubious when I brought Lulu home after this last trip. I was told she 'ate really well' and 'trotted at full speed' while on walks - faster than the other dogs! Didn't sound like her at all - she's a trundler!!
Since getting home again, she's been completely off her food...and I've certainly not experienced her trotting at high speed! Also her water dish (ceramic) had been replaced by another one, as 'the other dogs' had broken it (how many 'other dogs' did she look after, I wonder??) and I subsequently discovered her plastic food dish was cracked all down one side too - the first time I dropped it, it broke into pieces! It sounds as if there was mayhem where she was being kept! Considering I'm always overwhelmed with guilt every time I go away & leave her, I thought long & hard about all this, and had almost decided that any further trips would be postponed for quite a while until I found an alternative solution. The cost has been the crunch factor!!
Very convenient! They don't live far away so they can always pop home for things if needed.
She used to go to a wonderful cat hotel, but the last time she was despondent and depressed when I picked her up. She's got arthritis and probably thyroid disease and has developed atrocious litterbox habits, so it's time to go. Not looking forward to it and feeling guilty. She will be my last pet.
) I'm not sure about it though, she's so scatty.
