After they come home

The first 24 hours

Expect a tired animal. Boarding is stimulating — new smells, other animals, broken sleep — and most pets come home and sleep hard. That is not unhappiness, and it isn't a verdict on the facility.

• Heavy drinking. Very common. Many animals drink less than usual while away and rehydrate at home. Let them, but ration slightly if they gulp a full bowl at once
• Little appetite, or none. Skipping a meal after coming home is normal. Offer their usual food, not something richer
• Loose stool. Stress, water changes and excitement all do this. Usually settles within a day or two
• Sleeping in odd places, or right against you. Both are common and both pass

Resist the urge to compensate with extra food or treats. A rich meal on an unsettled stomach is the most common cause of a bad second day.

Days two to four

Appetite and routine come back. Some animals are clingier than usual, some are briefly aloof, and a few have a short regression in house-training. All of it is normal and none of it needs correcting — going straight back to your ordinary routine is what resolves it fastest.

A dog that boarded well may sleep more than usual for several days simply because they were active the whole time they were away. That's a tired dog, not a sad one.

When it isn't just tiredness

Ring your vet if you see any of these. Several are ordinary in isolation and only matter if they persist.

Sign	When to act
Coughing	Any persistent cough in the ten days after a stay. Kennel cough typically appears three to ten days after exposure, not immediately — see below
Diarrhoea	Past 48 hours, or any blood, or with vomiting
Not drinking	Refusing water for more than 12 hours
Not eating	Past 24 hours for a dog, and sooner for a cat — cats should not go long without food
Lethargy	Deepening rather than lifting after the first day
Limping or stiffness	Anything that doesn't ease within a day, or that they flinch from
Sores, redness, hair loss	Any new skin problem, particularly around the neck or paws
Straining in the litter tray (cats)	Immediately. A cat straining to urinate is an emergency

Kennel cough shows up late

This is the one thing worth understanding properly. Kennel cough — the group of infections bordetella vaccination reduces — has an incubation period of roughly three to ten days. An animal exposed on the last day of a stay may not cough until well after they're home.

It sounds like a dry, honking cough, often ending in a retch that owners mistake for something stuck in the throat. Most cases are mild and self-limiting, but a vet should confirm it, and it's contagious to other animals.

• Vaccination reduces severity and likelihood — it does not eliminate the risk, because several organisms cause it
• Tell the facility. Not to complain, but because they need to know. A good operator wants that information immediately
• Keep your pet away from other animals until your vet says otherwise

If yours is a rescue or a foster

Different situation, and worth separating out. An animal that has been in your home only a few weeks is still settling — the adjustment after adoption or foster placement runs to two to four weeks, far longer than the day or two after boarding.

Boarding during that window can set the settling process back. It doesn't cause lasting harm, but expect a longer readjustment and more visible anxiety than a settled pet would show. If the stay is avoidable in those first weeks, it is usually worth avoiding — and if it isn't, tell the facility the animal is newly placed. It changes how they handle the introduction.

Tell the facility how it went

Whether it went well or badly. Operators get very little feedback, and the specific kind is what actually helps:

• How long it took your pet to settle back at home
• Anything that surprised you at pickup
• What you'd want done differently next time
• Anything you learned about your own animal that they should know

If something went genuinely wrong, say so directly and promptly. Most facilities would far rather hear it than read it later in a review.

Making the next one easier

• Book the same facility if it went well — familiarity does most of the work
• A single daycare day between overnight stays keeps the place familiar
• Note what you'd pack differently, while you still remember
• Diary the vaccination dates now, particularly bordetella if your facility works to six months

Getting ready for the next stay

Last reviewed August 2026 · General information only. If you are worried about your animal, contact your veterinarian.