Time off work for your kitties?

cruisermaiden

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
1,144
Purraise
3
Location
Hiding from my SS!
What do you do when you need to take off work to take care of your cats? Like to take them to the vet, etc.

Usually I take my boys on Saturdays for routine stuff even though there is always an awful wait (no appointments) so that I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t have to interrupt work. But…

One of my boys started coughing this morning and I wanted to take him to the vet this afternoon but my boss told me that my petâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s health was not his concern and I couldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t take off early (1 hour!) to take him in. I am paid salary not hourly, my work was done for today and I have plenty of available time off.

They have never denied me time off before even when I had ridiculous reasons, so I am very upset about this. I am the only single person in the office and most everyone else has a stay at home spouse (read: I have nobody but myself to take care of this sort of thing).

Instead I put in a formal request (which has been approved) for tomorrow morning off work for a "doctorâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s appointment" instead. They donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t require excuses for less than ½ a day off work, so I will just take him in the morning when they first open and then come to work after.

So – what do you do? Are your bosses understanding or do you have to deceive them also? I know in the future I will not be honest about it, I will just tell him I am not feeling well or that I have a doctorâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s appointment instead.
 

missymotus

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
9,234
Purraise
254
My boss is very understanding, and also has cats himself. My vet is 45 minutes away and much closer to work than home, I had Ana and Farley in my office when I couldn't get an appointment after work


If I didn't know my boss would understand, I'd just say I had an appointment.
 

meowers

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 18, 2008
Messages
1,274
Purraise
12
Location
California, East Bay Area
My last boss loved cats
he probably would be cool about.

My new boss is very laid back and im sure would be ok with it too. But, I would still lie about it
If for no other reason than im sure he wouldnt want to have to be responsible for telling other people why i got time off work
 

sweetpea24

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Feb 5, 2009
Messages
568
Purraise
24
Location
Burlington, Ontario, Canada
Lie about it. Where I used to work, I was the only single person without kids. So of course, everyone else got any time off (even time off that would not count as vacation or sick days) if their kids were sick or cried or wanted mommy or daddy to come home. But a single person needing time off? Why? No family to go home to so why wouldn't you work?

Ok, yeah I sound bitter but I don';t get why they get free time off and we can't for our furkids. You're not really lying, you are going for a doctor's appointment, just not specifying what doctor and really, it shouldn't make a difference if you're requesting it formally. I wonder if your boss has kids and if he or she has to take time off to take them to the dentist or doctor, next time tell him he has to stay because his kids aren't your concern.
 

twstychik

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
5,720
Purraise
4
Location
Northern IN
I can't say. At my old office my boss was very lenient and understood that pets were family. I'm not in a new office with a new boss and I'm trying to save as much time off as I can for maternity leave so I managed to schedule the cats' appointment for 5:30 so I don't have to. That said, I can take off an hour early or come in an hour late for appointments and I think that would include a vet appointment.
 

icklemiss21

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 14, 2005
Messages
16,465
Purraise
20
Location
in the land of poutine and ice
My boss will let me take time off or work flex even if I want to go to something at the animal shelter so he is extemely understanding despite having no pets himself. He would never tell me no for time off and rarely asks what the time off is for
 

jellybella

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
2,314
Purraise
3
Location
UPNY
We have a pretty flexible arrangement here. I have in the past taken 1/2 a day to go to the vets in the afternoon (better traffic conditions). With my current boss I would probably just say I need an hour or two and will work from home after
 

mai_kitties

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Dec 27, 2006
Messages
255
Purraise
17
Location
Ohio
If I need to take a kitty to the vet during the day I just use the old standby that I have an appointment. They don't need to know anything more than I have an appointment that I need to go to. We also get a certain amount of personal days that can be broken up into hours so normally I just use my personal time.

I did however schedule my vacation for the week that my 3 boys will all be getting neutered at the same time. What a way to spend vacation, making sure they aren't being to rambunctious and not overly licking their boy parts
 

misty8723

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Messages
7,688
Purraise
8,129
Location
North Carolina
I'm very fortunate that the company I work for is flexible. As long as I get my work done, they don't care if I come and go. I don't tell them I'm going for a vet appointment, I just tell them I have an appointment and leave it go at that. The last time I had to take Swanie to the vet, I called in the morning and they said they had something at 10:30, so I just took and early lunch and went without even telling anyone. Like I said, I'm very lucky. I usually make up any time I take off though.
 

alleygirl

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Messages
11,814
Purraise
24
Location
hiding in the bathtub
My boss is very understanding and always lets me off for vet appts, etc. However, I am paid by the hour so the time is unpaid unless I use some of my vacation time.
 

rapunzel47

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jul 20, 2003
Messages
30,725
Purraise
8
Location
Lotus Land
I realized as I read this thread, that I don't think I've ever had an employer to whom I'd need to lie about tending my critters' needs -- certainly not since I've had critters to tend. In my current situation, it would simply be a case of letting them know. I have enough time available, between sick time that I'll never get to use up unless I get VERY sick and vacation/overtime banked, that there would never be an issue about that, and as for whether they would see the need, they'd be waiting with bated breath for results. Those who don't actually have pets nonetheless "get it".

However, as far as possible, we've always made appointments for evenings or Saturday, so it's mostly not an issue anyway.
 

littleraven7726

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 1, 2002
Messages
3,339
Purraise
12
Location
Next to the World's Largest 6-pack
When I worked for places that I knew wouldn't be ok with pets as a reason I fudged the truth. I would say I "have an appointment". They just didn't know it wasn't for me.
My last employer was very cool, no one had kids just critters (it was a small business). Previous to that I hadn't worked anywhere that understanding.
 

cats4sky

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Dec 15, 2008
Messages
985
Purraise
21
Location
north eastern PA
last year i had to miss 2 days for sabastian when he was really sick running back and forth from the vet and my boss was cool, i had the time so it wasnt a problem. ive always had real good attendance at my jobs so taking time off for my cats was never an issue.

people take off for their kids, so we should be able to take off for our animals. If i ever had a boss who didnt like it i would say i was sick.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #14

cruisermaiden

TCS Member
Thread starter
Super Cat
Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
1,144
Purraise
3
Location
Hiding from my SS!
After I took Mulder to the vet I also made a trip to my doctor for some blood work they had been calling for anyway. When I got to work I gave them my doctorâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s excuse for being out even though it wasnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t technically required. You could tell my boss knew I had taken off to go to the vet and wanted to say something but couldnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t because I had a valid excuse.

They never have had a problem before, even when I wanted time off to do things with my boyfriendâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s son who isnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t even my responsibility! I don't know what the issue was. In the future I will tell them I have an appointment.
 
Top