Contest: Your Pet Can Help You Win a Camera

For pet owners, traveling means taking a few extra steps in both the planning and the execution of our travel plans.  Just what do you do with Fido or Fluffy when you head out on the road?

I have two adorable cats, Misha (a Siamese Bengal-point) and Socrates (a seal point Siamese).  Cats are independent, so leaving them alone for a day or two presents no real problem for them or for me.  I hide treats for them to find while I’m away, leave them plenty of food and fresh water, and they are happy to roam the house as they please.  I return to appreciative and attentive beasts.  It’s a win/win for us.

But, if I’m gone for much longer than that, some real planning comes into play.  Do I get someone to house sit for my cats and my home?  Do I ask a neighbor or friend to pop over and check on the guys?  Or do I pack them off to kitty day care (“cat jail” as I think of it)?  Some of you will choose to take your pets on the road with you, but that’s not an option for me.

When it comes to questions about your pets, from food and care, to fun and games, Purina has designed a new “pet hub” called petcentric.  I’m hoping that we’ll see more pet travel information – and, selfishly, a little more feline friends showing up in the photos – but even as is, it’s a helpful resource for you and your beloved pet.

To convince you to go take a look at their site, petcentric is offering a couple of cool prizes for PlanetEye Traveler readers.  You can enter to win one of the following prizes:

• (1) One, Nikon Coolpix 10.0MP Digital Camera
• (1) One, Everyday with Rachel Ray Faves — (Every Day with Rachael Ray tote bag filled with pet-friendly products that have been featured in the pages of Every Day with Rachael Ray Magazine.  The approximate retail value (ARV) of is around $40)

Now it’s up to use to decide if you’ll use that camera to take cool pet photos or travel photos, but I’m sure it will come in handy!

Here’s how you enter:

• Leave a comment on this post telling us how you provide for your pets when you’re traveling.  And if you have an unbearable adorable photo, leave a link, too!
• If you don’t have a pet, you can still enter.  Just head over to petcentric and tell me which of those adorable critters is most like the pet you’d like to have.
• You can gain additional chances to win by following petcentric on Facebook or Twitter.
• In fact, if you retweet this post and use #petcentric, you’ll get another chance to win (you must use that hash tag so that we can track it).

There are rules, of course:

• The contest is open to US residents only.
• The contest will end at midnight (Pacific Time) on February, 14th, 2010.
• The winners will be notified via email, and if they do not respond an alternate winner will be chosen.

What are you waiting for?!  Enter to win now!

NOTE:  A big thanks to Purina and petcentric for the prizes for this giveaway.

Photo source: personal collection

NOTE:  Comments are now closed and the deadline has passed.  The winner is being notified and will be announced in an upcoming post.  Thanks to everyone who entered.

UPDATE: Both winners have been notified and have responded.  Christina from Roanoke, Virgina won the camera, and Jennifer from Hampstead, Maryland won the Rachel Ray goodie bag.  Prizes will be sent out to them next week.  Thanks to everyone for entering.