Cats and Costa Rica Don't Mix Well

Adventure Inn is a pet-friendly hotel. We have certain rooms reserved for people with well-behaved pets, not far from the front door where in the case of dogs, you can walk it across our quiet street to a field where your dog can relieve itself. For cats we put a cardboard box in the guests room with torn newspaper.

We ask everyone to take full responsibility for their pets. Any loss of income because of their pet or damage will be charged to the guest. We insist guests keep their pets off the furniture and make sure that it does not disturb other guests, including noise; growling, barking, whining, etc in the case of dogs and scratching furniture in the case of cats. For sanitary reasons, pets are not allowed in the restaurant/bar or pool area. We charge $10 per night per pet.

Also, just so you know, your pet will probably be completely dehydrated after the flight, so get it water as soon as possible. My dog drank for about two straight minutes!

Last week I had a guest check in with four cats, all in their cages, all very well cared for.

But I wonder if the owner stopped to ask himself if he was doing a disfavour to his cats, his neighbours and the local environment wherever he was going to live in Costa Rica.

I used to live in a semi-rural area of Santa Ana here in the Central Valley. Each day, it was great to hear the variety of birds singing away in the morning, watch little geckos scurrying up the walls in search of a tasty mosquito, be entertained with a beautiful butterfly fluttering past, even ponder over the occasional huge prehistoric flying bug that would find its way onto my patio. Then a neighbour moved in next door with a pair of cats who were allowed to roam the neighbourhood. In no time all it seemed most of wildlife had disappeared and it wasn't the same. One of the simple reasons I wanted to live in Costa Rica was now taken away by these two darn cats. The unsuspecting wildlife in Costa Rica has not evolved to survive with these foreign intruders.

Also, for cat owners, realize that cats have a short life span in Costa Rica. You don't see that many around. Many Ticos mistreat cats, thinking they can survive on mice alone. Also, poisonous scorpions, snakes and spiders that domestic cats are not used to can bring full meaning to the expression that curiosity killed the cat.

Don't bring cats to Costa Rica, or if you do, be prepared to keep them inside.