Last week a friend who lives in Ann Arbor mentioned a thunderstorm in an
e-mail to me.  She said there was a loud crack and it sounded as though a
gun had gone off.  Turns out, a house a street up from her caught fire (it
was hit by lightening).  The owners were on vacation and although they had
someone checking in on the house every day, no one was staying there at the
time.  They lost two cats, a rabbit, a gerbil, and some fish.  This makes me
think that if you can't get someone to actually live in your home while
you're away, you're better off taking your pets to a good kennel--one where
the owners have a house on the premises.  I specify this because a year or
so ago, a deluxe kennel on the outskirts of Winnipeg caught fire, as well.
The owners lived in a house on the property so one of the owners managed to
save all the pets staying there (and he was injured in the process--that's
how important the animals were to him).

I know not everyone has the option of taking their pets to a good kennel,
nor can everyone get someone to actually live in their home for a week or
two, but if you can, *do*.  Bad things rarely happen, but it's better to
deal with them proactively than reactively.

rona