My wife Sally works for the FDIC and has been told not to expect to be able to take vacation time over the jillenium (I left that in there on purpose). This kills normal family activity, since we usually go to Atlanta for the holidays and leave the two dogs in a kennel. They get great service and are played with twice a day, and all that sort of stuff. But if Sally can't take vacation, our pets will get a whole bunch of extra personal attention.
Cats? I don't know.