If you have to go into hospital, as an alternative to boarding kennels many policies will pay a daily minding fee or dog walker benefit for someone else to look after or walk your pet.
Some policies insist that this must be a licensed pet minder whereas others are happy to pay anyone who is not related to you or part of your family.
Be careful to check your policy small print as you may find that in addition to the overall cover limit it specifies a daily or weekly limit.