Hiring a Pet Sitter: What You Need to Know

By Julia Williams

In my last post, I explained the benefits of hiring a professional pet sitter to care for your dog or cat while you’re away, as well as how to find a reputable one and conduct a phone interview. The process of hiring a pet sitter is not overly complicated, but should not be taken lightly. After all, you’ll be entrusting them to take good care of your faithful four-legged friend, and you need to be sure you’re choosing the right person.

With that in mind, the next step in the process is to invite a prospective pet sitter to meet you and your animal in your own home. An in-person meeting will help you decide if this is someone you want to care for your pet. They may sound great over the phone and look good “on paper,” but first impressions are equally important. Notice how they’re dressed, how they carry themselves, and how they interact with you as well as your pet. Does your pet seem to like them and feel comfortable in their presence? Do you feel at ease when talking with them?

It’s imperative at this stage of the hiring process to trust your instincts. If anything about the person makes you or your pet uncomfortable or wary, then do not hire them, because that “gut feeling” is never wrong!

Trade important information

Besides helping you decide if you want to hire a potential pet sitter, the in-home interview also helps them know if they can handle your pets and their specific needs. Be sure to tell the pet sitter everything they might encounter when caring for your pet, such as medications, conditions, dietary concerns, feeding and walking schedules, behavior issues, and any other pertinent information.

A professional pet sitter will likely have a written contract spelling out their services and fees. Before you sign, read it over carefully, and ask any questions you may have. Make sure you understand their rate, how many visits they will make, and what will happen in case of an emergency with your pet. Give them your cell phone number, and/or a number where you can be reached while away. Provide your vet’s name, address and phone number, and consider signing a form which lets your vet know that the sitter is authorized to seek care for your pet. You may also want to give them the phone number of a nearby friend or family member who could help them in an emergency.

If the interview goes well and you’re satisfied that the sitter will take good care of your pet, you may want to start by hiring them for just a day or two first rather than for a week or longer.

Pre-Trip Preparation

Even the most experienced and reliable pet sitter could run into problems if you haven't properly prepared for your absence. Be sure your pet has current identification tags and vaccinations. Stock up on their regular pet food and other supplies, and buy extra just in case your return is delayed. Leave everything in one place, where the pet sitter can find it easily. Give your spare key and the sitter’s phone number to someone you trust as a backup; also give their phone number to the pet sitter. Make sure the pet sitter understands your home's safety features, such as the circuit breaker and alarm system.

Leave Detailed Instructions

During the in-home interview, you should go over the care of your pet verbally, and ask your pet sitter if they have any questions. They will probably take notes as you go over your instructions. However, it’s still a good idea to leave them a detailed written list they can refer to, in case their notes are incomplete or get misplaced.

Write down everything the pet sitter will need to know about your dog or cat — including their likes and dislikes, medications and conditions, habits, fears, and anything else you think may help them when caring for your pet. You may also want to prepare a daily checklist of tasks the pet sitter can use during each visit. This is particularly helpful if medications, special food or specific exercise routines are involved. Post your instructions on the fridge, or leave them with your pet’s food and supplies.

Remember to bring your pet sitter's phone number in case your plans change, or you want to find out how your pet and his temporary caretaker are getting along. Some of these suggestions may seem like overkill to you, but honestly, it’s much better to prepare for anything and everything rather than deal with it on the fly. And when you feel confident that your beloved pet is in the care of a capable pet sitter, your vacation will be all the more enjoyable!

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Is it Okay to Leave a Cat Home Alone?

By Julia Williams

Most of the time people don’t ask that question. They ask instead, “How long can I leave my cat home alone?” My answer, the only one I am comfortable with based on personal experience, is “not one night.”

Responsible pet owners who wouldn’t dream of leaving a dog home alone while they go away, think it’s perfectly fine to leave their cats to fend for themselves. Many people see cats as self-sufficient creatures that don’t need the same amount of care as dogs. On a very basic level, this is true. You don’t have to take a cat out for a daily walk or to go potty. And cats generally won’t tear the sofa cushions to bits if left alone for a few days. But everything else, every other reason you wouldn’t leave your dog home alone for a week with nothing but a bowl of kibble and some water, applies to cats too.

Cats cannot take care of themselves if something should go wrong. What could possibly go wrong, you ask? Anything can happen, especially if the cat is allowed to go outdoors while you are away. Bad things can happen to indoor cats too. They can knock over a glass vase and cut their foot open. They can spill water into their bowl of kibble and turn it to mush. The thing is, accidents happen, and they’re unpredictable.

If I went away and didn’t arrange for someone to come over to check on my cats, and something bad happened to one of them, the guilt would be very hard to live with. I know, because it happened to me a long time ago, and that was the very last time I ever left my cats home alone.

My then-husband and I went on vacation and left our cat Tosha with enough dry food and water to last for more than a week. We even left a little extra, just in case. We didn’t need to worry about someone cleaning the litter box, because we had a cat door and Tosha could come and go as she pleased. At the time, I thought nothing of leaving my cat home alone for a week. I’d heard it said many, many times that a cat left alone would be perfectly fine, and I believed it. Oh, how wrong I was.

Our return was delayed because our car broke down and stranded us in the mountains. When we finally did get come, I called and called Tosha. She always came when I called her, but this time she didn’t. We went to look for her, and found her behind the house lying in the bushes. She was alive, but one of her back legs was mangled.

We rushed her to the vet, who said it could’ve been caused by a dog or a car; he wasn’t sure. We were given the option to put her to sleep or amputate her leg. She was just a year old, and I thought it would be unfair to let her die so young. The vet said she would be able to get around fine with three legs, so we agreed to the operation. A few hours and $2400 later, we had ourselves a three-legged cat.

Tosha lived to be 16 and did manage to get around quite well on three legs, albeit with a hopping gait that was funny to watch. Her nicknames were Tripod and Hopalong Catsidy, and we joked about buying her a little kitty wheelchair. One could argue that it turned out okay, so what was the harm in leaving her home alone? For starters, I have no idea how long she lay there in the bushes, bleeding and in pain. Her suffering was needless, and incredibly selfish on my part. And had we kept her inside, we’d have spent $80 to have a pet sitter come twice a day versus $2400 to amputate her leg.

My beloved three-legged cat taught me a valuable lesson in Responsible Pet Ownership. Nowadays, if I can’t get a friend or family member to come and check on my cats twice a day when I’m gone overnight, I hire a pet sitter. It’s the right thing – the only thing – to do. In my eyes, there is nothing to gain and everything to lose by leaving my precious kitties home alone.

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