Going rate for cat sitting?

[elgerber]

My son, 17, is going to be watching a friends cats while they are on vacation. He will drive over their daily and feed the cats, scoop the litter, get the mail and water the flowers. What is a the going rate for something like this? He did 2 weeks last year, which included mowing the lawn and only every other day on the cats, and I think they paid him a bit much. This time it will be in 2 chunks. 6 days this time and 7 days in late July.

Thanks!!

 

[freckles and boo]

I just paid my 18 year old nephew $10/day. He scooped the boxes, fed and watered the cats, gave the old cat a pill, brought in the mail, watered the flowers, brought in the paper, and most importantly gave the cats some attention. No mowing, though.

 

[DizBelle]

Our pet sitter charges $20 per visit. Which we gladly pay to have someone we trust in our home to care for our cats.

 

[PatsMom]

Our pet sitter charges $15 per visit and she doesn't water the plants or bring in the mail! But she is wonderful with our cat and spends some time playing with him when she is here.

 

[ilovesugar]

We don't have a cat, but a dog. We pay $40.00 per day for her to come 3 or 4 times to let him out and feed him.

 

[SC Minnie]

We pay DD's friend $10/day to come to our house and check on the 2 cats. She brings in our mail/papers, waters my plants on the deck, cleans out the litter boxes, and feeds them twice/day.

 

[Meriweather]

We pay $10 a day.
He comes, feeds the one cat and cleans the boxes....that's it.

We stop the mail.
He mows our lawn too, but that he does all the time. Different pay.

 

[StitchBuddy]

My daughter does this for our neighbors and charges $5 per day per animal. But, it is right next door and doesn't require driving or anything. She is only 13 yrs old, so that is good easy money for her.

 

[bicker]

Bonded cat-tender = $16 per day; $18 on weekends. $10+$12 for two visits per day (needed when we had a sick kitty).

Without bonding, I'd not pay as much, of course.

 

[akcire]

In my area the going rate is $25 a day for a 45-55 minute visit. We don't have to pay anything, because our old neighbor cat sits for us---and hangs out at our house a couple hours a day when we are gone. We "pay" her with a gift of some sort. She has received: a case of wine, gift cards for dinner & movie for her family, $200 gas gift cards, large fancy cat tree (for her cat), and the list goes on. I would gladly pay her the $25 a day, but she does not want anything--we moved a mile. I always have to drop off her payment, and run before she gives it back. She also gets a Christmas present from the cats.

 

[PirateSnowmen]

My neighbors usually go away for a week every summer, and they get me to get their mail, the paper, let their two dogs out 3x/day, feed them, water the plants and just keep an eye on their house. They usually pay me $20 total for the entire time they're gone.

 

[ilovesugar]

My neighbors usually go away for a week every summer, and they get me to get their mail, the paper, let their two dogs out 3x/day, feed them, water the plants and just keep an eye on their house. They usually pay me $20 total for the entire time they're gone.

They are ripping you off. I would be mortified to pay someone that amount for what you do for them.

 

[kirstenb1]

We just got back from WDW. I paid a neighbor kid $15 per day to feed the cat, take in mail/paper, water plants (I have about 15 containers that need daily watering).

 

[PollyannaMom]

Wow, I never realized how expensive it was! (We just have neighbors we trade with - they watch our cats, we watch theirs.)

 

[NikiM20]

We have 7 dogs and pay one of the techs at our vet $45 a day. She feeds them, lets them out 3x's a day, gets my mail and most importantly plays with them. In case of an emergency, she can directly contact our vet and my dogs are familier with her!! She has also babysat DD for us too!!

 

[marypoppinswannabe]

The last time I went to WDW, I was gone 8 days and paid my 19 year old niece $50.00 to come by 3 times and make sure they had food and clean out the cat box. I leave the faucet dripping so they can drink anytime they want to.

Found out later that she spent the weekend there with her boyfriend . I think she should have paid me for her get-away weekend.

 

[freckles and boo]

The last time I went to WDW, I was gone 8 days and paid my 19 year old niece $50.00 to come by 3 times and make sure they had food and clean out the cat box. I leave the faucet dripping so they can drink anytime they want to.

Found out later that she spent the weekend there with her boyfriend . I think she should have paid me for her get-away weekend.

As I said earlier, my 18 year old nephew took care of our cats on our last trip. As we were leaving town my husband asked "Did we really just hand the keys to our empty house to an 18 year old?" The truth is, he is the most responsible and serious-minded person in his entire family. I trust him more than I trust his parents. Plus, our neighbors live sixteen feet away on either side. Any suspicious behavior would have been reported immediately.