Having a co-worker pet sit for me. What do you all pay?

[phorsenuf]

So I'll be away and having a girl I work with take care of my kitties. She really only needs to come every other day and make sure they have food and water and to scoop the box.
I have no idea of what to pay for something like that. What experiences have you had?

 

[SereneOne]

Hmmm...how many days will you be gone?

When we go on vacation, we have a neighborhood girl (supervised by her mom) that comes in and feeds and waters our pets, plays with various ones. We have a dog, three cats (no litter boxes, they go outside freely through their kitty door), two gpigs, a bird and some fish. She charges sixteen a day, we pay her twenty a day.

 

[phorsenuf]

Hmmm...how many days will you be gone?

When we go on vacation, we have a neighborhood girl (supervised by her mom) that comes in and feeds and waters our pets, plays with various ones. We have a dog, three cats (no litter boxes, they go outside freely through their kitty door), two gpigs, a bird and some fish. She charges sixteen a day, we pay her twenty a day.

I'll be gone 2 weeks. Have the 5 cats. They are indoor/outdoor kitties.

 

[SereneOne]

I would say since it is every other day, about $150?

 

[golfgal]

I would say since it is every other day, about $150?

WOW, around here for the care needed for a few cats people would probably pay someone $20. When we share pet "sitting" with our neighbors it is usually for a nice case of beer .

 

[Just Jan]

I was thinking a gift certificate to her favorite store or restaurant.

 

[golfgal]

I was thinking a gift certificate to her favorite store or restaurant.

Some kind of gift vs money or a gift card works too. Honestly, we have taken care of coworker's pet and don't expect anything. We are just doing them a favor, simple as that.

 

[SereneOne]

WOW, around here for the care needed for a few cats people would probably pay someone $20. When we share pet "sitting" with our neighbors it is usually for a nice case of beer .

If I only had one or two animals I would, but I have a zoo! lol

Look up the rates at a pet hotel, ouch!

Being a co-worker or a neighbor is different, I did not think about that. Also the young lady we have watch our pets uses the money for cheer camp and such.

 

[phorsenuf]

She wants cash. She's buying a car and the last payment is the Friday after I leave. She asked if I could pay her in advance, which I don't mind doing. I know she won't stiff me or anything. I just don't know what would be acceptable. She said she looked online and rates ran from $16-25 a day. I really do not want to pay that much. I'm doing her a favor since I know she needs the money but at those rates I could get a neighbor to come in for nothing.

 

[SereneOne]

I figured every other day, five cats, twenty bucks on those days which would be $140 and just made it $150. Comes out to two dollars a day per cat.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

She wants cash. She's buying a car and the last payment is the Friday after I leave. She asked if I could pay her in advance, which I don't mind doing. I know she won't stiff me or anything. I just don't know what would be acceptable. She said she looked online and rates ran from $16-25 a day. I really do not want to pay that much. I'm doing her a favor since I know she needs the money but at those rates I could get a neighbor to come in for nothing.

If she's telling you what she looked up and seen the rates as, I'm sure she's expecting to be paid that much at least.

But I agree with you $25.00 a day for someone to come take care of a couple pets that will take a few minutes is alot. I vote for asking a neighbor.

 

[Just Jan]

She wants cash. She's buying a car and the last payment is the Friday after I leave. She asked if I could pay her in advance, which I don't mind doing. I know she won't stiff me or anything. I just don't know what would be acceptable. She said she looked online and rates ran from $16-25 a day. I really do not want to pay that much. I'm doing her a favor since I know she needs the money but at those rates I could get a neighbor to come in for nothing.

How far out of the way is it for your co-worker to get to your home? Does she drive by on her way home from work anyway?
If she is looking up prices I would be hesitant and would probably ask a neighbor that I am friendly with to do it. how much would it cost to board your cats?

 

[LanaJayne]

She wants cash. She's buying a car and the last payment is the Friday after I leave. She asked if I could pay her in advance, which I don't mind doing. I know she won't stiff me or anything. I just don't know what would be acceptable. She said she looked online and rates ran from $16-25 a day. I really do not want to pay that much. I'm doing her a favor since I know she needs the money but at those rates I could get a neighbor to come in for nothing.

$20 a visit is reasonable, especially since she has travel costs/time and also the responsibility for this job. Every other day for 2 weeks is about 7 visits, which is $140. Around here, it is very expensive to board pets, especially with more than one. If you have a trusted neighbor who is willing to do this for free, I would still compensate them with a gift card for their time.

We usually reciprocate with a neighbor, but we also give them a gift card to a restaurant and they do the same. It works out well.

 

[LanaJayne]

I figured every other day, five cats, twenty bucks on those days which would be $140 and just made it $150. Comes out to two dollars a day per cat.

I missed your post, but this is my thinking, exactly! If I trusted her to do a good job, I don't this this is unreasonable at all.

Even if I asked my neighbor, this is about the size of a restaurant gift card I would give for 2 weeks. It is a responsibility that I would want to compensate them appropriately.

In the long run, it is much, much cheaper than boarding, plus, I have the piece of mind knowing that my pets are happy and my home is looked after.

 

[MoniqueU]

I would say 20 dollars a day is standard.

 

[lovetoscrap]

Wow! I have woman with an official pet sitting business come and provide food/water/litter and a short "love" time on my cat and she charges me only $5 per visit! Maybe split the difference Phors and pay $10 per day?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

She wants cash. She's buying a car and the last payment is the Friday after I leave. She asked if I could pay her in advance, which I don't mind doing. I know she won't stiff me or anything. I just don't know what would be acceptable. She said she looked online and rates ran from $16-25 a day. I really do not want to pay that much. I'm doing her a favor since I know she needs the money but at those rates I could get a neighbor to come in for nothing.

I would ask a neighbor if you do not want to pay the going rate. Her request is not unreasonable.

Esp. mixing friends, co-workers, and money. I try to avoid that unless the situation is mutual.

 

[mattsdragon]

We have a single guy in my office who sits at home and works on his manifesto normally, so when we go out of town, we have him come over, stay at the house and watch the animals. We usually just buy him some little gift from wherever we are. But we stock the fridge for him and tell him to eat everything he can.

He does it as much from boredom from anything else, and we have cable, so he willingly comes over.

Given that, I would probably throw him about $100 bucks for a week if he had cable of his own at home. We have 3 dogs, 2 cats and 3 aquariums that he looks after.

 

[LanaJayne]

Wow! I have woman with an official pet sitting business come and provide food/water/litter and a short "love" time on my cat and she charges me only $5 per visit! Maybe split the difference Phors and pay $10 per day?

You mention that you have one cat. Phors has five! Sitters usually charge more for 3 pets and even more for each pet after that.

$10-15 per visit for five pets would be a bargain. Maybe ask her what her rate would be and accept or decline, so that the sitter doesn't feel resentful. She can always ask a neighbor if the expected fee is too high. If I had a backup plan, I would leave it up to the sitter to state the rate. If she was my only option, I would pay extra to make sure my vacation is worry free.

 

[scrapquilter]

The last time I needed a pet sitter, I called the lady that owns a local pet supply store (not a chain) and arranged for her to come. She charged $12 per visit (I have 3 cats, and she came about every other day during our trip). She came 4 times, and I tipped her, I gave her a total of $60.