How much do you pay the cat sitter?

[Judy in Texas]

What is reasonable pay for the 8th grader who lives right next door to take care of two cats and bring in the mail while I'm away?

She came over once per day at her convenience and I gave her $50 for seven days. She has watched them twice so far. Both trips were to WDW and I brought her back a small piece of jewely. I understand the jewelry is a gift and not part of the payment.

The older lady who lived two houses away watched them for free because I would bring in her mail while she was gone. I would give her a $50 gift certificate to a local department store anyway for watching them for one week. She recently moved.

The vet tech from the veterinarian's office charges $20 per visit. It is 4 miles round trip from the vet's office and 10 miles round trip from her house so part of the $20 is for her time and travel expenses.

I don't want to be seen as a cheapskate; but, I don't want to be overly generous either.

Suggestions please.

 

[BradyBz12]

Around here (southern NH) pet sitting is at a premium. A friend is using a service now that charges him $50/day for one visit for his 2 dogs that lasts only about 20 mins!

That said, the twin girls across the street have been our "house sitters" going back to when they were about 14 (they're 20 now). When we had cats we gave them $100 for 2 weeks plus usually an extra little gift for each from our trip. They came in every other day to refill the bowls, scoop the litter box and just generally keep an eye on things (we stop the mail). They even randomly park their cars in our driveway so it looks like someone is home. They usually share the duties amongst the 2 of them and split the money.

Last year (no cats) there was a horrible ice storm while we were gone and the power was out for a week. They came in and opened cupboards and ran water, and shoveled out the end of our driveway (thank heavens, as we got home around midnight and had nowhere to put the TT!) We were gone for 3 weeks total and ended up giving them each $100 plus a gift.

This year was a quiet one. They just parked cars and came over occasionally to make sure things were fine and bring in a couple of flyers left on our door. I bought them each a nice Disney hoodie and gave them each $50.

 

[cerberus]

I think paying your young neighbor vs a true petsitter is two totally different situations. We have a sitter that stays at our house to watch our 3 dogs and check on our cat and we pay $250 for the week....a great deal for us!

You need to factor in how much she/he will be checking on the cat? It sounds like just once per day to get your mail and make sure everyone has food and water. She does not really have any travel time involved....so say an hour. Minimun wage is under $8 so $50-60 for 7 days seems pretty reasonable for a child of that age. We also ask the person if they think the payment is fair

 

[We4mickey]

$50 is what I paid a friend of my sons to come over and feed and water the cats once a day. He also scooped the box. He was thrilled with it and hadn't expected anything. This was for one week.

 

[Rhonda]

I would probably give her $5 per day, and bring her back a little gift too. It's a little easier than dogsitting, because she doesn't have to walk them.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Tell her she should do it for free and you'll bring her back a gift,,and then just throw in there to thank her lucky stars that Born 2 Fish ain't her neighbor instead.

 

[scot@dvcstore]

$10 per day sounds reasonable. Enjoy your trip.

 

[Just Beachy]

I think $50 is fine for a neighbor for a week. Cats are easy. Heck, they could even skip a day if they had to, as long as there was enough food and water down.

 

[Judy in Texas]

Thanks everyone for your input.

I had originally told her $5 a day, then I upped it to $50 for the week because Sam kitty get ticked when I go away and tends to play in his water. I doubt it it takes her more than 15-20 minutes a day.

 

[MandMLUVMMandDVC]

BradyBz12: "Around here (southern NH) pet sitting is at a premium. A friend is using a service now that charges him $50/day for one visit for his 2 dogs that lasts only about 20 mins!"

I'm wondering how much I'd have to pay for someone (other than my college aged son) to take care of my 2 dogs and 6 cats? Not that they require a lot of attention or anything...they are only fed twice daily and they have different types and flavors of food to coordinate. Oh, plus 1 of those cats is a feral that has to be fed at a certain time so the raccoons don't steal his food. hmmmm, maybe I'll just stick with my kid doing it.

 

[BradyBz12]

I'm wondering how much I'd have to pay for someone (other than my college aged son) to take care of my 2 dogs and 6 cats? Not that they require a lot of attention or anything...they are only fed twice daily and they have different types and flavors of food to coordinate. Oh, plus 1 of those cats is a feral that has to be fed at a certain time so the raccoons don't steal his food. hmmmm, maybe I'll just stick with my kid doing it.

YIKES - you'd go broke around here!

Even back when we had just 2 cats, they were super low maintenance and it still would have cost us around $20/day for a "professional" pet sitter to just come and feed them.

Thank goodness for my wonderful neighbor girls (and your son!)

 

[FlaFortCampster]

The $50 a week sounds like a good deal for a younger neighbor.
My animals insist on a sitter who comes twice a day (cause of the dogs) and stays for almost an hour each visit, leaves notes on how the animals did, play time for the dogs, (the cats just want the remote control), checks doors, windows, lights, plumbing, etc. for $40 a day. She does a great job and the pets love her so it's worth it.

 

[des1954]

As long as your cats don't require anything more than food, water & the litter scooped, (no meds or special treatments) $50 sounds good. When I was a kid, my mother would not allow me to accept any $$ to care for our neighbor's cats. She insisted that was what neighbors did for one another. I wanted the $$

We solved the cat care issue by taking our fur-babies with us! Once they get over the initial shock of being forced into the carrier, they love it. They have probably been to FtW more than most Americans!

 

[Judy in Texas]

As long as your cats don't require anything more than food, water & the litter scooped, (no meds or special treatments) $50 sounds good. When I was a kid, my mother would not allow me to accept any $$ to care for our neighbor's cats. She insisted that was what neighbors did for one another. I wanted the $$

We solved the cat care issue by taking our fur-babies with us! Once they get over the initial shock of being forced into the carrier, they love it. They have probably been to FtW more than most Americans!

Just bring the mail/paper in, scoop the poop, check the food and water.

No place for the litter in the Aliner. Can't imagine being in that small a space when one of the cats decided to do their "business". I'd need a gas mask!

 

[avic77]

Thank havens I trade off with my sister for pet services!

 

[BradyBz12]

No place for the litter in the Aliner. Can't imagine being in that small a space when one of the cats decided to do their "business". I'd need a gas mask!

We used to go camping all the time when we were kids in a little popup. We lived in an apartment in the city at the time and our landlord didn't know about our cat (for years) so we had to take him with us, just in case.

He generally did fine - except the time he escaped and ran up a tree. And then my mom went up after him! She grabbed the cat, the cat scratched the bejeesus out of her, jumped down and ran back into the camper. Then dad had to go up the tree to get mom!

Funny... I don't remember where we kept the litter box. Musta blocked it out.

 

[Judy in Texas]

Funny... I don't remember where we kept the litter box. Musta blocked it out.

I don't think litter boxes had been invented yet when I was little. We just let the cat out the back door and later we let him in...

 

[rumrunnergirl]

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