How Much to Pay Pet Sitter?

[aubriee]

We are going to WDW Sept 6th-14th. My akita is staying at either the vet's or his trainers and my shich tzu is staying with a co worker of mine that she knows and loves. However, neither of them can take care of my macaw parrot. My neighbor has a son about 12 or 13 y/o that I am considering asking to come over twice a day. He would have to cut off my home security system, feed him his dry food and his fresh food (I would have the fresh food cut up and in a big covered bowl all ready for him in the fridge), and change his water. Then he'd have to come back in the afternoon to change his water again and just make sure he had plenty of food to last until the morning, and of course reset the security system every time he left. Each visit shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes. I would put a lock on the big door of his cage to make sure the boy didn't try to get him out (all three of his ceramic food dishes are accessed from the outside of the cage). I would of course, bring both him and his little brother back something from WDW, but how much should I offer to pay him?

 

[bas71873]

Hmmm....you're probably paying your vet $10-15/day for your other pet right? So maybe since he's not having to walk a dog or clean out a little box, $7-8/day?

 

[hollisterluva92]

Every summer, my neighbors go on vacation. They have 2 cats and a fish and I am recruited to watch them. They're normally gone for about a week adn she pays me $25.

 

[puffkin]

I pay the neighbor kid who is 15 to take care of my cat. She comes in once a day to scoop her litter, refill her food bowl and give her fresh water. She also needs to water a few of my potted plants 2-3 times while we are gone. I pay her $50 for the week. She probably spends 10 minutes a day on it.

 

[mommaducktoo3]

wow.. you guys sure pay alot..
I have two boys that have many times watched and taken care of other peoples pets..
I tell every one no more then $20.00 and I still think thats alot. We need to teach kids that yes there time is worth something But a act of kindness means more..

 

[everylastbreath]

I have a girl who does this professionally (she is a vet tech) and she gets $40 per day, and she makes 3 visits, if you were to kennel 2 dogs & a bird (which I have done in the past) it's $25 per night per dog + $7 or $8 per night for Bird, so it's cheap at $40, me personally if someone asked me to pet sit, I would either do it for free (close friend/or relative) or I would hand them my petsitters card. I think people who impose on neighbors/relatives like that are rude - $20 a week! That's an insult.

 

[taekwondo mom]

When we are gone I have a friend's daughter(17) to come over 2-3 times a day let the dogs out and fed them sometimes she spends the night and I give her $100 for a week .

 

[gottalovethem]

Hmm, last time I paid about $6/day for someone to come and take my dog out a couple times a day (maybe it was $8, can't remember).

This time I have someone coming by to feed the cat once a day and water my potted plants...I haven't figured out a price yet tho

 

[DawnM]

I pay the neighbor's daughter (13) $10 per day. She comes twice a day, lets the dogs out, plays with them, gets our mail and paper, and feeds and waters the dogs.

The cheapest kennel is $10 per dog per day and it is over 20 miles away. Anything close is $16 per dog per day.

I think my dogs prefer being at home anyway, and it is much cheaper than a kennel.

Dawn

 

[missj1975]

I have a girl who does this professionally (she is a vet tech) and she gets $40 per day, and she makes 3 visits, if you were to kennel 2 dogs & a bird (which I have done in the past) it's $25 per night per dog + $7 or $8 per night for Bird, so it's cheap at $40, me personally if someone asked me to pet sit, I would either do it for free (close friend/or relative) or I would hand them my petsitters card. I think people who impose on neighbors/relatives like that are rude - $20 a week! That's an insult.

I agree. My boyfriend pays a professional pet sitter to come to the house twice a day for $20.00 a day. And that is cheap in the St. Louis area. He got quotes from anywhere between $40 to $60 a day.

On the otherhand, a coworker comes to my house twice a day to check on my animals during my vacations. He refuses payment so we work out trades. I do his taxes and he has free reign of my movie collection. I think it evens out because he saves a lot of money by not having to pay Blockbuster video rental fees. I would prefer to pay him but he is older and stubborn. I boarded my dog once and didn't like it. I am very lucky to have such a nice coworker house sit and animal sit.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I must be cheap, but my first thought was $20 plus a small something from Disney would be fine. I guess we're lucky our neighbor feeds our cat and brings in our mail for free! Once I gave him (an older man) a Panera gift card, and he really didn't want to accept it. When I was growing up, we always fed the neighbor's animals for free, and they would reciprocate.

 

[aubriee]

Thanks guys! Jonah (the macaw) is not much trouble. He would not need to be played with. He talks well, but probably wouldn't with a stranger in the room. All the kid would have to do is cut off the security system, feed and water him twice a day, and maybe cut the TV on for him in the morning and off at night, and remember to cut the security system back on. Again it shouldn't take him 10 minutes. I was thinking maybe a $100.00 for the week, plus really nice Tshirts from WDW for him and his little brother. Again the kid is about 12 or 13 y/o and I thought he might appreciate the job as an easy way to earn some money.

I just wanted to make sure I was in line with what most kids that age would get paid for a job like that.

 

[cigarboo]

Wow! You folks are lucky. I pay $75 per day to my dogsitter who comes 3 times per day. Even at that price, I can't find anyone who's really dependable. I'm in upstate NY where the cost of living isn't so high, but all of the petsitter's I've looked into are around $25 per visit. If I could find a reliable teenager, I would pay at least $15 per visit.