OT-Pet Sitters

[PAcpl]

If you aren't comfortable I would definitely cancel. When we were looking for a pet sitter we called our vet. One of the vet techs was a sitter and was actually local so we have been using her for years. She is fantastic and when she comes over our pups go nuts!

Good luck!

 

[jrmasm]

Sorry to hijack, but.... What would you guys pay for a pet sitter? My husbands nephew is a college kid. He will stay at our house, take care of dog, outside cat, check mail, and take out/bring in trash bins. 6 nights. He lives with his Grandma so I knew he would jump at the chance to be alone for a week. Good kid! $100?

Earlier this month I had a friend of my daughter's stay (college age) in our house with our pets while we were away. I paid her $25 per night and stocked the house with the food and drinks she requested. Before deciding on that figure, I asked my daughter (same age as the pet sitter) what she thought and she felt it more than fair.

 

[tlkscott]

We pay $150 for a college kid to stay at our house with the cats. They are thrilled to be out of the parents house for the week. We pay to board our diabetic cat at the vets it is only $14 a night. It would be cheaper to board if they did not have to give insulin.

 

[rszdtrvl]

We are paying my mother probably $200 to watch our dog for the 4 days we will be on vacation.

We were going to pay $150, but he is going to be recovering from surgery (has ACL surgery next Tuesday and we leave for vacation on Feb 16) and is going to need a lot of TLC and care.

It is worth it to have her come here and she is bringing my younger brother also, who she will probably share the $ with.

 

[foltzy]

I pay my pet setter $10 each time she steps foot in my house. She came in 3 times a day to feed and/or walk the dog (I have a mini dachshund) and feed the cat. She also checked water. We were in Disney for a week so it cost us $240 for 8 days. Totally worth it to know that they were being taken care of in my home. Our sitter knows our dog well as she's her groomer. The groomer has a pet sitting business as well and they kennel sit or come in the home. It was nice having someone the dog knew and someone we knew loved our dog.

 

[Lisa71]

Our pet sitter was 18 a visit (30 min) and we had many pets on meds. We now have a good friend who loves our pets come and we pay 300 for the week but she stays here. No one is on meds right now and she likes the break and solicitude.

 

[smokeyblue]

I'm paying $10/day for a college girl to visit two cats at two separate house. Both houses are about a mile from campus. I had originally advertised on Care.com and all the sitters were asking for $5-$10/day. I plan on giving her $20 for gas when she comes over to meet the cats and show her around the house. She will be stopping by 9 days, I'll probably make it an even $100 when the job is through. $120 cash for less than 10 hrs worth of time is exceptionally good money where I live. I'm willing to toss in the little extra for gas because going out in the cold weather really stinks!

 

[undertheradar]

I'm paying $10/day for a college girl to visit two cats at two separate house. Both houses are about a mile from campus. I had originally advertised on Care.com and all the sitters were asking for $5-$10/day. I plan on giving her $20 for gas when she comes over to meet the cats and show her around the house. She will be stopping by 9 days, I'll probably make it an even $100 when the job is through. $120 cash for less than 10 hrs worth of time is exceptionally good money where I live. I'm willing to toss in the little extra for gas because going out in the cold weather really stinks!

You are paying someone $5.00 a day per cat/house? I understand why you didn't hear back from the first sitter. I've never paid a sitter less than $20.00 per visit and there is no way a licensed pet sitter would work for $5.00 per visit. This is way too cheap.

 

[java]

I'm paying $10/day for a college girl to visit two cats at two separate house. Both houses are about a mile from campus. I had originally advertised on Care.com and all the sitters were asking for $5-$10/day. I plan on giving her $20 for gas when she comes over to meet the cats and show her around the house. She will be stopping by 9 days, I'll probably make it an even $100 when the job is through. $120 cash for less than 10 hrs worth of time is exceptionally good money where I live. I'm willing to toss in the little extra for gas because going out in the cold weather really stinks!

That seems low to me too. You get what you pay for. $5 a day per cat, plus she is driving to two different houses, feeding two different places, cleaning 2 different litter boxes, playing with 2 cats in different homes. You are lucky you found someone willing to do it that cheaply.

 

[smokeyblue]

You are paying someone $5.00 a day per cat/house? I understand why you didn't hear back from the first sitter. I've never paid a sitter less than $20.00 per visit and there is no way a licensed pet sitter would work for $5.00 per visit. This is way too cheap.

Like I said, that is what the market dictates here. It's a very low-cost of living area. I explicitly advertised the wage and had many applicants. Pet sitters here ask for $5-10/visit. I am paying more than the going rate for my area. If I told someone that I was in essence paying someone $12/hr for an hour or less of work they would think I was over paying.

I don't care how underpaid you feel, not calling back is unprofessional and rude. If you weren't agreement with the wage, you should discuss your requirements before you accept the job.

 

[grwrn]

My pet sitter is a vet tech whom I know as a co-workers SIL. I am so thankful for her. I pay her $20/day to feed my 3 cats twice a day. One is a diabetic and will check his sugar and give him his insulin. I have a large 14 yo dog, and my my mom will keep him.

I know I have a bargain in her but I usually add a $20 tip and when she watches them during Christmas, I give her a $25 gift card. When I text her she responds almost immediately and is available every time I have needed her even on short notices. She will stay in my home overnight too if I ever needed her too.

Hope you have peace about your fur babies on your vacation.

 

[bianca]

We just used our pet sitter 2 weeks ago for a 5-day period. Her per day charge (including overnight) is $64. Since she was here during the Polar Vortex thing and had to keep shoveling paths to the back yard for my puppies, I gave her extra $ bringing her cost up to $300 for 5 days. It was totally worth it, as she was a trained professional that returned calls quickly and gave me daily updates about the dogs. Anything less during your absence is not cool. Find someone you instinctually trust and that is licensed/bonded.

 

[Imhere]

I am feeling very nervous. I posted an ad at the local university for a pet sitter. I got several replies. I found a gal that had great job experience working with handicapped children. She had a lot of references, one of which is a professor of hers she has dog sat for. I checked this reference and they said they trust and would hire her again.

I am very nervous because she takes a long time to get back to me. She took two days to get back to me about meeting up about the job. I asked her to send me her phone number in case I had to cancel and she never responded. I did have to cancel the meeting because the weather was bad (I found her phone # on her resume). I asked her to call me in the afternoon the next day, and she did. We had a nice chat. She seemed very interested in the cats and the job. I asked her to either email or text me what day would be good to meet T-W-TH evening of this week to meet the cats, get keys and show her where everything is. It has been two days, no email, no text.


I'm thinking I should tell her we changed our plans and contact one of the other girls to come and do it. What would you do?

She has great references.

I don't consider 2 days outrageous for a busy person to get back to me.

You had a meeting scheduled and YOU canceled it.

You asked her to send you her phone number but it turned out you ALREADY had it on her resume?

When she called you why didn't you just set up a time to meet instead of putting it off until the next day?

I think you 2 just didn't get off on the right foot and you might want to move along.

 

[MinnieForMe]

If you are still looking, I've used Rover.com and been happy. Plus, they carry insurance on your pet while you are gone so there is never a worry as to vet care.

$15 a visit is normal here or $25-35 per pet a day for in home boarding.

Also, keep in mind this is a person who is having access to your house, unless you go with family/friend, I'd want them insured.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

Sorry to hijack, but....

What would you guys pay for a pet sitter?

My husbands nephew is a college kid. He will stay at our house, take care of dog, outside cat, check mail, and take out/bring in trash bins.

6 nights. He lives with his Grandma so I knew he would jump at the chance to be alone for a week. Good kid!

$100?

I think that's adequate, depending on your area (if you're in a high COL area, it might be too low). We have 2 cats (one that is inside/outside) and for a week, we pay $100. The sitter doesn't have to spend the nights here, but does need to hang out awhile and spend time with the cats. When we went to WDW for my birthday earlier this month, we paid a college girl from church $100 and she was thrilled. Of course, we only have cats and I think dogs are more high-maintenance in general.

 

[smokeyblue]

Met the new pet sitter today and she was great! The cats loved her, even the extra shy one who doesn't like too much attention! Gave her $20 for gas money to start with and she was thrilled.

I have my animal rescue-loving cousin that lives around the corner as back-up. I would have loved her to sit for me in the first place, but with 3 busy elementary/middle school kids I thought 9 days would be way too much to ask even with pay.

I feel so much better now; but of course I will still be nervous about leaving them.

 

[ceecee]

DD feed our neighbors rabbits and other assorted rodent type pets twice a day and cleaned the pen once. She got $40 for the week. Which she was happy with but she hated cleaning the pen and it smelled.

 

[aclov]

My brother (35yrs old) will be overnight pet sitting next week for one week, I plan to pay him $150 and a case of beer!. He has to take a week vacation from his job so I appreciate him doing that but he never travels so this is a little get away for him.

 

[mousefan5]

I paid someone $300 to housesit for 9 days. She also was cleaning my house so I was thrilled.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Sorry to hijack, but....

What would you guys pay for a pet sitter?

My husbands nephew is a college kid. He will stay at our house, take care of dog, outside cat, check mail, and take out/bring in trash bins.

6 nights. He lives with his Grandma so I knew he would jump at the chance to be alone for a week. Good kid!

$100?

I did petsitting as a side job for some coworkers and their friends almost 20 year ago and I stayed overnight with their pets. Some had dogs and some had cats. Back then I made 150.00 for the week and they would buy groceries for me to have for the week.

9 days at the Royal Kennel (love this place) for my dogs was 390.00 just 2 weeks ago.

I am sure as a college student any extra would help but 100.00 is low in my opinion.