Paying a Pet Sitter

[tchrrx]

I have a young girl (13) and her mom coming by every other day for two weeks. They will make sure the cat has food and water. They will also scoop the litter box. How much should I pay them? Thanks!

 

[kristen821]

I would bring back a small gift of some sort and pay the 13 year old $20, unless it's a family that is in need of money then I'd give the mother $50 and let her choose what to do with it.

 

[FlyingDumbo]

I pay my proffesional pet sitter $18 per visit. She is bonded and licensed and has insurance for her business. I imagine I would pay a teenager slightly less. 2 weeks maybe $10 per visit? I would say somewhere between 50 -100 probably like $75 ish with a nice thank you card when you return? I would lean more toward paying on the high end because having someone you trust to watch your pet is wonderful. They are worth their weight in gold. If she is 13 now, she could be your pet sitter in the for the next few years if you treat her right. And of course, if she takes good care of your kitty.

 

[torinsmom]

$20 for two weeks? That is pretty bad, even for a teen. I know I pay the professional pet sitter $20/day, so I would want to pay a teen maybe half that. I'd day $140 for the two weeks would be good if she does a good job. That will also insure her excitement to help you out other times that you need it. I am hoping to get someone at work to pet sit for me when I am at the beach for 4 days and then WDW for 10 days. I'll pay her $10/day plus gas money since she lives about 15 miles away. I am thinking $15 total per day to feed and water the cats and dog, scoop the litter boxes and maybe take the dog for a walk a few days a week.

 

[hereyago]

I'd find out how much professional sitters would charge, then half that because of the every other day visits. I wouldn't charge less because it's a 13 year old. She would still be doing the same thing as a professional sitter would do.

 

[Lehuaann]

Professional insured/bonded pet sitter in our area charges $17 per visit up to 30 min. This service includes; food/water, playtime, walks, cleaning litter boxes, bringing in mail/papers, turn lights on/off, water small amounts of plants/flowers, trash, feed fish and some other small pets, and medications.

Up to 3 additional pets; $1 cats/ $2 dogs

For a girl/mother to come by, assuming they live within 10 mile radius, I believe $12-$15 per visit is fair.

 

[epcotfan]

Eons ago (10+ years) I worked as a professional pet sitter. For 30 minute visits I was paid $15. For an hour it was $20+ depending on the requirements. For a teen coming every other day for two weeks I'd say about $100-120. Have a great trip!

 

[JessicaR]

I pay my petsitter $20 a visit. I think $100 and a nice thank you card and maybe a small momento from the trip would be great!

 

[kristen821]

Thank God I don't have pets. That's expensive! I wouldn't allow my 13 year old to accept that much money for a cat personally. Cats are easy. Dogs require a little more work, but i still wouldn't let him accept to much money. I'd consider it a favor for a friend. I dog sit all the time and wouldn't expect anything, but a thank you

 

[minnie56]

I pay mine $15 a visit and she comes 2x a day..I think given that her Mom is also taking the time to come with her..$10 a visit is minimum.

 

[FredinFL]

I charge $20 for two visits a day, $45 for 4 visits. $35 at my house. Per day.

 

[mhawk4]

I have a young girl (13) and her mom coming by every other day for two weeks. They will make sure the cat has food and water. They will also scoop the litter box. How much should I pay them? Thanks!

We just came back from a long weekend and we paid a 13 year old neighbor $10 a day to take care of our dog. She took him out 2-3 times on Saturday and Sunday and 2 times today.

 

[SueInBoston]

My neighbors pay my kids $10 per visit for cat care or 1/2 hour dog walk. We pay the same when we need the service. When my son first started walking or feeding a new pet, I usually go along just to be sure and we don't expect a higher pay because of me being there.

 

[EllenFrasier]

It depends on how far the Mom has to drive to get the child there to do the pet sitting. If they are close by or it is on their way home or something, then I think around $10 a visit is appropriate for a cat.

 

[kollerbear]

I may come off as chintzy, but I used to do these jobs a LOT when I was a kid. In this situation, I think something like $8/visit is appropriate, because when a young teen is a mother's helper for one kid, I think that is about what they'd get paid per hour at that age and with that experience (i.e. working under supervision). From what you're describing, she'll be there for much less than an hour, but you should round up to a full hour for the visit because of the time it'll take to get there and back, etc.. If you're asking her to play with the cats or engage them at all, or serve any wet food or simple meds, then you should up it to $10-$14 or so a visit depending on what you're asking.

I would tell the kid she's getting $8 a day, and then, when you get home, if everything looks good, give her a flat $75-$80 depending on how good everything looks. Also, bring her home a small souvenir. You aren't trying to short the kid--you want her to work out in the future and you want to have a good relationship with her. You want her to know that you value her time, but you don't want her to feel like she is owed an inflated amount for doing a very simple job. (That way, in the future, if one of your cats DOES need more careful attention or special food, you won't need to break the bank to pay her to do substantially more work--you'll simply give her the $12-$15 or so a visit that would be customary for that nature of a visit. OR you'd hire a professional, if the circumstances required it. As a cat owner with 2 very high needs cats, we wouldn't be able to rely on a neighborhood teen, so I hope you protective pet owners out there understand me.)

Don't forget--this is really good experience for the girl, as well, and you can be generous with her in recommending her to your friends and telling her that she can give your number as a reference for others!!!


Oh--and an edit-- If she already has a going per-visit rate (i.e. if others have already paid her a certain amount for similar services), then it's only appropriate to pay her rate. That doesn't mean you need to go prompting her to tell you what she gets paid--even at that age I understood that I had some clients that were wealthier than others and I didn't expect everyone to pay me the same amount. But if she comes forward and suggests that her services are already worth a certain amount, and the amount is reasonable, then you should pay it.

 

[Katy Belle]

Is the mother going to have to drive the daughter to your house? If so, I'd give the mom a gas card. My pet sitter has taised her prices due to gas prices. I think $75 for the daughter and a gas card for the mom, $30-40.

 

[golfgal]

Our kids used to do this for our old neighbors and they got a huge hug out of the deal. They did it because we were neighbors and DD likes cats so she got to play with the cat too. It never occurred to them that they should get paid to do that.

Now, if they put fliers out around the neighborhood and did it for a "job", I would expect something like $10/day for 2 visits/day for a dog and maybe half that for a cat. Our kids would think that they struck it rich getting $100 for 10 days of pet sitting. Keep in mind that it is a LOT of money for a kid. Now, if you live in NY or San Fran where things are a heck of a lot more expensive, up that some.

 

[rszdtrvl]

I am paying my live-in pet sitter (one of my younger brothers) $50 to watch the house and take care of the pets (2 dogs, 1 cat) while we are at Great Wolf Lodge for 2 nights.

He lives at home still, has no job, and really looks forward to not only getting out of our parents house for a bit, but making money as well.

 

[StitchBuddy]

My DD14 gets $10 a day per pet. But some of it depends on how long she has to watch them and how much time it takes. She pet sits for our neighbors who have 2 dogs, she lets them out 4 times a day. plays with and feed them. So I think $10 a day for the days she goes over to the house. I am sure she will also pick up the paper and the mail. SO it is well earned.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I have a young girl (13) and her mom coming by every other day for two weeks. They will make sure the cat has food and water. They will also scoop the litter box. How much should I pay them? Thanks!

14 (days) divided by two (every other day) is 7 visits. Seven times $5/day is $35 - I'm sure I'd round it up to $50.

You're also only asking to feed and water and clean the litter box - not too difficult or labor intensive. It will take, what, 10 - 15 minutes, at most? A 13 yr old is probably pretty happy to be making some money and Mom I'm sure is happy for her DD to have a small job. Walking or playing with a dog I would think is harder. As is babysitting or lawn mowing (which is what my two 13 yr olds do for $6 and $5/hr, respectively). I do think it is fair to take gas prices into account if that applies. (I asked my kids their opinions on this and they were both responded in the $35-50 range as well.)

I had a 13 yr old come by this weekend when we were away once a day to play with my dog and feed and let our hamster run around for a total of 20 minutes each visit. He actually missed one day completely and came at times other than the times he agreed to come (before dog's feeding so she doesn't bloat) so I wasn't too happy, but I will pay him $5/day for the days that he did come (and probably talk to him about what happened if I'm going to let him do it again). He did ok for us before so I was surprised about this time - I think it was more his parents' issue than his, so it may not be his fault, actually, but he should have communicated with my mother, who lives here with us and waited for him to come, planned dog's feeding times based on his visits, etc.

I've had professional sitters before (when my dog was elderly and needed help to walk and medication) and basically, I think you get what you pay for. I don't think you can compare the two.