Cat sitting rate for neighbor?

[Anonymous]

I had a neighbor (HS senior) come by to feed the cat and fish. We were gone Wednesday night-Friday morning. So, four visits. No special considerations besides keeping an eye on the cat litter. I was thinking somewhere between $20-40 for the whole trip, which is a huge range. Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Pet sitters typically charge about $20/visit. OP I would give them at least $50, but more like $75 if they did a really good job.

[Anonymous]

At least 60. I would consider each visit an hour (even if it’s not- they should be paid for an hour minimum like all jobs) and minimum $15 an hour.

[Anonymous]

I think $10 a visit is reasonable for a teen neighbor. So $40. I wouldn't go lower than that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think $10 a visit is reasonable for a teen neighbor. So $40. I wouldn't go lower than that.

$10/visit is very low, especially if they did a good job and you want to use their services again. $50 at a bare minimum, but probably closer to $60-75 if they did great.

[Anonymous]

I pay my adult sitter 15 a visit.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I would pay $15 per trip for a total of $60 and I would round up to $75 for a job well done. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish. If the sitter does a good job, you may want to use their services again. You would be way more going through a professional service.

[Anonymous]

My child gets $25/day for some cats. Others, I think she'd gotten more like $12/day? Wide range depending upon how much they need to do, will they be asked to spend time with the cat, will they have to do the little box?

I'd say $40 to make it worth the effort.

[Anonymous]

I want to add, it is a huge benefit to you to have somebody in your house, moving around, making sure everything is OK. If you want them to spend time with your cats, tell them the Wifi password, leave snacks. My child LOVES the time spent with the neighbor's cats, and the cats love it, too, just having somebody around. Which makes the owners happy to get back and not have cats "punish" them for going away.

Also, my child has been there to identify water leaks (!!) -- she didn't know what to do, but we did. And saved them a ton of money and hassel by being able to shut the water off for them.

Be generous.

[Anonymous]

This forum is very serious about all this! I do $10/visit for someone who likes cats. When I was a kid petsitting I tended to get at most $20 for a whole weekend, so $10/day seems like a fair rate to me given inflation. OP, I think $40 is reasonable especially if they didn't ask about being paid upfront.

[Anonymous]

My tween was paid five dollars per day for cat and fish sitting. There was essentially no work to be done except feeding and cleaning up the litter. The “work” took less than 10 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This forum is very serious about all this! I do $10/visit for someone who likes cats. When I was a kid petsitting I tended to get at most $20 for a whole weekend, so $10/day seems like a fair rate to me given inflation. OP, I think $40 is reasonable especially if they didn't ask about being paid upfront.

I agree. $25/visit is crazy. She's a HS student.

[Anonymous]

Some of you all are stuck in 1987 with your prices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think $10 a visit is reasonable for a teen neighbor. So $40. I wouldn't go lower than that.

$10/visit is very low, especially if they did a good job and you want to use their services again. $50 at a bare minimum, but probably closer to $60-75 if they did great.

+1

[Anonymous]

The last time I looked after a friend's two dogs, I did it for free even though I had to drive there. I'm no Saint, but I never thought about charging them.

Whatever you can reasonably afford should be fine if they're friends of yours.