Am I being a bad friend? Pet sitting dilemma

[Anonymous]

My friend and I are both Europeans living in the US and we have no extended family here. Her family goes away every summer for about a month and always asks me to go and feed her cats daily and sort our their litter tray and water her plants. I am all for a bit of pet sitting for family/friends here and there but I think a month is a bit much and wouldn't ask that of her. I don't know my plans that far in advance and we might want to go away for the weekend ourselves during that month. She has just asked again for this summer and I suggested if she could find someone else we could split the sitting to 2 weeks each but she didn't seem keen as her cats are a bit nervy. I know this is a small problem in the grand scheme of things but was just wondering if I am being unreasonable for not wanting to do the whole month?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t ask someone to do it for a month without pay

[Anonymous]

She can ask. You can say, "no". You should always say, "no" if no is what you want to say

[Anonymous]

and btw, is not your responsibility to find a solution to her problem.

[Anonymous]

I pay my cat sitter $25 daily for a single visit.

[Anonymous]

A week would be a reasonable request; a month is crazy.

[Anonymous]

I would never ask a friend to do that even for a week. It’s easy to hire a pet sitter, and she should do that.

[Anonymous]

She can’t expect you to plan your summer around her cats. A month is a lot. Offer what you can and she can get a pet sitter for the rest of the time.

[Anonymous]

Even if the house was next door to mine, a month is a crazy commitment. If you do it, she needs to have a backup plan in case you do make plans, and/or have a pet sitter cover all the weekends Fri, Sat, Sun and the cats can be nervy 3 days/week.

I would make up a reason I am busy every weekend, I have a hard time being direct.

[Anonymous]

My best friend pays me $25 a visit to take care of her animals so I think your friend is taking advantage of you.

[Anonymous]

She needs to get a paid service.

[Anonymous]

Our lovely neighbors sometimes ask my daughter to drop in for a few days to feed their cat, change its water and see to the litter box. The longest it's ever been was a week, and that time they said she could come by every few days (she still came daily, so the cat would feel better!).

Every day for a month is too much, OP. Your friend has lost perspective.

[Anonymous]

Tell her you have plans and you’re not able to take care of her cats this summer.

[Anonymous]

A month is too long - for you and the cats. Even with daily company, 30 days is a looooong time for pets to be on their own. She should be getting a house and pet sitter. Typically, you pay them, but perhaps you all have friends from Europe who might appreciate a free place to stay in exchange for some pet sitting?

[Anonymous]

Have you ever asked her for a big favor? If so, you should do it.

Otherwise just tell her you can only do it for 2 weeks because you're trying to plan vacations.

I guess you could also tell her you'll only do Mon-Thurs each week.