Pet sitter just didn’t show up

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yea, I’m sorry but there are no excuses here. What the pet sitter did is absolutely unacceptable. I’d be furious. And I don’t even like cats!

Why was this comment even necessary? Who cares if you don't like cats

NP. Your comment is unnecessary, too. You're not the board police.

[Anonymous]

What about a local middle or high school student? That's what we do for our two cats. We are friends with their parents so we know the teenagers will come through, and it's bigger money for them relatively speaking. I think we pay $20-$30 a day for two visits, feeding, cleaning litter box, and paying attention to the cats, and they live in the neighborhood so they can walk over. They don't have to do anything else except bring in any packages from the front porch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The next sitter you find, pay them a little better than they charge/market rate and give a small bonus after each gig.
I deal with a lot of low paid gig workers and they have a lot of gigs to choose from. They have the luxury of not dealing with difficult clients, and they have a lot of not great not terrible clients who don’t give them the reason to reject them but also no reason to really be a good worker since there are so many.
My strategy is to find a generally reliable person and make their job worth it - small extras, establishing rapport, never ever micromanaging, and bonuses! This is key I tell you.
Not saying it’s how it should be, just the situation on the market. Reliability is usually a built in feature but for retention, once you find someone reliable, treat them super well!

I tipped 20% every singled time. We travel a lot last minute and I wanted her to want to feed our cats and it seemed like she did. Always eager for a gig and seems to really like our cats. We don’t micromanage. We offered her drinks or snacks when she stops by Didn’t say anything when she changed their feeding schedule. We just let her do her thing because we want someone who a) is reliable b) likes our cats c) is trustworthy

And compared to others her rate is a bit higher. Two visits a day to feed and scoop litter box. $50 We didn’t retain some random neighbor, she is a professional pet sitter with a licensed business. We did our due diligence.

[Anonymous]

I hire neighborhood teenagers to feed my cats, and communicate with them + their mom. My cats have never gone hungry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about a local middle or high school student? That's what we do for our two cats. We are friends with their parents so we know the teenagers will come through, and it's bigger money for them relatively speaking. I think we pay $20-$30 a day for two visits, feeding, cleaning litter box, and paying attention to the cats, and they live in the neighborhood so they can walk over. They don't have to do anything else except bring in any packages from the front porch.

That’s what we’ll probably end up doing. I thought going with a professional was the safest bet. I’ve had these days since I was in college and they are so important to me. One cat is a darter and she (cat sitter) is careful when she comes in to make sure he doesn’t run out. I am fearful that a teenage pet sitter wouldn’t a aware?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about a local middle or high school student? That's what we do for our two cats. We are friends with their parents so we know the teenagers will come through, and it's bigger money for them relatively speaking. I think we pay $20-$30 a day for two visits, feeding, cleaning litter box, and paying attention to the cats, and they live in the neighborhood so they can walk over. They don't have to do anything else except bring in any packages from the front porch.

That’s what we’ll probably end up doing. I thought going with a professional was the safest bet. I’ve had these days since I was in college and they are so important to me. One cat is a darter and she (cat sitter) is careful when she comes in to make sure he doesn’t run out. I am fearful that a teenage pet sitter wouldn’t a aware?

If you invite the new sitter over before you travel and warn him/her about the cat, that should really help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yea, I’m sorry but there are no excuses here. What the pet sitter did is absolutely unacceptable. I’d be furious. And I don’t even like cats!

Why was this comment even necessary? Who cares if you don't like cats

NP. Your comment is unnecessary, too. You're not the board police.

Pot, meet kettle.

[Anonymous]

I would pay her for her actual visits, no tip and never use her again.

[Anonymous]

I had this happen with a dog sitter. Thank goodness for a Ring camera and kind neighbors with keys. It's an awful feeling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in VA and use a service called Pet Sitting By Susan. It’s a very professional service and there are a lot of pet sitters. You get assigned one but if they can’t show up for some reason there are backups. You can tell the woman who runs it is a cat lover so I felt pretty confident using her company.

I realize you’re in MD so this won’t help you directly. But I’d recommend finding something like this if it exists near you (also maybe this recommendation helps some cat owners near Falls Church).

We're in MD and use Fetch. There's a central coordinator/owner and then a bunch of the actual walkers/sitters. If I ever noticed our cat sitter didn't show up, I feel confident I could call the coordinator and get a back up quickly. He has always been very responsive and communicative.

We also have friends who live nearby on standby in general in case we need someone to check on the house for any reason.

[Anonymous]

This happened to me before. I was very worried about my cat not being fed and not having her litter scooped - she would ruin my house. I texted a neighbor who was able to feed her until the person I hired came.

[Anonymous]

I would need a lot more than "emergency" - she should provide details. or else I'd be tempted to blast on nextdoor.

If you go with neighbor kids, make sure you know and trust them. Even a college aged kid nextdoor neighbor came over at 5pm one day and not again until 9 or so the following since she went out partying.

This was for a dog who needs a bedtime potty break (this was a clearly communicated need).

Glad you have a camera.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand why you booked her when you already knew she was flaky, coming “whenever.”

Everyone with pets, who ever travels, has done that. Because it's hard to find someone new who you trust more than the person whose flakiness you already account for. You don't usually look for someone new until you encounter a situation like this - where it's not just an annoying thing but something that you really can't live with.

It's hard leaving your pets with anyone else, let alone a stranger who's never taken care of them before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about a local middle or high school student? That's what we do for our two cats. We are friends with their parents so we know the teenagers will come through, and it's bigger money for them relatively speaking. I think we pay $20-$30 a day for two visits, feeding, cleaning litter box, and paying attention to the cats, and they live in the neighborhood so they can walk over. They don't have to do anything else except bring in any packages from the front porch.

That’s what we’ll probably end up doing. I thought going with a professional was the safest bet. I’ve had these days since I was in college and they are so important to me. One cat is a darter and she (cat sitter) is careful when she comes in to make sure he doesn’t run out. I am fearful that a teenage pet sitter wouldn’t a aware?

You are right to be worried. There are a LOT of stories about pets who get out when a sitter isn't careful enough.

I would try to find another professional, personally. I'm sorry you're dealing with this.

[Anonymous]

Get a neighbor. The closer the better. I was a dogwalker for two months and it cost me more to go to work than stay at home.
Also, many do it because they can't keep a regular schedule job and like the flexibility. so, she took a liberty being flexible/flaky.