Am I being a bad friend? Pet sitting dilemma

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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?

OP here - yes I think a month is too long for just a 15 min visit every day for the cats. These cats are pretty old. I have suggested a paid service/or house sitter but she doesn't like that idea because her cats will not like it. I think I will hold my ground and say I will do it for 2 weeks. She lives 15mins away so the visit is pretty much an hour of my day taken.

Woah! You have to drive 15 minutes to her house for the favor? That would be a hard no for me. I know it will be awkward for you, but that’s 30 minutes a day, 3.5 hours on the road. If anything, maybe you can do it for a week but more than that she’s going to need to figure it out on her own.

[Anonymous]

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

+1

Even if a friend offered to do it at a discounted rate, I’d offer at least $10/day (assuming they live super close by and it’s easy for them to pop over). This should at least be a $300 favor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

+1

Even if a friend offered to do it at a discounted rate, I’d offer at least $10/day (assuming they live super close by and it’s easy for them to pop over). This should at least be a $300 favor.

Never mind, just read OP lives 15 min. away. I was envisioning a neighbor type situation. Our next door neighbor’s DD likes cats and has taken care of ours for a few days here and there when we go out of town so we give her $10/day despite her not asking for payment.

I’m honestly not sure even $25/day would be worth an hour out of my life for a month. Maybe for a week. She is taking advantage of this ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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?

OP here - yes I think a month is too long for just a 15 min visit every day for the cats. These cats are pretty old. I have suggested a paid service/or house sitter but she doesn't like that idea because her cats will not like it. I think I will hold my ground and say I will do it for 2 weeks. She lives 15mins away so the visit is pretty much an hour of my day taken.

You have to drive 15 minutes to get her house? Nobody would do this for a month for free. Come on. That’s VERY nice of you to offer 2 weeks even.

Holy crap! I would just say no entirely. That is ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Wow op, I am leaving for a month this summer and immediately knew I couldn't even ask the neighbor kids who live right across the street to take care of our cat every couple days because that is way too long. If you live 15 minutes away it's too bit of an ask just.. generally!! Maybe like one time over a long weekend, once a year. Otherwise this ask is WAY too big. you are so so kind to even consider doing the two weeks!! She really does need to come up with a better plan, that is a huge ask.

[Anonymous]

In fact as I think about it, she's actually asking YOU to pay to take care of her cats, does she offer to pay for gas? I can't believe you've done this for her daily when you are 15 minutes away. Incredibly generous and it is so fair to say I'm so sorry but I can't do it again this year, I need to have some flexibility this summer and it takes about an hour each day to do the visit

[Anonymous]

Holy cow. I think 2 weeks is too much. If you want to do that, fine. But say you can only do 2 weeks. Done.

[Anonymous]

This is way too big an ask, especially given that you're a 15 minute drive away. She needs a pet/house sitter. If you're feeling generous you can offer to go over once a week or so just to check on things and make sure the cat sitter is doing everything that's needed and to show the cats a familiar face. Her cats may not like strangers, but they'll warm up if that stranger is coming over every day for a month. I cat sit on the side, and even the grouchiest cats warm up some after a week or so of consistent visits.

[Anonymous]

That is a HUGE ask. Be honest and tell her you do not want to do it as it is an entire month. Tell her now so she can plan