Looking for a Pet Sitter

denisend

denisend

New Member
What type of questions do you ask when you're looking for a pet sitter?

What I'm hoping to find is someone to build a long term relationship with - I have a sick cat and am about to adopt an older cat, plus the two "kids" (young, healthy cats). They all eat wet food, but until getting the older cat we could leave dry food out and have my parents check on them every other day. With the older cat, we need someone to come and feed him wet food 2x a day (so might as well have the other cats fed, too). I'd like to have a steady person, you know?

Denise
 
L

luckystar

Guest
denisend said:
What type of questions do you ask when you're looking for a pet sitter?

What I'm hoping to find is someone to build a long term relationship with - I have a sick cat and am about to adopt an older cat, plus the two "kids" (young, healthy cats). They all eat wet food, but until getting the older cat we could leave dry food out and have my parents check on them every other day. With the older cat, we need someone to come and feed him wet food 2x a day (so might as well have the other cats fed, too). I'd like to have a steady person, you know?

Denise
Click to expand...

I'd be happy to help if you were closer, but I don't drive so I'll just throw some questions/topics out there for potential sitters:

1) Have you had cats?
2) Experience with special needs cats?
3) Willing to research and fully understand sick cat's problem indicators
4) CELL PHONE FOR EMERGENCIES
5) Transportation
6) Reliability
7) Flexible work/school schedule so that cats can be fed, given fresh water, and medicated in a timely fashion
 
denisend

denisend

New Member
Thank you! That's exactly the sort of conversation starter things I'm looking for!

With #4, do you mean give the sitter my cell phone NUMBER in case an emergency comes up? Just not sure what that one means.

Thanks again!

And where would you suggest that I look? I was thinking of asking my family vet for suggestions.

Denise


luckystar said:
I'd be happy to help if you were closer, but I don't drive so I'll just throw some questions/topics out there for potential sitters:

1) Have you had cats?
2) Experience with special needs cats?
3) Willing to research and fully understand sick cat's problem indicators
4) CELL PHONE FOR EMERGENCIES
5) Transportation
6) Reliability
7) Flexible work/school schedule so that cats can be fed, given fresh water, and medicated in a timely fashion
Click to expand...


-----------------------
Edited to add the bold word because I'm a doofus and apparently my brain is thinking faster than I'm typing today.
 
Last edited:
tes218

tes218

New Member
denisend said:
What type of questions do you ask when you're looking for a pet sitter?

What I'm hoping to find is someone to build a long term relationship with - I have a sick cat and am about to adopt an older cat, plus the two "kids" (young, healthy cats). They all eat wet food, but until getting the older cat we could leave dry food out and have my parents check on them every other day. With the older cat, we need someone to come and feed him wet food 2x a day (so might as well have the other cats fed, too). I'd like to have a steady person, you know?

Denise
Click to expand...

I highly recommend Dee and George of Pawfessional Pet Care - Pawfessional Pet Care. We've been using Dee for about 10 years and she has always taken great care of my cats and dogs. Dependable, bonded, friendly and knowledgeable. She comes daily for my dogs and watches the cats when I have to travel. :yay:
 
L

luckystar

Guest
denisend said:
Thank you! That's exactly the sort of conversation starter things I'm looking for!

With #4, do you mean give the sitter my cell phone in case an emergency comes up? Just not sure what that one means.

Thanks again!

And where would you suggest that I look? I was thinking of asking my family vet for suggestions.

Denise
Click to expand...

No, I wouldn't give a sitter my cell phone, just make sure that he or she has one and you have the number. You'd want to be able to be contacted should one have to go to the vet for anything (god forbid).

I suppose you could post an ad in the classifieds on here. Professional would be a good way to go too if your interviewing results from the ad doesn't go well, like Tes' post.

Good luck! If I think of anything else to bring up I'll come back :)
 
J

jaybeeztoo

Guest
luckystar said:
No, I wouldn't give a sitter my cell phone, just make sure that he or she has one and you have the number. You'd want to be able to be contacted should one have to go to the vet for anything (god forbid).
Click to expand...

Then wouldn't you need to give the sitter your cell phone number also? What good does it do if they don't know your number and they have to take the pet to the vet?
 
morningbell

morningbell

hmmmmmm
denisend said:
What type of questions do you ask when you're looking for a pet sitter?

What I'm hoping to find is someone to build a long term relationship with - I have a sick cat and am about to adopt an older cat, plus the two "kids" (young, healthy cats). They all eat wet food, but until getting the older cat we could leave dry food out and have my parents check on them every other day. With the older cat, we need someone to come and feed him wet food 2x a day (so might as well have the other cats fed, too). I'd like to have a steady person, you know?

Denise
Click to expand...

Buddy Lee is an excellent pet sitter, that is, if hes not too busy with all his jobs.
 
denisend

denisend

New Member
luckystar said:
No, I wouldn't give a sitter my cell phone, just make sure that he or she has one and you have the number. You'd want to be able to be contacted should one have to go to the vet for anything (god forbid).

I suppose you could post an ad in the classifieds on here. Professional would be a good way to go too if your interviewing results from the ad doesn't go well, like Tes' post.

Good luck! If I think of anything else to bring up I'll come back :)
Click to expand...

Wow, I'm dropping words all over the place today. I didn't mean give the sitter my cell phone, I meant give the sitter my cell phone number. Make more sense now?

I think I should go home.

Denise
 
tes218

tes218

New Member
denisend said:
Wow, I'm dropping words all over the place today. I didn't mean give the sitter my cell phone, I meant give the sitter my cell phone number. Make more sense now?

I think I should go home.

Denise
Click to expand...

My sitter has all of my numbers, home, cell and work. There have been several times when she's had to call because of a situation at the house when she has come by. I also give her all of my travel plans and numbers of the hotels so she can reach me. I board my dogs when I travel but give her cell number to the kennel as the local number to reach if something comes up with one of my dogs while I'm out of town. She was great when one of my dogs had a seizure and the kennel called her. She also takes in the mail, waters my plants, etc at the house while I'm away and she gives the cats company and play time as well as tending to their basic needs of food and water. Great peace of mind!
 
AdvPetCareSvc

AdvPetCareSvc

New Member
Just letting you know I'm here if you need me. I serve the Charles County area. :) I'm a veterinary technician and am trained to handle emergencies.
 
ArkRescue

ArkRescue

Adopt me please !
We also do pet sitting for Charles County and lower Prince Georges (Upper Marlboro, Brandywine, and Aquasco) and we use the money to support the Rescue.

Not as qualified as the prior poster (not a vet tech), but have handled everything from small mammals to reptiles, and cats/dogs, and our rates are probably lower. We currently have in residence ... guinea pigs, cats, dogs, horses, and chickens as an example of what we care for daily.

Can provide references from happy clients.

Lisa
 
sockgirl77

sockgirl77

Well-Known Member
ArkRescue said:
We also do pet sitting for Charles County and lower Prince Georges (Upper Marlboro, Brandywine, and Aquasco) and we use the money to support the Rescue.

Not as qualified as the prior poster (not a vet tech), but have handled everything from small mammals to reptiles, and cats/dogs, and our rates are probably lower. We currently have in residence ... guinea pigs, cats, dogs, horses, and chickens as an example of what we care for daily.

Can provide references from happy clients.

Lisa
Click to expand...

This annoys the piss out of me. Why do you bump a year old thread to advertise? Why not take out an ad? :rolleyes:
 
ArkRescue

ArkRescue

Adopt me please !
Someone else posted saying they did pet sitting so I replied to that post so I didn't do it purposely. Excuse me.
 
J

jp2854

Guest
it depends on where they live if trails end does it or not. but be prepared to pay a hefty price if you have them stay overnight and go over a few times to let your (dog ) if you have one that is. I would try others by calling your vet and asking them for people in your area who they know of that are good as some aren't there to rape you of your money especially if you are on a fixed income.
 
ArkRescue

ArkRescue

Adopt me please !
For 1 family we have as regulars, we charge them $25 a visit, and they have 3 dogs. That includes feeding the dogs, and 30 to 45 minutes of exercise time too - so we're pretty low on price, but we don't go more than 20 miles or so usually (lower PG and Northern Charles).

jp2854 said:
it depends on where they live if trails end does it or not. but be prepared to pay a hefty price if you have them stay overnight and go over a few times to let your (dog ) if you have one that is. I would try others by calling your vet and asking them for people in your area who they know of that are good as some aren't there to rape you of your money especially if you are on a fixed income.
Click to expand...
 
J

jp2854

Guest
there are a few that don't charge 75 to stay overnight which I think is outrageous plus an additional 20 or per each visit who in gods mind has over 100.00 a day to spend. NOT me. that would be over 1,000.00 if you are gone for 2 weeks. Guess the only people they will get are the high dollar money makers. that is why i recommended they call there vets and ask them for references of who they have on there list as there are some that aren't as expensive and will spend quality time with your pet not just take them out let them pee and poop then shove them back in there crate til they come again.

Arkrescue I am not saying you do this but I bet alot of them do because the owner isn't there to see how they really treat the owners animals.

lucky for me i live over top of a store so people will see what is going on especially in the night time hours and they will say hey i saw someone take your dog out a few times and boy did she look happy or they will say what they heard come out of the persons mouth and if they were being mean toward the dog they will definately let me know that as there are a few animal lovers in the store.
 
ArkRescue

ArkRescue

Adopt me please !
That's part of the time we spend there when we go to feed someone's dog, we stay and let the dog out - exercise them in the yard (throw a ball or whatever they like) or walk them - whatever the owner's do usually is what we do. Generally we're there at the home for 45 min to an hour - so that's a lot for $25 for 3 dogs you know? Especially if it took me 20-30 minutes to get there. I'm sure we are under-charging, but hey most people don't have a lot of $$ to spend either usually. So they need affordable alternatives to the higher priced licensed/bonded pet sitting services.

Certainly it's better if people can find someone in their immediate neighborhood/area that is close enough that there is no substantial travel time to get there, so the price could be lower.

jp2854 said:
there are a few that don't charge 75 to stay overnight which I think is outrageous plus an additional 20 or per each visit who in gods mind has over 100.00 a day to spend. NOT me. that would be over 1,000.00 if you are gone for 2 weeks. Guess the only people they will get are the high dollar money makers. that is why i recommended they call there vets and ask them for references of who they have on there list as there are some that aren't as expensive and will spend quality time with your pet not just take them out let them pee and poop then shove them back in there crate til they come again.

Arkrescue I am not saying you do this but I bet alot of them do because the owner isn't there to see how they really treat the owners animals.

lucky for me i live over top of a store so people will see what is going on especially in the night time hours and they will say hey i saw someone take your dog out a few times and boy did she look happy or they will say what they heard come out of the persons mouth and if they were being mean toward the dog they will definately let me know that as there are a few animal lovers in the store.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top