Pet Sitters and You

Choosing pet sitters to look after your furry friend while you're away on holiday can be quite a difficult decision and one that can cause pet owners to worry the whole time they are away. So choosing one that you can trust is all important to ensure both you and your pet have a happy holiday.

The pet sitters industry is a relatively new one due to the fact that the cost of travel has decreased so dramatically over the last thirty years or so, making it much easier to take far away holidays. Add to this the increase in pet ownership during the same time period and we have a growing industry for people to earn money looking after others pets.

Of course if you are lucky enough to have a good neighbour or a family member that is willing to look after your cats while you're away, then your pets well-being and care while you're away is not something you will have to worry about. Just make sure you bring home a nice big gift for your friends as a thank you.

What are the benefits of using professional pet sitters?

Deciding to hire someone to look after your cat while you are away has benefits for not only you but also your pet.

• Your pet will remain in familiar surroundings and have all their own things around them.
• Your pet will have regular human contact, including some playtime.
• Any medications can still be given.
• Someone is available to take care of your cat during an emergency.
• There is no need for the pet to travel, causing less stress.
• There is the added bonus of your home being regularly visited while you are away.
• You do not feel that you are imposing on your neighbours or family.

All of the above are good reasons in themselves to make sure that the pet sitters you hire are fully qualified and professional in what they do, as the responsibility placed in them is a large one considering they are strangers to you.

How to Find Pet sitters?

The first place to start looking for a good pet sitter is to ask at your local vets surgery if they can recommend anyone locally. Personal recommendation is one of the best ways to find someone you can trust. Never use people who simply stick postcard ads in shop windows, you have no way of knowing who they are.

The next option is to check your local yellow pages directory, to see if there are any sitters local to your area.

Lastly you can check the Internet. There have been many pet sitter companies starting up over the last few years and some of the larger ones require every one of their sitters to have a qualification in looking after animals. It is also worth checking out animal forums and seeing what others are saying about particular animal sitter companies.

Questions to ask your pet sitter

It is important that before you hire someone to look after your pet, you ask them some questions to check their suitability.

• Ask for references.
• Ask for any qualifications in animal care they may have
• Ask if they are insured for liability.
• Make sure you have their full contact details
• Ask them how long they have been pet sitting and why they like doing it. This will give you an indication if they are a true animal lover and are enthusiastic about the job.

Instructing your pet sitters

Before going away on vacation it is important that you have good communication with your chosen pet sitter and make sure that they have all the information required to look after your pet to the best of their ability. Make sure:

• You give the details of your local vet to the sitter
• The sitter has met your pet and is familiar with their likes and dislikes, their feeding schedule, play toys and of any medical conditions they may have.
• Make sure the sitter knows of any medications that need to be given and when.
• Give the sitter all your vacation contact details and the telephone numbers of local relatives in case of an emergency.
• Make sure the sitter has all the animals' medical certificates and vaccination records.
• Ensure that your pet is either microchipped or is carrying an identification tag in case they go missing.

What to do before you leave

Making sure that you have prepared everything for both your pet and the sitter before you go away will ensure that the whole process of looking after your furry friend will run smoothly.

• Buy extra cat food and litter and leave it out in an obvious place.
• Close doors to rooms you do not wish your pet to enter and make sure your sitter knows this as well.
• Make sure your sitter knows where the cleaning materials and equipment are.
• Make sure all the pets' favourite toys are available to them.
• Leave some of your clothes around the house to help comfort your pet.
• Leave a small lamp on, again this will comfort the pet during night time.
• Let a neighbour know that a pet sitter will be visiting the house and give them a spare key in case of emergencies.

Our experiences with pet sitters

We thought it would be a good idea to let you know of some of the experiences we have had in the past when leaving Little Mo in the care of someone else. They were three very different experiences and certainly highlight the importance of trusting your pet sitters.

First year - We asked our new neighbour who we liked and who really liked Little Mo. We felt confident that everything would be Ok. However on our return, we noticed that a lot of the cat food we left was still remaining and that they had only been feeding Little Mo small meals. Also we found cat faeces in several areas of the house, one of which was plain to see in the main entrance hall. We couldn't believe it; it looked very much like they had not looked after her or our home very well at all. Luckily we had only been a way for a few days, so Little Mo was fine.

Second year - We used a sitter who had placed a small card in our local vets. The vet did not recommend them but we thought that they looked and sounded trustworthy. Wrong, while we were away our neighbour rang us three times to say that she did not think the pet sitter was visiting the house very often and when we telephoned her she says she was but she was going at all different times. We were not happy, but luckily Little Mo was fine, thanks to our neighbour.

Third year - We found a cat sitter, who was recommended to us by a friend. They visited us before hand and we went through everything with them. They told us about their previous experiences and they asked lots of questions about Little Mo and how often we wanted them to visit the house to look after her. They were great. We went away for a week and when we returned, Little Mo seemed to have hardly noticed that we had been away. She was well fed and contented, which is the best sign that she was looked after properly.

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