I've used a variety of pet sitters in the 25 plus years I've had a cat, but the longest has probably been slightly over 3 weeks. I found my latest pet sitter through my vet's office where she worked as a vet tech (since the cat I had at that time needed daily medicine). I've also never worried about people having access to my house/valuables, probably because I don't own anything too valuable, and I've found my sitters through referrals from people that I trusted.
Pet/home sitters while on extended travel
- Thread starter PaunchyPirate
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PaunchyPirate
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
OP here again. Thanks for the tips and recommendations. This has been very helpful.
Retired Expat
Full time employment: Posting here.
We have used them before. You post your house and pets online and then choose from the sitters that apply or you can contact available sitters. As we are in Uruguay sitters are all coming from far away and there are some serios costs involved. All the sitters we have chosen were retired couples, with home owner and pet experience. There was some property work involved too. But this is a bit like arranging a home exchange but they get to visit other places an avoid the cost of accommodations while traveling. It has worked out very well for us so far. Look at trustedhousesitters.com or mind my house.com but there are more and some are more geographically limited like only for Australia or Canada.
We tend to lock up our master bedroom and give them the guest room so we don’t have to pack up our stuff and make room.
We have 2 sister cats that are now 5 years old and we have been using a friend of our daughter's to come twice a day to feed the cats, get mail and water plants while we are gone. We will be gone for 18 days on our ski trip starting in late February and she will watch the cats.
My husband and I would like to go to Europe or Asia and stay for a month in the next couple of years. We will look for someone to stay in our home while we are gone for that long. We live in San Diego and we are hoping to find a retired couple or an older work from home couple that would like to stay a couple of miles from the beach for a month.
My husband and I would like to go to Europe or Asia and stay for a month in the next couple of years. We will look for someone to stay in our home while we are gone for that long. We live in San Diego and we are hoping to find a retired couple or an older work from home couple that would like to stay a couple of miles from the beach for a month.
I have been following Gowithless videos for a while now. Amy started a Facebook group called Nomadic Life, Early Retirement, Travel Hacking, House Sitting. I joined this group and I was amazed how many people are foot loose and fancy free. So many of them do not have a home base and do house sitting as a way to travel and see new sights. So many of the people meet up all over the world. It looks very interesting and fun.
We had 5 cats at one time. We lost my DH's favorite cat in 2020. Tony was almost 20 years old. We lost our last cat in 07/21. She was almost 19 years old. It has been hard not having any pets. We have always had some type of pet during our 49 years of marriage. My DH would really like to get a Maine Coon cat. We have also thought about fostering cats, but we want to be able to travel as soon as the pandemic is over.
If you have a Maine Coon cat let me know. My DH would probably be there with or without me. LOL.
We had 5 cats at one time. We lost my DH's favorite cat in 2020. Tony was almost 20 years old. We lost our last cat in 07/21. She was almost 19 years old. It has been hard not having any pets. We have always had some type of pet during our 49 years of marriage. My DH would really like to get a Maine Coon cat. We have also thought about fostering cats, but we want to be able to travel as soon as the pandemic is over.
If you have a Maine Coon cat let me know. My DH would probably be there with or without me. LOL.
OP
OP
PaunchyPirate
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Haha. You’re in luck. I do not have a Maine Coon Cat. Just your typical fat tabby and a petite little calico.
We’re in week 3 of my retirement and our retired friends invited us to come for a week or 2 to their condo in a warmer climate next month.
Apparently the very reliable dog sitter we’ve used in the past (when I paid no attention to the short term daily rate) now costs $40/day.
That concerns me only because we budgeted using past pet expenses and $280/ week is a lot of beer money [emoji3]
For now I’m following a retired friend’s attitude: “It’s just another expense”
DW rightly claims that her dog is “cheaper than therapy” and when she’s not looking I’ll admit I like him when I’m not tripping over him.
When we get our travel trailer this should become a moot point because campsites typically cost the same on average.
We do anticipate hiring “sitters” while on the road for some events.
Apparently the very reliable dog sitter we’ve used in the past (when I paid no attention to the short term daily rate) now costs $40/day.
That concerns me only because we budgeted using past pet expenses and $280/ week is a lot of beer money [emoji3]
For now I’m following a retired friend’s attitude: “It’s just another expense”
DW rightly claims that her dog is “cheaper than therapy” and when she’s not looking I’ll admit I like him when I’m not tripping over him.
When we get our travel trailer this should become a moot point because campsites typically cost the same on average.
We do anticipate hiring “sitters” while on the road for some events.
Having read this thread I'm feeling quite fortunate about the fact that we've had wonderful house/pet sitters over the years. We have two dogs, one of whom is very anxious at night and requires a human in the bedroom in order to sleep. Our home has a short-term rental and it's easy enough for us to block it off while we're traveling. This way we can give the pet sitter the entire rental and the dogs have a familiar space, same yard, etc. We pay $50/day to watch the dogs, the house, water the plants, garden, etc. and our dogs love the sitters we've had so much that they are often reluctant to return to the main house.
Literally, we'll often let the sitter stay for an extra few days before/after our planned travels (it's a luxury rental) and our dogs will hang out at the rental until the sitter finally leaves. Then they mope.
On some occasions we've had an unexpected trip and the rental is already booked. In those cases we set the sitter up in a spare bedroom in our home. Often friends ask how we "secure" our home before giving someone run of the house. My response is always, "the two most precious things are those dogs. Everything else can be replaced."
Literally, we'll often let the sitter stay for an extra few days before/after our planned travels (it's a luxury rental) and our dogs will hang out at the rental until the sitter finally leaves. Then they mope.
On some occasions we've had an unexpected trip and the rental is already booked. In those cases we set the sitter up in a spare bedroom in our home. Often friends ask how we "secure" our home before giving someone run of the house. My response is always, "the two most precious things are those dogs. Everything else can be replaced."
Sunset
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Sometimes I'd like to have a dog, but then remember our travels would be more work to plan.
Same reason, we don't have indoor plants, after the first 2 month trip
bearkeley
Recycles dryer sheets
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We have traveled to Australia 4 times and each time, spent 6 weeks (of our 5 -6 month extended travel) pet sitting for families we didn’t know while they traveled. In exchange, we were able to get free housing and use of a car and have a dog and/or cat in our lives again, even for just a bit. Hope to do it again soon, maybe in Europe.
Not sure how Covid is impacting things now, but depending on where you are, proximity to interesting areas / tourist sites, etc, you might have luck with someone traveling. It could be someone from overseas, or, if you have good parking, there’s a large number of people traveling in their campers who may appreciate staying in a real house for a bit.
Re valuables, etc. - Interview via video chat, do a background check, call references, etc as needed. I’m sure you would want to do this at a minimum to ensure you have someone who will take good care of your four legged family members. Lock up valuables in a safe if needed. Since we travel half the year, we rent out our home on the beach to snowbirds and pretty much do the same thing.
Not sure how Covid is impacting things now, but depending on where you are, proximity to interesting areas / tourist sites, etc, you might have luck with someone traveling. It could be someone from overseas, or, if you have good parking, there’s a large number of people traveling in their campers who may appreciate staying in a real house for a bit.
Re valuables, etc. - Interview via video chat, do a background check, call references, etc as needed. I’m sure you would want to do this at a minimum to ensure you have someone who will take good care of your four legged family members. Lock up valuables in a safe if needed. Since we travel half the year, we rent out our home on the beach to snowbirds and pretty much do the same thing.
Ian S
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
We've generally had great experiences with Rover but we always do a trial run with a new sitter by arranging a few days stay for our dog in their home and seeing how it works out. That way, if there's a problem, we are close by and can easily pick the pooch up and bring him home.
caninelover
Full time employment: Posting here.
Our two cats do fine with a pet sitter coming by at a convenient time for a 30 minute visit. During this time she scoops 3 litter boxes, refills water, and refills the automatic feeder (we leave some dry kibble out for them all day, but they get wet food in an auto feeder for dinner - has an ice pack underneath to keep the wet food from spoiling, opens up at 6 pm, and closes up at 8 pm. Sitter cleans and refills it on her visits.
She also has enough time to play with them a bit (both are shy but may be enticed out with a string or toy) as well as feed our two fish tanks. She will also bring in packages that may have been left outside our front door.
And - she will take photos and email us a daily report so we can see how the visit went.
We're quite pleased with her reliability and service level.
I do have a friend with two older special needs cats that has used trustedpetsitters.com to locate a temporary live-in sitter. She's had good luck with it so far.
She also has enough time to play with them a bit (both are shy but may be enticed out with a string or toy) as well as feed our two fish tanks. She will also bring in packages that may have been left outside our front door.
And - she will take photos and email us a daily report so we can see how the visit went.
We're quite pleased with her reliability and service level.
I do have a friend with two older special needs cats that has used trustedpetsitters.com to locate a temporary live-in sitter. She's had good luck with it so far.
Music Lover
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Sure, everything can be replaced. But what a pain in the arse.
We're currently in Florida. My wife's 21-year old daughter lives with us but also goes away for a few days to a week at a time. Luckily, the neighbor across the street (very trustworthy) comes twice a day to check the house and feed the cats when no one is there. But it's also snowed about 3 feet since we left and I don't have a snowblower as I shovel by hand. We have a 100' driveway that ranges from 15' - 30' wide, plus sidewalks and deck area leading to the house. I'll have a LOT of cleanup to do when we get home.
I told the wife and she agrees that "no more pets" once these ones pass. We'll also be selling the house in a few years and renting a condo or apartment where we can leave whenever we want with no worries.
isisdave
Recycles dryer sheets
We've sat for over 120 days over four years, mostly in Britain, but also in the US, through trustedhousesitters.com . Look for someone with a lot of experience and references.
Most of the families we sat for were pretty much middle class or slightly higher. They tend to have kids, and of course they have pets, so we never ran into a case of valuable furniture that wasn't already closed off in a special room.
If you live in or near an interesting tourist location you would not ordinarily have trouble filling an opportunity. Of course, with Covid, who knows ... but for us, sitting in a private house would seem safer than staying a hotel.
Most of the families we sat for were pretty much middle class or slightly higher. They tend to have kids, and of course they have pets, so we never ran into a case of valuable furniture that wasn't already closed off in a special room.
If you live in or near an interesting tourist location you would not ordinarily have trouble filling an opportunity. Of course, with Covid, who knows ... but for us, sitting in a private house would seem safer than staying a hotel.
Valid not Invalid
Dryer sheet wannabe
Try a Scout. Get in touch with BSA and talk with an adult who may be able to point you to an older responsible teen scout. We did that and unexpectedly received pictures of mail received and cats in their happy places.
We had a very-special pet sitter for 30 years, until she retired a few years ago. We had planned a long trip, which got canceled, thanks to the pandemic. Delta also killed the daughter of our pet sitter, who was going to take over, from her mom.
That poses a real problem, because we have 11 Main Coon cats, 6 parrots, & a dozen tortoises. The tortoises aren't a problem, as they'll do fine without food for a few weeks. Our cats are very-friendly, & I'm sure they'll bond with any sitter. It's the parrots that are the problem, as sitters simply won't get their hands close to a macaw that can easily remove a finger.
Yes, we have cameras, but they're located so we can watch the cats, not the sitter. We do check out sitters ths same way we check out potential renters, as well as meeting with them.
Dreamer, don't get one Maine Coon - get two! They keep each other company when we're not around to cater to their wishes.
We actually came home from NC on March 20, 2022 with an eleven year old cat. She belonged to our daughter's family. She hates other cats and will hiss if she sees her own reflection in a mirror or picture frame.
DD's family has 3 children and 2 dogs (one is a Great Dane and the other is an Aussie Doodle). Daisy, the cat, was basically hiding most of the time. DD and her family are closing on a home 4/8/22 that is within 5 minutes of our home. Yay!!! They will be seeing Daisy a great deal. They will also take care of her when we are away.
It is nice to have a cat in our house again. She is not a Maine Coon cat. She is a sweetie though.
DD's family has 3 children and 2 dogs (one is a Great Dane and the other is an Aussie Doodle). Daisy, the cat, was basically hiding most of the time. DD and her family are closing on a home 4/8/22 that is within 5 minutes of our home. Yay!!! They will be seeing Daisy a great deal. They will also take care of her when we are away.
It is nice to have a cat in our house again. She is not a Maine Coon cat. She is a sweetie though.
I had to sit my roomates Full Macaw while she travelled to Costa Rica for a week. NEVER AGAIN! That thing had a very stubborn personality. I was told to let it out of it's cage and I'm not proud of the effort it took to get it back into the cage once out. It kept locking itself in the bathroom vanity cupboard. Destroyed my roommates sheets and a few books. I finally decided I was not the right guy for the job and let it stay in the cage with the blanket over it a lot of the time. Thankfully it was only a week of hell for me. Georgie...I'll never forget.
We bought automatic feeders for our two kitties to use when we were on our 2.5 week ski road trip at the end of February. Our youngest D and her roommates live a mile away and one of them came by daily to visit with the cats and give them fresh water and clean their box. We had the auto feeders dispense a small amount of food 4 times a day and this worked well.
gattara
Recycles dryer sheets
That is a great story! Glad it has worked out; I'm sure she will be happy with you, not feeling like she needs to hide from other critters. My last kitty died in July and I do look forward to having two cats in the future. It will be nice to have pets again, but I'm not ready yet.
+1 for TrustedHousesitters.com. I've used them about 10 times now, with only a couple hiccups which were annoying but nothing that would prevent me from continuing to use the service. For trips of 1 month it would be cost prohibitive for me to pay someone, and for shorter trips of a few days it goes against my frugal nature. FWIW at the present time there's a shortage of sitters because post-COVID (well, at least the depths of the pandemic) so many folks are wanting to travel. In any case just know that it's' a good idea to line up a sitter several months in advance if possible.
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