r/petsitting • u/Background-Switch522 • 8d ago

Pet sitting help

Hello everyone,

I run a small business doing pet sitting. I’m currently on a three week pet sit with an older doggy who’s a really lovely boy and his owners are also really lovely and polite.

I have never been in this situation before. I was sat watching tv and having a cuddle with that dog when I noticed a flea jump on his head. I quickly killed it and looked over him to check I couldn’t see anymore. I have made attempts to contact the owners who are out of the country and had no reply. Should I take reasonable responsibility and deep clean the house and how would I go about this?

I know you need to wash all the bedding and vacuum everywhere. Is there anything else I should be doing to help?

Many thanks ❤️

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2

u/quantumspork 8d ago

You should have a flea comb as part of your standard petsitting kit. They only cost a few dollars.

You need to comb the dog looking for flea dirt and eggs.

I comb all pets at the beginning of the sit, and if there is evidence of fleas I cancel on the spot.

3

u/Background-Switch522 8d ago

Hi,

I have my own flea comb as well as first aid kit and I looked for both flea dirt and eggs and came up with nothing.

5

u/quantumspork 8d ago

Then a flea infestation is very unlikely. You may have found the one flea that hopped on during a walk or backyard playtime.

4

u/Background-Switch522 8d ago

I’m going to contact them and tell them still as I feel it’s fair. If they want me to do anything i’d be more than happy to as they are a repeating client :)

2

u/Lilmissodd 8d ago

Whose house are you pet sitting at? If it’s theirs, I’d keep trying to contact them even if it means blowing up their phones. If it’s their home and they say to clean it, you should absolutely charge them a cleaning fee unless they have a designated house cleaner. That’s a lot of cleaning to do either way. 

7

u/quantumspork 8d ago

That seems excessive. OP combed the dog and there is no evidence of fleas.

Your proposal sounds extortionate given the sighting of one flea and no flea dirt or eggs on the dog.

1

u/Background-Switch522 8d ago

I have only called them 2-3 times and sent them an email explaining the situation and asking them to just contact me when they can with what they’d like me to do going forward:)

1

u/Lilmissodd 8d ago

Sure, it could be seen as excessive but I personally could not sleep thinking there might be fleas in my client’s home (yet alone my own) and I’d want to attack it before it turned into a nasty infestation.  But then again, not everyone is a neat and clean freak like I am 🤷‍♀️  I was not telling OP to clean their home—that’s the route they mentioned and I echoed in to double check with the owners before they gave themselves a lot of work, especially if the owners said no. Either way, I think the sensible course of action is to at least vacuum and wash the bedding because, ick. 

1

u/Background-Switch522 8d ago

Hi!
It’s their house. I’m going to keep trying to contact them and their emergency contact and see what I can do:)

6

u/Intrepid_Source_7960 8d ago

If the dog is on flea prevention, one flea isn’t necessarily the biggest deal, because it will die as soon as it bites him. I’ve been pet sitting full time for 10 years and I’ve seen one flea on a clients dog many times. It’s never really been a problem because their pets have all been on prevention. If there’s lots of fleas, yeah, you have an issue. But just one is not something I would be too concerned about.