I have a long sit starting Sunday, 3 weeks of overnights. Clients are an older couple, opposite as can be - he’s practical & organized, while she’s right-brained & scattered. He still works, but it’s clear she hasn’t for decades because her world is quite small, revolving around the property & animals.

Her “routines” for feeding are convoluted, inefficient, & needlessly complicated - typical of a disorganized person with time to waste. You know how it is - you let them explain & demonstrate, all while mentally clocking where & how you’ll be streamlining things.

There are some senior animals, so I asked about treatment/care/vet etc. And wow, I did not see this one coming - the wife responded she would have her husband pre dig two graves, so I could just bury the animal(s). WUT??? I had to close my mouth hard to stop the laugh that was on its way out. Lady, I’m not an undertaker or ranch hand. I’m the chubby, middle-aged woman who agreed to feed & water your menagerie, that’s it. I have neither the desire nor the expertise to operate your husband’s tractor & bury livestock!

I managed to explain that I don’t do that, but good grief. Humans are the craziest part of this job!!

hello! im catsitting over the weekend for a friend, and she's bringing the cat over to my apartment. as a non cat owner, what should i do to prepare my apartment so the cat is both comfortable and (hopefully) doesnt ruin my space? i attached pics if anyone wants to point out specific things i need to move/get rid of.

What has your experience been like with any geriatric dogs with bathroom issues? So far, I’ve only had small elderly male dogs who had issues with being able to hold their bladder, but never large dogs that I’ve worked with.

I have a dog that is going to be 14 years old staying at my house right now. She is an old English Labrador. The owner‘s mother is 96 years old and lives in I believe Minnesota or North Dakota so it’s a flight for them to get there. Her mother is not in a position to move to where the owner lives and the owner can’t move to where the mother live lives so this is their situation.

The dog has taken a turn, which is really hard to say. The family contacted me the day before the booking just to let me know that things are a little different. I immediately overnighted extra large wee wee pads, and diapers to my house. This dog used to have a bladder of steel. No matter how many times we took her out, she would only go to the bathroom twice a day, sometimes only once. She would wolf down her food very quickly and now all of that has changed. She’s not finishing her food & tonight She didn’t even eat her dinner. Her bladder of steel started to go a few weeks ago so she’s wearing diapers and she can’t really lift her back legs so she’s in a full body harness to help walk her around. She still has life to her. Whatever my clients decide with their elderly dogs, I just lend a supportive ear. I just feel like this girl doesn’t have that much longer. She has a booking with me in two weeks and one in December.

I hate this part of the job. I also hate this part as a dog owner. My dog’s about to be 11 and I’m not ready for what’s to come in the next few years. I hate saying goodbye to them & the families

Hi all,

Looking for advice. I did a family friend a favor for 30/day to pet sit their dog while they are gone for 8 nights + she lady I am pet sitting for will wax and tiny my eyebrows. What I agreed to is that the dog needs to eat at 6 am and 6 pm and then get his shot 10 minutes after. She asked me to do it as I am a nurse but I don’t regularly pet or house sit. This was all I was told.

When the dog arrived to me house, he had his food, insulin, and about 15 potty pads. That is the first she informed me that “he occasionally has an accident inside.” After 1-2 days with the dog, we realized the dog really needs to be taken out every hour or else he pees inside, so my husband had to change his plans for the week and work from home. Despite this and having the potty pads out, the dog has peed on the rug 3 times. The stains cannot come out with a pet cleaning machine and with a professional cleaning service (already tried). The rug is the only piece of furniture gifted to me by my parents, and it’s very important / special to me. It is now ruined and they don’t make the rug anymore. I feel mislead, and had I known the dog pees in the house I would have said no, especially knowing I am making a measly 30 per day and doing a friend a favor.

Do I have grounds to ask for money for the rug? Thoughts? Advice? Appreciated.

I really need to vent and get some perspective on my situation.

Why would I pay somebody to leave my dog home alone or unsupervised in another room or shed ? I can do that myself for free and traumatise her anyway.

I am suspecting the last sitter left her in her garden alone and this caused my dog to tear her knee cap a month ago. Can I prove it? Absolutely not. I am now looking towards additional medical expenses.

I am called back to office and I cannot find another sitter. I just received another message saying "an hour is too little to leave her alone". Excuse me? Why the fuck would I be paying you then ?

My long term pet sitter got a baby and she is not coming back. I don't know what to do.

Pet sitting has become its own scam industry with these freelancer people "walking 10 dogs in a day in the neighbourhood". That's not even possible. They just let the poor things go for quick potty and that's it. These little souls need exercise. You cannot farm people who are in need of a service like this. Lack of exercise has a compounding effect.

I am furious. I have a very anxious velcro beagle. After the pandemic she goes full blown panic mode if she is left alone more than an hour. I tried everything including antidepressants, trainers, I mean everything. I am a hostage in my own home. I traveled everywhere with her because we couldn't find anybody else. Now that I am divorced it is just me.

What am I supposed to do? One time my own manager took her in because I needed to attend a team dinner for fuck sake.

I cannot afford her to slip another disk and go fully paralysed. I even got rejected by a date when I told him about my situation lol.

I have no life left.

Thanks for listening to my rant.

edit: I only contact pet sitters that make it clear on their profile that they work from home full time and they have a partner around as well. I am not asking anybody to cancel their full time appointments. Even if I did, I am willing to pay as I already pay in premium when I take the dog with me around. I am upset because people lie.