Ok I’m pretty ok with all sorts of feeding and/or medical instructions for pets, elderly or otherwise, but feeding instructions for the Sour Dough is a new one on me! Does Sour Dough count as a pet or a plant in this state? How will I be rated on his/her care? It’s a whole new ball game in my sitting journey…..
I have done one of these on a sit, and owner mentioned it in review, x no of animals, plus sourdough starter kit.
It’s a pet. You have to sometimes take it out of the fridge and give it compliments and positive reinforcement.
Knowing me, I would forget about the starter haha. Luckily I have my partner who remembers these kinds of things
The most important question is what’s its name? Mine is called Doughrathy 
It needs a lot of care so I am asking for an icon. Please don’t make it look like the dog or the side view of the dog that they claim is a cat. I know, the team has been notified and if they hear any new developments they will share it here.
THS here. Thank you for licensing us your image, for no other reason, do you have any other images we could look at
Can you leave it for more than 6h ?
Not without first confirming with owners. It’s against what’s considered reasonable by THS.
Ha! I must be a terrible sourdough mom because my starter, Jane Dough, can live in the fridge for up to two months without feeding. She just needs an extra feed when I finally get around to it, or when my husband asks, “when was the last time you fed Jane” 
Too funny!
I’ve looked after sourdough, kefir and orchids on various sits - the instructions were far more complicated than any of the pet care!
Ditto. Like children, you should never spoil them
Has anyone ever looked after a kombucha mother? It has similar care to a sour dough starter. I want to make me some kombucha!
THS is gonna need a new icon… 
Yup. We’ve done that. His name was Herman. (Plus 2 cats) We’ve sat that same place 4 times - twice for 2 months. He had to be “fed and changed” weekly! I’m not a baker and know nothing about bread starters but I guess we didn’t kill Herman bc they never said he died!
We’ve fed kefir instead of sourdough. You can also freeze it though to make it “sleep” which is also a bonus on a long sit 
#kefirkeeping
Freeze keffir, or sourdough starter?
I do know that sourdough can actually be let go for longer than one might think…just have to put it in the fridge & watch to be sure it doesn’t get mold or develop an especially icky-smelling liquid on the bottom.
That said, I’ve seen a few that looked like they might be ready to walk off under their own steam to find a swamp or bridge to hide out under 
(and if you ever hear the words “Feed ME….!” coming from the fridge —- RUN!)
I really enjoyed looking after both sourdough and kefir, and ended up taking a starter and kefir grains home with me after the sit - kept both alive and made good use of them for a further 6 months or so. I’ve bought kefir in the past and it was great to have the opportunity to see that it was relatively straightforward to make my own. It had so many health benefits, but definitely an acquired taste! The sourdough was trickier. I tried really hard but, at best, my efforts resulted in something that was a cross between a Germanic rye loaf and a dog biscuit.
Are any carnivorous plants? If so, they may not be acceptable per THS’s dangerous critter guidelines.