Hello Trusted House Sitters community! I am new to the group and trying to gauge if my situation would be a good fit for this service. It seems like such a cool option!
I travel often for work and would like to be able to go on a few long weekend trips. I will be loosing my housemate/built in cat sitter soon. My work trips are generally 3-5 days long with about 2 weeks notice. I live in a furnaced single family house outside of Denver, CO close to trails and the mountains or the city. I have one orange tabby cat that needs daily attention and food monitoring. (Garfield was no joke! He cannot be trusted to free feed!)
My question is, Do sitters generally find these 3-5 day trips an attractive sitting option or is this service more geared toward multi week/month long trips?
I’ve done lots of short sits. I think you will find it easy to get sitters, especially those (like me) that love hiking and could be gone for a few hours or longer.
Hello, @MelissaM Welcome and it is lovely to have you here.
As a sitter myself we have done several shorter sits. Our shortest one was 2 nights as a repeat sit to help the owner last minute.
We have done many 5 days sits and sometimes people just want a short break away, can only have a small amount of time off of work but want to housesit or a fill-in sit between longer sits. Plus for those that can’t have their own pet in their lives for whatever reason, even a couple of days with pet companionship is amazing!
I also think you are in a great location.
Do you have any photos of your Garfield look-alike?
I LOVE short sits, but the ones that are close to me geographically (I live on the East Coast of U.S.). I think there is a shortage of short sits, so for those of us who like the short ones, I think your sits should garner some suitable applications.
I like short sits too. If I’m nearby or already sitting in that location beforehand, I also do just two nights. If I have a long journey there, probably 3 nights would be my minimum, but I don’t have hard and fast rules.
I’d love and hope to do some pet sits in the USA next year. At the moment I’m travelling around Scandinavia and that’s gorgeous too!
Hi @MelissaM ! Nice to see you! Yes, I’ve done short sits too – the shortest was one night! These are nice if you have unbooked nights between sits. I don’t think you’ll have any problem finding sitters for your kitty.
Two words: “it depends”. Here’s an example, while traveling abroad this summer I really don’t want a sit less than 5 days to a week due to logistics of moving around, not having a car while overseas. I won’t even look at those listings.
However when I return home to the USA, I want to grab some great long weekend sits. For example I’m a few hours from lovely St. Augustine, Florida and it would be great to go up there to sit for some lovely pets and not have to pay for lodging. Same with Fort Lauderdale or Cape Coral or other vacation destinations. Bonus for me is to spend a weekend with some sweet furkids. But I wouldn’t want to be away from home for more than a couple of days since I already have a home.
I hope I explained this well. So put your ad out there and I do think you will find some good sitters.
Hi @MelissaM. When I was trying to build up my reviews resume I had a local repeat sit that I did for a woman who had to travel across the country once or twice a month for a few days for work. The arrangement was perfect for both of us and her kitties and dog. She had someone regular who she could rely on, I had a sit I knew I could do while working fulltime in an office, and I got 5 great reviews from her. For newer sitters, short local or regional sits can be perfect!
I rarely do short sits and usually book 6 to 12 months in advance. That being said…I’ve met plenty of others looking for short sits and last minute places to stay.
We have ALL types of sitters here (local, country specific, global, long term, short term).
You will likely have no issue in finding someone. Good luck!
