Hi I am new to this forum so please bear with me for asking really basic questions.
I have 2 cats who are 10 years old. We are looking to travel for 4 months from Oct and just found our our neighbour is letting us down that they cant feed our cats. so I am now desperate trying to find a solution…
Am I correct to think I need to buy the membership first then look for a sitter? What happens if I cant find one? Have I wasted the money?
How do/would I trust a complete strangeter into our house and live here for months. The whole comcept is brillant but very scary at the same time…
For new sign ups there is a money back guarantee, so you have nothing to lose.
Longer sits are in demand, they get filled quickly, we personally love them, and longer sits with cats are highly desirable. Longer dog sits are desirable too but with dogs, sitters are committing to walking a dog during the snowy and rainy season that may pull badly on a leader for example.
Yes you need to sign up first, create a profile (check out other owners profiles with good reviews for ideas), then you create a listing for your dates, if your dates are slightly flexible mention it, as that is hugely appealing too.
It just depends on whether your location is desirable to others, what location are you in? This forum is great for getting feedback on that too.
When it’s over Christmas there may be a sitter who wants to sit close to family over Christmas (that’s what we do), or others that want to the total opposite.
About trusting a complete stranger, you will know-know when you have found the right sitter, it’s a gut feeling, you’ll be instinctively drawn to a certain sitter, and even though you’ve never met them, they won’t feel like a stranger when you read their profile, you will feel like you know them already. Then, you can video chat if you want so that you can be sure whether your first impression is still the same.
What location are you in, so others can help you relax more about that.
You’ll find tips on making a good owner listing from the Get Go for instance here:
To sum up; you want a listing that show the sitters why they should want to choose YOU. In general, sitters want to know why they should visit your area/ home (what is there to see and do?), pictures of their bedroom, kitchen and bathroom and size of bed, and they want the specifics of the responsibilities, what/ when and important; how long can the Pets be left for outings during the day. As many sitters travel internationally, a mention of how one can get to you with public transportation (or if you can pick up) and what is walkable from your home. Where can one get groceries, for instance?
A good profile will get you more applications sooner. If you would like us to go over it for you, you can add the link to your listing to your forum profile. Much help to be had here! Welcome!
Sitters will apply to sit for you and you will be able to read reviews from the previous people that they have house sat for .
For your peace of mind you can choose a sitter with lots of reviews.
You can then have a video call with those that apply before offering them the sit . You may even be able to arrange to meet up with them , if they are local .
There are sitters with dozens of reviews so no need to pick a brand new sitter .
Thanks HappyDeb your reply is very assuring.
Very interesting to read that our problem is actually very desirable to others…
Both me and my husband are being made redundant at the same time so we have decided to take a career break to go travelling. Then our neigbour wasnt that keen to come to feed the cats on a daily basis for 4 months which I have under estimated.
We are based in West Yorkshire, in UK. Good transport access on trains/bus to major cities like Leeds, York, Manchester.
Thanks for your help HappyDeb x
On the ‘how do I trust someone’ aspect, my last sit was a first time home owner member too who was a bit anxious about it.
I explained it goes both ways and also requires a lot of trust from the sitters, as we have no idea what the pets and home are really like till we arrive. There are some real horror stories here on the forum - sick or dangerous animals, filthy houses, other people in the home, spy cameras…
So I’d say any risk is pretty mutual as well as the benefits.
We’re fully booked, but we’re not far from you, we’re from the North East (Durham), we mainly sit in North Yorkshire (and Spain), but we’ve sat two cats not far from Bradford too, so closer to you. You should be fine finding a sitter, as there’s a higher population of people where you are, and a higher population, means more sitters too. But also, there are loads from other countries on THS too, that love visiting Yorkshire.
To give you an idea, we’re on a 6 week sit at the moment in North Yorks, not as long as 4 months I know, but there’s plenty of sitters like us that love longer sits. Originally we actually had a 9 week sit booked in over the summer but unfortunately the owners had to cancel (for a very good reason, they are lovely people). So longer-term sitters exist in the North of England, but also there are loads of sitters on THS from overseas that would love to visit Yorkshire too, I know that may seem even more daunting at the moment, but when you find the right sitter you’ll know-know.
Well… but the balance you propose depends on the sitter being a dependable and responsible person (like you, I also always project from myself onto others). That’s not a given, so the trust thing is an issue.
I also believe the situation is not balanced at all. As a sitter you can always just walk away. You’ll have to deal with stuff, invoke Plan B, etc. but you can just show up, look, and go.
The host doesn’t have that luxury (yes, I know all the arguments why it’s the same; it is not).
As has been repeated so many times - only communication can help to not be badly surprised. It doesn’t 100% prevent it, but it helps.
I understand your hesitation. My husband thought I was crazy when I first proposed THS. Since Jan 2020, we’ve had THS sitters for 10+ trips, 5 nights to 3 months each, and we have had all great experiences. Many of our friends still think it’s bizarre, but I guess I’m comfortable with people living in my home (as long as I’m not here at the same time). I’m just so happy to have someone here hanging out with my animals and keeping an eye on things. I try to enter each arrangement with a positive view, not worry about what could go wrong. We set us all up for success by providing a clean, welcoming space, plenty of written information, extra supplies, and anything the sitter may need while we’re gone. We always have a video chat before confirming, and we read all prior reviews both given and received. It always feels like a friend is coming to stay. I’m looking forward to hosting our next sitter and I hope she loves staying here. It can really be a win-win when approached with the right “exchange” attitude.
Do be wary of the Refund policy. It only applies if you have zero applications, but surely you will have applications for such a nice sounding, long, cat-only sit. IMO, it’s worth the small investment to post your sit and see what happens.
@lindaWoo Having a house sitter will be much better option for your cats , than having someone dropping into to feed them , especially for such a long sit .
All cats like some company even ones who aren’t lap cats and spend the day doing their own thing , are less stressed when they know that someone is around to care for them and will come and check out the humans from time to time.
Stress caused by the absence of their human and no substitute human can cause cats health problems too. After just a short weekend trip away with only drop ins by a friend to feed the cat , a colleague’s cat developed a UTI which the vet said was commonly caused by stress and anxiety . Sitters will spend time at the home each day with your pets. Affectionate cats will have someone to cuddle up to in the evenings and if your sitter is someone who WFH they will have their company throughout the day too.
Cats can turn anti-social if left without people for long stretches. For example, there was a video featuring Jackson Galaxy, a trainer or such, where he was asked to figure out why a cat was acting aggressive. It turned out that its human would leave on business trips and just have someone do feeding and litter changes.
She ended up getting a cat sitter and that helped turn things around.
It makes sense, since we socialized dogs and cats to enjoy (or tolerate) human company.
And, there’s the added bonus that sitters provide home security and keep things ticking over in your absence.
As others have said, write a good listing and include pics of your home (interior and exterior), garden and cats, then wait for applications to come rolling in. Read reviews and profiles, then do a video chat with the sitters who most appeal to you. Be aware that your listing will automatically pause after 5 applications are received, so be ready to decline any (accompanied by a thanks for applying note) and un-pause so that others can apply.
Yes as @Happypets it’s not just looking after the cat , sitters provide security and can alert you if there’s an emergency such as a burst pipe or leak ( imagine the damage if you didn’t find out about this until days or weeks later ), storm damage, and can take care of your post , take care of any pot plants etc.
Many insurance companies do not provide insurance cover if your home is left empty for more than 30 days at a time, so having a sitter keeps your property insured.
Thanks all for all of your useful pointers to help us to make this scary decision.
I’ve just signed up and thanks to whoever that sent me that referral discount code xx
