You are responsible for pets and where they go and what mess they make and it’s only reasonable that you set limits and clean up after them?
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That is an EXCELLENT idea!
Hi @claresitsdogs. I totally get it. And I’m in the same boat as you. I don’t like to live in dirt, so I clean the bleep out of a place if it’s not decent when I arrive (almost always in other words…)
But how can you avoid these… any tips anyone …? It’s hard to tell by photos or even video calls…?
Hey @Crookie , I am on my 18th sit and I have not received one either. And given the condition of most houses when I arrive, I would not be too pleased if I did! 
I can clean the sticky things in the kitchen if that is necessary, that does not take much time.
What I find much more difficult to deal with is when the cats are walking around on the surfaces where food is prepared and served. When they are used to being served their food there!
Luckily, I don’t usually do more advanced cooking than heating things in the microwave or the oven. But also preparing breakfast is stressful when cats from different directions cannot leave my bread and cheese alone.
I think I may be late and the wording has been changed based on people’s feedback, but regardless…
I don’t see anything wrong with either of the lists in terms of what’s to be expected. To me, neither of them are “spring cleans”…resetting the house back to the way you found it and ready for a new person to come into it is what I would expect from both an HO and HS.
@MissChef also makes some good points…it’s not an HS’s job to be an errand runner or dive into special skills activities…it IS their job to maintain the house and, in my opinion, keep it clean and give it back in a state that the HO gave it, which should be ready for someone to just come back and get to living.
The only exception that I could think of is if you are HS-ing a house with NO pets or like one fish and the HO clearly states you’re there primarily to care for the premises, but this would be a unique situation on the platform and I’d expect the expectations to be spelled out in the listing. At the end of the day, so long as you’re comfortable AND not caught off guard, that’s all that matters.
If it’s a long sit though, may be worth doing so.
Additionally, if the doors to or windows in that room were left open, dust will still collect even if you never go in, especially if the pet may have.