Ask the sitter if you are not sure.
Empty fridges are not common, in my experience.
There was a huge heated discussion on it here on the forum.
Seems like communication is key regarding this topicā¦ 
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Hi.
I donāt think tipping is necessary at all, unless your furry family member has been really sick in your absence. This has happened to me twice and can be very very stressful.
Iāve faced endless diarrhea which is nasty. 
And Iāve also faced an elderly dog with a very stressful serious health scare.
Elderly animals are rarely put into kennels and therefore I feel we have a higher number of elderly animals on THS sits. So the chances of us having a health issue are higher.
Yes, both pet parents were both super thankful and nice and there was lots of praise, but ā¦
We all take the huge responsibility of looking after someoneās pet(s) really seriously and we suffer tremendously if the animal is really sick. It can be heartbreaking. And stressful.
Looking after your own sick animal is one thing but looking after someone elseās animal that you have just met and know nothing about is a different kettle of fish.
So if the sit was obviously stressful and hard for that type of issue I think an Amazon gift card is a good idea.
But other than that, this is a win-win (or should be) situation based on mutual respect and gratitude, and no tipping needed.
Hope this has helped.
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TLDR, NO TIPPING. GIFTS AND SUPPORT ARE THOROUGHLY APPRECIATED THOUGH.
No, I donāt expect a tip, but what Iāve come to find that is really helpful is that at the start of our sits, the HO takes us for a supply runā¦this is especially useful if the sit is in a place where the grocery store, etc. arenāt a short walk. After a sitter did that for us, Iāve made the a default pattern for all sits that I do as an HO if the sitter desires it.
I do not feel compelled to give tips, or to receive them, but Iāve always appreciated it when the HO leaves a welcome gift for us and on our last sit, we bought a bottle of wine for our hosts to say thank you (they were going on holiday to visit wine country so we got them a wine that came from our home country as a token).
We also tend to be very lax about sharing whatās in our home and have found that HOs we sit for have reciprocated and that mutual sharing is imo what these experiences are all aboutā¦
A thank you from the heart is more than enough
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