Good suggestions. I can leave initial supplies. what is EVOO?
Thank you for your understanding - yes, as a first time HO it is suddenly feeling like a bit of a minefield and I don’t know what is expected of me! So thank you for that very helpful response. When you say coffee: I have an espresso coffee machine, don’t know if sitters will know how to use it? Do most people expect instant coffee? Or I could leave a cafetière for ground coffee
Thank you Jenny, very helpful. There is so much to learn, so much I might not have thought of!
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I wouldn’t get in anything that you don’t normally have. I don’t know how to use a coffee machine so unless there is a face to face handover when you can explain it I suggest you leave out the instruction booklet or type up written instructions, assuming you’re happy for sitters to use it.
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Most of our sits have been about 2 weeks, and we eat mostly at home. So we do a shop. I won’t repeat what everyone else has said but we all seem to have similar thoughts. Coffee machine, my husband loooves coffee. It is a bonus for him if you have something good. Coffee is expensive, we would always buy our own, or replace yours. Except for a lovely host who had a big stack of special beans in the basement and said “don’t worry about replacing, help yourself”
As for the extra virgin olive oil, if you don’t use it yourself, I personally wouldn’t stock it for sitters, the price has gone through the roof, liquid gold
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@travelswithToby, after 60+ sits then we’ve tried a few approaches for this. We have simplified related handover conversation with Pet Parents into three key messages-
a) we do not want PP to return to smelly fridge
b) if fridge contents expire before PP return date then we will use or trash items
c) it is not our intent to consume PP stuff
Conversation varies depending on duration housesit. We briefly inspect fridge with PP present - in event that is credible uncertainty of contents expiry date then we will choose few example items to aid discussion.
Re alcohol, quite a few of our Pet Parent properties have included a full bar area and/or extensive alcohol collection - we’ve been fortunate to housesit in some premium properties 
. We expressly frame (c) above to PP in terms of their alcohol.
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extra virgin olive oil
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The first time is the hardest, but it definitely gets easier. I always ask the sitter if I can get them any items from the store for them for their first couple nights. No one has taken me up on that. People have different diets and allergies, so I don’t assume anything and I don’t buy extra items. During the video chats we get to know each other. If they are wine drinkers, I will leave them a bottle of wine and I make a welcome basket with snacks and goodies.
I let them know they are welcome to use any items in the refrigerator and pantry.
Good luck and you will find that 99% of sitters are fantastic people and will take great care of your animal(s) and home.
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Yes, the thing is you literally can’t be so specific with everything. I do say no alcohol except for what we gift to sitters, and basics like condiments, spices/salt/pepper, olive oil are freely available. For the rest - use anything, just if you use a lot or the last then please replenish:)
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So far, so good. The only caveat is cheese. We had sitters who apparently subsisted on cheese and consumed our opened hard cheeses and unopened soft cheeses. We had offered to stock some items for their arrival and they included specific cheeses on that list. When we arrived home, the requested cheeses were untouched. The sitters left early the morning after our return home. When we got up, we discovered they had packed up and left with the cheeses they hadn’t touched. It was amusing then and funnier now but still surprising.
There have been other accounts on this forum of boundary issues over cheese consumption. So I’d say cheese, liquor and wine are the trickiest.
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Hmmm … our stash of Kraft American ‘cheese’ has never been packed away with sitters. I wonder why 
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Loads of good advice here @travelswithtoby. Be clear, be kind & put precious items away is the simplest approach. One sidenote on coffee 
is that when there’s a Nespresso machine (easy to use) & we’re told not to use it & here’s the Nescafé then that’s pretty insulting. It’s a coffee machine. Everyone drinks decent coffee these days. Yes capsules aren’t cheap but neither is pet care. It doesn’t happen a lot but it has happened in 60 sits and it feels mean. We also now carry a cafetière just in case #propercoffeepleasepeople
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Ha! I bought a travel-sized one on one of my last trips & carry it with me now as well, just in case.
(I’d love to bring of those new insulated YETI versions, but after testing it in store I decided I wasn’t willing to give up that many pounds of my luggage allowance. It was heavy!)
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Not everyone. Not me. I drink exclusively Nescafe which I always carry with me
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[Seattle has entered the chat]
Nescafe??? Heathens!!!
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Fabulous plan! We found a mini plastic French press that’s not even 100gms and we are cabin bag only kids so it’s perfect 
#coffeesolutions
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I salute 
you for your bravery!! If someone asks me if I’d like tea or coffee, I have a quick scout for where the coffee is coming from & if it’s looking like a jar then I’m tea all the way for safety #nastynescafe
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We also keep a running record of any pet purchases if they run out of treats etc. usually it all balances out though. On our last sit we needed to top up the dentix chews but we also used quite a few logs in the log burner so to my mind it balanced out. We’re not nit picky as it’s more about what feels fair and not being cheeky just reasonable across the board. We also jet washed their patio, why? Well hubby likes jet washing and was bored one day….and the patio was looking mucky after a hard winter.
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Good idea! Thanks
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Coffee seems to be an issue. I never drink Nescafé but some people do - maybe I’ll buy a jar & ground coffee for a cafetière and the sitter can choose.
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