I recently posted my listing for later this month, and I’d love some feedback. If you’ve seen my profile or my first post here, you’ll know that my very first THS experience didn’t go as planned. Thankfully, I had friends step in and THS member support really went above and beyond to investigate and resolve things.
Even so, I’ll admit I’m still a bit nervous. To ease back into it, I decided to also start taking on some local sits (I have the dual membership). That way, I can experience the sitter side of the community while still looking for someone to care for my own two kitties. The timing works out so my partner will be in town just in case anything came up — which gives me a bit more peace of mind. I really want to build up my confidence with THS, since I know so many of you have had wonderful experiences here.
One thing I’ve noticed is that when I first posted a listing, I had lots of interest right away. This time, I haven’t had any applications yet. I’ve reached out to a few sitters who saved my listing but haven’t had much luck so far. I went ahead and boosted the listing today, and I’m hopeful that will help.
If anyone has a moment to look at my listing (linked in my profile), I’d really appreciate any feedback — whether there’s something I could add, adjust, or highlight better. Thanks so much!
Your listing intro is confusing. 3/4 of it is describing your qualifications to be a sitter. I would remove the first sentences and focus on selling your home, location, and pets to potential sitters.
You don’t mention the age of the kittens. That is info I would want. 8 week old kittens are very different to 8-month old kittens!
I’d also limit the photos to 2 of each kitten. They are adorable, but some sitters don’t want to wade through lots of similar cat photos. You could also put a photo of both of them as your cover shot, not the bedroom.
The responsibilities section is also a bit confusing. You say “..as long as SHE gets her three meals…” but there are 2 cats.
@Olivia412 Your kittens mean so much to you and they are so cute, yet a prospective applicant doesn’t see them until Photo 15 out of 19 photos! They need to be prominent; after all, they are why you are trying to attract a sitter.
This is such great feedback — thank you so much! I added the time ranges for meals and completely agree that it reads much better than just saying “flexible,” since that can mean different things to different people. I also had no idea that the About Me sections for sitters and owners were separate — that makes so much more sense now. I’ve rewritten mine for the homeowner side and will go back to update my sitter profile too.
You were spot on about the intro being confusing — that was my mistake. I was trying to combine both roles in one write-up, but now I see how it works and have fixed it.
I’ve also added the kittens’ ages in the About Me section (great point, since an 8-week-old and an 8-month-old are very different!). Do you think it would be helpful to also add their ages next to their names in parentheses, since THS only lets you note “under 1 year” in the pets section?
As for the photos, I trimmed them down to just a couple of each kitten and switched the cover to one of them together instead of the bedroom — such a great idea. And thank you for catching the responsibility wording mix-up; I updated it so it reflects both Freya and Calypso.
I really appreciate all of this advice. It’s so helpful to have experienced members take the time to share suggestions, and it really means a lot to me. Thank you again for being so kind and supportive!
I can see you’ve already taken feedback to heart and made great changes. My suggestion is about all the ideas you provide of places to go. The suggestions are great; to me it sounds like you’re promoting being away from your kitties mostly because it’s a long list. And with your preferred feeding for growing cats, it seems like it would be easy for someone to really stretch it too far. I wonder if you have a max time away that would provide guard rails. Especially with cats, it’s easier to “stretch” time away but that might not be what you want. Just a thought. (And maybe I should consider applying! I was considering warm weather sits over the holidays. And kitties would be such a treat.)
I must’ve been in the process of making some changes while you were typing your reply. I really appreciate you taking the time to look over my listing and share your advice. I’ve been making updates as I get feedback, and it’s been so helpful to learn from experienced owners here on THS.
Your listing looks great. If I were nearer, I’d be tempted to reply except for the fact that the cats need to be fed 3x a day. Could the middle feed be done on an automatic timer to give the sitter more time to explore on some days?
Thank you both so much for the helpful feedback! Right now, Freya and Calypso are fine to be left alone for up to 7 hours, especially since they have each other for company and playtime. On my busier days, they’ve done really well for that amount of time, and I imagine they’ll be comfortable with even longer stretches as they get older.
I recently noticed that while THS has you select how long pets can be left alone when creating a listing, that information doesn’t actually show up for sitters — so I’ve added it to the Responsibilities section to make it clear.
I’ve thought about using automatic feeders, but since they eat both wet and dry food, I’d need two feeders that can keep wet food fresh — which can get pretty expensive. Thankfully, most attractions nearby are close, so I think seven hours gives sitters plenty of time to explore, come back to feed the kittens, and then head back out if they’d like.
Because they’re still young, they do need three meals a day — but I’m not too strict on exact timing. For example, if breakfast is at 9am, the second meal can be around 4pm, and the last one around 10pm. I added time ranges for each feeding after a great suggestion from another member. Before, I’d simply described it as “flexible,” but I realized that word was a bit too subjective.
Your listing looks great. I can see a later sit is already in review which means you’ve had a lot of applications already. The only slight crinkle is if an experienced sitter looks at your open listing (not knowing the background) they would clock immediately you have no reviews but a sit has happened & this might put some off applying.
Hi @Olivia412 ! Welcome to THS and sorry to hear about your bizarre first sit! Wishing you better success moving forward!
I’ve just reviewed your listing and see that it has no applicants, which must be why you want advice/recommendations on the listing. I think your listing is attractive (adorable kittens, clean home, nice home office, good location, and full amenities), but I personally wouldn’t apply to your sit for the below reasons:
Your listing isn’t Family Friendly (and I sit as a family)
You have 2 kittens (and I have learned to not confirm sits with kittens and puppies on THS)
Too many feedings (and I prefer pet sits with no more than 2 feedings)
Length pets can be left alone (7 hours might not be adequate enough to explore the city, for some sitters)
No reviews (and I stay away from sits with no reviews, and from my POV it appears that your first sitter didn’t leave a review and deactivated their account, possibly due to a bad experience, yet from your prior forum post that isn’t the exact case)
Not interested in holiday sits, this year (and will spend this holiday season not traveling, for economic reasons)
I believe that you will secure a great sitter with your listing, as is, but it might take sometime. More experienced and highly rated sitters that are interested in sitting during over Thanksgiving by the beach, might already have their sit confirmed or are applying to sits that have less of the above mentioned issues.
I recommend that you expand your pool of applicants, by making your sit Family Friendly. If you are open to sitters with families (may include small children), only do so if your kittens are small child friendly and the sitters has several positive reviews about the child’s interaction with pets. Send sit invites to local sitters. Also, reach out to THS and see if they can remove your prior sit or at least let you add a review (and explain that bizarre ordeal).
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! I really appreciate your perspective. I actually didn’t realize that the sit from August was still visible on my listing. I’m going to reach out to the member services representative who helped me with that situation to see if they can remove it, especially since the sitter’s account was deactivated due to actions that went against the THS guidelines.
While I would love to make my listing more family-friendly, my home is really best suited for just one or two people. It’s a cozy one-bedroom space that works perfectly for a solo traveler, a couple, or possibly one parent with an older child. Since I don’t have young children myself, I’m not confident that it’s truly “child-friendly,” and I’d be so worried about the possibility of an accident happening.
Once the kittens are a bit older and their feedings can be reduced to twice a day, I’ll feel more comfortable leaving them for slightly longer stretches. For now, I’m hoping to find sitters who are comfortable with their current needs and confident that it works with their own travel plans.
I was able to find a sitter for this month’s long weekend, so I’m really looking forward to that going well and starting to build up some reviews — we all have to start somewhere, right?
Thankfully, I’ve already had some wonderful sitters reach out for my December dates, though I haven’t had quite the same luck with November yet. I do have backup plans in place if no one ends up being available, so I’m not too worried.
A cat sit in sunny Forida over Christmas and Thanksgiving should go like free money.The only thing that comes to mind is your 3 feeding schedule and 7 hour limit. I also have cats who are given wet food 3 times a day. Here’s how I describe the feeding schedule:
“Food: Cats eat canned food 3 times a day. Mealtimes are flexible. Breakfast is served shortly after the human wakes up or comes back from a run. Dinner may be around 8-10 hours later, but these times can be extended in either direction depending on human needs. So being away for more than 10-hours on occassion is not a big deal. Supper-Snacky is a required third meal before the human goes to bed for the night.”
It looks like you were trying to be flexible by offering a range, but some sitters are going to read 6 AM and say, “Not for me!” Others will see a possible middle of the day feeding and think: How can I go to the beach? How can I go to Thanksgiving at Grandma’s?
7 hours also seems a bit unusual for a cat sit. I get that they are both kittens. A kitten could get into trouble in a second, even when you’re home. Do you normally watch them with pet cams? How do you handle things when you need to be away for more than 7 hours? Do you normally keep them safe in a room? Is your home more or less kitten proof? But the 7 hour limit could be tricky especially if a sitter was planning on spending Thanksgiving with family in the area! You might want to rethink the time and how to phrase it, as this might be an immediate nope for sitters especially if they are planning to spend time with family over the holidays.
