I applied for my first sit yesterday and am wondering how long it will take the pet owner to respond? Is there a minimum or should they reply immediately to at least say they’ve seen my application?
Welcome to forum @felinefriendly !
Terms say a member should answer within 72 hours. For my sits I usually get a message within 24-48 hours.
Some never answers…
2 Likes
When you’ve only just started you need to be a little more patient until you have at least 3 reviews under your belt. Usually we hear straight away, however for those just starting out, it may be that the home owner thinks you sound amazing, you just have zero reviews for them to go by, so they have no idea if you are going to turn up when you say you will, and lovingly care for their pet. So they may decide to hold off for a little while just incase they have someone with reviews apply for their sit, so if they haven’t rejected you straight away it could mean you are still in with a chance. So just hold in there for a week or two, because you need to start somewhere. However, there is nothing to stop you applying for other sits at the same time. Once you have a few reviews, it’s totally different.
4 Likes
It varies with each host. THS says they should reply within 72 hours, but they don’t enforce that.
As sitters get more experience, some of us withdraw our applications if we don’t hear back promptly, but that’s entirely up to each sitter.
Personally, I withdraw within 48 hours if a host doesn’t reach out to schedule a video chat. That’s worked well for me. Like I applied for a sit this morning and heard back right away. Then video chatted with the host this afternoon and they immediately sent me an offer, which I immediately accepted.
Generally, the better your reviews, the more often savvy hosts will try to nab you quickly.
3 Likes
I applied for a sit Dec 2025 and waited 6 days after they started ‘reviewing’ and yesterday I cancelled my application as they’d not replied at all. I’ve got another December application in and the HO replied within hours……
2 Likes
I have over 80 five star reviews, yet have had my application rejected immediately with no response, no response at all, or a response days to weeks later.
2 Likes
You can see in your mailbox if the pet owner has seen your message in the inbox. It says something like “seen by Susan”. I think this happens only to your last message you have send. I have had pet owner do all kind of things in handling my application. The most polite let you know they have seen your application and will reply in x time or something like that. For one confirmed sit i have this year, i applied before Christmas. The pet owners replied after 1 day, that they would review all applications beginning of the new year. I then had a very pleasant video exchange and got the sits (2 periods for the same pet owner).
1 Like
thanks everyone
Don’t wait for it!
Keep applying. It is more difficult to get the first sit, and it can be good to just take something short at short notice to get your first review.
After that, your chances will improve quite a bit.
4 Likes