I have a thyroid problem. Usually its totally fine unless i get very cold. This sit is single glazed high ceilings and freezing. I rang my G.P. yesterday and got a call back today. He advised i leave and go to A&E because its making me extremely breathless.
My sit is up on saturday but i dont think ill be able to stand it. Help. !! I cant leave the cat. My husband cant stay as he will need to get me home.
Im not being a whimp honestly.ive stuck it out 10 days.
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Sorry to hear that you are not well @Cathy12121 Give the host 24 hours notice that you need to leave ( on Drs advice )
The hosts will have to make alternate arrangements for care of their pets - hopefully you already discussed with them ( prior to the sit )their emergency contact and back up plan in case of any emergencies.
If they are Premium members they may be covered by the Sit cancellation plan.
Phone the Urgent Support Phone 24/7 Line the number is on your dashboard. to advise them of the situation and that you are leaving and have given the host sufficient notice to find alternative care for the pets .
Get Well Soon .
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Silversitters has excellent advice.
All on THS, hosts and sitters, should have an emergency plan if the sit falls through, so give 24 H notice and leave.
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@Cathy12121, you should not feel bad about leaving. Sitters should not be freezing and low temps do in fact put extra strain on the body, particularly the lungs. That’s why health organizations recommend 64 degrees Fahrenheit (about 18C) as a minimum indoor temp for healthy people (higher for children, elderly, and people with health conditions).
Sitters are exchanging a valuable service for accommodations. To me, that means reasonably comfortable accommodations including heat. If hosts can’t afford to provide a reasonable, healthy temperature for the sitter (a guest they’ve invited to their home), then they should stay home.
This may be a bit of a rant (and not directed at you, @Cathy12121), but I’m tired of hearing about sitters in homes that are not heated to a reasonable temperature. I’ve done a lot of winter sits in cold climates (and I’m from a very cold climate) and every host has told me to adjust the temp to my comfort level (which often is lower than what they set it on, I’m usually turning the heat down). Sitters should not be getting ill due to lack of heat on a sit.
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Thanks,it’s my thyroid problem says the doctor…made worse by the cold. We live in the Scottish Highlands wete no whimps! But this lovely house is single glazed an d the heat is just going straight out of the windows. Now I’ve got the heated throw I can feel myself perking up.
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…single glazed and high ceilings…, yes, that’s problematic. The heat will accumulate under the ceiling (hot air rises) or heat the birds outside…
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I am assuming you are doing a sit in the UK? As someone also from Scotland and very used to the cold, it has been too cold where I am sitting currently (north of England) for the heating to be on only an hour in the morning and evening, not even considering medical issues. That’s barely enough time to take the chill out of the air. The home owners here have the heating timer on for a total of 10 hours during the day! For me, that is excessive, but they have highlighted the fact that my comfort is essential and I can change the dial as I see fit, as I believe all good hosts would.
I very much agree with @systaran. I had a sit in Scotland in the depths of winter and was asked only to have the central heating on for an hour in the morning and evening. Also a single glazed house. It was unbearable. It makes you miserable and you can’t begin to focus on anything else when you are that cold. I sat with my coat, scarf and gloves on, as well as a heated throw, until deciding to increase the time the central heating was on. It sounds like you are feeling better now but you must have been suffering to write two threads about this, so I would encourage you to prioritise your comfort and health. If it means the HO has to pay a few more quid, then so be it. Any decent human being would prefer to do that than see people suffer in their home from a lack of heating. I hope you stay warm and comfortable. A hot chocolate (or hot toddy!) might go down a treat right now 
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We are both in our late 60’s. The last three UK sits have been extremely cold because of heating issues. Either it’s not been on especially when we go to bed or rise, we have also changed the time we retire and rise but it’s as if people leave the heating off because they’re away. Also the ones I am referring to have controlled the heating on their Apps. The temperature at one beautiful house was 13-14c degrees in the bedroom. These are people who can well afford heating if they go far away for exotic holidays . It’s such a surprise to us as it’s the first time we have done uk house sits in winter time. My wife has been sitting in her winter coat with a hot water bottle to watch tv most evenings.
We keep hoping the next sit will be more comfortable. we have both been very sick with viruses for more than two weeks.
We are not going to sit in the winter here any longer.
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Same here…never again. I know what your both going through. I’ve never been so cold. Our HO uses the app but kindly offered to allow us to nudge up the thermostat 1 degree. For the 2 hrs a day it’s on. They’re also in their villa in a nice hot country. I’m sorry your both not well, do you have a car? We drove around in ours yesterday to get a warm off the heater. Ridiculous.
If this keeps on,THS will find nobody can find sitters October to May in the u.k. we will never do one again.
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If your health is affected and you have to leave, totally fair, but also, have you asked the hosts if you can just to turn the heat up? Or would it not be effective in that house type? Although if I were on a sit and an HO told me I was not allowed to adjust the temp, I’d just give notice, especially if I had a doctor’s note because absolutely not.
Moving forward though, if you know you’re sensitive to cold, I’d make sure to ask HO’s about the heating situation so that 1. you can avoid being in a situation where your health may be affected and 2. prevent a disruption to the pet’s care.
Regardless, I hope it all works out and you feel better/get this resolved.
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We found the boiler had shut down due to poor water pressure and contacted the owners so they told us how to set it up again and gave us a plumbers number.
They also told us where to find a portable electric heater. Fortunately the hot water is not affected but I didn’t mention the fact that the washing machine had broken a few days before we came.
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I’ve never sat in UK (let alone in winter) but it sure puts me off applying for a sit, if this is a regular thing.
I’ve owned a big house and I’m well aware of energy cost. I had the temperature quite low and probably very cold for myself (and closed doors to rooms not in everyday use where it was even colder), but I would always turn it up and get a good warmth in the entire house to host guests. Can’t believe people don’t have that consideration and hospitality, I would be quite ashamed.
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Sounds terrible. Hope you’ll review to reflect how the hosts weren’t hospitable, to warn off other sitters.
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Moving forward though, if you know you’re sensitive to cold, I’d make sure to ask HO’s about the heating situation so that 1. you can avoid being in a situation where your health may be affected and 2. prevent a disruption to the pet’s care.
I dont think im any more sensiti e to the cold than anybody else. The advisable working environment for an office is between 18 and 22. Im sitting in 14 deg. But yes, because of my th
Yroid its made me ill as well as cold. We wont be doing anymore winter sits unless its on the equator. This is not somethingni ever want to go though twice.!
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Sounds like a fraction of inconsiderate hosts can end up ruining it for other hosts if it ends up that enough sitters end up boycotting winter sits. That’s on top of winter sits in snowy or cold places already turning off some folks from dog sits.
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I can see the owners point. Big house. Oil fired heating. Very costly. But for a couple of weeks,my pets sake and my sitters well being. I’d bite the bullet and turn up at least the hours of heating. if not the temperature setting.
It’s honestly miserly and inconsiderate to assume everyone would enjoy the same temp as you as an HO, especially if you run a cold house or know your home is inefficient.
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Agree with @bakindoki. There is such a puppetmaster quality to the HO controlling the temp remotely
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Hi, just wanted to share an experience we had with a sitter. When we left on holiday, I had the heating set for maybe 4-5 hours a day, as the weather was relatively warm (late November). I had told the sitter how to change the heating, but maybe she didn’t take it in (I know from my own experience that when I am shown around I don’t always take in all the details - absolutely not saying that is the case in the situation you are in). However, there was a hugely cold snap (we were away three weeks), and I just assumed she’d adjust the heating as necessary. When I asked for feedback at the end I was appalled that she’d felt cold, had had to buy a hot water and found it too cold! If only she’d shared that with me at the time, or just put the heating up (sometimes HO don’t think of everything). Anyway, big apologies on my side and after that I put in CAPS in the Welcome pack that people could change the temperature. (I think I had it in before, just not in caps). Just saying that sometimes one just needs to say to the HO I am finding this too cold / hot and therefore adjusting the temperature. I always prefer if someone contacts me about an issue, and hopefully other HO do as well! Hope you are feeling much better, that is awful.
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