I need a cat sitter for 1-3 weeks a few times a year and would prefer someone locally. Is this possible or do you only want ‘vacationers’ as sitters?
Thanks!
Susan
You might be able to find a local who is using THS for housing, or a newbie who needs reviews - but if you want one regular sitter for every time, you should probably just hire someone.
Is there a reason you only want someone local?
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I have sat locally - wanted change of 4 walls to work. It’s possible to find.
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It depends where you are. We sit full time, and we sit locally.
This is because we return to visit our family regularly (so we sit within a 1-2 hour car journey typically).
And even when we’re sitting overseas, we still sit in one particular place/area to be near our family too.
So we return to the same pets if our dates match up, in both locations.
A lot of sitters want to travel to different places, but we love sitting closer to our family, but far enough away for it to feel completely relaxing, and even though we sit in some places we’ve been to before, it’s very different living-as-local instead of as a tourist, so it’s great for us.
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I’ve done a couple of local sits and am open to doing more, but only if the home were clean and comfortable and near amenities. I love cats and can’t have them, because of my damaged and territorial rescue dog.
I telecommute full time and enjoy a change of scenery, but I won’t sit a dirty, cluttered or uncomfortable home just for variety’s sake. Better to stay comfortably home than do that.
Many sitters sit to travel, as that is how the THS advertise the perks to get sitters to pay the membership fee.
Personally I would not want to sit 2-3 weeks in my own town, but of course you might find someone as it could be various reasons to do so.
However, each criteria a member sets for a good match - sitters and hosts - will limit the pool of possible sits/ sitters. So it could be a good idea to think through why and if you want that criteria, as you will also have fewer opportunities as a result. Some would be really important while others might be minor.
So decide what is a need, want or prefer. Unless you live in a really sought after location - Paris, New York and such. 
Your post could be interpreted as you wanting the same sitter several times a year (?) and if that is a preference maybe that could be more important, as HappyDeb says, some sitters use THS to visit family and such and if one is lucky one could get a non local return sitter if both parties are happy with the sit. So just work out what is (most) important to you.
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Each sitter has their own reasons for doing this, not everyone is looking for a place to stay, some want the experience, the reviews, or just a change of scene. Go for it, there will be someone who matches with you.
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Are you already using the site as a member? Or are you considering joining?
THS is unusual because it isn’t a petsitting service. It’s a mutually beneficial exchange. Homeowners post listings, and sitters respond to those listings if they are interested. The sitters who respond may be local or may be from anywhere in the world. The homeowner can choose an applicant or choose no applicants. The sitters can learn more about the sit and ultimately decide it suits their needs or it doesn’t.
There are many different types of sitters. Sitters don’t get paid to sit and don’t usually recieve tips or other monetary compensation from pet owners. There might be some local people who are happy to sit locally. I’ve found local sitters near me a mixed bag. Some are in less than ideal living situations – roommates, living with parents, etc – and consider sitting a nice break. Some local sitters actually rent out their apartments when they come to sit! Some, despite THS rules, have expected some sort of compensation for local sits. (I haven’t accepted them.) A few genuinely love pets and can’t have them for various reasons. However, most applicantsare either coming for a “vacation” sit, or are travelling for a longer period of time and seeing different locaitons, or are longterm nomads who might plan to be in geographic areas months in advance. If you limit yourself to “local” sitters you might get applicants, but you might not get as many and they might not have the experience you need for your pet. If your goal is to have the same sitter come back again and again, you are limiting your choices even more.
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We sit to explore different places and we also do a lot of sits close to home - within an hour can still offer a change of scenery and access to different places.
We even have one very local sit, on the opposite side of our home town. It offers easy access to countryside. Our own home is more urban.
So there are certainly sitters out there who do local sits, but you may equally find that you really like the sound of someone who applies who isn’t so local - and they might still be able to repeat sit if you plan ahead.
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I wonder if it would help to post your area here – that you might find local sitters through this forum. I’m kind of new so if that’s not allowed, sorry!
What city is this sit for
As a sitter with 20 plus 5 star reviews I don’t tend to do local (London) sits with an exception of just completing a repeat sit about 1 hour 20 across London and into commuter belt country as this was a repeat of a wonderful first sit not long after joining THS for an amazing family, in a luxury property with a cat that I clicked with. Plus they spoilt me. So an easy decision to do another sit but generally I use THS to stay in new places in the UK pr abroad only.
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Hi @Sulu
Many sitters do repeat sits - we are currently on a sit that we have done seven times over the last 2 years. The cats know us well .
Sitters who do repeat sits may not live locally but have another reason to want to be in a certain area multiple times a year. Like visiting family members or a friend who lives in your area.
You may also find a sitter in your area who lives at home with parents and enjoys having their own space from time to time .
Cat sits are the most popular for sitters .
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It’s possible, but as someone else has mentioned, you’ll be limiting your pool of applicants.
Is there a particular reason why you only want a local sitter? How often will you be looking for a sitter - you say a few times a year but would it be more? What will a local sitter bring to the sit that a sitter from further afield can’t? These are are all considerations which I’m sure you’ve thought about.
I applied to a sit a little while ago and the HO responded saying “We have found someone local who will be able to sit for us on a regular basis”. Now that’s great for that HO but actually that reponse really put me off ever applying to them again and here is why… A friend of mine who uses THS had a similar arrangement with a HO, in the end she felt like she was only being used as free petcare. There was no mutual exchange in the end. It got boring. Any sit should offer a mutual exchange. Of course it depends on what the sitter wants to get out of it too.
For me personally, THS is about travelling and exploring new places. The sit that I applied to which I have referenced above, made me think that the HO solely wanted free pet care. I could be wrong of course but that was the impression I got. Will you mix up sitters or will you be wanting to attract a regular, local sitter for repeat sits?
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a great point from @Garfield!
in general on THS, the more particular you are about X, the more flexible you need to be on Y if you want to still have options. for example, if you’re firm about wanting only locals, then it will help if you’re very flexible on your dates (or vice versa). if you’re too rigid on too many things, the pool of candidates will simply dwindle down into nonexistence.
as others have indicated, there definitely are sitters who will sit locally. the more in-demand your area is, the more of these sitters you’ll potentially find. but you’re severely limiting yourself if you’ll only accept local applicants, which will make it harder to find someone who meets all your criteria.
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Where are you?
I sit locally, in the SW UK, mainly for cats. I have several regular HOs who need exactly what you do - someone to sit for 1-3 weeks, a few times a year. I enjoy doing it.
BUT: These sits are paid. If you’re willing to pay someone, you’ll probably have no problem. But it does depend where you are.
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