@PepsAndPrince Your response is unnecessarily aggressive and defensive.
The issue is not the costs in Switzerland. I have done sits in Switzerland and I’m fully aware of the general cost of living for me and my hubby to stay a while.
Your pets needing potentially expensive Vet treatment is NOT part of our budget. It is YOUR responsibility to arrange payment NOT the sitter, whatever THS might dictate. Most sitters would not be happy, or maybe not even able, to pay up front. There are several ways to manage payments as I, and others, have mentioned, that do not involve the sitter paying upfront and waiting for reimbursement.
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Isn’t it implied that sitters should not go on sits if they cant afford it, seeing as the terms and conditions in this situation are literally on my side. Sitters might not like it, but many HO’s are doing their best to be the best HO they can for sitters, and then expect more and more and more outside of the terms and conditions. Honestly, being on this forum, it gives me pause for continuing with THS.
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my response is in line with the forum rules - I just don’t believe that you have told every single HO that you will not sit for them if they say “i will reimburse you on the rare occasion that you may need to take my pet to the vet” - you’re saying that potentially expensive vet bills are not your responsibility and I AGREE, but this post said
" 1. You need not just assurance that there is an account with the vet but that they will bill - or firm agreement that the HO will reimburse."
And i said “i implemented that firm agreement by putting it in black and white in my Welcome Guide” and what was the response? “not good enough”.
I have had zero need for sitters to take my pets to the vet, so this is a just in case situation in regards to me personally. But if you want to continue to ask HO’s to “please leave a wad of cash in your house for me, because your country is expensive” by all means, continue to do that.
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If sitters were required to have a reserve of thousand of pounds/dollars/euros/swiss francs to cover any possible vetinary expenses, I don’t think there would be many sitters available.
If you want to rely on someone else paying your vet bills if your pet unexpectedly needs treatment, you’re completely free to do so and I never said otherwise. I simply answered the question that you asked.
Two options were suggested, an account that will bill the HO directly OR firm agreement to reimburse. You have implemented the second. The replies you got explain why the first might be a better option (very respectfully, imo) and I don’t read “you can’t do that!” or “not good enough” or anything like that in any of them.
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Thank you for raising awareness of this clause and the potential repercussions @toml .
Many sitters are not aware that a HO would expect them to pay upfront so “ Who will pay for any emergency vet treatment during the stay ?” is definitely something that needs to be discussed before a sit is confirmed.
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@richten1 I think many sitters would be in the same situation as you (not having funds to cover an unexpected 2500 euros upfront vet bill)
Thank you for raising awareness with a real life example from a recent THS sit .
This suggestion is very practical, we do the same.
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All sitters decide for themselves whether a certain country might be too expensive for their pockets, and if they decide to apply to a sit there, will budget for it. They will budget for their living expenses and transport, however, having to cover possibly hundreds or even thousands francs worth of vet expenses is not within the reach of most people. Some people might also not trust that the HO will cover the expense.
I am curious how you gauge if potential sitters have enough money to cover such expensive visits. Do you actually ask them outright? How do you know if it’s true or not?
I’m genuinely curious. 
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@PepsAndPrince is there a limit on the amount you would pay for emergency vet fees and therefore be willing to reimburse a sitter for example if the vet fees were €10 K , €20 k or €50 k ?
Would your pet insurance still pay out if it was the sitter who had paid the invoice and receipts are in the name of the sitter and not your name ?
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Isn’t it something like “the sitter must pay for veterinary care” and then requests the HO reimburse.
I’m the essence of equality, surely the terms should state the HO must reimburse the sitter.
Although I don’t believe either can be enforced though.
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Hello everyone,
@toml made a very helpful and informative post. We don’t want to close the discussion down, but after a few flagged posts, please keep in mind the forum guidelines.
It’s completely fine to disagree or share differences in opinions, but please keep it kind and respectful.
These topics are very educational and can help both sitters and owners when navigating pet illness during a sit. Thank you to everyone who supported the OP and contributed to this worthwhile discussion.
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@Hallt64 That is correct. Nobody can force sitters to pay for anything for the pets or the home, frankly.
We are sitters and HOs. We talk about this issue when we have a video chat.
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I dont understand where you are getting “hundreds of thousands” for vet bills from, certainly not from me - Switzerland might be expensive but the first time I took my puppy to the vet because I thought she ate a grape, they treated her as if she did and had some medcine that made her sick, and then follow up medicine and it cost me 45chf.
Can I flip your question to you? Would you go on a sit if you thought you might have to pay 50k in vet bills? Do you, in all honestly, ask every HO if they will cover this amount?
I WOULD be willing to cover all costs, regardless of what they were, but to suggest they could be 50k is over the top - My dog that passed away last year was in hospital for 14 days, had multiple procedures and mulitple emergency visits, before being put to sleep, and the cost for a month of vet visits and proceddures didnt come close to what you mention.
On the other hand, my pets are young and healthy, so they should not need care.
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I actually wrote “hundreds or even thousands”, not “hundreds of thousands”.
At issue are the most expensive vet procedures, not the 45sfr worth of visit.
I see, my mistake - but still I never anywhere mentioned hundreds or thousands of $ in regards to my own pet care. I was originally responding to the original post in which both the HO and the Sitter did not communicate well - meaning this sitter may be faced with deciding to pay vet bills because they can not get a hold of the HO because they’re on a cruise. I simply replied that it was interesting that I had recently thought what if the sitter cant get a hold of me - ill add that I will reimburse them if needed - and I have been blasted in a toxic positive way - how dare i assume my sitters will pay hundreds or thousands of chf for care - when I never said I expected that.
I think all those suggesting that I should leave cash/leave a credit card should really tell the truth - Do you ask them where the credit card/cash is kept for emergency vet visits? do you ask the HO if they will reimnburse you if you pay the vet, do you really ask if they will reimburse you if its 10, 20, 30k as someone else suggested. I don’t think so - and I am basing that on the multiple conversations I have had with very good sitters while choosing one over the last 6 times I have used THS. I find this whole situation in this thread very interesting and have taken away a lot to think about - mainly that no matter what a HO does according the sitters posts on this forum, it is never good enough for some sitters.
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OP here - I did take it on myself to spend $375 for the vet in expectation that I’ll be reimbursed. There wqs an $850 option that I said no to - no xrays/scans, in part because I anticipated not being able to contact the HO and that the only treatment I could approve would be drugs, i.e. for an infection which lab work would reveal. A scan or xray would reveal something surgical and the vet likely wouldn’t have done that on my approval.
I did get a call through to the HO but it was cut off almost immediately so hoping that we will connect again.
For me, one of the takeaways is to communicate in advance with the HO and have them communicate in advance with the vet or leave a signed document allowing the sitter or some local friend to make or not make treatment decisions in the event that the HO cannot be contacted within say 24 hours. And I’m doing that now - my next 2 sits have agreed or indicated who local can make those decisions.
A worst case is that the dog will need to be euthanized - at an early sit with a very old dog, the HO brought it up and told me that she and the vet had discussed that decision and that if I couldn’t reach her, the vet would decide.
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Tysm for caring for this little big ol’ man. I kinda find it a little funky that the HO left their dog through what they might’ve perceived to be their pup’s last days.
< My face when I read what they told you.
< My face when I read they didn’t get the Internet package if they know their dog is delicate or at least add port access to their regular phone plan.
You are an awesome being and do not let that go without reimbursement. Keep receipts and timestamps of everything- texts, calls, written notes of attempts made by their friends to contact them, etc. If they are neglectful and attempt to be sly and dishonorable take them to small claims court.
THS needs to rules about situations like this one into their HO agreement.
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Hi @Carla
Are you (or anyone else representing THS) able to share any insight as to why THS originally made the decision that sitters should accept financial responsibility for vet bills, and then request reimbursement? It just seems so counterintuitive that it’s hardly surprising it’s eliciting emotional responses from forum users. It might help if people could understand why that decision was made. It sounds as though the clause has been questioned in the past, and the decision made to stick with it, so it would be really helpful to understand why…
Thank you.
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The thing is that a binding contract should be in place where a homeowner is absolutely required to pay the sitter. It should never be a “request,” paying a house sitter back for a HO’s vet bill is absolutely necessary.
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Just a query: if the HO refused to pay the sitter back, would that be reason enough for THS to remove the HO from the platform?
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