I had to put a dog to sleep and organise it to be cremated on the first day of a sit. I did my best for the dog and owner and ensured that dog was loved until the end and followed the owners wishes
Had they asked me to dig a hole and bury it. I’m not physically capable to do so myself. I was a lone female. I’d get it cremated but digging a hole is asking too much for some people
But you did what you could and thought was right. And I believe that is what really matters.
These blunt “I would never do that/take care of that” statements show to me that more thinking should be done before writing.
Many years ago one of my cats was murdered by a dog out the front of our house while we were away. The housesitters saw it and were so heartbroken. We had set up emergency contacts and they followed procedure with that whereby our friends collected the cat and took to the vet to be cremated. The sitters didn’t have to deal with it too much at all.
Another time, we had a chicken pass while away, and the sitters kindly put her in the middle of the compost pile for us which is much easier than digging a 1M hole (and decomposes significantly faster and becomes nutrients for my garden in the future). We asked first though, could they do it or shall we call family from emergency contacts to do it? They opted to do it themselves.
I feel this is just part and parcel of pet sitting and pet ownership. Death happens. If digging a 1M hole is out of your physical capabilities then its up to the owner to put in place their own plan B. BUT, if they dont ask, how are they to know you aren’t able or willing to help them with their pet in death? Its part of your pet sitters role in my opinion.
Alright. Maybe I am alone in my view of these things.
Here’s my drift:
When I leave my cats in the hands of a sitter, I am transferring temporary parentship to that sitter. I fully expect them to take care of the animals as if they were their own, and not shy away at the slightest hint of trouble.
I’m always “there” for support, but there’s only so much one can do remotely, that is why I elect to invite THS sitters to stay in my home and become my pets’ parents.
So I depend and insist upon the sitters to do everything they would do for their own pets, and not “these are your pets, you take care of things” me.
Excellent, excellent informative and thought-provoking reply and input here! Absolutely everybody on this site should read and absorb this wealth of information, thank you!
I agree that taking care of a pet would include dealing with any emergencies that might occur.
However to deal with it as if they were your own pets , could lead down a road with lots of problems.
The THS T&Cs state a sitter must pay the vet fees upfront and then ask owner for reimbursement after the end of the sit .
Friends of ours spend 10s of thousands £s desperately trying to treat a young dog who after a sudden tragic accident had no hope of recovery. Would you want your sitter to do the same and would you be willing to reimburse them for that ?
Come on, firstly, a 10’s of thousands treatment is a multi-month treatment, so this example is so far-fetched, you need binoculars to see it.
Secondly, because you ask me - I would never leave this dog, and if that happened while I was away, I’d return as soon as I could. That said, YES, I would completely expect the sitters to do everything they can and expense what is needed. The question “would you be willing to reimburse” can only be meant ironically, right? Who would not reimburse someone who shelled out dough for them?
I think you understood fully what I meant, and are just trying to have a bit of fun with me 
If not, then answer me this: The pet has an accident and needs urgent treatment which will cost money right away. Would you, as a sitter, take care of said pet, or would you not?
Elmar.
PS: There’s a reason there’s always a slush fund at my house.
We always have this “what if” discussion with owners prior to confirming a sit and insist that they have an account set up with the vet . Despite the T&Cs stating it’s a sitter’s responsibility- many sitters won’t have sufficient available funds to cover treatment upfront . If an account has been set up and we know the owners wishes we will immediately follow through, advise owners and take pet to the vet .
This is deviation from OPs topic but has been discussed on other threads
I like the “account” thing. Have never found a vet neither in Austria nor here who would do that though.
I took my dog to the vet and the bill was about 2600 euro or GBP 2200 or USD 2900 before noon, before any procedures and medications, only lab-tests and scans.
With a cost for the actual operation the double sum - in addition. They also wanted to keep the dog over the weekend for medical surveillance until the surgeon was on duty (didn’t get an estimate, for sure not cheap).
So quite a responsibility for a sitter. I do not have funds to cover for a HO in a similar situation.
Yes, I had a similar situation.
I disagree, Marion. Sitter had communicated and been approved to leave as she said. The HO asking her to stay longer was disrespectful. Asking her to dig a hole? No way! That is not on my list of skills or physical abilities. Again, disrespectful.
This is seriously sage advice, Maggie. To robustly follow this approach will definitely eliminate and mitigate against a heck of a lot of potential problems.
Some people have an emergency contact person to deal with this kind of situation and they would arrange payment too, others leave the credit card details at the vet or in a secure place in the house. Some, directly in a closed envelope to be opened only if it was needed. An owner wanted to leave the card under a plant in the kitchen but I told her I didn’t want to assume that responsibility, there were workers coming and all… I asked her to leave it in a secure, undisclosed place and only let me know if necessary. In case she was not reachable, she added a new, wealthier, emergency contact who would pay or use her card as guarantee. Luckily, I have never needed to take a pet to the vet.
Sometimes you make strong statements. Nothing wrong with that. I enjoy a good discussion and you are asking for it in your answer to @Silversitters 
. I like your expression “if you need to burn the house down to save the cat, go ahead, do it” but just because I like to admire and analyze language and communication and because I am Andalucian and we tend to exaggerate but no sitter (not me) would like to make a call with big implications for the owner. In the same situation, different owners would react differently , so how does a sitter know what the owner would do? There are different treatment options, etc.
In the “eventful first day” thread there’s an example of that. The owner was reachable and decided not to go ahead with anesthetics and stitches and let the wound heal naturally. Once, I was told by an owner that it there was a problem it would be better to put the dog down because she was not going to spend a lot of money on treatments. “Put him down” are my words, the owner just mimicked shooting him. I was shocked. That may answer your question
I guess there are exceptions to every nicely drawn situation picture. So sure, if the situation is hopeless and/or the pet owners are heartless, this might be the solution.
I still expect the sitter to act like it was their pet, but also loop me in right away. Not always possible (pet lying in the street, bleeding situations), but since I’m always reachable for my sitters (more than I can say for some of them), arranging things is not going to be an issue.
Not sure how other HOs handle this, perhaps they’re incommunicado while they’re away? I am definitely not.
As a HO reading your past reviews, seeing that you had a string of very good reviews with just one bad, I won’t be put off by it. I may ask you why you got it, but it certainly won’t put me off.
I think you’ll have to put this down to experience.
I would be concerned about sitters taking over from sitters, how can the HO assess and review how the house was left by each individual sitter if they don’t see it? It would be a red flag for me and would never accept a sit where it wasn’t the house owner or house keeper that was doing the handover or arriving back home.
Easy, videocall with the old sitters and then, or simultaneously, with the new ones. Welcome to the 21st century
You might not want to go that route and rather skip the sit, and that’s fine.
Mmmm, that’s a bit of a troll answer and not what this forum is about.
In my opinion a videocall wouldn’t show how clean a place has been left to get an accurate rating but you are entitled to your opinion.
It can be done @whiskers (we’ve done it twice) but not recommended. It’s both stressful and risky for everyone involved. House clean enough? Pets healthy? Any problems & who’s responsible?Who emptied the freezer of food? Who broke the hoover? And on it goes. A video call won’t eliminate that risk. We took photos as we left and as we arrived on a double handover. It worked out okay but we knew the HOs a bit & they 
trusted us plus were new to house sitters as was the other sitter. #riskyhandovers