Medical Issues NOT Disclosed and Causing Problems

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
1

What would you do?

We are about 5 days into a month long sit (20 days remaining) and are at a total loss of words. When we originally secured the sit (over 2 months ago), when we spoke on the phone we asked the owner about anything out of the ordinary (meds, diets, etc). We were told the dogs were fine and that she would go over everything once we arrived at her house. Shortly after booking the sit, we received the welcome guide that stated one of the dogs was to receive medication twice a day (AM & PM) and that both dogs need to go out every couple of hours (No issues there – completely fine on our part).

We were invited the night before, offered dinner (declined due to food allergies) and were met with a 7 page long document detailing the sit further (mind you – the welcome guide online was extremely limited and even mentioned more information would be provided in person). The HO repeatedly asked me to go over the document and what questions I had. Of course, everything seemed a bit much, medical diseases were listed nonchalantly and a whole lot of “if this happens, give them this…if that happens, do that.” No real questions stood out, had a couple minor ones that needed to be shown in person, but overall, HO made it seem like both were well accustomed to their routines and medications, etc. Mind you – this is when and where we found out that both dogs have pancreatitis and the older one has Cushing’s disease and a heart murmur.

Before bed (around 9pm) HO stated that they wanted us to walk with them so they could ‘show us the ropes’ and where they like to walk and wanted to be out of the house for the walk by 5.30am (they had to leave early and of course, we know how to walk a dog and usually figure out the paths as the sit goes – but we obliged them and said okay). Let me preface by saying that we are a couple who has been house sitting full time for about 2 years now with 25 5 star reviews and have seen pretty much every type of animal (old, young, sick, etc). Red flags were going up more and more quickly, but again, we were already there, unpacked and HO was leaving early morning.

That morning at 5am, we got up to observe how they feed them (again, wanted to show us because it is about a 5 step process), and once HO came out of the bedroom, they told us one of the dogs (the older one at 13) had puked and crapped all over her bedroom throughout the night and that they “were NOT happy”. HO then fed the dogs and the other one (10 y/o) immediately started vomiting. Their response “Oh wow, she never does that!”. More red flags….but again, what do we do? We proceeded to walk and had a good walk chatting. The older one then took a poop (that was all diarrhea and it went allllll over his tail). HO didn’t see it at the time, and I later asked “How do you usually clean them off?” They are a different unique breed that requires a bit more detailed grooming and their tails are extremely long. HO just said “hose them off I guess. Or you could take them in town to the groomers to get bathed if you want.” (Making it seem like we would just fork out the money to do that). 5 minutes later, HO noticed the crap all over the dogs tail and said “Oh *****, you are a mess!”. Did HO clean it up when we got back? No. Did HO mention it at all? No. Did HO ask us to help load their car? Yes. Did we do that? Yes. And then…they were off.

Since then, the older dog proceeded to crap on his tail 3 more times, before we got the bright idea to “tie it up” so it wouldn’t interfere with his using the restroom. Problem 1 solved. Then every night that we have been here, he wakes up every 1.5-2 hours needing to drink a lot of water and then proceed to use the restroom. Then from about 3-5am, he has ‘zoomies’ around the house and growls until you feed him breakfast. Throughout the day however, he is fine and honestly an extremely sweet dog, but does need to use the restroom about every 1.5-2 hours. Since our first night here, we have sent updates to the extent of ((Dog) woke up about every 2 hours to pee and drink a lot of water. Super cuddly throughout the day. Had a great walk. Etc. With pictures). They are now convinced that the dog has ‘anxiety’ and is calling the vet to see what they suggest. Also suggested that we sleep in the master bedroom to see if they adjust better. (Oh, failed to mention that the night before HO left when the dog crapped and puked, HO barely wiped up 6 spots on the carpet, covered it with hydrogen peroxide and a ton of baking soda, turned the purifier and fan on and left it!) I have attempted to even clean it all up twice and the stains and odor I can just simply not get out. So much to the extent that stepping in the room makes us nauseous (so this wasn’t a viable option to sleep there).

What would you do in our shoes? We have about 20 more days of the sit. The owner is still local in the US, but traveling to Europe here in about a week for two weeks. We are just at a loss for words and a lack of sleep.

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2

Wow! I thought my last sit was nuts, this sounds awful.
Sounds like you’ve been tricked.
I’m sure there will be plenty of good advice forthcoming.
Good luck.

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3

I think you should ask trustedhousesitters for support and see your options. This is clearly against T&C and it is not what you signed up for. Nothing was disclosed in the listing, very little in the welcome guide and so on…
Take a screenshot of the listing before they have a chance to edit it and send it to trustedhousesitters together with the welcome guide and, perhaps, the document they gave you once you were there.
Good luck!

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4

I’d contact membership services as a matter of urgency for their advice and I’d also update the owners sooner rather than later and insist that you feel the dogs require to be seen by a vet (make sure they set up the payment and confirm this has happened). If they don’t want to do this, again update member services and tell them the owners response.

Some things are unacceptable.

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5

I’d give THS and the host notice that I was leaving in 24 hours, during which they could arrange alternative care. They’ve conned you into a sit that you didn’t agree to, because they withheld health info.

And I’d review them accordingly.

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@Maggie8K Is it ‘withheld’ medical info, even though they told us at our arrival of all of the issues? (actually wasn’t even verbalized, it was on the word document we were handed). The welcome guide did state medication twice daily…but that could be for anything!

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@Daisy999 Thank you for your response - apparently the dog had seen the vet within the last month or so and had a whole panel of lab work done and is now on this new regiment of medications (about 4 - taken 4-5 times daily). The HO told us that the dog seemed to be doing better, but when we talked on the phone yesterday, their response was “I guess we are back to the beginning” in terms of his disease. We are waiting to see what the vet suggests and her response today, and then going to go from there. We are literally just shocked that all of this was just sprung on us, in a word document no less. :-/

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8

Glad you’re getting the issue sorted and the vets are involved. It’s not fair on you and definitely not the pet.

Hope this works out well for you and the animals.

All the best x

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9

WRITTEN AFTER YOUR LATEST POST. Talk to support, tell the HOs that you’re leaving in the next 24 hours and to please find cover and stipulate that most of the medical/urinary issues were not disclosed before arrival and this is above and beyond normal requirements. If it backfires then write a full & factual review, take photos of the “evidence” & exchange of info with the HO a whilst liaising with HQ. (Might be worth screenshotting the WG now) & get #theffoutofdodgesotospeak @Couple_travels_fulltime

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10

yeah it is, they should have told you well before you arrived.

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11

This is the number I have for THS (UK)

+448081780207

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12

Yup. Had you known ahead of time, you presumably wouldn’t have accepted the sit.

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13

It certainly is withheld information. If the dogs got sick after you agreed to the sitting they should have informed you and asked if you still wanted to go ahead with it. The document they handed you should have been forwarded as soon as the situation changed and you should have been given the chance to process it and take a decision based on the new information. It even sounds as if the real situation is even more difficult than what the printed document describes (potty every couple of hours or less, repeated vomiting…)
I know you don’t want to leave the pets, they are sick, poor things but it it their owners who have left them (and you) in that situation. Perhaps you can offer to take them somewhere to get proper help and wait a bit until the owners find a good place for them but I do think that if the situation doesn’t improve soon they will need need paid, professional care. And the owners should have foreseen that and planned accordingly.

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14

@Daisy999

Hoping to see what the response is today. We are doing our best to accommodate this HO. Literally, the dogs are the sweetest, and low maintenance during the day. The older one just needs round the clock care.

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15

Very accurate. Thank you!

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@Couple_travels_fulltime inform THS as soon as possible to cover your back. This doesn’t seem like a reasonable or appreciative host. They are likely to find faults and make complaints about you .

Please DO NOT assume that the HO is appreciative or grateful for this . If they wanted the best care for their dogs they would have informed you as soon as their dog’s health deteriorated to ensure that you were onboard with all the extra care required.

This 24 hour care really is more suitable for a paid sit or a professional with veterinary training . (the owner likely knows this ) . You are not doing yourself any favours by putting up with this . From your description this doesn’t seem like a reasonable or appreciative host. They are likely to find faults and make complaints about you .

Do they have an account set up at the vets ? Do they have an emergency contact ?
Give notice that you are leaving hand over the care to the vets or the emergency contact . Keep THS and owner informed and get out of there !

The Urgent Support Phoneline is 24/7 the number is shown on your dashboard.

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17

Perhaps you could offer to bring the one dog to the vet for boarding for the remainder of the stay? I hope that doesn’t sound harsh, but they are better equipped to take care of an elderly, infirm animal and you shouldn’t be expected to do any of this. Maybe it’s a possible solution for everyone. Even if it did help these owners still deserve an honest, bad review.

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@Couple_travels_fulltime I’m so sorry to read your post and current sit experience. You sound like such caring sitters! You have received some great advice from other community members, please do reach out to Membership Services for additional support. If using chat you can ask to speak to a human to get help. Good luck with everything :hugs:

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19

I had a dog with Cushings. I would not sit with a dog with Cushings unless they had been on whatever dose of meds they are on for a very long time as undermedicated means continued symptoms and overmedicating could mean death. The medications themselves are chemo drugs. And if the dog has diarrhea and other issues it could be the meds and not the Cushings. I can’t stress enough what a dangerous balancing act the medications are and frankly leaving for a month is IMO highly irresponsible on the owner’s part. Yep I’m going to get judgey. This should not be happening.

After the SECOND time our dog was hospitalized (and almost euthanized) for too much medication, she probably went into Addisonian crisis which helped ironically with her constant peeing, but we just gave up on the meds, walked her a lot AND used wee=wee pads because it was impossible to keep up. So I would suggest getting wee-wee pads and training the dog to use them. (We found training her was a cinch, since the constant outings and not being able to make it was no fun for her either.) We started with pads in ALL the places she was likely to go and within a couple of days had it down to one place, and she agreed. We no longer used the more deadly medications, but did supplement with melotonin and also had her on DES which is good for female dogs that leak.

Frankly, I would consult the on call vet if you have access, but I’d also tell the owners this was more than they’d told you about and you cannot do it, and give them a couple of days to get someone else not through THS.

We didn’t travel at all while we were working out the meds. We travelled little for the next two years while she was alive. She stayed at a very professional kennel where they were good with her, but it was always with the understanding that something could happen whle we were away.

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This is not great. If they are working out the meds now, the dog is at risk of dying or going into an Addisonian crisis if the meds are too much. And even a skilled vet can be giving too much as the dog’s reactions can be idiosyncratic and not have much to do with the guidelines by weight.

So for whatever time you are there, you need to speak to their vet or at least a tech in their vet’s office about what to look for that consitute’s an emergency either due to the Cushings or due to the medications.

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