Hi All - I’m a new owner in a unique situation and was hoping to get some advice as customer service seems hard to get in touch with.
The situation is that I’m moving to the Middle East to join my wife who got a job there. We don’t exactly know how long we’re going to be gone, but it’s looking like at least a year. I also have yet to figure out when I’m going, but it’s sometime early next year. We have three cats and two reptiles (a ball python and blue tongued skink).
So question #1 is how would you best handle an indeterminate stay on the platform. On the front end I’m happy to let people stay in the guest bedroom if times don’t overlap exactly. On the backend what do I do? Can I transition the place from sitter to sitter? How should I broadcast this?
Question 2 is about transportation. Can I limit to sitters with cars? I’m providing off street parking. I’m in a good city location, but certain things just aren’t convenient via public transit like the vets (one for cats, one for reptiles) and groceries. I’m also potentially planning to have a couple of the cats and maybe even the reptiles come live with us in Qatar if the situation allows, so I’d be looking for someone who can (at an agreed upon date) bring the cats to the airport where there are direct flights, which is an hour 30+ minutes away. With the cost of eating the mortgage for up to two years I really don’t want to be paying for $500 uber rides.
Question 3 - Like I said I have reptiles. Care is easy once you know what you’re doing, but does require educating yourself if you’ve never done it before. How can I help ensure I’m going to get someone who is willing to actually watch videos on proper care and follow through and what do I do if I find out they are not being taken care of properly part way through the stay?
Where are you located? in a city?
Q1: Yes you can put tentative dates on the listing (if you already know the minimum dates) and make it clear in the list that you’ll have to discuss details in the video chat with the applicants.
Q2: yes you can limit it to sitters with cars, you can select the option “sitter needs a car” and mention in the listing that a car is necessary to bring the pets to different vets and more. there is an option “not accessible by public transport” but I’m not sure if that’s your case, depending on the location. Transportation of the kitties to the airport can be discussed during your call, but I doubt it’ll be an issue to any driver!
Q3: Reptiles are some sitters’ favorite pets to sit, and others will not even consider them. Make sure in your listing you ask for someone who is confortable already with reptiles and really likes them. this is my opinion, but I would not want to pick a sitter who might be ok with taking care of my snakes, I’d want a sitter who looooves snakes and has really good knowledge already. What if they find out it’s not for them, after 2 weeks? Because of the length of the stay, it’s really important to make sure the fit is perfect, but even then, things can happen, and the longer the sit, the more issues can arise. I, for example, am not comfortable to pet sit snakes, simply because I don’t think I could give them the same amount of affection and cuddles as I would to a dog, cat, rabbit, guinea pig, horse, etc. We all have our favorite pets but also our specialisations. All this can be discussed during your call and mentioned in your listing.
Once you publish your listing, you will receive 5 applicants, when you reach this limit, the system will pause your listing. Browse through them, if none fit, reject them, or reject some, and it will reopen it to more applicants. Just do this until you receive profiles that are a perfect fit.
It would really be important in your case to be super honest (the way you are in here) and explain everything, so that people are 100% aware of what they are “getting themselves into”. Depending on your location, you might need to only confirm the sit with someone who has the right to spend more than 3 months in your country or region if you are in the EU for exemple. That might reduce the pool of applicants.
Should you realize as you’re gone, that the sitter isn’t great, depending on the “offense” or the issue, you will need to work with Membership services in order to find a replacement. In order to avoid that situation, I really suggest taking allll the time you need to talk to people and really vet, also, listen to your gut feeling about every little red flag, from the start. If you don’t feel 100% happy in your interaction with potential sitters, keep looking. I’m sure you’ll find the perfect person, couple, or family that will take good care of your fur family.
that type of sit, being so long, is a big choice for the sitter, so some might need to rearrange a few things in their lives before arriving to your place. Once they start the sit, they won’t be able to go anywhere for at least a year so they really need to realize that before applying or confirming anything.
I hope this helps?
I think to start you’ll want to make your listing really clear. Mention all the different responsibilities that come with the sit, and maybe ask potential applicants to touch on these things in their message. Many people will see the length of time and just apply without reading, so by asking them to touch on certain things (reptile care, taking animals to the airport, etc) will show they’ve read the listing and know what they are getting into.
We usually send HOs regular updates (usually one per day or every other day) so it’s not unreasonable to ask for updates about your reptiles to make sure they are doing okay. I will say, however, that you should do your due diligence beforehand instead of worrying about the possibility of replacing a sitter part way through the sit.
For me personally, I wouldn’t take over a sit from another sitter, especially one that was asked to leave. I’d have no idea what I was coming into and wouldn’t want to be liable for another sitters actions. I have tons of experience working with blue tongued skinks and ball pythons in a zoo setting, so we do exist! I think if you were to ask me to take a video of me going through the care routine the first time, that would be sufficient “proof” that I was doing things properly. Any more than that and I would feel more like an UNtrusted Housesitter.
As for the car, you are within your rights to ask for sitters who have their own car, however it sounds like you only want them to have one to take the pets to the vet and/or airport. While some folks might be okay with that, it may be worth considering leaving a car for the sitter and adding them to your insurance. Obviously I don’t know where you live and what the specifics would be for this, just something to think about.
Best of luck! I look forward to checking out your listing when it goes live.
@lrstein What you are seeking is definitely doable if you have an attractive, safe location and a clean, tidy and comfortable home for the sitter to stay in. Other members have given you good feedback. That said, I would strongly suggest that you go on a few shorter trips and utilize your membership prior to your long trip, so that this long trip is not your first sitter experience. Having good reviews will help you attract experienced sitters. If you are traveling for the holidays, that may be a perfect opportunity to test the waters. Even if you are unable to engage the same sitters, you will learn a lot from hosting them and potentially get some good feedback from them. Once you have successfully hosted a few shorter term sitters, this should give you comfort that the long term sitters would workout. Your membership is good for unlimited sitters for a year, so you have time to set up a few trips before you would need to advertise for your long sit. Best of luck.
Although others seem to think this would be doable I’m not so sure. It would be extremely risky for you not to have an end date. While it might be attractive to some to live rent free for a year what if they get bored/tired of it or they have an emergency situation which means they have to leave early?
It would also be difficult to have more than one sitter, there are so many things that could go wrong. The fact that you have reptiles would also limit the number of sitters applying. Definitely not for me as, presumably, you feed mice to your snake?
I rented my house out some years ago with my two cats. Three female teachers rented it and they were delighted it came with the cats! I paid for the food and vet fees throughout the rental period. Have you considered that? It would also help towards paying your mortgage. Again, it might be difficult with the reptiles but, you never know.
Sorry to be so negative.
You would also need to be sure that whoever you chose can actually stay in your country for a year or longer due to visa stay duration.
I don’t know what country you are in but you would need to have a fellow countryperson as the sitter I would assume? Like I can stay in UK for six months but EU for only 90 days.
Your tasks would require a very certain type of person/s also and I tend to agree with all of @Smiley points. You really need to consider someone off this site I think is your best and safest option. A lot people on here are travellers, I stress “a lot” not “all” so finding someone on this site could really prove not only difficult but unrealistic. Good luck though whatever you decide.
Welcome @lrstein
I think there’s lots to consider here.
You’d be better with one sitter I feel as having multiple sitters with you out of the country could get messy. However you are then looking at someone based in your country due to entry visa issues for those not.
Taking pets to the airport may work for many people but what happens if there are paperwork issues or any other issues for a sitter when handing over your pets.
I think it’s possible to find a sitter on THS but your ad will need to be worded well to attract sitters.
This isn’t necessarily true if they are in an EU country. For example, we are not from France, but since we have EU passports we could live and work there indefinitely.
Someone I know is taking a sabbatical for at least a year. They found the easiest thing was to rent their home for the year and to ask someone separately to take care of their pet. Trying to optimize both for a long time runs too many risks and unknowns.
Honestly, I would prefer having a rental for a discount rate. That way I could actually charge money. However, I’m not having many bites on the rental listing, which is why I joined this service.
Putting my own pet on an airplane was extremely stressful. I can’t imagine doing that for another person’s three cats. I hope you find someone confident enough to manage that.
Here’s my answers to you questions as someone who does almost exclusively long term sits although nothing longer than a year yet.
I have zero issues with an indeterminate stay as long as we discuss the possibilities and that there’s “a window” for beginning and for the end. For example, if it’s a week on the front end where it could start anytime and you’re happy to supply the guest room as you mentioned it’s fine and would give me or other sitters that are flexible some sense of security.
On the back end, in a similar fashion, can you give the sitter a window? Say that you needed one for 9 months for sure, but could extend that up to a year, can you give the sitter at least one firm date? If so, then as soon as you have an idea of the extension you’d be able to give the sitter an option to extend. Either way, you’d probably be best to list a new set of dates and have them confirm the sit.
Already answered by @Nadia111, you can require sitter to have their own transportation. And a 3 hour trip to reunite the pets with their parents would be perfectly acceptable for me. Depending on the entire agreement, you could also cover their gas for the trip if the sitter needed that.
@Nadia111 also covered this because some people will or won’t sit reptiles. Rather than find people who are willing to watch videos, I think you’d be better to focus on the people that are willing and have previously cared for them. If you discover something is going wrong, Membership services can help you.
As you are in the US, that opens a wide pool of sitters. If you did not have the snake I don’t think you’d have a problem finding good sitters. Would it be possible to take the snake elsewhere and have it cared for by someone who specializes in them? Do you have a network of snake owners? You could ask there.
If you go ahead and find a sitter you will need to have an agreement in place on how any ( planned or emergency ) vet bills will be paid including transportation of pets to the vet .
Whilst clause 5.3.5 says a sitter will pay vet fees upfront, most sitters do not agree with this clause or may not have the funds to do so . Also with a year long sit they would not want to wait until the end of the sit to be reimbursed so you need to have a plan in place for dealing with this .
You would also need a similar plan for how you will pay for purchasing of pet food and any emergency repairs or maintenance required on your property during your absence.
@Irstein, this may not have been the case in the past but on checking again, THS now does not permit these animals.
5.2.11. not have any inherently dangerous pets (such as venomous snakes or constrictors , primates, wolves or wolf hybrids, non-domesticated cats, alligators), banned dog breeds, or any animal with a history of attacks on pets or people;
You would do best to find someone to care for your ball python off site so a THS sitter would have only your cats and blue tailed skink to care for.
The way I read this I really don’t think they’re talking about all constrictors. Just the dangeous ones like potentially Burmese pythons or anacondas. My ball pythons is the most relaxed pet I’ve ever had. She’s never bit or even hissed at me. My cats, while nice, have done a lot more damage.
@lrstein and @CoolCatAunt , I didn’t want to give inaccurate info so I checked with Membership Services. They confirmed that ball pythons are prohibited on THS.