Maybe try diapers for your cat?
Travel wise, sounds like you might need paid sitting. Or ask family or friends. Or maybe trade responsibilities with someone else with pets in your area, so you can both save money. Or do other types of bartering — you get sitting and offer something else, if not sitting. Or do staycations while your pets are elderly and need extra care. The reality of having the pleasure and love of pets involves costs and trade-offs or sacrifices.
THS sits are essentially bartering, so yes, hosts have to provide what sitters value, in exchange for labor. Sitters aren’t typically desperate for just any place to stay — sits have to be appealing enough to them.
There isn’t some vast pool of sitters at no cost that hosts can choose from, if that’s what you thought you’d get from THS.
Logically, why would people accept sits without being selective if they’re sitting voluntarily? They could sit for money otherwise. And even paid sitters won’t just accept any sit.
One of the things that resonates here is that most of the issues stem from @Sculls-sodium-0j being sold the “Invite a sitter and along they’ll trot to sit for you” & “Check a lovely pool of free sitters and choose one” type lines from THS marketing again. So misleading and the route of this mismatch in what new members think is the sitting landscape and the very different reality of “Post a fab listing and hope for great applicants to want to come to your home.” #mutualexchangebandwagon 
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Generally, I’d say buyer beware with any advertising or marketing. Not that companies should mislead, but that ultimately consumers should also use common sense.
If I were to entrust anyone with my pets and home, I’d wonder why I could get access to a huge pool of sitters and I’d pay only a fraction of what sitting typically costs. And I sure wouldn’t leave my pets and home without reading terms. To me, that would be a completely illogical risk for things I consider among my highest priorities.
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agree @Maggie8K in the theory, however not everyone is that savvy and that’s where THS are going to suffer. Lots of disgruntled members both sides, damage to their reputation and a diluted offer. We shall see…. #nosuchthingasafreelunch
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Agreed. I think the company will stay a niche business. Not enough people who actually love pets enough to make a good exchange. Not enough hosts who are willing to put in what a fair exchange takes.
The potential for value exists in the concept, but it’s all in the details. And there will still be a need for paid sitting, even if THS successfully grows.
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Hi… I’m a pet sitting and when I reject or I don’t want to apply , is when the owner of the house write so many things to do and when they write that the animals need to be feeding early in the morning , like 6 or 7 am exemplo … when the owner don’t write any time of feeding , then I be more confortable to apply . Also , I like profiles that show the pictures of the house also.
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As a sitter, there are several primary boxes to tick before I can even consider a sit: dates, duration, location, pets, house. If a HO randomly reaches out to request my services, the chances are that the profile won’t fit. It would be quite rare for a HO contacting me to be accepted for that reason. The other thing is, TH won’t allow sitters to block out availability. By default all dates show as available. I can add availability but it’s meaningless because anything that I don’t mark as available should show as unavailable but doesn’t.