Hello, We are wondering if others are having the same issue as us trying to arrange a pet sitter.
We live in the UK. In the past we have never had any issues, in fact the first time we posted a pet sit we got 17 applications in a few days. This time however, the only applications have been from abroad and while all of them where fabulous pet sitters we remain somewhat hesitant due to Covid issues of possible flight cancellations and rule changes. Unfortunately we had to decline them. In the past we have had people from abroad but decided for this year we would like sitters from our country. But there is no interest. We are also pet sitters who live in Wales and where declined recently from a sit in England as she was concerned regarding rule changes. Any advice …?
I wonder if the UK housesitters are finally feeling brave enough to travel beyond the UK now and so fewer are applying locally?
We live in Canada and after two years, we are finally starting to apply for international housesits. We have had two UK sits confirmed for May/June now and are looking for a third. I think you are right though - some of the sits we’ve applied for are amazing and yet only had 0-3 applicants.
I can appreciate your concern about inviting international sitters though. It’s still a risk, particularly if yet another new variant pops up.
Hello @Engadine and welcome to the forum. You may want to add your listing to your forum username so that forum members can view your listing. If you’d prefer, you can just add your dates and location (city/country) to your post here so that members can find your listing.
Our members may also give you feedback concerning your listing. Although, as you’ve said, you’ve had great success in the past, there may still be tweaks suggested that could improve your listing. As you well know, times have changed and sometimes the information sitters want to know has also changed somewhat.
I found your comment interesting, about a homeowner in England being concerned about restrictions that may be imposed for the Wales/England border. It’s a relevant example of how limitations that could never have been anticipated in the past have happened over the past two years. Hence the reason many homeowners are restricting their reach for possible sitters, which affects listings.
We are Canadian and have already done one international sit. We travelled to Spain in November and did a sit in Madrid over Christmas and New Year.
The world is opening up and HOs and sitters are travelling again.
Hi @Engadine and welcome to the forum. There are many sits in UK currently listed at present with many not attracting sitters and haven’t for a number of weeks. Sitters are also hesitant as owners can cancel on them at the last minute. Are you travelling within Wales for your holiday or going further afield as this may be relevant to attracting sitters?
For what it’s worth, I’m an Australian sitter and have 8 sits booked in England from mid June to end of September. UK owners are taking the chance on booking international sitters. Up until covid struck I had been coming to the UK annually since 2015 so that may have been a deciding factor for some of these owners. Maybe you need to give an international sitter a chance BUT have a good video chat with them before committing.
Even if there might not be as many sits listed in Germany as in the UK, we experience the same thing. Either nobody applies or only very few from overseas. We would be happier if this year’s sitters came from Europe but if we will not get more applications until April, I will boost the listing and take the note, which states that we currently prefer local sitters and open up. I’d rather count on someone from a different continent than not getting any applications.
After 2 years of so many sitters and homeowners staying close to home, the world appears to be reopening finally. We are US based, but have confirmed several UK sits over the summer months. The homeowners didn’t hesitate to confirm, and mentioned they were concerned due to lack of applications. We are happy to begin our overseas visit, and wish there were more Sitters available. It appears that the majority of folks traveling to the UK, have confirmed their sits 6 months in advance. Hope you find the right fit for your needs before too much longer.
That’s the same situation here in Australia @anon39388349. Only about 200 sits listed with quite a few having been listed for quite some time and many showing 0-3. A sign of the times worldwide but hopefully it will pick up soon. I hope you get some lovely sitters for your cats.
Hi @Engadine - As others have said, the world is quickly opening up again so, if possible. I would try to open yourself up again to sitters from abroad. I understand we have all grown to be fearful of this but, thankfully travelling does seem to be back ! We are UK based and recently travelled to Spain do a sit. The home owners we sat for over the last couple of weeks have been on a family holiday to the Caribbean and the home owners of the sit we are due to start today are off to South Africa. The world, once again is our oyster!
Hello,
Thankyou all very much for your helpful comments and insight. At this stage Im not going to post the sit on the forum but if anybody feels they have time to view the details ,I would be grateful for any thoughts and comments to improve the posting. Take a look at “Beautiful North Wales, peaceful location with 2 lovely cats” Denbigh . North Wales, UK.
We have stated we would like a couple from the UK and at this stage we feel we would like to keep that request. But any comments would be appreciated . Thanks
You have an excellent listing @Engadine and address all that a sitter/s could possibly want to know. As sitters yourselves, you know exactly what to include in your listing! My sister and I thoroughly enjoyed a cat sit in July 2018 in a rural location near Groes so we know your area well and just loved it. We remember the chocolate cafe in Denbigh well!! Perhaps another year we may have the opportunity to look after your gorgeous cats as you really do live in a beautiful part of North Wales. I am sure you will have no difficulty securing wonderful UK sitters for your July dates.
Thank you very much for your posting. It makes me feel so much better. We know Groes well and certainly when life gets back to normality , we would certainly like to hear from you. We live in a beautiful valley with views from every window at the front of the house looking over sheep, lambs ,cows and the occasional deer. We are not adverse to people from abroad , we have had a couple from USA, who where due here again but Covid put pay to that. Its just the risk of an other variant that may stop the ease of people travelling. Here in the UK, Wales has had the strictest of rules and the Welsh Government are always the first and most cautious with restrictions.
So thats it…!We feel maybe an sit of 16 days maybe putting people off applying.
So thanks folks for all your input. I have gained so much from this forum . Happy Pet/House sitting.
I just found your listing and have favourited it for a future sit. I would love to spend some time in that area - your home and kitties are lovely. My 3G grandmother was born in Denbigh, and lived in Henllan in 1841. I have been dying to visit the area and do some research on that line of my family.
Im just going to give a reply as a sitter because i think afew things are affecting people applying.
First there are many more sits as people are starting to be able to travel more, which also means some sitters may be catching up with friends, family or holidays abroad so are less available.
People have returned to the work place, also people in work are having to cover more due to higher sickness (covid) and staff shortages, so dont have the same flexibility.
Also cost of living. Although sitting is free sitters may be feeling it necessary to take less holidays or do more overtime.
I dont think its that people dont want to sit just present circumstances affecting the balance of sitters available.
Hi @Gina I think you’ve made some excellent observations. I’ll add to that, for current conditions, for some the sharp increase in petrol/gas costs is a deterrent. I read yesterday that this increased cost will soon be reflected in higher flight prices too. Everyone has a wide range of considerations before applying for a sit, for sure.
Thankyou for everybody’s input. Everybody is right. These are very different times we are living in at present . I recently went back over all the people who had applied for sits and the majority of them have a heading of “Inactive for now”… so I can only conclude that there isnt the amount of pet sitters available as there use to be. Fingers crossed many will return.
Yes snowbird, i agree i think this cost is going to affect too.
I couldn’t find your listing, for whatever reason, but I’m curious why you need a couple to care for 2 cats? Does your home require an extensive amount of work to maintain for the sitters? Requiring a couple when really a single could do it, could be artificially limiting your responses.
Just an fyi, I spoke to a HO friend here in the US who is having the same problem finding a sitter. She noted that none of the other listings in her state seem to have applicants either. A sitter she knows has just relinquished his THS membership because of the new requirement for Socially Security numbers, and I suspect this requirement has caused a number of sitters to leave THS. I never heard this complaint about a shortage of sitters prior to the introduction of the new ID checks. Incidentally, my friend had four applicants contact her from a competing house sitting site.