I’ve been sitting for 6+months now and this is my first time running into this! I recently sat for a pet that was mostly fine in my care, and then the last two days wasn’t eating. I sent a message to the parents letting them know on the second day that the pet hadn’t eaten the last two breakfasts. They’re free - eaters for dinner but get a special breakfast so, that’s why I know the pet didn’t eat any breakfast for sure. The pet also hadn’t visibly not been drinking water, but again it’s multiple pets in the home so hard to track who exactly is drinking how much. I know for sure the pet had drank some within a few days of me leaving because I just happened to see it.
The pet was always laying on this one particular chair, but the parents were aware of that, and described it as pretty normal behavior. The last day or two I found her in a few different locations than normal, but she wasn’t necessarily hiding, acting oddly guarded or anything. I sent plenty of pictures and videos during my stay so they were updated on the visuals of the pets and how they were acting.
All that said, the parents just let me know shortly after my stay they had to take the pet to the vet where they had to stay for 2 nights, have fluids administered, and are awaiting a diagnosis.
I’m obviously devastated that the pet went to the hospital, but the pet parent made it sound like my fault. They said the pet looked visibly sick though I didn’t think so when I left, or obviously I would’ve done something. The pet parents say they believe it progressed over days, but I’m not sure what else I should have been doing. I was just wondering for advise on how I should respond to the pet parent, if there is more that I should’ve been doing? Would love some feed back. Thx
It sucks that you had a bad experience during your sit. From having my own pets with health issues and sitting for pets with pop up health issues and undisclosed existing ones, a pet not eating over 24 hours should always invite a call to a vet-whether that be ths pet emergency line to have them weigh in and reach out to the pet parents to suggest a vet visit or simply being direct with the pet parents and telling them the pet needs a vet. The 24 hour rule is lightly flexible for dogs but absolutely essential for cats, whose livers break down after 24 full hours without food. Dehydration is also a cause for worry in pets who don’t eat as they’re also likely to have reduced water intake.
If in doubt, before a sit starts, always ask if all.medical info has been disclosed, tell home owners to have their card on file at their vet, tell then to.provide er vet info as well, have the ths emergency pet number saved on your phone and tell HOs (if a pet gets sick) that if a ths vet suggests a vet visit, that the sit can only continue if you are following vet advice as to not endanger the pet. I feel like this CYA very well to the point that you’re both providing adequate oversight of the pet you’re in charge of, documenting with ths, and cannot be blamed at fault.
I’ve dealth with home owners who were great when their pet got sick and wound up having to be brought to an er at 1 a.m and also the types where the pet was in distress and I had to call my own vet due to owner negligence. I now follow what I told you above.
Was the pet a cat (sounds like it)? Just want to say, that cat’s condition can detoriate super fast. Like within hours. A cat that was not quite itself but didn’t appear actually sick, can pretty suddenly seem very ill.
I think it has something to do with cats hiding their pain/injuries/sickness as long as possible, until they just can’t anymore.
So I don’t think you’re to blame here. Especially as you were informing the HO about what you noticed.
If you updated the hosts on their pets’ conditions, did you do that in writing? If so, you’d have proof that you exercised care, for example.
When a stranger takes care of a pet, they don’t know what “normal” is health wise — there’s no comparison to be done since they’ve never seen the pet before.
Personally, when I sit I always ask if I notice something off. So far, my hosts have let me know when something like that was “normal” for their pet. And I’ve always done updates via text or WhatsApp, depending on what the host and I agreed on, so I always have proof if needed.
In one case, I sat a sick, elderly dog — she had been diagnosed three years earlier and was on multiple medications a day. She also was coughing frequently. Eleven days into our sit, she had what turned out to be catastrophic back to back seizures late one night, so I rushed her to urgent care. She ended up having to be put down, with her humans scrambling back from the other side of the world to say goodbye. I’d kept them up to date the whole time and they ended up writing a five-star review, saying that I’d done everything they would’ve done and that their pet was in good hands with me the whole time.
If it was a cat, they are extremely good at hiding illness and can go down hill very quickly. You flagged a change in behaviour to the owners & they were aware. Maybe you could have had a firmer conversation as to whether they thought a vet visit was required but the way you describe it didn’t sound like an emergency at that point. I can understand you are feeling bad about the situation but it feels a little unfair for the owners to be blaming you. It’s always my greatest fear, animals getting sick but my only advice is to keep owners fully informed and make sure they let are part of the decision making.
And please remember that when people are stressed or upset, they tend to lash out at whoever happens to be around. They may lash out now and regret it later, realizing that they blamed you because they wanted someone or something to blame in their time of upset.
At this point I would just write something like “I’m so sad and worried about sweet Kitty. Please let me know when you find out what’s wrong.” Until the diagnosis comes through, you don’t know if it’s something like cancer or kidney failure- for which of course you were not responsible- or something like poisoning from something it ate, or a blocked intestine from ingesting a hair band, etc.
I appreciate this guidance and instruction, and from now on will follow this set of guidelines. I do always ask pet parents if there is any medical issues to be noted, and for this one there wasn’t any. That said, I will now immediately call vets, ths or otherwise, after 24 hours of noticeable behavior change.
I’m so sorry you had to experience that, that’s so sad.
Yes, I did inform them of the lack of eating via text. I didn’t do it after the first day (which now I will be sure to do) because it’s quite common for pets not to eat one day, and then to eat later or the next, so I didn’t find it super strange behavior. Obviously on the second day I did let them know because at that point it wasn’t just an odd one off.
thank you for the reassurance. From now on I’ll be more adamant about the health of the pet. Unfortunately at the time i really didn’t think the not eating was that odd, but now know to flag any changes like that to the parents the first time it happens and not wait for the second.
It would depend on what the hosts have said specifically and knowing how your comms have unfolded. In some cases, better to not say anything to them if they’re belligerent.
Some people are immature or emo and can’t control their emotions, maybe aren’t rational, so communicating further with them can be fraught and not worth your time.
You can always respond in a measured way later, if they review you negatively. And that would be for your benefit, so other hosts can gauge whether you’re rational, reasonable and responsible.
Remember that if people behave irrationally, their crazy is not your crazy.
It seems that you noticed the change in eating behavior and communicated it promptly. You monitored her water intake as best you could in a multi-pet household. You shared regular updates with photos - and you paid attention to her resting habits and noted any changes.
What else could you have done at that point - and would the host taken the cost of a vet appointment at that point? It seems they didn’t decide it was grounds for that at that point, as they were notified?
You could ofc say something like
«I genuinely didn’t observe signs that suggested she was seriously unwell—otherwise I would’ve taken action. I did notice she skipped breakfast and let you know right away, and I kept a close eye on her behavior. I understand how upsetting this must be, and I’m also feeling heartbroken that she’s been unwell. I’m hoping for a smooth recovery.”
I think as of now I would let them figure it out with the vet, and perhaps cool down a bit, first.
Sorry you were/are in that situation. In many sits, I’ve only had 1 where a very senior dog started a health decline a few days after the HOs departed on a cruise and were not contactable. Riley stopped eating and barely moved. I did take the dog to the vet but she wouldn’t do much without the pet parent’s authorization. Riley held on and I tried to keep him comfortable but he died the evening after his family’s return home. The HOs were very appreciative of my care and expressed appreciation for my efforts, not blame. (Long thread about this Lessons from sitting an old dog (or any animal, I think))
