Hi, first time posting on here, but this is not my first sit.
I am currently in a multi-week sit for 3 pets. One of them is a mid-aged dog finishing a round of antibiotics that she had been on before I got here. This morning, I discovered that in the night she had liquid diarrhea all over an area rug in the living room. (I discovered this while getting ready to take the dog out this morning, without my glasses on, barefoot, and stepping into the middle of it which was, to say the least, a day ruiner.)
I texted the owner of course to let them know, and to ask if they had a preferred carpet cleaning service. Before the owner let, he mentioned that if the dog ate cat food it had caused him to have this issue in the past, so I assumed they had a cleaner they used. I should also mention that the dog did NOT eat the cat food - I have been very intentional about this to avoid this exact situation. Both the owner and I believe this is due to the dog finishing her antibiotics.
Instead of answering my question, the owner just said “Oh dear” and told me where the urine-cleaner and smell remover spray was, and told me to maybe give the dog some special food to help her feel better.
Am I wrong to believe that this is an…. especially disrespectful response? Like, I’m getting a cleaner either way, I’m 5 days into a 3 week sit and the house is already not to my personal hygiene/cleanliness standards. But the fact that the owner didn’t even offer to pay or reimburse me, or provide help at all is very shocking to me.
Sorry it sounds like a rough start to the day for sure.
Pets do get diarrhea from time to time. The enzymatic cleaners when used properly are usually great at spot cleaning but of course it sounds like this was a much bigger mess.
I personally wouldn’t pay for a cleaner, I would clean it as best I could with what she left, send her a photo that this was the best you could do with that, and cover the affected areas with towels.
You can tell her when you send the photos that it really does need a professional cleaner but that isn’t in your budget to provide.
I would be careful to put down towels/blankets for the next night though as diarrhea can persist for several days (I hope for your sake it doesn’t and resolves quickly once the meds are finished!)
It sounds like this has damaged a large area ?
Something that you can’t clean yourself ? If so Send the host a photo of the rug so they can see the extent of the problem .
Okay, thank you for the advice. I guess I’ve just gotten lucky the past couple years- never had this happen before! I’ve had urine and throw up before, and yeah I usually do that. But I guess I just assumed that people would want this type taken care of professionally. Thanks again for your advice!!
If the diarrhea does persist, you can usually get a pectin gel online (Proviable is the brand in the US) that you administer 3 times a day. It helps a lot. Another help is unflavored, unsweetened psyllium husk powder. Add a bit of water to make a paste and give with the dogs meals. And lastly some plain unsweetened yogurt can provide probiotics to help get the gut working correctly again. But check with owner first to make sure they think it’s ok. For my dog it usually clears up any diarrhea that happens if she ate something that disagreed with her, and I always give her yogurt if she needed antibiotics for any reason.
Honestly as HO I wouldn’t know who to recommend if this happened in my home. My cleaners don’t come in for one rug. I wouldn’t say she’s being exceptionally disrespectful, she just maybe doesn’t appreciate the extent of the problem. I can imagine it doesn’t smell very nice. Perhaps you can take it somewhere and ask her to reimburse you? Or look up cleaning services, get quotes, and share them with her. Def take Before photos in case anything goes sideways.
Personally I would just clean it up and use whatever carper cleaner they had. If none I would just use washing up liquid or whatever. I would not dream of asking the owner to pay for a professional cleaning service. I have had dogs have accidents etc. in the past and this is what I have done. I have also in these situations, kept the pet off the carpet and on a tiled kitchen floor where possible instead. Easier to clean. I find when house sitting you do need to cope with all eventualities.
No idea how that would be disrespectful. Because she didn’t do what you wanted? She may not have understood how much of a mess there is, but I have never called a carpet cleaner for accidents. I cut a paper plate in half and use the flat side to scoop the mess into a bag. Then use towels to dry the moisture. Then start spraying and cleaning. Is it a hassle? YES! But it is part of having dogs and dogsitters should be prepared for it. That is what you signed up for. Don’t dogsit if you aren’t willing to deal with these issues.