Precisely this. I have cringed at some of the topics on this forum too, such as ‘how do you celebrate a pet’s birthday when their owner is away?!’ It’s juvenile and patronising. Perhaps I would have less of an issue with it if my genuine concerns regarding my house sitting experiences were adequately addressed, rather than my posts being removed in favour of such saccharine nonsense. Excuse my rant, this is something that has been bothering me regarding how we are treated as sitters.
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The Saccharine Nonsense would be a good band name.
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Speaking of pet parents. The documentary “Cat Daddies” is on the film festival tour. With a Cat Daddy of the year contest sponsored by a different cat sitting platform…
Yes, I notice that I am now called a pet parent, which I am not. Even if I were it would still make me cringe. I also cringe at the term fur baby and rainbow bridge though so maybe I’m just a bah humbug sort of person.
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I had never heard of the term Pet Parents until @Debbie-L used it and I thought it was just her preference so that is ok.
Then all home owners became Pet Parents and @Debbie-L stated that the majority agreed that Pet Parents was the correct way forward so they changed everyone’s profile.
How did THS decide on this majority? I know it is just a small thing but sometimes it is the last straw that breaks all of our backs
Looking at all of the comments above, it appears to make us all cringe.
I would be interested @Debbie-L why this unpopular choice has been implemented
Thanks
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@Itchyfeet was there a vote on this somewhere I didn’t see anything? I certainly wouldn’t have voted yes if I had seen it. 
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I don’t like it either, it’s cringe worthy.
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It may well be! Us Brits are conditioned to be polite and apologetic, not to offend or cause any commotion. It gets to the point where you have to speak up, though. All the sweetness and light on these forums seem (at least to me) to be veiling more serious topics. I am surely not the only person who has had threads removed that express safety concerns.
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Hi @Pet
I am unaware of any vote
I am hoping that @Debbie-L will respond to my earlier thread advising us why the change has been made
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No doubt we will be advised ‘that is what the majority asked for’ (along with the application cap).
Guess we will have to take their word for it.
I would appreciate THS getting on with improving things that have been requested in the forum over the years such as
Improvements to the calendar
Improvements to the review system
Improvements to the filters and search facility
Etc
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Hi @anon80172330 and as a fellow Brit I agree totally about our conditioning to be polite and not offend. But as you say sometimes questioning is important and I certainly don’t see “all sweetness and light” here on the forum, quite the contrary often 
I guess it depends how deeply you look into all the posts of which there are many each day. There has to be balance though and that’s what we are aiming for.
However, I was more concerned about your mention that threads have been removed where you have expressed safety concerns, so I took the liberty of checking into, as we don’t want our members to feel they cannot discuss serious matters within the community guidelines.
I can see that you have 4 deleted posts - 3 that you removed yourself. The fourth was removed because it contained very personal information about a sit from which the owner (who may be here on this public site either as a user or anonymously) might identify themselves. We do have a duty to protect our members and keep this a safe space in accordance with our community T&Cs, which are available for everyone to read when they join.
This is in the very same way we would protect you from any public criticism (regardless of the topic) if it were to happen in reverse. The further rejected post was also because it contained information about a sit you were on and having some problems with. This was again passed to the safe and private space that membership services can provide, where all perspectives can be discussed without the chance of it turning into a personal and public debate. Unfortunately as forum moderators we can’t help you directly with sits in dispute, and we know from experience that making a situation public doesn’t help with resolution. This is all explained in our forum guidelines.
I do apologise if you didn’t feel this was explained sufficiently in the direct messages sent to you by our forum team, but as moderators, we do have guidelines we need to adhere to in order to keep this a safe and respectful place for everyone and we will continue to do that for everyone’s benefit. Thank you for listening.
All the very best, Vanessa and the moderation team
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Hi @Vanessa_A I previously requested the “pet parent” monika be removed from my home owner profile that has suddenly appeared, as I don’t have a pet and I really dislike the title. Even if I had a pet, it’s cringe worthy. I am the parent of my daughter and if I had a pet I would be a pet owner, not it’s parent as I didn’t give birth to it. The title is still showing on my profile. Can you please follow up my request to have it removed?
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Hi @Crookie I’m just in process of getting some background from the marketing team about this change, which I’ll post shortly.
But in relation to removal of “pet parent” from your profile, while I do appreciate your concern, this is something that’s outside the scope of the moderation team. Have you spoken with membership services to see if this is possible to remove?
Just for my understanding… where are you seeing this on your listing? When I look at listings (and profiles) as a sitter I don’t see this.
Hi @Vanessa_A,
With regards to ‘sweetness and light’, that is my experience. You have your own opinion, and I do not contest that. As a moderator, I believe you have a specific intention to maintain a certain sense of positivity and harmony on the forums, so it is of no surprise to me that you view things in this way.
I have had two recent posts removed by the moderation team (the posts I have removed myself are of no relevance here). Both have been followed up by an email from support. In the first post, I mentioned a HO I had visited whose requests were wholly inappropriate, one of which could put me in a position where my safety and privacy could be compromised. Due to the level of detail provided, this post was removed, which I understand. Your statement that ‘it contained very personal information’ is incorrect. There was nothing that could identify the owner to anyone, other than themselves. I did not disclose location, nor the HO’s name. I merely outlined what I deemed to be a concerning situation. Rather than being met with support, I was informed by one of the moderators that my tone ‘could have been kinder’.
I understand you have a duty to protect members. However, I did not and nor would I ever jeopardise someone’s safety, so please do not imply this. On the contrary, my gripe is that I posted something regarding my own safety being put in jeopardy and, rather than being met with compassion, my post was removed and I was scolded for being unkind. Hence my statements that the sweetness and light on this forum veil the very genuine concerns of sitters.
Given I had been informed that this post presented a privacy concern, I took great care in composing my next post, which was about how to deal with a filthy environment on a sit. I would be delighted if you could quote elements of this post that could possibly identify the homeowner, because I took great care to ensure there were none. There is absolutely no dispute with the homeowner, nor any debate with others, as you suggest. I was asking my fellow sitters how they deal with similar situations, and I was met with kindness and compassion of others who had entered similarly dirty environments, before my post was inexplicably removed by the moderation team. You, and your fellow moderators, appear to be fabricating details in order to make me look like someone who has come on the forum disclosing personal details of home owners and entering into debates, when my intention was solely to gain the support of other sitters and hoping to learn from their experiences.
I have spoken to other members who have had posts removed so I recognise a pattern whereby posts expressing concern are periodically removed so as to maintain the façade that house sitting is a wonderful experience for all. This is not always the case. As much as I love house sitting, I have encountered concerning situations. It is unfortunate that I (and others) are being censored, and shamed for trying to garner support from fellow sitters by the moderation team rather than the concerns dealt with in a humane and compassionate manner.
I do not want to speak about this any further as my concerns have previously been dismissed by the moderators on these boards which has caused me some distress, and I do not expect them to be dealt with reasonably now.
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Those who thought they were in the minority in disliking pet parent may need to think again. This topic has generated some lively and healthy discussion. 
My biggest dislike for the change is to think how it could have ever risen to the top of the to-do list. This change being prioritized over what I see as more urgent needs is in my opinion irrational.
Some observations on my part:
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On the device sizes I use - smartphone to laptop - the small size of the image/photo serves minimal use anyway. Unless the space is filled with a single headshot image, it’s of little value.
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On the website, for those with premium membership, that tag replaces pet parent anyway. Which leads to the question: Why is there a need for ANY label? After all, sitters are not tagged as sitters - it just shows their name(s)
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On the app, the same thumbnail area doesn’t have the member name(s) or parallel pet parent identifier. If it works there, why not on the website too?
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As for any suggestion that this change was requested by the membership, well, let me add that in my eight years as a member, I was never asked.
My vote is to do away with any descriptor for any member. First names of all members on their profiles - whether it be a sitter profile or sit listing - and make that uniform on the website and the app.
As for ‘fur baby’, add my vote for my dislike of it. Not a dealbreaker for me, but part of my assessment of tone and word choice in a listing.
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I guess this exchange serves to show how conversations along these lines really don’t benefit from being made public. Even though my aim is to try and help you understand the moderation process it can and will be misconstrued. You feel unheard, and I feel misunderstood - it’s likely we will both read into the communications that are part of this dialogue very differently. It’s sadly often the way of words too… the art of real conversation is often lost these days. I will remind you that you did raise this topic here, but respect that there’s no benefit to continuing it in this thread. The moderation team really aren’t your enemy and they display a huge amount of compassion and empathy in helping members across a wide range of situations. But the role of a moderator is such that it’s never possible to help or please everyone. But we do have to maintain privacy - it’s a simple fact that we have to adhere to. Once again, all the best.
Thank you @Snowbird for outlining my feelings so eloquently.
I was beginning to think I was making a mountain out of a mole hill! It is all the small things that come in under the radar without consulting or communicating with the membership which I find so patronising and annoying.
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I’m sorry you feel misunderstood. Hopefully you can understand why, given my previous experience with the moderation team, I no longer have the expectation that as a sitter, I am supported by them. Perhaps this does not apply to you, but seeing the large amount of text you posted on a public forum regarding my posts (including details of how many have been removed) did slightly get my back up, especially when I have been scorned for posting details of situations that could jeopardise the privacy of another!
Evidently, we are coming from different perspectives and reading the situation differently. I mentioned something on this thread that I didn’t expect to be escalated in this way and felt the need to explain my position as it was not illustrated accurately. I understand the role of a moderator is to keep everyone in line, ensure they are abiding by the rules and maintain a positive environment to bolster membership. I won’t expect anything further. All the best to you, too.
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I see “pet parent” when I view a listing on the website, including my own.
I dislike the term also. I love my cats, but they are not my children, and I’m not their parent.
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