We rarely leave an animal that we are sitting alone as we usually look after dogs. However, we occasionally drive to a supermarket to do a big shop to see us through our stay and leave the dog/s in the house. Our biggest fear is that if we were to have a traffic accident no one would know that there was an animal stranded somewhere. As a means of covering this we make a point of always carrying a card which explains that there is an animal in need of help back at the house. Worth thinking about.
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Love that idea!
Another experienced sitter posted recently, that they have a dog tag to attach to the pets collar, that they travel with. It has the sitter’s contact info, and they just take it back off when they leave the sit.
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I always carry in my wallet (with a copy left in the car) a page where I write down :
"in case of accident, please warn
1 my husband (+ tel number)
2 the owners of the pet(s) I sit as these dogs/cats/etc. are left alone in their home (+ tel)
3 the owner’s children/friends/help (when you know their telephones)
Who could know if you are taken to hospital (or to the morgue !!!) that some pets are left alone ?
My husband is also aware when I sit alone where I go, the precise adress, the mail adress of the owners, their telephone (I always fear to loose these numbers so he has a copy)
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@jane…what a great idea! It never ceases to amaze me that our members have such a great sense of responsibility for the care of those precious furbabies! It makes my heart warmer when I read things like this as it proves you go above and beyond normal care and concern!
Well done!
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Hi @Jane thank you for bringing this to the forum.
I’m sure there are many responsible for a pet’s well being and care, sitters and the pet’s own family who have either made arrangements, thought about making them or perhaps doing so has never crossed their minds, not because of anything more than we each have much to think about in our daily lives that it’s not surprising, sometimes it just takes a gentle nudge or a post on a forum. 
The cards are such a good idea, they are relatively inexpensive (what price peace of mind) and there are free downloadable options, like this one … [FREE] My Pet Is Home Alone Emergency Card | Cats, Dogs & Other Pets
We hope never to have to rely on cards, or any of our Plan B’s, but having one in place to cover “at risk” scenarios is wise beyond measure, especially as many of us live a very transient lifestyle.
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@Jane thank you for bringing this topic up and @Angela_L for sharing the link to the downloadable card I’ll definitely be giving these to each of my sitters from now on and taking with me on sits. Never thought of something like this but always better to be safe than sorry especially when it comes to the care of animals.
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That’s very thoughtful of you! We don’t drive but stay in touch with the HO at least twice a day so the HO would know within 24 hours that something was wrong. But it’s difficult to imagine over here that both of us would be so incapacitated that we would not be able to contact them.
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Candide yes I do the same thing so not only safe for me but also for the pets , their owners and my friends (no family so good friends are my i.c.e. contacts)
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Many sitters on this forum seem to sit alone (most of them women) and I sit sometimes alone when my hubbie prefers to stay home or if we have not found anybody to take care of our pets
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