I saw a sit for 13 cats, fed four times a day, in three distinct groups.
Surprisingly the sitter reviews were great! 13 cats. Doesn’t sound like free sitter material to me.
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Most I’ve done was 10 in a small London terrace house. Feeding 10 cats at the same time with various different food and medicine combinations was quite an experience but otherwise it was pretty straight forward but it definitely wouldn’t be for everyone and the smell near the cats favourite hang out spot, the lounge room, was…quite something…
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I’m always very surprised at the amount of pets some homeowners have. I’ve been looking at a sit in the city I used to live in and it would be fun to spend some time there to catch up with friends. This sit has absolutely no applicants and has been posted for some time. There’s two dogs - one of which is a pit bull (we looked after the most gentle pit bull once) and they have a python so I’m wondering if that’s what is putting sitters off applying. Any sitters out there who have looked after snakes?
@Globetrotter pretty sure pythons (constrictors) are not permitted on THS 
5.2.11. not have any inherently dangerous pets (such as venomous snakes or constrictors)
Another listing that has “slipped” through the net” @Carla ?
There is a section to select reptiles?
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Yep looked after a snake too. I thought it was a fascinating experience with the shedding of the skin etc but I didn’t have to feed or excercise it and I can imagine that would put many people of. I actually wouldn’t personally sit a bit bull though unless I really wanted the dates.
I was worried about the pit bull but the most gentle dog we’ve ever looked after and he was a rescue dog.
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I just looked and the sit still has 0 applicants and has been posted for quite some time now and isn’t due to start until end of August. The sit is in Abbotsford, B.C. I can send you the link Carla but I thought reptiles were allowed on THS.
Snakes are allowed but not constrictors.
@anon42826925 There are lots of non-dangerous reptiles ( lizards and turtles for example. ) I think they are fine. But I wouldn’t want to be feeding a Taipan or an anaconda 
Many pitbulls and pitbull mixes are sweet gentle souls.
I’m sure that is the case and I imagine there are even snake owners who would say the same thing about their pets but as I said, personally, I choose to not apply for any sits that include larger bully breed dogs. That’s where I draw my comfort line.
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I just saw one for 16 cats and past sitters left lovely reviews. Not for me especially as they looked like they went outside, imagine accounting for them all at bedtime 
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As a professional pet sitter, I’ve taken care of 25 cats for one client. However, it was so much work I brought my teenaged children along to help with all the feedings, refreshing water bowls, cleaning up after senior cat messes, medications and litter boxes (I think there were 30 that had to be scooped twice a day). Also the client hired two of us so that one would cover mornings and the other evenings. It took about two hours each visit. The most amazing thing was how clean and odor-free these people’s house was! And it wasn’t a large house at all, kind of a standard 3-bedroom cape style home. I would have been happy to stay over had they requested that. They were just incredibly giving, loving people who couldn’t let homeless cats suffer outside. They hadn’t taken a vacation in years because they were so devoted to all their rescues. When I see HOs on THS with lots of animals, I assume they are such amazingly good-hearted souls they take in as many rescues as they can handle. I think it’s awesome that they’re on this site because imagine how much money they spend on food, vet bills, litter, etc. Getting away is so good to recharge, but if you’re spending thousands and thousands a year on pet care, good luck affording a vacation!
However, because my business can be very hard work physically, when I choose sits on THS I stay away from the homes with, say, five dogs, six cats and a bunch of chickens. I go away to relax somewhat, not wear myself out! On the other hand, I find it heartwarming to see a couple of sitters applying for the more demanding sits. And maybe I would if it hadn’t become my livelihood.
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I looked after 20 cats on a recent sit, most of them were strays who lived outside. No trouble at all, just be there for feeding time. You do have to be a cat lover though.
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I would love to care for an outdoor cat colony! It’s the ones where there are twelve cats and they all live mostly (entirely??) inside that I feel I cannot handle.
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I’ll look after 3 cats max. There is no option to filter by number of pets. This would be simple to implement and extremely useful.
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I did six cats once and the lady was crazy. She swore that the catio was Secure and then no cat would get out of it and then the one did and was missing for two days. Never again!
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Great timing for this discussion. We have just been accepted on a seven week sit in Türkiye with five indoor cats and numerous outdoor stray cats. The HO seems lovely with amazing reviews. We can’t wait! Interesting reading all the comments. (We are currently on a sit in Crete with several street cats and it’s great).
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