First time on this forum and reaching out for advice as this is the first time we’ve had a sitter that we feel disappointed with and wouldn’t recommend.
We had a nine month old kitten that followed them out on the last days dog walk. They observed this but did nothing. They then left the sit before our return saying cat hadn’t returned. We returned and found the cat dead by the road near our house entrance. Accept cats are autonomous creatures , but we always put this young cat in the house should it want to follow the dogs on the walk, but don’t think we actually stated this.
Returned to garden full of excrement ( instructions clearly laid out re disposing of waste) and lots of dug holes. We have 3 dogs , they usually relieve themselves on the morning walk and are chilled after. Furthermore neighbour says he had only seen them out walking dogs on the last day. Normally his dog detects our dogs, gets very excited and then joins ours for a walk. In short suspect they didn’t walk the dogs much. Part of this sit was a requested daily walk. Neighbour has been at his house for most of the sit and our dogs usually bound over to his house to meet their mate.
Lastly , house basically tidy, sheets washed. But hob greasy and filthy with 2 dirty greasy pans .
Any advice on how to handle this would be appreciated.
So sorry to hear about your kitten. Losing a pet because of a sitter’s neglect is a nightmare.
Have you considered “filing a dispute” (that’s THS terminology) with the platform?
At the very least, I’d suggest deducting stars and reviewing factually, to spare other pet owners.
I’m a sitter, but can appreciate your distress. How very sad about the kitten, and for you to find it. However, you’ve been honest in saying you didn’t tell the sitter to keep the cat in when the dogs went out, presumably for their only walk.
The dog excrement left in the garden is disgusting.
How old were the sitters? Did they have good reviews/had you read them? Did they have any missing reviews?
You must be honest in your review of them.
I am so sorry for your loss. Such a young kitten shouldn’t be left out alone like this. It seems there are so many red flags here. I guess this was a sitter where there were no red flags in reviews?
It is important to give reviews that are factual and unemotional. Most fair to all fellow members - both sitters and hosts - and should be good feedback also for the sitter in question so they can improve.
As reviews are now blind, the other party of the sit is not able to see your review before they have submitted their own or the 14-day limit is up. After that each of you can not alter reviews given, but can give one answer to the review of the other. Keep it factual and unemotional, or it could backfire so one come across as frantic and such.
It cannot give you your pet back. But maybe give some relief to tell it like it was, and be a contribution to the welfare of other pets and hosts.
Everybody can be unlucky, even owners (statistically mostly owners) so no one could foresee the kitten die, I assume, but as there are other things it paints a picture. I’m sure you would have liked to know before confirmation. As suggested over you might want to report to member services later, also.
This is a nightmare for any petowner, and for a petsitter having the responsibility of a pet. Most sitters, I believe, would put in a lot of effort for the safety and wellbeing of pets, and I would say the probability of such a devastating incident is really low. So hope you don’t lose faith in others in general. Again - so sorry for the little kitten.
So sorry for your loss. This is heartbreaking to come home to. Please leave a factual review, basically what you wrote above. It’s not good enough to not look after your home, garden and pets properly. This sitter needs a factual review so other hosts can make an educated choice to invite them to stay or not. @Wheppy May the new year bring brighter news and a new kitten friend. 
Thank you. THS have been in touch directly after reading this and are being very helpful.
This is their first THS sit, but they have done sits outside of the site and gave good references, furthermore they claim to do lots of doggy day care and walking services and so seemed ideal. A mature enough couple and our correspondence during the sit seemed reassuring , however since returning things are just not adding up. Difficult to prove anything, but seeing the garden and lack of care re dirty cooker and gut instincts tell me the welfare of the animals was not their primary concern. Aware also that gut instincts are not ideal for a fair review. A 6 month ( not 9 ) kitten, will start to get bolder and explore, I accept that, sadly they saw it follow them out and did nothing to ensure its safety, such as return it to the house.
Thank you Garfield, a very balanced response and the dilemma is to be fair to them and objective in our feedback. These responses and support from THS is very helpful.
Thank you Gabba, working on facts, appreciated.
Based on the information here, I’d probably leave a very short review, like
Sitters did not perform agreed upon activities (dogs not walked daily), and negligence on the last day resulted in the death of one of my pets.
Very sorry for your loss.
Reading this breaks my heart. These folks are new to the THS world, and should be accountable for their actions, or lack thereof. At a very basic level, the wellbeing of the pet should be forefront in their minds at all times. Leaving a sit, with full confidence that the sitter has provided the pet owner with peace of mind, as to the care of their pets and home, is at the heart of this petsitter/pet owner relationship. These sitters have failed on almost every level. Please leave a complete and honest review, to save future pet owners from the heartache you are now experiencing. Sending hugs 
Thank you Belluca, a much more concise review than what I am drafting, and probably yours is the better one.
I am sorry and shocked by this. I don’t know how you can handle this other than complaining to a human being at Trusted Housesitters about what happened and writing a one star review of the sitter calmly stating what happened. The sitter should absolutely be taken off the platform.
I haven’t had any experiences like this as a host. This is appalling.
Hi Marion, thank you. THS have actually phoned me personally regarding the event. Weirdly if the garden had been clean and tidy and the hob not left in a slovenly state I think I may have been more inclined to accept that this sort of thing, sad as it is, happens. The other factors , that speak louder than any reassuring messages and photos they sent during their sit, lead us now to suspect that they were negligent. Very hard to prove a gut instinct.
Please don’t blame yourself for not leaving an explicit instruction. A sitter with common sense would have asked if the kitten was allowed out and under what circumstances… This is behavior that other hosts absolutely need to know about. A one-star review and a statement about all that happened is absolutely warrented as well as a complaint to THS.
If you do continue to use THS please realize it is a matching site and there is no quality control other than reviews and careful vetting. Sitting or hosting for THS isn’t a seal of approval. Either only requires paying a fee and creating a profile or listing.
Hi Wheppy
I’m sorry for your loss. It’s terrible your first sit ended in such a dreadful way.
It sounds like your sitters weren’t experienced with cats. As an experienced cat person of many decades I’d never let such a young kitten outside. For a whole host of reasons.
Maybe if you engage one of the many experienced caring sitters in future you lay out your expectations.
I think you’re right. You’re reeling from the death of a beloved pet, not happy with the state of your hob and pans, or the mess in your garden and now have heard damning reports from a neighbour. It all adds up and is making a sad situation very stressful, too.
If you informed the sitters that your cat had outdoor freedom and didn’t specify keeping him/her in when taking the dogs for a walk, then you really cannot hold them responsibe for the death. From your comments in this thread, it sounds as if you live in a rural area and the dogs are walked off-leash, so presumably the cat just tagged along at some point?
That they didn’t pick up after your dogs is inexcusable, especially as you specified this in your Welcome Guide). We’ve done sits for landowners, where we’ve been told not to pick up after the dog(s), but this is situation-dependent and quite rare. Can I just ask, do your dogs have access to the garden via a dog flap? Were they left home alone for very long on the final day, after sitters had left? Could they potentially have pooped and enjoyed a bit of digging at this time?
Leaving a greasy cooker top and dirty pans illustrates a lack of attention to detail, yet is at odds with your other observations:
Were these experienced sitters, with a number of good reviews?
Was their departure before your return not something which was agreed prior to confirming the sit? It’s always best to agree arrival and departure times with the sitter in initial discussions, so that everyone is happy and the situation is workable.
Didn’t your sitters send updates, and pics of the dogs on walks? This is something we always do, and it’s far better to evidence daily activities with the pets than the testimony of a neighbour who surely cannot be aware of their every movement? Going forwards, I’d suggest you should agree frequency and mode of updates, so that you can satisfy yourself the dogs are being properly walked and cared for. Communication with sitters and clear expectations are key.
I’m sorry you’re feeling the sit was unsatisfactory and can only suggest that you consider ways of ensuring a better experience next time. Communicate your expectations in your listing and echo in your Welcome Guide. Agree arrival and departure times with your sitters and specify how often you’d like updates, and in which format. Select sitters who have many good reviews, which mention all the things you prioritise: cleanliness, communications, updates and animal care.
Leave a balanced and factual review for your sitters, not something based on hearsay or suspicion. It will be difficult to write without emotion at this time, so remember you can post a review within 14 days of cessation of the sit.
I’m very sorry for your loss.
Thank you @Happypets . Lots of food for thought there, thank you for taking the time to respond… We have entered into dialogue with the sitters and hope to clarify facts. It was their first sit with THS, although they have pet sat informally. We have had many sitters and it is our first time that we have a concern. In fact still in touch with some previous sitters. Updating us with photos of the dogs on walks while we are away is a great idea that I will add. As is a previous suggestion of taking photos of areas/things that are concern on our return. We thought our welcome pack was rather detailed but learning the hard way that perhaps we need to detail thing more thoroughly. Thanking you again.
We have begun sending to sitters with whom we have scheduled a video chat a document describing our pets’ personalities, behaviors and routines. That way we can discuss any issues before either party makes a decision and the sitter we do end up confirming has all the facts concerning the pets before the welcome guide is shared.
It would be a good idea to include that information in your listing.