I imagine it sounds easy to find sitters for Greece for the entire month of July, especially when it is for just cats. But after a less than heartwarming sitter last month I find my vetting may not be careful enough. And going thru all the applicants and denying so many is time consuming and as a sometimes-sitter myself it makes me feel for the applicants who are not what quite whatI am looking for. Is it in bad form to post something here on the forum in the hopes of first attracting one of the many long-term sitters I have come to know more about from their comments.
You could post or DM and neither is bad form.
I’m a sitter (not looking to sit in Greece), but I posted about a friend of mine who was a potential host in Rome. I ended up connecting her with someone in the forum who seemed legit to me after seeing their comments for a long while. They ended up doing the sit and it sounds like things went well enough to repeat.
BTW, it would be bad form if you didn’t have a THS host membership. Since it’s their official forum, it wouldn’t be cool to promote a non-platform sit.
In the situation I mentioned, my friend in Rome did join THS and offered her sit to the sitter, who already belonged to THS.
Thanks Maggie. I agree, and have a dual membership.
I reached out to a few of my favorite sitters on this forum and offered them sits before I published them on the THS site, mainly because I know what they’re all about and respect them, and also to avoid the onslaught of applications and having to screen, research and decline multiple applicants.
My requests were well received. That much said, as with reaching out to sitters randomly on the THS site, some weren’t available for my 2026 dates, others aren’t interested in a sit in Greece (I’m from there as well).
It can’t hurt to try.
You can also add your listing to your forum profile and people can DM you.
How do I do that?
(Member’s listing link has been added to their Forum profile by the Forum team)
Did you manage to update to 3 cats as it’s still showing as one cat?
Not yet. I will get it done tomorrow.
I just did it now but will refine it later.
I’m a cat sitter planning to be in Greece this summer. 
I looked at your listing and I only see 5 star reviews from you and your sitters. Also the listing looks rather generic. You should do a better job of describing your ideal sitter. That will help you reduce the number of applications that you need to reject. Good luck.
So it’s an apartment with a landlord who you share a patio with and the main bedroom opens onto the same patio….?
Add a few things to help your vetting process. A few examples might be - Singles & couples only; applicants with at least 5 reviews; open to sitters over 30 years of age; those who’ve checked flight prices before applying & so on. I’ve been to dozens of Greek islands & still have no idea where Stoupa is so would add that into your description. Is it that the applicants aren’t suitable or haven’t checked flights or don’t have reviews that are the main issues? #greekguessinggame
That scenario is more than a little creepy 
I will work on improving it this afternoon. The last sitter did not do anything that would warrant me knocking down stars. She came when she was supposed to and took care of the house. The fact I did not get regular updates is on me. I need to make my desires there more clear. She was not suited for the pace in Greece and as soon as she got here asked me to give her a contact who spoke Greek and English. But my main issue was her interaction with my cat. When she got here she did not try and connect with her, wanted to make sure Kiki did not get on her things. She did things like put up the cushions on the kitchen chairs so Kiki would not sleep there. Told me I feed her too much so she fed her less. I felt Kiki was very stressed when I got home. Does that make sense?
I guess I need to do a much better job of describing. It is two separate houses with a patio between the two. My home entrance is on the other side of the house where I park my car. I don’t use that patio I have top and bottom decks and a lovely sitting area under grape arbors on my side. Yes there is a door from one of the bedrooms to that patio but I do not use it and keep the shutters for it closed. The sitter can use that room or my room which is on the front of the house if they are more comfortable with that.
Thanks Cuttlefish. I will work on that today.
If I any sitter dates tell me how to care for my pets I would be livid. Whether reviews were in or not, believe me they would hear a response.
I don’t blame you for being upset at that.
I would be clear in your listing with something like ‘Kitty is allowed on the kitchen stools and enjoys napping there, so this is not a sit suitable for sitters who are uncomfortable with cats in the kitchen’
And
‘Kitty enjoys their meals and we feed her as agreed with our vet. We ask for sitters who would be comfortable following our specific feeding potocols’
AI can help with the words but use your past experiences to craft your listing to attract who you DO want as a sitter!