Thank you - Should now be on there
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I am seeing this thread for first time, so it looks like you have now taken all the good advice on board.
Squid looks lovely, (I would never have thought he was a Beagle) as does your house. If I lived in your area I would have applied as it definitely appeals to me.
Good luck with getting the right sitter.
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Thank you⌠phew ⌠having so many opinions thrown forward⌠I canât do any more thanks 
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Hello everyone. I just posted a listing yesterday, for someone to take care of my cat. I have put quite a few photos on my listing, as well as lots of info regarding the cat(s).
I notice there are three sitters who have âsavedâ my listing. I am not really sure what that means.
How long, roughly, does it take to have an offer from a sitter?
Many thanks for any advice.
Hi @helenO.
Welcome to the forum!
That depends on lots of factors like desirability of your location, length of sit, how attractive your listing is (clear information, reasonable responsibilities, nice, welcoming tone, a clear sense of getting a mutually beneficial exchangeâŚ) etc.
If you want specific advice on your listing, you can
Welcome to forum @helenO !
If sitters save your listing, that would usually be because they are not able to do the published dates, but would like to get a notification if you publish new dates later on.
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@Newpetlover Many thanks for your quick reply.
I have quite a detailed profile, etc, and three people have saved my listing.
I did consider linking to my profile, but on reflection, I am not comfortable having so much personal information on the forum, which anyone can see.
Thanks again 
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@Garfield Ah, ok, that makes sense.
I have a flight I need to book, and it is pending, but that will run out soon, so I am a little concerned about how one is supposed to organise trips at the same time as securing a sitter. Itâs a bit of a chicken and egg situation.
I guess I naively thought I could secure a sitter within a day or two. 
@helenO Itâs difficult to give advice when we cannot see your listing. Just please remember that applications are the only way that sitters can contact pet parents, so an appication is not necessarily an offer, but a means of finding out more about your sit and to assess best fit.
Sitters can âfavouriteâ listings of interest, but this usually means they want to receive notifications for future dates as are not available for those listed.
Really, despite your reservations concerning privacy, the best thing you can do is to post a link to your listing in your profile and request feedback from experienced sitters.
Good luck in finding a suitable sitter.
@Happypets Thanks Happy. I have temporarily put a link into my profile, to my listing profile. Happy for feedback!
@helenO - Iâve had a look at your listing , caring for your cats is not at all onerous . and your location looks beautiful for a nature lover .
You listing will only suit a single person (as you are only offering a single bed ) , you also say that a car is required , only 5 night - these are the things that limits who might be interested in applying .
(The listings that get 5+applications in 5 mins tend to be either popular cities or tourist destinations or those for long sits ) .
So I think you will need to be patient and just wait a bit longer for the right sitter to apply . Also as you havenât booked your flights yet a sitter may worry that you will change the dates or cancel the trip .
There are lots of single sitters on THS so thatâs not a problem .
Is a car definitely required ? If a sitter can get there by public transport that might make your sit suitable for more sitters . Could you perhaps offer to pick a sitter up from local train station and take them to a shop where they can do their grocery shopping ?
Could you offer the sitter that they can arrive a day early or stay on a couple of days with you at the end of the sit . This isnât required at all - but if you are comfortable with the idea, it would make the sit a 7 day sit rather than just 5 nights . Or since your flights arenât booked yet could you extend your trip to make it a 7 day stay?
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Iâve had a quick look and your sit looks lovely for anyone who - like us - appreciates rural locations but within reasonable access to places of interest. And thatâs whatâs currently lacking, I had to google your location to find out where it is. Iâd advise mentioning proximity to Oxford, and anywhere else which might entice sitters to want to stay, as well as putting yourself more firmly on the map.
Next, your sit is for just 5 days, so is more likely going to be an âinfillâ sit for sitters, many of whom will be looking for longer stays. The main issue is that you are offering just a single bed, so itâs important to state âsingle sitter requiredâ in your heading. I realise you state someone could sleep on the sofa, but itâs highly unlikely that will appeal to the majority of sitters, so possibly concentrate on finding a single sitter if youâre not willing to offer your own bed.
Your home looks lovely; being organised, clean and tidy is a definite plus. We always prefer to see a pic of at least one property elevation, to have an idea of what kind of property weâd be staying in. You state itâs a bungalow - which is fine - but a photo would help promote your listing.
Finally, your listing is linking to our experience of dispensing meds, yet none are mentioned in the listing, is this possibly a listing error?
If you only posted the listing yesterday itâs still early days, but a few tweaks minor will help attract sitters. Good luck!
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@Happypets Many thanks! Yes, it was an error regarding the medication, I have corrected. I do have a photo of the main entrance (with all the plants outside), but will have a look for another one too.
I guess it will restrict me to finding single sitters. Hmm⌠I canât change my plans, as I have already amended once, and I also work full time, so itâs a bit tricky amending often.
I have also added info about Oxford, and High Wycombe, I can still add a little more detail i guess. Thanks again 
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One other point @helenO is that you have included quite a bit of information under your photos which is great if sitters use the app. However, none of that information will show if sitters only use a PC so they may miss seeing vital information.
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@temba Not sure I understand. Where do I include the info then, for it to be viewable on a PC?
@helenO It has to be included in either the Responsibilities section or Home & Location section, depending on what the information is e.g. large sofa in lounge is comfy to sleep on.
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@temba, Many thanks. I had put most of that into the Home section.
I am really nervous that I am not getting anyone coming forward. I donât know how people manage to organise their trip, some trips I take need to be , ideally need to be booked quite quickly such as booking specialist accommodation, etc. (Where I go in S.africa, the accommodation is booked almost as soon as it becomes available online, so one has to book it straight away, along with internal flights etc, so I am not sure it will work with waiting for a sitter). I also like to do things quite spontaneously 
The flight I had booked and put on hold for a small deposit runs out today too.
Hi @helenO and welcome. I think you should make a few tweaks if youâd like to attract some sitters. You need to think about why someone would want to come and sit (for free) in exchange for what you are offering. The cats are cute but sounds like they need a lot of attention for felines, you can only host a single sitter (can be limiting) and youâre not in a prime area. However, house looks lovely, walks sounds fab, cats look cute and friendly and you sound welcoming so thatâs all good. A few ideas would be - change the cover photo to one of the cat as sheâs cute. Could you open up to couples and offer them the main bedroom? Could you be small family friendly with one on the single and one on the sofa? Slim the responsibilities down so a sitter can go out for the day if they choose and explore (early afternoon duties for a cat sit is very unusual). Also if a bus stop is only 1km away then your sit IS accessible by public transport so change that amenity too. Make some tweaks, pause and re-list and youâll go back to the top of the pile! #bestofluck
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Unfortunately @helenO there are no guarantees that owners will get sitters and sitters get sits. Thatâs why it is so important to have a Plan B to fall back on to.
You have been given some good advice from other members including @Cuttlefish on how to improve your listing.
As it is marked Low Applications, remove your dates briefly after you have made the changes then re-post them. This will make your listing New again and sitters will see it. All the best.
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Good advice, thanks Temba for the date change info.
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