WWYD? Pet sit starts in four days, we just arrived in the area, and HO just now, literally just now, informed us that the cat is suffering some unknown illness, probably cancer, and from time to time, he gets sick and throws up. When we asked for details she let’s us know that this has been an issue for about a year (well before she even posted the listing and hired us to pet sit. )
There is no mention of the cat being ill in her ad. No other reviews has mentioned any issues with the cat vomiting. She did not mention the health issue during our video chat nor did she divulge the info when she filled out our rather detailed document that we use to make sure that we understand each others expectations.
What would you do?
I think we should cancel because I feel we were lied too, especially since she knew we were traveling to get to her and do this pet sit. I’m concerned that if she lied to us about this, what else has she lied to us about.
Husband thinks we should continue because it might now be that big of an issue and he is willing to clean up the occasionally vomit.
But why did she wait to tell us about it???
Before all this we did arrange to meet up with her the day before the sit, so I guess we’ll know a little more then.
I’m with you. Undisclosed serious health issues is big in my book. Cancer? Is the cat under any form of treatment? Medications? Procedures for what you should do in an emergency? Or it is basically a dying cat?
Vomit is not the worst, the lying is. I am also a little concerned about the animal welfare. If the cat is not under treatment, why is it not taken to the vet to not suffer.
I’d cancel. And I say this as someone who’s realistic — pets get sick unexpectedly, including ones who barf. I even took care of a dog who had catastrophic seizures and had to be put down mid-sit. And I’m now sitting a senior dog who’s deaf and on meds. But the key difference is, none of those hosts lied to me or misled me. And I wouldn’t want partner with someone like that ever.
She admitted this was something happening with the cat at the time you confirmed the sit, so she definitely should have mentioned it. It is understandable to be annoyed about that.
If it were me, I would just go ahead with the sit.
I am all about making things easier on myself rather than harder, so cancelling a sit last minute because of an issue that wouldn’t have a huge impact on my day to day experience (a lot worse things can be sprung on us sitters than occasional cat vomit), and potentially having to spend a lot of money for alternative accommodation, having a complaint raised against me with the site,etc…would not be worth it to me.
I understand the concern that there are other things she may have hidden from you, and I guess when you meet with her, you can see what’s what and if you find there are any other serious problems, you can decide against doing the sit. That is a choice you are free to make…it is not like sitters are employees of THS and are assigned sits we must complete no matter what.
But barring any other serious issues, it is probably good to just do it and use it as a learning experience.
I can certainly appreciate different perspectives on this situation. You understand all of the details much more than what you have shared here. So many factors to consider.
If it were me, I would carefully review all of our communications with the Owner prior to the meeting. Depending on what is discovered at the meeting, I would make my decision whether or not to cancel.
The vomiting may not be a big deal. Maybe it only happens once every 10 days.
For me, it would depend on the length of the sit and how disruptive it would be to me if I cancelled. i have strong boundaries and am assertive, but I also don’t want to make my life much more difficult just to make a point.
Cleaning up pet accidents is part of caring for a pet. Even healthy cats vomit occasionally, so maybe the HO didn’t think it was worth mentioning. I don’t agree with that attitude in this case, however. She was wrong to lie about, or wilfully conceal, the problem and the HO should definitely be called out on it.
I would ask her about it at the in-person meeting. When the sit is over (if you do it, obviously), I would mark her down for communication, pet behavior, and accuracy of listing. Please explain the reasons in your review so future sitters can avoid the problem.
I would want that meeting sooner rather than later ( today / tomorrow? ) to discuss the previously undisclosed medical condition.
Keeping it friendly , Specifically ask these questions
How often does the vommitting occur ? Where ? Is there a pattern ( after food ? ) How do they clean it up (carpets / hard floor / specific cleaning products ?)
Is the cat receiving medical treatment for their condition ?
Will you have to administer medication/ what sort/ how often ?
When did they last see the vet ?
Is an account set up with the vet that covers payment for any emergency medical treatments?
Are there other symptoms ( incontinence/ bowel issues/ lack of appetite ) that you need to be aware of ?
What are the owners wishes if the cat’s health deteriorates during the sit ?
Would they come back early to deal with it ?
If the worse happens - what would the owners want you to do?
Is there an end of life plan with the vet ?
Will the owner be easily contactable 24/7 to discuss this ?
Answers to these questions will either put your mind at rest or reinforce your concerns that there is even more to the previously undisclosed health issues .
Then you will have the information to make a more informed choice .
The benefits of talking these things through with the owners is that it may also reveal to the owners themselves how serious it is ( they may be in denial themselves and not wanting to face up to the loss of a beloved pet ) . Talking it through asap will give the owners time to put arrangements in place with vets etc . It will be too late the day before the sit .
It seems that important health information has been withheld in order to secure a sitter and that’s just underhand and manipulative IMHO. We’d probably withdraw, without attending the meeting, ask to be unconfirmed immediately and start looking for another sit.
I’ve been in this situation twice so far. A sit in Europe where the cat kept fitting and only after the cat had it’s first sit and I rushed the cat to the vets did the HO reveal the fits had been happening for a few months prior to my sit. The poor cat had a couple of fits while I was sitting.
The other time was a recent sit when a cats incontinence wasn’t revealed until the day before the sit started. During the sit I had to clean up poo and wee from expensive floors throughout a multi story property. The wooden floors had to be clean, disinfected, mopped and dried after each accident (which was many times a day).
I do now ask the HO if their pets have any medical conditions other than anything disclosed on the listing. HO’s need to be honest about any medical conditions their pets have and what that means for me as a sitter.
So I’d cancel the sit as in my view many times when a HO lies about the condition of a pet there are other issues that arise during the sit.
I think @Silversitters has nailed it. I would do exactly as she said, given that you’re already in the area. I also think @PVGemini suggestion of going through all previous communication is a very good idea. It will refresh things up for the meeting and you might find some hint that you didn’t notice before because you were not aware of this situation.
I would go to the meeting with a plan B, just in case.
I am not clearly in favour of canceling straight away (more so if your husband is willing to do it) but I am not clearly in favor of going ahead with the sit either, because, although I agree
I don’t think canceling is necessarily the harder option it will depend on what the situation is. If it’s just ocasional vomiting, I really don’t think that’s real news with cats. I have sat plenty of cats and more than half have at some point or another vomited. The owners didn’t mention anything and I never thought they were hiding anything either. It didn’t occur to me to mention this in my review. So if that was the case, I wouldn’t even consider that the owner has been lying. I think it’s possible that the cat is not totally well but has a normal life and routine except for some vomiting.
Now if the list of questions that @Silversitters has suggested (and I would follow it like the Ten Commandments) starts filling up with undisclosed issues, then I would definitely consider my plan B, also if the interaction with the owner shows they are trying to hide something or don’t feel comfortable talking about this.
If you decide to cancel, you certainly have grounds for it. Just do everything through THS. Contact urgent support and they will help you with the process.
Whatever you decide, I hope everything will work out well. And, please, let us know.
I had a similar thing happen a week before I was due to sit. The cat had been ill for a month, and I think they hoped it might be a bit better by the time I went. It clearly wasn’t so I was sent a 9 page email with all the do’s and don’ts about care and the vet. Which finished with a statement saying if I went to the vets I would have to pay on my credit card and they would sort out when they got back. There was no call to discuss this at all so I called and cancelled. They then tried to retract what had been said, by email again, and said they were sorry they had upset me and would I reconsider, No!
@themobileretiree That sounds terrible.
If her pet is in such a bad condition and ill, why would she even have the heart to leave it in the first place?
She likely didn’t tell you this critical information until the last minute because she knew you wouldn’t consider the sit otherwise.
I recently sat for a dog who turned out to be highly aggressive toward other dogs and people, resulting in the dog trying to break the spine of another dog.
This was information I obviously wasn’t given beforehand either.
The owners and the sit turned out to be a complete nightmare. I’d cancel; it’s highly misleading and probably just the tip of the iceberg.
That document sounds like a great idea. Is that something through THS, or did you create it yourself?
I’m a bit surprised that as a pet owner you would leave your very sick pet who has possible cancer with sitters. I would stay home with my pet to evaluate the situation. I had a cat who died from cancer and it would never have occurred to me to leave my cat during that time … but that’s just me …
I’m with the others here who say cancel. My tendency is to think things will work out, but I’ve learned my lesson after dealing with some serious health and behavior problems on a few sits. When someone is not disclosing critical information before you accept, it is likely going to be a tough sit for you.
Thank you! I already thought my little one was atypical (she sometimes gobbles food up too fast and then drops it all out again a minute later, like… maybe once or twice a week?)
Have you considered getting your cat a slow-feeding bowl? Our rescue dog used to bolt down food and barf when we first got him. I ordered him one of those bowls and he’s not had that problem since.
Hi Maggie, I’ll look into it, but it doesn’t happen too often. She’s small, with a small mouth, and generally a very very slow eater, just sometimes she gobbles, mostly it’s probably just too much in general (or grass in the stomach). It’s not a big deal anyway, a bit of cleanup, half an hour wait and then feed her something else. My worry with her is that she not starve…but hey, I’m a cat daddy, we are strange people.
I agree with @Newpetlover and @Silversitters
Ask the questions and get a feel for things from there. I don’t feel you’ve been lied to, I think it was more an after thought that sometimes the cat vomits. Which as has been mentioned numerous times, it’s just what cats do. If on the other hand the answers to all those questions come back alarmingly bad, then I’d think about plan B. I think your husband has the right attitude though, this isn’t a deal breaker in my opinion. Cats vomit, it happens. I’ve sat cats and owned cats, its just their nature. So I don’t see it as a big deal.