What to pay a cat/house sitter?

meow meow

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We are going away for four days and my niece will stay at my house. She will be in and out because of classes. What is a reasonable rate to pay? I only have one cat (plus mail/newspaper).
 

lakeriedog

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I think that it depends on the amount of time you want her to stay with the kitty each day, and what her transportation costs will be. I think I would be willing to pay $40.00 a day to make it worth her while even if that is more than a professional would charge to stop in twice a day.
 

lionessrampant

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I pay $15.00 for the first visit each day, $10 for each visit in the same day and $5 for meds. They generally stay about 20 minutes per visit, feed the kits, water the kits and the plants, play with the kits and pet the kits. They also bring up my mail


So, if that's what professionals charge, I'd adjust that based on how much time you expect her to spend with the kits and what her house-sitting responsibilities will be.
 

zissou'smom

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Why don't you ask her? She might not be expecting anything in the first place.

But, when I catsat I charged 5 dollars a day for two visits. Cripes, I got paid that much an hour to babysit and catsitting only takes about an hour a day and is way way less stressful, just bring in the mail and water the plants, play with the cat, etc... it's like a normal day coming home from work now!

When I more recently (all in the last 5 years) stayed at a friends' house for an entire week to take care of a dog, two cats, and a bird, they gave me 100$ for the week. I was astonished, because I wasn't expecting that much at all. I don't feel like I did 100$ worth of work!
 

goldenkitty45

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IMO about $10-15 a day if she's feeding, litter pan scooping and getting mail.

What I would do is tell her $10 a day. That would equal $40. NOW if she does a good job, everything is looking good, THEN reward her with an extra $10-20 for the very good job she's done. And let her know its a bonus for a well done job.

You'd be surprised the next time what she'll do when she cat sits for you
 

bab-ush-niik

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My professional cat sitter charges $12 for one 45 minute visit. That's the rate for one cat. She doesn't charge extra for pets that need no attention (like the turtle). The visit includes watering plants and bringing in the mail.
 

sharky

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I take care of the animals mostly at my house and usually only dogs ... Close friends and family .. 10-15 a day ( that includes up to three walks , plus play sessions .. along with feeding brushing etc..)... it would be 20 a day if I needed to go there ...
 

jenny82

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

IMO about $10-15 a day if she's feeding, litter pan scooping and getting mail.

What I would do is tell her $10 a day. That would equal $40. NOW if she does a good job, everything is looking good, THEN reward her with an extra $10-20 for the very good job she's done. And let her know its a bonus for a well done job.

You'd be surprised the next time what she'll do when she cat sits for you
The bonus idea is a really good idea. It's always nice to get more than you're expecting, even if you're not expecting much.
 

persi & alley

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Originally Posted by meow meow

We are going away for four days and my niece will stay at my house. She will be in and out because of classes. What is a reasonable rate to pay? I only have one cat (plus mail/newspaper).
Our last trip to L.A. was for five days. We paid DW's sister $100 to take care of the litter box, brush Persi each day (but not Alley) and make sure they had food and water and bring the mail in. Being our sister, she even stayed in the house and sometimes stayed overnight to let the cats sleep with her. She did not want to accept any money but we thought we should give her at least that much. We will be going to Canada in May for 17 days and we will probably give her $350 (about $20 a day.) Keep in mind she is our sister (my sister-in-law) and she does not want to be paid but we feel we have to give her at least that much which may sound cheap reading some of the prior posts. I realize that everybody does not have the luxury of having a relative that lives close by. And Persi is trained to be groomed by her and he does not object. Such a deal!
 

vrgchs

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My niece cat sits for us when we go out of town. I pay her $10 a day. Includes scooping litter boxes for 7 cats, making sure they have water and feeding them. For her it is a bonus to stay for awhile and play with them or brush them. (she does not consider that part of the job) She walks up the street to our house a couple times a day. But I guess for a 10yr old, making $30 for a weekend is great. That is big money to her.
 

persi & alley

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Originally Posted by vrgchs

My niece cat sits for us when we go out of town. I pay her $10 a day. Includes scooping litter boxes for 7 cats, making sure they have water and feeding them. For her it is a bonus to stay for awhile and play with them or brush them. (she does not consider that part of the job) She walks up the street to our house a couple times a day. But I guess for a 10yr old, making $30 for a weekend is great. That is big money to her.
I agree with that; big money for a ten year old. And seven cats! Such a deal! For both you and your niece.
 

pippen

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Most of our cat care arrangements have been family deals involving kids with a parent overseeing the care. In addition to paying, to encourage hanging out here I leave plenty of soda and snacks, plus for our longer vacation gift cards for pizza and a video rental store. The parents have reported that they've had no trouble getting kid volunteers to come over and play with Pippin...which is good news because he's turned out to be accepting of kids and rather unpredictable with adults.
 

jcat

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The going rate here is €15/$20 a day to feed, give fresh water and clean the litter box(es). A friend's daughter does it for us sometimes, and I leave out the instructions for the DVD player, television, etc., and tell her to raid the fridge and cabinets to her heart's content, because she enjoys having the place to herself, and that provides company for Jamie. Then I bring her back a little something from our trip.
 
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