Cat Sitter Cost?

I'm curious abotu how much a normal pet sitter charges for a visit. I'm taking a vaction for about a week, and I think it's going to be almost $200. Keep in mind I am out of their service area, Jordan requires medication & they charge more for having over 3 pets. I'm going to ask about the 3 pet thing just to see if that holds true for cats. I've never left all 4 at home before, normally Jordan goes with me, but he can't this time.

I have only one cat, and the last time I was away for a week, I paid $400.

$400 for a cat sitter? wow. is that in home or do they take them back to their place?

I used to do pet sitting and charged $15 per day. I would stay over. actually it was convenient for me as I lived with my folks who are kind of out in the country and being closer to the city saved me gas and commuting time.

Last time we had a sitter, they charged $10/visit for 3 cats. 2 visits a day over a weekend trip would run $40 (1- fri night, 2- sat, 1- sun morning). Now we just have my in-laws take care of the cats since we live close again.

Originally Posted by Rang_27

I'm curious abotu how much a normal pet sitter charges for a visit. I'm taking a vaction for about a week, and I think it's going to be almost $200. Keep in mind I am out of their service area, Jordan requires medication & they charge more for having over 3 pets. I'm going to ask about the 3 pet thing just to see if that holds true for cats. I've never left all 4 at home before, normally Jordan goes with me, but he can't this time.

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Well, we use my SIL as our sitter so we get off cheap I guess. We pay her $10 a day to come over and clean the one litter box for two cats AND brush our longhaired cat Persi. She would do it for free but DW insists on paying here. Food and water is not an issue because we feed 24/7 so there is always food available and we have water on all three floors.

It varies on the sitter, but the pet hotels around here actually charge $20-25. I'm going on vacation in may also, but my family is not comfortable with hiring a random sitter they think there is the danger of the sitter using the house for parties or doing some damage to the house in other ways LOL I think they are ridiculous. But yea thats' why I am using a pet hotel ...Too bad my baby will have to live in a cage for a week

I use a sitting business in the area that has been around for like 25 years. I have used them before, and I wouldn't not use them just because of the price. I trust them & the cats seem to really like the person who comes out. It is worth it, but I was just wondering how other sitters compare.

My $400 week was for a sitter to sleep at my house (she went to work during the day). But I found that wasn't enough for my new boy (he's 5, but I adopted him only 8 months ago). He is the most social cat I've ever met, and since I'm retired, he's used to me being around all day, so I think he was very upset by my absence.

I know it's best for cats to stay at home, but this time, I'm boarding him at a pet "spa" because I figure that if he's in a place where he doesn't expect to see me, it might be easier for him. No cage--he'll have a small room to himself with a big window and window seat, climbing tree, etc. I can pay for whatever human contact I want, so he'll have two play/exercise sessions and two cuddle/affection sessions each day, in addition to his feedings. The spa is associated with an animal hospital, so I really feel more secure about this arrangement. I hope it works out--i.e., that he doesn't hate it. I'll be away next weekend for only 2 days, so this will be our "test run" to see how it works out.

It's quite a while since we've had occasion to go away, so we haven't been using our cat sitter's services lately. However, her rate as of a year or so ago was $18/visit, and we'd have her come in once a day, so a week's absence would be $126.

(That reminds me I've been going to drop her a note just to let her know we haven't dropped off the face of the earth and aren't mad at her. )

We were paying $35.00/day for three cats...twice a day visit. They also brought in our mail, took out the trash (on trash day) and made sure everything was ok within the house. It does add up when you are out of town for any length of time.

I've now made arrangements with our close neighbors to watch the fur kids. Each of them has dogs and cats and we take turns taking care of each others animals when we are out of town. It works out well. No cost, and we know they are being cared for. If you have neighbors you trust and are close with, it's the best way to go IMO.

I used to have a work friend who I used to exchange pet sitting with but that was a long time ago. My mom would be able to do it if I was on the first floor, but being on the 2nd floor she has a hard time with stairs. I don't mind paying. The service takes good care of my babies. I would be nervous leaving them with anyone, and it's strange to leave Jorden at home. I've gotten to really like taking him everywhere with me & he really doesn't mind. He's a Momma's boy & as long as I'm around he's happy. The good thing is that he likes people in general & I know he will be thrilled to have a visitor while I'm gone. He loves when other people come over it's just an opportunity to have another humble servant.

Originally Posted by ut0pia

It varies on the sitter, but the pet hotels around here actually charge $20-25. I'm going on vacation in may also, but my family is not comfortable with hiring a random sitter they think there is the danger of the sitter using the house for parties or doing some damage to the house in other ways LOL I think they are ridiculous. But yea thats' why I am using a pet hotel ...Too bad my baby will have to live in a cage for a week

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I am confused.... Sorry to ask, but you live with your family, right? They won't take care of kitty for a week?

Originally Posted by carolinalima

I am confused.... Sorry to ask, but you live with your family, right? They won't take care of kitty for a week?

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I believe she answered your question. She said her mom has problems with stairs and she lives on the second floor so her mom would have to climb the stairs a couple times per day.

I second the idea about a trusted neighbour. I was thrilled to be able to look after my neighbour's Burmese and Siamese whenever they were gone for a few days or weeks. When I retire (2.6 yrs), I just might start a pet-sitting business just to keep myself busy and do something I enjoy at the same time.

I do home alone pet care and charge 20 per visit no matter how many animals..

Originally Posted by carolinalima

I am confused.... Sorry to ask, but you live with your family, right? They won't take care of kitty for a week?

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My family is not going to be there either at the time. They'd definitely take care of Jake if they were going to be there....
I don't remember saying anything about stairs

I own a pet sitting company. For four cats we charge $26 per visit, that's $52 per day for two visits but if the second visit is only to administer medication to one pet I usually work out a deal to charge $26 for the visit where I feed, water, litter, etc. and then charge $17 (my base rate) for the visit where it's meds only. With my company your fee gets you a sitting company with 15 years experience, insurance, email confirmation and booking, and a back up pet sitter, that means we have 2 staff members who know your pets and their needs. If I can't make it my mom doesn't show up and bumble through your house. I always recommend that people ask any potential sitters if they're insured and what happens if their sitter can't make it to their house. I've heard horror stories on both fronts.

All that being said, we charge the most for sitting in our area because we offer more services, have a larger service area and have a staff of sitters. No other companies here can offer those things. Still, my business is on par with the national average.

A good place to find sitters is petsit.com. They have a sitter locater and ask sitters to adhere to a set of standards.

Here it is $13.00 for the first visit and $11.00 for subsequent visits. A 15 minute play session is an additional $5.00. It's an additional $2.00 per visit for each cat over 2.