Questions to Ask Pet Sitter
Twenty questions to ask a pet sitter before you hand over your keys, covering their experience with animals like yours, visit lengths and cover arrangements, medication, what happens if a vet is needed, and how money and cancellations are handled.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What sort of animals do you turn down, and why?
Why ask it
A sitter with real experience has limits: puppies not yet house trained, dogs with a bite history, reptiles, birds, anything needing injections. Someone who says they take everything either has not been doing it long or is not thinking about what could go wrong in your house.
Tell me about the last difficult pet you looked after and what you did.
Why ask it
You are listening for a specific animal and a specific action, not a philosophy of care. Sitters who describe how they slowed down, changed a route or sat on the floor for twenty minutes are telling you something; sitters who describe how much they love animals are not.
Can we meet at my house first and see how she reacts to you?
Why ask it
The meeting tells you more than the interview. Watch whether the sitter lets your animal approach in its own time rather than reaching straight over the head, and watch whether they ask questions while they are here or only answer yours.
How many other clients would you have on the same days as me?
Why ask it
This is the question that predicts short visits. A sitter juggling twelve drop-ins over a holiday weekend cannot give you a reliable half hour, so ask what else is booked and how the day is routed rather than accepting a promised arrival time.
Will it always be you, and who covers if you are ill?
Why ask it
Agency bookings often send whoever is available, and independent sitters sometimes have an informal arrangement with a friend you have never met. Get the name of the backup, and ask whether that person has met your animal or would be arriving cold.
How long is each visit, and does your travel time count towards it?
Why ask it
Thirty minute visits can mean twenty minutes in the house, and with some services the clock includes the walk from the car. Ask what the animal actually gets: how long outdoors, how long of company, how long alone between visits.
If you are staying overnight, how much of the day would you actually be here?
Why ask it
House sitting frequently means sleeping there and working elsewhere from eight until six, which is not what most people picture when they book it. Ask for the hours plainly, because it is the gap in the middle of the day that matters to the animal.
How do you handle medication, and what if he spits the pill out?
Why ask it
Say what your animal takes, how often, and what happens if a dose is missed. The answer to listen for involves writing down times and telling you about a refusal, rather than assurance that they are good with pills.
What would you do if she stopped eating on the second day?
Why ask it
The single most common sign that something is wrong, and also the most commonly ignored, because a sitter does not want to worry you. You want a threshold agreed in advance: one missed meal noted, two and you get a call.
If a vet is needed, would you go to mine or to the nearest one open?
Why ask it
Both answers can be right, and the point is that it has been thought about before it is needed. Ask whether they know where the nearest emergency clinic is, and whether they have transport that can take an anxious or heavy dog.
How much would you authorise before reaching me, and how would we settle the bill?
Why ask it
Agree a figure now: many people set a ceiling of a few hundred and a rule that anything beyond it waits for contact. Also settle who pays on the day, because clinics generally require payment at the time and a sitter should not be left carrying it.
What happens if you cannot get hold of me at all?
Why ask it
Flights, bad signal and time zones make this likelier than people expect. You want a named local contact who can make decisions, and an understanding of what the sitter would do on their own if a decision could not wait.
What would you do if he got out of the house?
Why ask it
Listen for a sequence: search the immediate area, call you, contact the local shelters and the microchip database, post locally. Sitters who have thought about escapes usually also mention how they will manage doors and gates to prevent one.
Has an animal ever been hurt or lost while in your care?
Why ask it
Anyone with years of experience has a story. What you are assessing is how it is told: what they changed afterwards, whether the owner was told immediately. A flat never, with no pause, is less reassuring than a straight account of a bad afternoon.
Are you insured, and what does the policy actually cover?
Why ask it
Ask specifically whether it covers your animal's veterinary costs, damage to your home, and injury to a third party if your dog bites someone on a walk. Care, custody and control cover is the part hobby sitters most often lack.
Who else would have my keys or alarm code, and how do you store them?
Why ask it
Keys held in a labelled bowl with your address attached are a real risk. Ask how they are coded, whether a key is copied for the backup sitter, and how the key or code is returned or changed at the end of the booking.
Would anyone else be in my home while you are looking after her?
Why ask it
Partners, children and other people's dogs turning up is common and rarely mentioned unless asked. Decide what you are comfortable with, say it plainly, and put it in writing rather than leaving it to be assumed.
How and how often will you send updates?
Why ask it
Set the expectation now so silence does not become alarming later. A photograph and two lines after each visit is a reasonable standard, and it is worth saying that you would rather hear about a problem straight away than have it managed quietly.
What do you charge, including holiday rates and extra animals, and when do you want paying?
Why ask it
Get the full figure: additional pets, public holidays, late night visits, medication administration, travel outside a set radius. Holiday surcharges are standard and are also the most frequent source of a surprise at the end of a booking.
What is your cancellation policy, and what happens if you have to cancel on me?
Why ask it
Deposits and notice periods are fair, but check whether they run both ways and what is offered if the sitter withdraws a week before your flight. Ask this at the enquiry stage, because it is the one question people remember not having asked.
Arranging care while you are away
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
The meeting at your house
- Have the sitter arrive at a normal time of day for your animal rather than at its most excitable hour. You want to see an ordinary interaction.
- Watch how they greet: crouching, waiting, letting the animal decide, no hands over the head. Then watch what your animal does when they stop paying attention.
- Walk them through the route you use, including where the lead is kept, which gate does not latch and where the cat hides.
- Ask them to demonstrate anything they will have to do, giving a pill, fitting a harness, using the crate, while you are still there to see it.
- Notice whether they take notes. Sitters who write things down at the meeting are the ones who follow instructions three weeks later.
What to leave written down
- Feeding: brand, amount, times, what is not allowed, and where the food is kept.
- Medication: name, dose, time, how it is given, and what to do about a missed or refused dose.
- Your vet's name, address, phone number and your account or client reference, plus the nearest emergency clinic and its out of hours number.
- Microchip number and the registry, along with a recent photograph that shows any markings.
- Two contacts: you, and a named local person who can act if you cannot be reached.
- House details: bins, alarm, water shut off, which rooms are off limits, and who else may turn up at the door.
- A short note of what your animal is like when it is unwell, so a sitter has something to compare against.
Checking them out before you commit
References from current clients
Ask for two people who still use them, not a list of testimonials. The useful question to a reference is whether anything has ever gone wrong and how it was handled.
Insurance and, where it applies, bonding
Ask to see the certificate rather than taking the claim. Independent sitters in many countries carry pet business insurance; a sitter who has never heard of it is working informally, which may still be fine but changes what happens after an accident.
First aid training
Pet first aid courses are widely available and short. It is not a requirement, but a sitter who has done one has generally also thought about emergency vets and transport.
Platform bookings
If you are booking through an app, read what its guarantee actually covers and what it excludes, and check whether messaging and payment have to stay inside the platform for cover to apply.
Reasons to keep looking
- No questions asked about your animal's health, routine or behaviour during the meeting.
- Reluctance to meet before the booking, or an offer to collect keys without seeing the animal.
- Vagueness about visit length, or an unwillingness to say how many other bookings they hold that week.
- Cash only, no written agreement, no insurance, and no backup arranged.
- Any suggestion that a nervous animal needs to be shown who is in charge.
- A promise that your dog will be off lead with new dogs on the first walk.
A short trial first
- Book one paid visit while you are at home but out of the room, or a single afternoon before a long trip.
- Ask for the same updates you would want on a real booking, and see what arrives.
- Check the house afterwards: water bowl, litter tray, doors, where the food was left.
- Look at how your animal is that evening. Mild tiredness is normal; hiding, refusing food or unusual clinginess is worth a conversation before you rely on the arrangement for a fortnight.