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Unreasonable to expect sitter to pick up after pet?

Hi group;

Is it too much to expect a pet sitter to leave your home the way they found it?

I hired a sitter from http://Rover.com to drop in on my cat while I was away for a few days over Christmas. The sitter had looked after my cat before, and I thought he had done a great job, so I hired him again.

Well, I came home to a mess this time. Things my cat knocked off a shelf were on the floor. My cat had knocked over his toy basket, so cat toys were all over the place. The small garbage can I keep secured in a cupboard (so my cat can't get to it) under the sink, was tipped over and garbage was all over the kitchen floor (and the cupboard door was open). To say nothing of the fact the sitter was TWO HOURS late for his booking Christmas Day.

A pet sitter's job is to pick up after a pet, isn't it (not just feed it)? Do sitters really need to be told to do this?!

I do pet sitting via Rover myself, and I'd be mortified if I didn't leave a client's home the way I found it.

Am genuinely asking myself in my stunned state if I expected too much!

Comments

I was thinking it might have happened after he left as well.

1 Answer

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Hi! I'm surprised that there was such a difference in the way that the sitter left your home the last time they dropped in vs. the way it was left this time - I wonder if they were busier/rushed due to the holiday? Also, I wonder if some of those messes could have taken place after the sitter left your home (not that I'm trying to make excuses for them). I think that if you like this sitter and plan to continue to use them going forward, you should talk with them and make sure they understand how you would like things done going forward. It doesn't have to be a nasty conversation or a negative review or anything. Not everybody has the same standards. I've noticed when I go to different peoples' homes, they ask me to do all sorts of different things. One person may find it important for me to scoop a litter box, for example, and another person may find it more beneficial for me to spend my time showing affection to their pet during my time there. It all depends on the owner and the pet.