How Much To Pay A Cat Sitter

[synthia]

hi All,

I travel bi-weekly for 3-4 days per week. How much would I all suggest I pay a cat sitter if they come twice a day for feedings?

Also how long should they stay and pay with my babies?

Thanks!!

 

[jcat]

That's really going to depend on your location and whether you hire through a professional, bonded petsitting service or find somebody who does it on the side. We live in a greater metropolitan area in Germany, but our town itself is small. Our pet sitter charges €18 (just over $20) a day for two visits for 1-2 cats (€3/3.75 for each additional cat). She stays about half an hour each visit, so roughly an hour a day. She also offers a weekly package for €112/$126. She's a certified shelter animal caretaker. A vet tech might charge more.

It could also depend on local boarding charges, at-home service being somewhat more expensive, and whether travel expenses are charged extra.

 

[synthia]

Thanks Jcat!
I'm in Phoenix, Arizona area. I am currently paying her $14 per visit but i think she is only staying a few minutes (maybe not even 10 minutes each visit) which is not enough. They r both 1 year old each and I feel they need more attention, being that I used to work from home and not travel up until 2 months ago.
Will check and see if she can stay longer moving forward. If not, will look for someone else that will.

 

[betsygee]

Our area is more expensive, on the CA Central Coast. Ours charges $25 a visit, but she does a lot for that. We have four cats and she stays an hour each time, plays with them, feeds, and cleans the litter boxes and will water plants, bring in packages or mail if we ask. She has a pet sitting app on her phone and checks in and out each time so we know she's actually at the house the time she says she is. After each visit, she sends a 'report' from her app that tells us what times she was here and she usually includes photos of the kitties and lets us know all is okay.

 

[mazie]

I live in a very small town in south Georgia. If I have to be gone for say 3-4 days, I have a friend who comes in to feed Katy twice daily, and I pay her $50.00 for the 3-4 days of service. Now, Katy is an indoor/outdoor cat, so if she wants to go outside, I tell my friend to let her go ahead let her out. This way, she does not need to feel obligated to "spend time" with her inside, unless Katy so chooses to stay indoors. My arrangement is much better than boarding her at the vets!!!!

 

[Gizmobius]

I do petsitting, though it's mostly been dogs that I've been taking care of. Also what I do is stay in the actual home to do housesitting throughout the entire duration the owner is gone as well, so my situation is a bit different, but my general rule of thumb is $20 a day.

 

[DeannaF]

I'm in Florida and the going rate is about $20/$25/day/animal (so if there's two cat's..the price doubled) which included staying for 30 minutes to play with them.

Some will work out a weekly price instead of per day.

 

[orange&white]

It's been a few years, but I had next door neighbors who were vet techs and ran pet sitting on evenings and weekends. They charged $14 per trip, plus extra for more than one pet.

 

[kittens mom]

In your case I would negotiate a weekly rate rather than per day or visit. You represent steady income to someone and that has value. I pay 25 per day and that's one visit but we live rural.
Anything less than 1/2 hour does not allow the sitter to observe the cats for any issues or even a short play session.
donutte what say you ?

 

[JMJimmy]

Here's the way I figure out these sorts of things:

1) Do I wish to pay the person a living wage? Yes? $15.75/h in Pheonix. No? $10/h min 1h (local minimum wage)
2) Is the person local (ie: short walking distance) Yes? No extra money. No? Add 1h's pay per visit for their cost of employment (remove this if they are to stay 4 or more hours at a time)
3) Is the person performing anything beyond the basics of feed, pet, play, move on? No? No extra money. Yes? Increase pay commensurate with tasks (ie: litter boxes are pretty gross to deal with, especially if it's dusty litter. Also, toxoplasmosis is a risk for women who may become/are pregnant - make sure you make them aware and get them to sign a release)
4) Extra cost to employment (police check, bond, etc)? No? No extra money. Yes? Figure out the cost to them, divide it by the expected number of hours of employment in a 90 day period and add that amount to the hourly wage. If this increases the hourly wage too much, reconsider if you need it. If you still feel you need it but don't want to pay that much hourly, that's an indication you should re-reimburse the cost after 90 days and keep the wage lower. (90 days means they have to give you a solid 3 months of work so you're not wasting money on flakes)
5) Once you figure out the base pay/hours spent - then figure out what you're going to tip on top of the pay rate. Like tipping wait staff for not spitting in your food/bringing it promptly, you're tipping for treating your home with respect and not using/stealing your stuff. The way I figure this is if I were to give a $200 bonus at the end of the year and the person was to be working 26 weeks, I'd give a $6 tip each week and a $50 tip at the end of the year. Edit: A good rule of thumb to come up with the bonus amount is 1-2 weeks of their average pay.

Personally I would put in a hidden camera system if you haven't already, just in case. I would also call your insurance company to make sure there are no issues on that front (they can have issue with people leaving their homes empty for extended periods, especially with "strangers"who have access).

 

[kittens mom]

Here's the way I figure out these sorts of things:

1) Do I wish to pay the person a living wage? Yes? $15.75/h in Pheonix. No? $10/h min 1h (local minimum wage)
2) Is the person local (ie: short walking distance) Yes? No extra money. No? Add 1h's pay per visit for their cost of employment (remove this if they are to stay 4 or more hours at a time)
3) Is the person performing anything beyond the basics of feed, pet, play, move on? No? No extra money. Yes? Increase pay commensurate with tasks (ie: litter boxes are pretty gross to deal with, especially if it's dusty litter. Also, toxoplasmosis is a risk for women who may become/are pregnant - make sure you make them aware and get them to sign a release)
4) Extra cost to employment (police check, bond, etc)? No? No extra money. Yes? Figure out the cost to them, divide it by the expected number of hours of employment in a 90 day period and add that amount to the hourly wage. If this increases the hourly wage too much, reconsider if you need it. If you still feel you need it but don't want to pay that much hourly, that's an indication you should re-reimburse the cost after 90 days and keep the wage lower. (90 days means they have to give you a solid 3 months of work so you're not wasting money on flakes)
5) Once you figure out the base pay/hours spent - then figure out what you're going to tip on top of the pay rate. Like tipping wait staff for not spitting in your food/bringing it promptly, you're tipping for treating your home with respect and not using/stealing your stuff. The way I figure this is if I were to give a $200 bonus at the end of the year and the person was to be working 26 weeks, I'd give a $6 tip each week and a $50 tip at the end of the year. Edit: A good rule of thumb to come up with the bonus amount is 1-2 weeks of their average pay.

Personally I would put in a hidden camera system if you haven't already, just in case. I would also call your insurance company to make sure there are no issues on that front (they can have issue with people leaving their homes empty for extended periods, especially with "strangers"who have access).

I think cameras are going to become standard in pet sitting , child sitting even elder care as the tech makes it like flipping a switch to set up.

 

[JMJimmy]

I think cameras are going to become standard in pet sitting , child sitting even elder care as the tech makes it like flipping a switch to set up.

Yeah they're so cheap now there's really no reason not to. Table top are like flipping a switch but are usually pretty expensive for what you get. If you do a proper security system I think they run about $17 US per camera (including motion sensor) + cost of cabling back to a recording device.

 

[donutte]

I didn't get the notification and saw this by chance! If hiring a professional, they have their own rates set. Honestly, unless you are talking months, I wouldn't expect much to come out of haggling. Also, most pros won't do less than once a day, which is in the kitty's best interest. Even the healthiest cats can get sick suddenly. Or they get themselves trapped in a room. I personally charge $25 per visit, which is a bit high for my area. However, I operate with a different model than most near me.

 

[donutte]

As far as tipping... While always appreciated, it's never expected. From me anyway.

 

[donutte]

And sorry, misread original post as twice per *week*. That is what I get for doing this on a phone!

 

[kittens mom]

As far as tipping... While always appreciated, it's never expected. From me anyway.

I consider tipping an investment in a person who provides a service. It's also the professional thing to do because gifts and touchy feely make it hard to maintain a long time business association with someone. I've got a few life lessons under my belt. We don't have professionals so I used people like you to set a rate which for my area is above the normal.
I always offered riding lessons at a discount for a package deal. One was considerably more. Same with boarding. Overnighters were twice the rate monthly boarders paid.

 

[donutte]

Keep in mind, most cat sits are as needed, rather than a regular basis thing. Dog walkers typically have packages because most are on a regular basis. I'm just stating what is typical with cat sitters. Most are the business owner who can obviously bend the rules. I have in very specific cases, including with a diabetic cat.

If this will be an ongoing thing, definitely see if a package is available. The sitter may not have one already, but it's possible to create one.

 

[basscat]

Our cats are awesome. Shouldn't people pay us for the opportunity?

 

[donutte]

Our cats are awesome. Shouldn't people pay us for the opportunity?

LOL.

 

[jtbo]

I'm thinking differently than humans, most of the time.

So if I would hire someone, I would first consider what kind of money would allow me to spend required time and earning enough to pay bills, by food etc. which gives base price.

Then I would consider requirements of job, education, security etc. which all increase from that base price.

If I would pay less than what I come up with, I would feel like stealing from that person as person has to live and pay bills too.

Also if price would be really low it would mean that person would need to cut expenses from living, or gain additional income, which brings up question of security.