Mrs. H and I are thinking of hiring a housesitter/petsitter for when we go on vacation for a few days this summer. Our cats are high-maintenance and we don’t really have any family nearby who can look after them. So we’re thinking about hiring the teenage daughter of a friend of the family, a nice girl who’s always looking to make some extra money.
What’s the going rate for house/pet-sitting. I don’t want to insult the young lass, but I don’t want to be taken to the cleaners, either. I’m thinking … $300 for ~6 nights and part of a day. Is that fair? Also, are house/pet-sitters expected to stay in the house? We were hoping she would (see: high-maintenance pets), so should we stock our fridge for her? Give her a food budget? I’m fine with her walking a few blocks to her house to eat her meals, but again, I’m not sure how these things work.
Finally, she’s 15. If she goes off-script and, say, drinks my beers or smokes my weed or takes my other car out for a joyride, am I exposed to legal liabilty (you are not my lawyer, blah blah blah) if something happens to her? In Missouri, if it matters.
Yes, because she is a minor. Now, if she goes home to eat and chokes to death on a bone, you are free and clear. However, if she is pursuing her duties on your premises, that is a different matter. You might be able to draw up a document that the child’s parent could sign, but that’s lawyer territory.
15 is a little on the young side for staying in your house. If you feel she is mature/responsible enough, then it may be okay. But for 1) a person that age and 2) who lives so close, I would recommend not having them live in your house, but come by each day to take care of the cats. She could hang out and watch TV for a few hours at your place, but not stay over.
I did this type of “daily visit” for a couple different friends over the years. I’d take care of the pets (take the dogs for a walk, etc.), take in the mail/packages. I used to bring my lunch over and eat it at their house. But I didn’t expect them to leave me food. (unless they indicated something would spoil and it would be okay for me to eat it).
Unfortunately this was so long ago, I wouldn’t know how to compute a reasonable rate.
They’re indoor/outdoor cats and they get extremely mournful and anxious if they’re cooped up inside for more than a few hours. Maui is also used to his daily “rations” as we call them - half a can of wet food (his bowl of dry food is always available too) in the morning and evening. He starts pawing at me demanding his morning ration every day, without fail, at about 5am, after which he expects to be let out.
I would look to hire a pro. Ours only charges $15 per visit (usually 20 minutes or so.) I’m sure she’s insured and maybe even bonded. Even if you can’t find one that cheap, the extra money may be worth it for the security.
Check out Rover.com and see what the going rate is. I wouldn’t take a chance with a 15-year-old. Rover sitters provide their own food. They also clean up after themselves, wash their sheets, etc.
My daughters pet/house-sat at that age and it was a disaster. Now,15 years later, one of them is the highest rated and highest paid sitter on Rover in our area.
Unless you live in a crime-free area, you probably want somebody living there while you’re gone to be safe.
I’m not going to steer you away from this teenager- you know her and her family better than I do. What I will tell you is that I wouldn’t have left my kids home alone at 15 while I was on vacation, not even for a few days and there is no way I would let my 15 year old spend a few days living at someone else’s house while house/pet sitting. I would have let them do multiple daily visits - but if you really want someone to stay, you’ll probably need to find an adult.
I can’t comment on rates for your area because I’m in the UK. We recently started using a petsittng service to avoid the need for a boarding cattery. The petsitter wasn’t much more expensive than the cattery, and means the cats are in a more familiar environment.
We had a cat who needed medication twice a day, but needed it to be at least 12hrs apart, which the sitter was able to do. We had a phone consultation and she came to visit (and meet the mogs). They charge per visit so we paid her for two visits per day, and she looked after the food, meds, litter trays, turned lights on and off, opened and closed curtains, and put the bins out. She spent at least an hour in the house at each visit, to look after the cats’ needs and also to give them all some fuss and play. She also sends pictures every day so we can see the cats are fine and feeding.