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In the DC area for two cats - $20 per day, one feeding per day - plus get the mail and water outside plants once per week. If they need to go to vets, I reimburse for the time. Professional cat sitters. I think you're nuts if you leave it to a neighborhood kid.

GS

Hi. I live in Olympia,WA. I have my own business called: Kitty Care. I take care of cats and small dogs . I charge $12.00 a visit. I spend 30-60 minutes with the animal. I not only give the pet alot of love, I also water plants, take in the mail and do whatever the client needs. It's alot of fun and I love interacting with my new pals.

June

I'm in Denver and our pet sitter charges $15.00 per day, and she also will check mail, water plants, etc. She works at our vet office and is a vet. assistant.
We boarded the old cat once and he was so depressed that I swore I'd never do it again! Now he (and the new kitty) only stay at home.

S

I don't live in or near a major BIG city, so I don't have to pay the rates many of you are quoting. About 10 years ago, when we'd leave on vacation, we'd get our college age babysitter (still living at home) to come in, stay at our house, and take care of the dog. We'd pay her the same rate as we'd spend boarding the dog. That dog is now dead, and we have a Weimaraner and an Old English Mastiff (~200 lbs worth of dogs). We now board with our trainer who lives out in the country. It's probably about $15/day, and we provide the food. She has 10 land-locked acres and lives adjacent to the kennel. If she's not there, her mother also has a home on the premises. They are well-taken care of and handled regularly. She even has them bathed and clean when we come to pick them up.

Fargo Chick

Local company, licensed and bonded, charges $9/day for one daily visit for our cats. Never had a bit of trouble. Have even had to contact them on very short notice. The woman we usually get is terrific and receives a gift certificate from us each Christmas.

gail

Suburb around Boston. We hire a young teenager to feed cats once/day (ours also usually eat twice a day when we are home - but they adjust quite nicely to once/day wet food and bowl of cat cereal available at all times); feed the iguana; water plants if it does not rain (inside plants do fine for a week); bring in mail.

That is our neighborhood going rate and since we each hire each other's kids, the money is actually just travelling from house to house. As far as litter box - that becomes less reasonable for kids to handle. Since it is in the basement, we just add a second litter box, and for a week it works out fine that way.

cindy

Same exact question posted under name "Jan" in the Canadian forum--is this some kind of internationally important issue poll?

Josey

Years ago we boarded our 2 Labs at a great kennel that had a pond and they got to go outside, but after we had to put the Mom down, the young one was very unhappy, then a neighbor offered to watch her. We had a fenced yard and he'd come over, feed her, let her out, let her play, and put her back in the house. She was much happier. Then our son moved back home, so he would care for her, whether at his place or ours. After he moved a young couple across the street would watch her at their house, and their 2 kids loved that! They'd make a bed for her and give her treats and walk her. They would accept no pay, but we gave them some flowers to put around the house (they had none) and they thought that was too much. I've also sent them flowers for a special occasion. Now that we've moved again, we are closer to our kids again and they'll take care of our Lab while we are gone for 7 weeks later this summer.

Martha

Well, I guess I'm pretty cheap. We pay our cat-visitor $20/week to come every day and feed/play with cats and take in the mail. Usually use a jr-high student.

redneck

whar i come from, we're all family. heck, if ya cant count on yer family to hep out fer nothing, shoot, ya may as well stay home.

jo

We live in a northwest suburb of Chicago and the going rate for someone to come in just to feed the cat is $15 a day. No watering of plants or gathering of mail. Plan to have the neighbor's child do it every other day for $5. His mother will make sure he does. If I'm only away for a week, my neighbors will come in every other day.

Susan

I live just West of Toronto. We have 2 cats & whenever we go away we have a university student "catsit". She visits once a day, feeds them, changes water, brushes them, plays w/ them. She also takes in the mail & newspapers. We pay her $15/per day which she claims is outrageously generous. I also gisve her a Christmas present.

ann

We are paying a professional petsitter $15 per visit (2x) a day to come take care of our 2 dogs. We live in calif. - plus, he wants a tip!! My 13 year old does this for neighbors, and they pay her anywhere from $3 (they get the rep. for being the "cheap" neighbors!) to $10 per day (the "nice" neighbors)! Martha, time to give your catsitter a raise!!
ann

E.

I agree with Tatesmom--I don't trust neighbor kids or any other altruists because they may well fall down on the job. I prefer to pay a professional, bonded vet tech with a pet-sitting business to watch my critters, because she has a vested interest in doing a good job, thereby protecting her business' reputation. I pay $10-15 per day for 4 cats, one visit per day, plus bringing in the mail. She would also water plants, if I had any. This is far less $$ than a kennel, the cats get to stay home, and I have someone coming over and checking on my house daily--you can't beat that!

gail

E - we use neighbor's kids BECAUSE we know they won't "fall down on the job" - neighbors are close friends and they would have to deal with their parents if they forgot. I do agree that if there is not that type of relationship, a professional might be better. We like to offer this small job to kids too young to get a job doing anything else. Also, the kids play with the pets far more than I suspect someone on a tighter money-schedule would. And they are not grossed out by the iguana!

Dee

Per day, we pay $30 for the first visit and $15 for the second when we need a second visit. Our Cat sitter is a vet. assistant at our cats only clinic. We have 3 indoor cats and 1 outdoor cat. Two of the indoor cats are old (19 & 21 years) and on medications. The 3rd indoor cat is 15. The outdoor cat is about 3 and was dumped here 18 months ago. If any of the cats need medical care, she will take them to the clinic or provide it at home. If they should die, or require euthanasia , she will take care of that and the cremation and return of ashes. She knows the level of care we expect for these aged pets. She cleans the 4 boxes with each visit, gives fresh water and food and spends time with each.

She also feeds the Koi in our outdoor pond, & cleans the skimmer nets. She keeps the 4 bird feeders full. In addition she gets our mail and sometimes our neighbors mail when we are away at the same time.

While we seem to pay more than most, we feel it is a bargain.

gail

To Dee - sounds like a bargain to me - it would cost much more than $30 to get me to medicate cats - they are impossible.

Pat

I agree with Gail. My son dog sits for the neighbor's dog all the time. Believe me, I make sure the dog is well taken care of, including going over myself sometimes. Also, he always sits with her awhile to make sure she gets company. I could see a professional for cats but it seems like a dog needs more time. Would a professional have time to just sit and keep them company.
I am paying a neighbor's college ago son to sit our two large dogs. He will stay overnight. Probably will pay around $35 a day because that's pretty much the going rate for a kennel. Plus my other neighbor will check in. She even took my one dog to the vet last year when we were on vacation.

Cat lover

Thanks for all the replies, they're very helpful; keep them coming! It sounds like there are really a wide range of fees paid. I would think that a professional service would probably charge quite a bit more than a neighbor, especially since they come from some distance to take care of the pet, and that's their business. The neighbor only has to travel about 2 minutes, and I can't imagine that she would spend more than 20-30 minutes a day on this, unless she wants to stay and play with the cats (her choice), She is very responsible, and I know her parents well, otherwise I wouldn't trust my beloved cats to her care! Fortunately, they are indoor cats, and are reasonably young and healthy, so don't need medication (that would change the situation quite a bit!).

Gail, you didn't actually state what you pay your pet sitter. I'm curious, since I, too, live in a Boston suburb.

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