Here’s a Handy Guide To Pet Sitting And Pet Sitters

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It’s always difficult for a pet lover to leave his/her domestic animal in cases of urgent business trips or vacations. It’s a dreaded feeling to leave your pet alone with no one to feed on time, instruct him to potty on his litter place, clean the pet’s trash box, or play around in the active hours.

All thanks to pet sitters that come to the rescue in such times of need (click here for more details). Here’s a guide that chalks out some important details about pet sitting and pet sitters.

What is pet sitting?

It was in 1997 that pet sitting made it officially into the Random House Dictionary. Pet Sitters International (PSI) defines it as the process of caring for someone else’s pet while getting paid for it.

Common reasons for opting for pet sitting include prevention of travel issues for the pet, avoiding the need to adapt to a new environment, and safeguarding from contact with different animals that are prone to infection or illness.

Pet sitting is different from pet boarding. The former is an in-house service, while the latter involves shifting pets from home to a shelter, usually known as kenneling. It is comparatively cheap and is also selected when the pet has not undergone complete vaccination.

Who is a pet sitter?

A pet sitter is any individual who is paid to take care of a pet in the presence or absence of the pet owner. It is similar to babysitting.

Unlike in a pet boarding facility with numerous animals, pet sitters only focus on their client’s animal, giving wholesome attention to the only pet under observation.

He/she maintains the daily routine of the pet with walks in the morning to dinner at night. This helps the pet stay healthy as it doesn’t lead to any changes in its behavioral patterns.

Staying in the same environment deters any chances of contracting a disease from nearby pets.

What are the qualities of a pet sitter?

Besides affection for an animal, the pet sitters must be aware of the science of animal behavior, their feeding habits, medical and dental needs, veterinary doctors and their clinics, and a few animal welfare societies.

They should be well versed about the different breeds of animals, be it dogs or cats, to meet their unique requirements in terms of quality animal diet or clinical aid. In cases of emergency, a pet sitter should know how to take care of the pet if it falls sick, gets caught in a weird situation, or ingests some non-edible items.

A pet sitter should have pet grooming skills. Usually, pet parents are very vigilant about their pets’ bathing and other conditioning routines. Therefore, it’s appreciated if a pet sitter has expertise in techniques like pawdicure, ear and nail cleaning and clipping, body cleanse with anti-tick baths followed by blow-drying and combing.

We recommend hiring a pet sitter that has insurance from an authentic source to avoid unanticipated compensations in cases of loss.