How to Prepare Your Home and Pets for a House Sitter
Look at the smile on Ruby!
Leaving home is a mix of excitement and low-grade worry. Will the dog eat? Did I explain the weird trick with the back door? What if something breaks? We've been on the other side of that handoff more times than we can count, and we can tell you the best sits always start with a little preparation.
The good news is it doesn't take much! A well-prepared home makes your sitter's job easier, keeps your pets happy, and lets you relax while you're away. Here's our suggestions and the things that have made the biggest difference in the homes we've cared for.
Write it all down, even the obvious stuff
The single most helpful thing a homeowner can give us is a written guide. Making sure we get all the details can be a lot of information to take in at once, and it is tremendously helpful to have a document to refer to!
Include details such as feeding schedules, which door sticks, where the litter is kept, how to work the thermostat, what the dog's morning walk usually looks like, and the little quirks that make your pet feel understood. If your dog hates the vacuum or your cat only drinks from the bathroom tap, that's worth a line.
This is also a great place to include any medications and how to give them, as well as your vet's name, address, and phone number. If needed, please let the clinic know a sitter will be caring for your pet in your absence. Some vets want written authorization to treat, so a short note saying your sitter can approve care up to a certain amount can save critical time in an emergency.
It's also worth leaving a nearby emergency animal hospital's info for after-hours situations, and a rough sense of how you'd want us to handle a decision if we couldn't reach you. We hope to never need any of it, but knowing your wishes lets us act quickly and confidently if something does come up.
Leave the essentials easy to find
Before you leave, make sure your sitter can quickly put their hands on the things they'll actually need. Set out enough pet food to cover the whole stay (and mention where the backup is), plus leashes, litter, cleaning supplies, and any medications in one obvious place.
It also helps to point out the practical bones of the house: where the trash and recycling go and which day they're collected, the location of the water shutoff and circuit breaker, how to work the heating and cooling, and where you keep spare batteries, light bulbs, or a plunger. You hope none of it comes up, but if it does, you'll be glad your sitter isn't texting you on vacation to ask where the fuse box is.
Morning kitty pets!
Prep the pets themselves
Your animals do best when their world stays as normal as possible. If you can, keep their routine steady in the days before you leave rather than making changes right before a new person arrives. If you're switching food, do it gradually and well ahead of time.
A meet-and-greet, in person or over video, can make a real difference too. It lets your pet start associating the sitter with something calm and positive, and it gives everyone a chance to ask questions. When we sit, we love spending a little time with the animals before you go, learning their body language and letting them decide we're okay.
Get the house guest-ready
A few small things will help make the stay comfortable and keep your home protected. Clear a little space in the fridge and a closet or drawer. Fresh linens and towels go a long way. Make sure the WiFi password is written down somewhere visible, since a remote-working sitter (like us) relies on it.
Put away anything genuinely valuable or irreplaceable, not because you don't trust your sitter, but because it's one less thing for either of you to worry about. And if there are rooms or areas that are off limits, just say so. Clear boundaries make everyone more relaxed.
Say how you'd like to stay in touch
Some homeowners want a daily photo and a quick update. Others are happy to hear from us only if something needs attention. Neither is wrong, but it helps to say which you are before you leave. We'll always match your preference. When in doubt, we tend to send a little too much rather than too little, because we know how good it feels to see your pet looking happy while you're away.
Let your sitter know the best way to reach you, especially if you'll be in a different time zone or somewhere with spotty signal, and give them a backup contact (a neighbor, friend, or family member) in case they can't get through.
The short version
If you only do a few things, do these: write down the daily pet routine, leave clear vet and emergency info, set out all the supplies in one place, and agree on how you'll stay in touch. That handful of steps covers the vast majority of what a sitter needs, and it's the difference between checking your phone anxiously all trip and truly getting away.
A good house sitter wants exactly what you want: happy pets, a well-kept home, and your peace of mind. A little preparation on the front end is how we get there together.
Thinking about a sitter for your next trip?
We'd love to hear about your home and pets. Get in touch and let's start a conversation.
