Pet sitting -
care for your
pets in your
home

For most pets, their owner going out is not a problem; they're used to it, and they know that the boss will be back soon.
But bring out your suitcase, and your pet thinks "Oh dear - this doesn't look good…"
Cats and dogs, particularly, worry when suitcases appear because they associate them with a longer separation and - worse - being taken to kennels or cattery.

Placing pets in kennels can cause unnecessary stress and suffering

When the pack goes away, the rule for all dogs and cats (but particularly dogs) is "guard the territory and wait until they return". If they're removed from the territory and the pack they can suffer significant "separation stress". This can present in symptoms such as pining, loss of appetite, gnawing, kennel cough, diarrhoea and self-harm.

Pet sitting allows your pet to stay in familiar surroundings

The kindest and best arrangement you can make for your pets while you're away is to leave them at home in their familiar environment following their normal routines.

Homesitters was set up precisely for this purpose. We provide a nationwide live-in pet sitting service available throughout the year.

How we choose our pet sitters

We have nearly 1000 mature, caring employees who are meticulously vetted and personally interviewed. They are selected not only for their integrity and reliability but also for their domestic and petcare skills. Pet sitting assignments, particularly, need aptitude and experience and a genuine warmth towards animals.

Most of our employees choose to become Homesitters because they have been pet owners and welcome another opportunity to care for animals. We specifically solicit applications from people who have proven pet skills.

At interview, we explore our sitters' pet ownership in depth: how recently they owned pets and for how long; the breeds; the exercise they were used to giving; any experience of administering medication (including injections); any special skills (some of our sitters have bred, shown, judged or professionally handled animals).

Our interviewers then assess the sitters' capabilities and suitability as pet sitters. Attitude to pets is the key criterion - we need pet lovers; sitters who are appropriate to stand in as surrogate owners in our clients' absence.

Matching you and your pet to the right pet carer

When you book with us, your administrator will take details of your pet's breed, age, temperament, state of health, any medication, sleeping arrangements, diet, exercise and grooming routine.

She/he will discuss your preferences in a Homesitter e.g. male/female/couple, with own car, happy to have pets on the bed. All Homesitters are non-smokers, without accompanying pets.

We then individually match you to the nearest of our employees whose abilities, experience and attitudes most aptly suit your requirements, for example:

We contact you with details of the Homesitter and put you in touch with him/her. Usually there will be an opportunity for a preliminary meeting long before the assignment, and you will see how your pet reacts to the sitter.

How our pet sitters operate

We specify that our sitters must care for all pets in accordance with clients' instructions and we provide appropriate checklists to ensure that every aspect of care and routine is considered - nothing is left to chance.

On joining us, our sitters are issued with a substantial manual covering all aspects of homesitting. They have to follow detailed procedures, and we keep them up-to-date with regular newsletters. With regard to pet sitting, we specifically cover:

Our pet carers are conscientious and vigilant; they will check your pets regularly for any physical or behavioural changes. We instruct that should a pet seem unwell, the Homesitters should not hesitate to contact the vet and to ring Head Office for advice and support. With 28 years experience, we have substantial reserves of knowledge and our sitters know that they can contact us at any time (and they talk to a human, not an answering machine!).

After every assignment we obtain detailed feedback from our clients, and we specifically ask about the pets and their condition on the client's return. Often our clients report that not only were their pets in fine fettle, but they suspect that they would have liked to have gone home with their sitters…rather ruffling, but what better testimony of your sitter's care could you have?

We offer far more than just cat and dog sitting!

We are particularly skilled with cats and dogs but we are happy to discuss care for all domestic pets and livestock, birds, poultry and exotica.

Amongst our employees we have retired farmers, smallholders and vets so we're happy to check and feed farm livestock. We provide field care for horses and ponies and we have a limited number of sitters who will provide full stable care - but this does not extend to exercising.

Having a Homesitter not only ensures the happiness of your pets, it can also considerably simplify your pre-holiday workload. If you have a menagerie of dogs, cats, small furry creatures, poultry and ponies - you can make arrangements for them with just one telephone call!

Phone 01296 630 730 or use our online contact form to request more details on our pet sitting service.