Questions and answers

The things people ask me before they book.

Answers in my own words, not a policy document. If something you need isn’t here, ask me directly — I’d rather answer it than have you guess.

Before you book

Do you cover my area?

Drop-in visits run within about five miles of York: York, Acomb, Clifton, Fulford, Heslington, Bishopthorpe, Huntington, Rawcliffe, Poppleton, Haxby, Copmanthorpe, Dunnington. Overnight stays reach further, up to about fifteen miles, which brings in Strensall, Stamford Bridge, Tadcaster, Easingwold, Pocklington, Wetherby. If you’re outside that, ask anyway. There is no travel surcharge — whether I can take it depends on what else is in the diary that week, and I’ll tell you straight away. The full list is here.

How far ahead should I book, and do you take short notice?

As early as you can for school holidays, Christmas and bank holidays, because once a date is held it’s gone. Short notice is always worth asking about. The one thing short notice can’t skip is the meet and greet, so a same-day booking for a house I’ve never been in isn’t something I’ll agree to.

What happens at a meet and greet, and does it cost anything?

It’s free, and nothing is booked at the end of it. I come to your house, meet your animals on their own floor, look at doors, stairs and the garden, and we write the care down together, including how I get in. The longer version is on my about page.

In my home

How do you handle keys, and will anyone else be in my house?

How I get in, and how that access comes back to you afterwards, is agreed before the booking and written into the care notes. Your keys and your home are treated securely while I have them. Nobody else comes in: no visitors, no friends dropping by, no second sitter, because there is no second sitter. If I’m at your house, it’s me and your animals.

Do you sleep at the house all night?

Yes. An overnight stay means I sleep there, not that I look in twice. My arrival and departure are agreed with you before the booking and written into your care notes, so you know exactly when the house is occupied and when it isn’t. More about overnight stays.

Do I need to tell you about cameras?

Tell me where they are and roughly what they see, and I’ll write it into the care notes. It’s your house and your security — I’d far rather know than find out. I don’t ask anyone to switch anything off.

My pet

Can you give medication?

Tablets, liquids, and ear or eye drops, given as prescribed and at the times written in your care notes. I can also give injections such as insulin, where you give me clear written instructions and we go through them together before the booking. I am not a vet, so if a routine is beyond what I can take on I will say so rather than agree and hope. I don’t change a dose, skip one or double one up without speaking to you first, and if an animal spits a tablet out I tell you that rather than ticking it off. Bring the packaging to the meet and greet and we’ll go through it properly.

Does your own dog come with you?

No — Skye normally stays at home. Your animals are looked after on their own routine, in their own house, without another dog being brought into it.

I have more than one animal. Is that a problem?

Usually not — most houses I sit in have more than one. Tell me about every animal in the house when you send your dates, including the ones who aren’t the reason you’re booking, and anything that changes when they’re together: separate feeding, a cat who needs the spare room, a dog who guards a bowl.

On an overnight stay the £50 rate covers one pet and each additional pet is £25 a night, so two pets are £75 a night and three are £100. For drop-in visits there is no fixed surcharge — I quote the visit before anything is booked.

My dog is nervous with new people. Will you still take him?

Possibly, and the meet and greet is how we find out rather than the first night. Tell me what sets him off, what he does when it happens, and what you do about it. If I don’t think I can look after an animal properly I say so and you keep looking. Saying no is part of the job. More about dog sitting.

What if my cat hides the entire time?

Plenty do, and it isn’t a failure. I still do everything — food, water, litter tray, medication — and I check what has been eaten and used between visits, which tells me more than a sighting does. If I haven’t actually seen her, I say that instead of sending you a photograph of an empty sofa. More about cat sitting.

The next four are the ones nobody enjoys asking.

Most of what follows gets decided at the meet and greet, in writing, while everybody is calm and in the same room. That is the point of doing it then rather than working it out over a phone line from an airport.

What we agree at a meet and greet

If something goes wrong

My animal becomes ill while I’m away. Who decides about the vet?

Before the booking starts we agree in writing whose vet to use, who your emergency contact is, who authorises treatment and up to what cost I can go without reaching you. If something happens I follow those arrangements and get hold of you or your nominated contact, so that decision is already made before it is needed. Vomiting, refusing food, limping or anything out of character gets a message from me straight away, not at the end of the day.

Who pays the vet bill?

Treatment for your own animal is your cost, the same as it would be if you were standing in the room. How the bill is settled, and the ceiling I can authorise up to, is written down at the meet and greet before I have your keys. Nothing about money gets invented in an emergency.

What happens if my pet dies while I’m away?

It happens, most often to animals who are already old or already ill, and it is the worst call either of us will have. I ring you. If I can’t reach you I ring your vet and follow what we wrote down. Nothing is decided about your animal’s body until I have spoken to you.

What if you’re ill, or your car won’t start?

I’m one person and I won’t pretend otherwise. What happens if I can’t get to your house is one of the things we go through at the meet and greet, and it goes into your care notes alongside your own emergency contact. What I will not do is fail to turn up and leave you to find out on your own. If I do have to cancel a booking, everything you have paid comes back to you in full.

Money

How do I pay, and when?

After the meet and greet I send you a Square invoice by email. A deposit holds your dates and the dates aren’t yours until it’s paid. Every figure is in that invoice in writing before you pay anything, and there is no online booking button to press by accident. All prices are on one page.

What happens if I have to cancel?

Cancel more than two days before the booking starts and there is nothing to pay — if you have already paid a deposit, you get it back. Cancel inside those two days and the deposit is what you lose; I don’t charge the rest of the booking on top of it. If I have to cancel, everything you have paid comes back to you in full. The deposit figure for your booking is on your Square invoice before you pay.

Do bank holidays cost more?

Overnight stays do. Bank-holiday rates apply on official bank holidays in England. A normal night is £50 and bank holiday nights start at £60. The £25 per additional pet per night is the same on a bank holiday. Drop-in visits are £15 for 30 minutes and £22 for an hour, the same price whatever day of the week it is. I tell you which of your nights count as bank holiday nights before you agree to anything, so the invoice holds no surprises.

Paperwork

Is anything written down, or is it all messages?

Written down. You get written terms and a written set of care notes before your first night: feeding, walks, medication and doses, your vet, your emergency contact, who I ring first, and what I’m authorised to spend if your animal needs treatment. Nothing important about your booking lives only in a text thread.

What do you need from me before the first night?

Your vet’s practice and phone number, an emergency contact who is not on the same flight as you, the feeding and medication routine in your own words, and where things live — food, lead, litter, spare bedding, stopcock, bin day. How I get in is agreed then too, not before.

Not answered here?

Send me the question with your dates. If it’s something I can’t answer honestly yet, I’ll tell you that rather than give you a comfortable version. Ask about your dates.

Still deciding? Ask the awkward one.

Send your dates, your postcode and what animals you have, along with whatever you didn’t find above. Nothing is confirmed until we’ve met at your house.