How much would you pay a teenager to feed 2 cats for a week?

[Mellowyell292]

He lives in our street, would need to visit twice a day. No litter tray to change. What's the going rate? He's 15 and we're in the Midlands (if that makes a difference!).

How much would you expect your own DC to be paid for the same job? I think £30 is much too low. The minimum wage for a 15 year old is £4.35 an hour but you're also paying for the disruption to their day. They would be doing the same job as an adult pet sitter who would charge considerably more.

My 15 year old is earning £6 an hour plus a share of tips in his summer job which I think is fair. In his previous job he was paid £4.35 and no share of any tips.

Well, yes, employing someone to care for your animals is expensive.

Most pet-care professionals are self-employed and do it for a living. They have insurance to pay for, expenses to cover, pensions they need to contribute to. They need to save up to cover the days they're sick or when it's quiet, or, like last week, when it's too hot and they need to cancel all their clients.

Yes, a teenager doesn't have all that to worry about, but they're taking on a similar level of responsibility for your home. Personally, I wouldn't trust a random kid to come in and feed my pets - I want to know there's a responsible adult checking on them and my home in case of an emergency.

I'd pay £10 per day

@Mellowyell292 less than a fiver a day really? Wow I hope they do say no and what's more hope their parents are in touch to have a go at you for taking the pjs I certainly would be

£30 is really mean.

If the teenager says no...what will OP do then??

No one else seems to have mentioned it (so I`m probably on my own here) but I would be happy to pay a decent amount for peace of mind that my valued pets are being well cared for.

I think that a teenager who believes they are being treated fairly/even generously will be more likely to be more enthusiastic and do a better job that will benefit my pets more.

Those that say paying a reasonable amount is too expensive, should remember that it is all part of being a responsible owner, to factor in these costs for care before getting a pet, and going on holiday.

But for 10 minutes work expecting them to spend at least the same again travelling is unreasonable. It’s all about the proportions. For most things in life there’s a minimum charge because of the logistics and hassle. You wouldn’t be able to pay a cleaner for 10 minutes, nor a taxi for a 2 minute journey..

No, it referred to the teenager.
I know you do more than him. lol

@sunsetsandsandybeaches - yes, I can see you'd want someone trustworthy coming into your home. A neighbour teenager you would know and trust fits the bill.

Marie as fair play for acknowledging you don’t really know what you are talking about here!

pet care is expensive. I pay well over £100 a week for a cattery. Paying my nephew £10 a day was a bargain. Caring for an animal is more than chucking some food in a bowl. I am sure OP would expect this boy to notice if the cats are off their food - or if they disappear for a while. My poor nephew had to cope with a dead bird that had been trailed though the cat flap😂😂

it’s a big responsibility. £2 a visit is crap, and a bit insulting

@MellMellowyellow222 - just to clarify -
For a professional pet sitter? Ok.
For a neighbour teenager putting out food, I personally thought it seemed a lot, however, I stand corrected.
Cats are more expensive pets than I thought.
Good luck to people making a living from this 👍

Nope, I'm afraid they wouldn't fit the bill for several reasons.

Teenagers don't drive, so couldn't get my cat to the vet in an emergency.
They would also be highly unlikely to know the "warning signs" for lots of illness in cats, and therefore wouldn't realise when a vet was needed in the first place.

I've seen cats go from perfectly healthy to critical in less than 24 hours. I wouldn't trust a teen to know the signs of say, a urinary blockage or stress cystitis - I mean, why would they? But both conditions require pretty urgent treatment or they can quickly turn fatal, which is why I would only ever pay a professional to care for my animals.

I've had a few animals get sick or injured in my care. Nothing serious, but they still required vet treatment and I had to drive them, wait with them at the vet, contact the owners, make sure the animal was cared for and medicated properly etc.

Not something I'd trust a local teenager to organise and sort out, I'm afraid.

£30 is a pisstake.

Right, @sunsetsandsandybeaches - so you would advise the OP not to go with the local teenager, but to employ professional pet sitters instead?
In the long run it seems cheaper if she's going to pay him £100 anyway, may as well go for a pro.

Yep, 100%. But someone who is only willing to offer "£30 and a box of chocolates" probably doesn't see the value in paying a professional anyway.

I'm sure loads of people have had good experiences using teenagers, but I think it's one of those things that IS fine - until there's an emergency.

Then, all of a sudden, you're having to rely on the teens' parent to be available (and willing) to take your cat to the vet as it's peeing blood or won't stop vomiting, or has come in one evening with a serious injury from a cat fight that needs stitches and antibiotics.

And if the parent can't drive, or isn't willing or able to drive, what happens to your cat (or dog, or whatever) while you're miles away on holiday and the teenager you've paid is unable to do anything to help them?

Yes, that sounds fair enough

£10 per day is fine. If you want someone to commit & do the job responsibly you really need to be paying more than £2 a visit, if someone offered my teen that rate I would be advising them to say no.

I think it’s perfectly reasonable to pay the kid less than you would pay a professional - but £30 is way too low.

in reality OP needs to understand it’s the parents who are lumbered with the responsibility. I paid my nephew a fiver a visit to feed the cat plus check on her well being. But in reality is anything went wrong he wouldn’t have been able to handle it. There is no way he would have taken her to the vet, or known what to do if she disappeared. My sister had that responsibility.

so OP needs to understand she is asking the parents to supervise this - so paying the a decent wage for the twice a day visits is a way of acknowledging both the disruption to his day and the fact that you are also expecting parents to step i. Should something go wrong.

I have been thinking about something similar to this recently (but the cost of a babysitter per hour rather than a food giver) and I think a lot of these responses feed into the attitudes shown by new graduates/interns/apprentices in at least 2 recent threads I’ve read.

Teenagers (and/or their parents!) now seem to expect to be paid twice the minimum wage (or more) for the inconvenience of doing a job! Rather thank be paid for the actual job itself!

Teenagers locally to me (I live in NI so not central London!) are getting paid hourly more than carers to do a few hours babysitting!

How can we expect young people to go into ‘real’ jobs with their expectations so skewed?!

*than

I think advising a teen to expect at least £50 for feeding a cat twice a day, morning and evening for a week is due to the impact it has on his whole day and potentially on the whole family if we want to go out together. If he had to look after the cat for 5 hours on one day, £25 - £30 would be ok.

But you're comparing apples and oranges.

Adult carers are generally employed on a full-time basis, so they have a guaranteed income of (x) each month. They're free to find other, better-paying work if they wish, or they can pick up overtime.

Teenage babysitting is a one-off (or at least, it's not regular) and generally something that parents are choosing to pay for because they want to go out and socialise, not because it's essential. So the "rate" may be higher but it's probably the only money the teen will earn that week (or month) - it's not like they're employed and earning that amount.

Carers, IMO, aren't paid anywhere near enough, but that's not the fault of teenage babysitters earning a tenner an hour for a few evenings a year.

£10 a day.

I have to add my voice to the others on here saying that £30 is very stingy. It's not like a normal job where you get paid so much per hour. It's more like a split shift job where he'll have to run his life that week around caring for your cats. £50 is a fairer amount.

£20??? £30??? That’s too cheap for two weeks!
If you would like to use him in the future, then you pay reasonably well!
At the very least £100…

Sorry, I just read that it’s for one week for 2 cats. I would still go for £100…