I'm thinking of starting a "cat sitting" service, and want your opinions.

[sandyballs]

I regularly look after a neighbour's cat as they don't like putting her in a cattery when they go on holiday. It just involves me popping in there once a day and feeding her.

I was thinking of putting adverts around the neighbourhood asking if anyone else requires this service. What I want to know is:

1. Would you prefer to use someone like this instead of a cattery?

1. What would you be willing to pay?

1. Would you have any problems with trust, regarding house keys etc. I would obviously provide excellent references.

1. Are there any down-sides to this that I haven't thought about? I just keep seeing it as an easy way to earn a bit of cash and the cat would be happier in its own home than locked in a cattery.

Glad so many people think it's a good idea, it's encouraging me. Not sure about the fee though. does £5 sound about right. Obviously for £7 in a cattery you were getting cat food provided, whereas in my case I would charge £5 and you would provide the food. Also, what about people with numerous cats. Doesn't seem fair to charge someone £5 with one cat and £5 with eight!!
I suppose it just boils down to doing more research on it all. But I just want to get on with it now

THat's intersting about contracts, someone earlier also mentioned a questionnaire, presumably regarding the cats' requirements, what they would like done in the house etc etc.

sandyballs,

With eight cats we have used a couple of lovely local catsitters over the last few years and I also run a simple website for a friend who runs her own catsitting service (not near enough for me to use worse luck)www.purrfectsolution.co.uk

Things I look for in a cat sitter are :-

: Friendly person, who gets on with my cats. I must meet the cat sitter in person so I can show them the house, fill out their paperwork and I can see how they interact with my cats.

: Up to date public liability insurance, in case of problems in my house.

: Vet reference (i.e. from a vets about the cat sitter being reliable and good with cats, most catsitters are or have been pet owners)

: Past/current Customer References preferally phone numbers so I can check up myself. These can include friends and family but be clear that they are friends/family when giving out references as it looks better to the potential new client.

: Good key security. i.e. Keys not labeled with clients name or clients address use a code number instead and all keys must be kept in a locked safe at night.

: Good home security. Park outside neighbours house and/or no advertisment on catsitter's car else you are telling everyone that the house is empty. Offering to turn on/off lights and close/open curtains, pick up milk/mail as part of the service.

Other stuff...

It is common to charge per visit. Though I expect to pay more with the number of cats I have but to date I have only been charged the standard rate of £15 for 2 visits daily.

As for vet bills, I would ask the clients sign a standard letter which you can send to their vets which says "I authorise {name of catsitter} to bring my animals for treatment in my absence and I promise to pay in full for all treatment asap" Then the bills will go straight to the client and not you.

Also charge 15% on top of cost for anything you need to buy in case the owners run out..catfood and litter etc. The additional 15% should stop people 'forgetting' on purpose.

It might be worth getting together with another local catsitter to cover each other in case of emergencies and/or holidays. That is my main concern with a 'one man band' catsitter and if a family member is going to help out in an emergency, I would want to meet them too.

Also if you are or could be trained in giving medications and specialised treatment like diabetic care there is a lot of cats with medical needs and you could proberly charge more for those cats.

Sounds like a lot to cover but when you are talking about your home security and beloved pets health you have to be careful and once you have got yourself a new client, they will come back time and time again.

I'm sure I have missed some stuff but that is the basics.

Many thanks for that, very interesting. I'm going to print this thread off and think about all this tonight.

For info - Our cat gets fed once a day, and if I were you I would charge per visit rather than per day (suggests flexibility - gives people the choice whether to ask for one visit or two).

we use someone called catsathome - if you gogle it you'll find it. I much prefer it. She does 2 visits a day and opens/shuts the curtains/wakes up dh, turns some lights on etc. she'll also buy some milk in on the day you're due back and water the plants.

I would much prefer to use this type of service rather than a cattery. However, as others have said, it's nice for someone to house sit as well as cat sit so you kind of combine the service and ask a bit more money wise. So you could open/close curtains, put mail away, water plants etc. People want that type of thing as it is a good deterrant against theft. Good luck xx