Pet Sitter Checklist: What to Arrange Before You Travel

By Dr Duncan Houston

A good pet-sitting arrangement should still work when your flight is delayed, your cat hides from the visitor or the person holding the spare key is unavailable. A friendly introduction matters, but a clear care plan matters just as much.

This checklist helps you choose a suitable sitter, explain your pet's normal routine and close the gaps before you travel. It applies whether you are hiring a business or asking someone you already know.

Quick Answer

Choose a pet sitter whose experience, availability and handling skills match your actual animals, then check references and agree on the service in writing. Leave one clear care sheet, veterinary contacts, working home access and a backup person who has agreed to help. Practise the handover before departure, including any existing veterinary instructions, rather than assuming the sitter can manage everything on the day.

Choose the care arrangement before choosing the person

Write down what needs doing across an ordinary day. Include meals, water, toilet opportunities, exercise, companionship, cleaning and any care already prescribed by your veterinary team. Then work out whether visits, a live-in sitter or suitable boarding can cover that routine.

The RSPCA advises keeping care familiar where possible and choosing arrangements around the individual animal. A reliable friend who knows your dog may be a good fit. A paid sitter is not automatically trained to care for every species or perform every task.

• Visiting sitter: agree when each visit happens, its length and what must be completed. Allow enough time to see and care for each animal, rather than simply refill bowls.
• Live-in sitter: ask how much of the day and night they will actually be present. An overnight booking does not necessarily include daytime company.
• Care in another home: check the other animals, household members, containment and sleeping arrangements before deciding whether the setting suits your pet.
• More involved care: if your pet has a current veterinary care plan, ask the treating clinic what skills and availability the carer needs. Settle this before committing to a booking.

Decision checkpoint: if the proposed schedule cannot cover your pet's usual needs, change the arrangement. A reassuring profile or an inexpensive quote cannot fill an uncovered part of the day.

Questions to ask a prospective pet sitter

Can they manage this pet and this routine?

Describe the job honestly. Explain whether your dog pulls on the lead, your cat avoids visitors, or your rabbit or bird needs someone familiar with their housing and handling. Ask for examples of comparable work, rather than relying on a general statement that they love animals.

Show the actual harness, carrier, enclosure latches and cleaning equipment. If the sitter seems unsure, decide whether a further practice visit would solve the problem or whether you need someone with different experience.

What can you verify?

Pet Sitters International recommends checking references, appropriate insurance, training and a written service agreement. Ask what the insurance covers for the specific service you are booking, and whether the person visiting is covered. Licensing and screening requirements differ between places, so do not assume one credential applies everywhere.

Useful reference questions are specific: Did the sitter arrive as agreed? Did they communicate when a problem arose? Did they follow the feeding and access instructions? Memberships and certificates can inform your choice, but they do not replace a practical meeting.

Who covers cancellations and changes?

Ask who will attend if the booked sitter is ill, whether you will meet that person and how they receive the care instructions. Agree what happens if you extend the trip, arrive early or cannot get home on time. Confirm any additional charges and cancellation terms before booking.

Use the meet-and-greet as a rehearsal

Arrange it early enough to make a different choice if needed. Let the sitter watch your routine, then ask them to talk through the steps and try the ordinary tasks you have agreed they will perform.

1. Practise arrival: test the key or code with the door locked, explain the alarm and show how to prevent an animal slipping out.
2. Walk through a normal visit: find the animal, prepare the correct meal, refresh water, attend to the toilet area and complete the agreed activity.
3. Check handling: demonstrate the equipment and your pet's familiar cues. Allow a hesitant animal space rather than requiring a cuddle to prove the introduction went well.
4. Find the transport equipment: show the carrier or travel restraint, how it closes and where it will be kept.
5. Rehearse a problem: ask what the sitter would do if they could not enter the home or could not reach you.

For a shy cat, a calm visit in which the sitter respects hiding places can be more useful than forced interaction. Cats Protection recommends introductory meetings and checking that the chosen sitter can deliver any special care the cat needs.

What to put on the pet sitter's care sheet

Keep the essential page easy to find, with separate detail for complicated routines. Date it so the sitter can distinguish the current version from an old message. Use a separate entry for each animal, including a photograph when pets look similar.

• Pet identity: name, species, identifying features and your current contact details.
• Meals: the usual food, measured amount, preparation, mealtimes, bowl location and any agreed treats. Explain which pet eats from which bowl.
• Water and cleaning: all drinking stations, litter trays or other toilet areas, where supplies are stored and where waste goes.
• Activities: the familiar walking route, toilet routine, play preferences, rest spaces and any existing restrictions.
• Behaviour and boundaries: hiding places, escape habits, handling preferences, interactions to avoid and which doors must stay shut.
• Existing veterinary instructions: the clinic's current written plan and labelled supplies, with a named contact for questions. The sitter should not have to interpret conflicting instructions.
• Contacts: you, a reachable local backup, the regular clinic and the agreed out-of-hours veterinary service.
• Return arrangements: your expected return, how you will confirm you are home and who continues care if you are delayed.

Keep access codes and security information in an agreed secure place, separate from any sheet that could be lost outside the home. Share only what the sitter needs to complete the job.

Make the veterinary plan usable

Before leaving, ask your clinic how it wants to handle contact, consent and payment while someone else is caring for your animal. Check that the sitter knows which clinic to call, how to transport the pet and what to do if you are unreachable. Avoid leaving them to negotiate all of this during a stressful event.

For an animal receiving medication, demonstrate the existing routine and confirm that the sitter is comfortable following the prescribing clinic's directions. Keep a single record showing what was given and when, including the last administration before handover. If a task cannot be completed or an instruction is unclear, the sitter needs to contact the veterinary team rather than improvise.

This is a care-planning checklist, not an illness-assessment guide. Have the treating clinic explain any pet-specific warning signs and response instructions in advance. The sitter's ability to obtain veterinary help should not depend on you answering a message from another time zone.

Adapt the handover to the species

Dogs

Show how the lead and harness fit, where toilet walks happen and which situations you normally avoid. State whether the sitter may take your dog in a vehicle, introduce other dogs or use any location beyond the agreed route. Put those boundaries in writing so an enjoyable outing is not assumed to be permission for a new activity.

Cats

Identify every litter tray, usual hiding spot and carrier location. Write down the established indoor or outdoor routine rather than leaving the sitter to guess. Agree how the sitter will confirm each cat is present and doing their normal activities, especially in a multi-cat home.

Rabbits, birds, reptiles and other animals

Do not assume dog or cat experience transfers to another species. Provide the enclosure's established routine, approved food, equipment instructions and a veterinary contact that sees that species. Have the sitter demonstrate locks, switches and routine checks. If equipment fails, they should know who to call and where the existing backup instructions are.

Agree what a useful update looks like

A photograph is pleasant, but it does not explain whether the whole visit happened. Agree on a simple update covering arrival, completed tasks, whether each animal was seen, anything different from normal and any follow-up needed.

Use one main communication channel and agree when a phone call is needed instead of a message. Choose a realistic reporting schedule that the sitter can maintain. Cameras, feeders and apps can assist a care plan, but someone still needs to carry out and check the care.

If you already use the ASK A VET™ app for pet records and routines, check the features and access your household actually has before relying on it for the handover. Some functions require Premium. Leave the essential instructions available without requiring the sitter to troubleshoot an unfamiliar account.

Common pet-sitting mistakes to avoid

• Leaving instructions across several chats: combine the current plan in one place and remove ambiguity.
• Describing a difficult task as easy: the sitter needs an accurate picture of handling and care requirements.
• Assuming overnight means constant presence: agree on actual hours and absences.
• Forgetting the backup: verify that the named person is available, has access and understands their role.
• Ending care at the scheduled arrival time: confirm you are physically home before the sitter stops covering the pet.

Frequently asked questions

Is a professional pet sitter better than a friend?

The better choice is the person who can reliably meet your pet's needs. Check a friend's availability and practical skills just as carefully as a paid sitter's, and use the same written handover.

How many visits does my pet need?

Build the schedule around the animal's established meals, toileting, activity, social contact and any veterinary plan. A sitter's standard package may not cover all of those needs. Agree the schedule before booking.

Can a sitter give my pet medication?

Check the individual's experience and the prescribing clinic's instructions before booking. The sitter must agree to the task, practise the routine where appropriate and know whom to contact if it cannot be completed.

What if my flight home is delayed?

Contact the sitter and activate the extension or backup arrangement you agreed before departure. Keep care covered until someone has confirmed they are present and taking responsibility.

What should I do if the meet-and-greet goes badly?

Identify the specific problem. A further calm introduction may help with unfamiliarity, but an unsuitable schedule, inability to handle your pet or poor communication calls for a different arrangement.

Before you leave, do one final walkthrough

Check supplies, access, dates, contacts and the last completed care tasks with the sitter. Ask them to explain the first visit and the backup plan in their own words. Leave when the practical details are understood, rather than relying on everyone remembering a hurried goodbye.

Sources: RSPCA guidance on leaving pets in another person's care; Cats Protection guidance on holiday care and cat sitters; Pet Sitters International's professional sitter interview checklist.

ASK A VET™ encourages clear, practical care planning so the people looking after your pet have the information they need.