Most of the pet sitters I know have a policy that they want to at least see every pet they care for each time they arrive. In the case of some unfriendly cats, that’s the best we can do because they don’t want to be touched. Not seeing a pet on the first visit is a major red flag. The pets should be found, or the owners called.

Why your pet sitter didn’t call to find out where the cat might be is beyond me. You said you haven’t been able to think clearly enough yet to know how to handle it. What I’d suggest is to write your thoughts down on paper, and when you feel you can talk clearly enough, set up a time to meet with the owner of the agency. Explain what happened, how you believe it could have been handled differently, and what you think they could do in the future so it doesn’t happen again. I know none of this will bring Gina back but it might help you to know you did what you could to ensure nobody else loses their pet in this way.

Again, my heart goes out to you. I know how hard it is to lose a pet family member.

We returned home last weekend to find that our “professional” pet sitter had allowed our cat to die closed in a room with no food, water or her medication. This heartbreaking discovery was compounded when we found the pet sitter’s note telling us that she had not seen our beloved cat for the entire week we were gone and that our cat had not eaten the food in which her medication was provided. When we spoke with the sitter she explained that her policy is not to open doors in clients’ homes.

We have been in a fog over the shock of finding our adorable girl DEAD in a closed room when we returned home from vacation and have been unable to think clearly about how to handle the sitter and the agency she works for. We can’t understand why the sitter would not look behind closed doors after not seeing our baby for several days. (I am also sick with the question of whether I may have left her in that room myself before I left for our trip.) We also can’t understand why the sitter would not have called us or any of the emergency contacts we left for her when she noticed that Gina was missing and was not getting her medication. We had used the sitter before and while we felt she may not have cared well for our plants, we never would have thought she could be so careless with our cat.

For any pet sitter who is reading this, I would have gladly had my privacy invaded by having all the rooms in my home opened daily to ensure the safety of my cat.

I would be quite grateful for any advice or thoughts that you have. I have no interest in suing anyone. I only wish that no one else have to lose their pet so needlessly.

Finding it difficult to locate a real professional pet sitter is what spurred my research on the topic. When I was looking for a pet sitter a common thing I heard right away was that they have a membership in this or that organization. I looked into those organizations to see what criteria must be met in order to become a member, and they most certainly are not for professionals. There is no criteria at all besides an annual fee that must be paid. That alone makes the memberships meaningless to me as a consumer. I would imagine these people would pay for an award and be proud of that too.

Professional organizations have standards which must be met-more than just a membership fee. Professionals should not need to be told how to behave or be given paperwork or forms to follow along with in order to \”pull off\” a business. Professionals have gone through training and already been educated on what they are selling. These memberships are glorified training resources and anyone can join them to instantly use the word \”professional\” in their title. That is very misleading to those consumers who do not read the fine print. I am also concerned that the people paying for these memberships are being duped! Do they really believe that they can start a legitimate business and call themselves a professional just by paying about $100, using some paper work that was given to them, and reading some very basic general guidelines on how to operate a pet sitting business? It sure seems this way. This is very frightening to see this happening. A friend of mine in another state told me about her journey in finding a pet sitter. She spoke with one who used to work in a factory, got sick of the hard work and being told what to do, do she started a pet sitting business because \”it was time for her to have the easy life\”.

I was least impressed by one pet sitter who seemed so proud to be a member of some organization which charges a tiny $30 for membership to provide people with \”everything they need to know\” to start a business and of course call themselves a professional. How on Earth can someone be proud of a membership that accepts absolutely anyone that pays in?

Name dropping is not impressive. Especially when it is an entrepreneur resource membership. In my extensive research I did not find one professional pet sitter membership option that only accepted worthy, proven businesses that have met standards other than the normal of what is to be expected of any type of business. I was looking for a membership that a pet sitter could be proud of being a member of, something special or earned.

We as pet owners want to know what experience you have had on a larger scale other than the pet sitter\’s own pets. We want competence-not learning competence while you tend to our pets. We are not here to provide on the job training at our own expense. We want to know that the person coming in our house is not a criminal. We would be interested in a membership if it meant that you earned your place there and it was not an open door for anyone to join. Things that would matter in our making a choice. If my neighbor can join that membership-then I might as well hire my neighbor.

I am not alone in believing that a \”professional pet sitter\” is a rarity.

My research findings sparked our local paper to delve even deeper and write a story on the misconceptions of these so called \”professional pet sitters\” once I informed them of this sad situation.

The whole pet sitter thing has been overly hyped up above reality.