What do you think of Pet sitters

I used a pet sitter once. At that time we only had 3 cats for her to care for. She came highly recommended and I interviewed her. She seemed great. I didn't have a problem with the care that my cats received from her, however, we did have a problem. Apparently while we were away there was a huge rainstorm and our roof leaked in the cats' bedroom. The water leaked right into and around the litter boxes. She knew that there was a leak the next time she came to scoop because the litter was completely crusted on top, as it was a scoopable litter. She scooped the crusty litter off and that was the end of story. I specifically told her to call me with ANY questions or problems. She never called to tell me about the leak. The problem here was that she didn't check to see if the carpet was wet or if the walls were wet from the leak. So I came home and found a note from her telling me about the leak that happened about 4 days prior. I went to the bedroom to investigate and discovered that the carpet around and underneath the litterpans had gotten soaked when the roof leaked. Since the litterpans were never moved and the carpet was not allowed to dry properly in 80 degree weather, the carpet under the pans was completely moldy! I mean disgusting MOLD! I tried to clean it, but that didn't work. I finally had to CUT a 1' x 3' area of the carpet out. To make matters worse, the carpet was relatively new. To this day, the cats' bedroom carpet has a large rectangle cut out of it. I tried to put a remanant of the same carpet over the hole to make it less obvious. That should look great when we try to sell our house one day. In my opinion, she should have called me to tell me about the leak. If it was bad enough or if she had checked to see if the carpet was soaked, we would have come home to address the problem ourselves.

You really need to make sure the sitter has had a background with pets. Understands that they need walks, fed, watered everyday. Do your research. I have been told if you wouldnt feel comfortable leaving your kids in their hands dont leave your pets in their hands.

Thank you for the question. I have never had a pet sitter but might need one someday.
Thankfully, I have a friend who is a pet sitter...so I can trust her.

I recently went away and could not take my cat with me, as I usually do. I am new in the neighborhood but had a neighbor family watch my cat for a week. I interviewed them and was in awe at their understanding of and dedication to animals. I would do the same with a professional pet sitter, as well as REFERENCES!

My cat was fine when I came home!

I would certainly do my research before hiring one. There are many good pet sitters, just like there are many good trainers, just like there are many good doctors....

GOOD QUESTION. YOU SHOULD DO AS MUCH RESEARCH AS POSSIBLE AND IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO NETWORK GOOD SITTERS