r/trustedhousesitters

Hi! I’m considering signing up for Trusted Housesitters but have a couple questions.

I have 2 calm indoor cats and live in a beautiful home near the beach in San Diego. It would be a very easy and chill sit.

My main concern is that I’ll be totally unreachable for 7 days. One of my cats is a senior (13) and while in good health (he does take medication for hypothyroidism but it’s under control), I worry that something might happen and the sitter will need to manage that without being able to contact me.

The other thing is that it kind of weirds me out to think of someone in my home that might go through my stuff…. Like normal personal things that I wouldn’t necessarily be able to remove from the house. (ie lingerie drawers, journals, things like that)

I also don’t have any sort of ring cameras and would want to be sure that they don’t bring additional guests or strangers into the house that weren’t previously approved.

Any insight here would be greatly appreciated!! TIA

Hi all.
I am a home/pet owner in an unprecedented situation. I was googling for anything out there similar and this group kept popping up, so I made an account and am hoping someone here has applicable experience or advice.

I am in my mid-60s, never married or had kids, so when I retired in 2024, I decided I wanted to travel as much as possible. This led me to finding Trusted House Sitters, as I needed someone to stay with my two cats while gone. Over the last few years, I have had nothing but great experiences with sitters from this site.
This most recent sitter I had (12 days) was also great, except for 2 things that I am unsure how to go about, or if I should go about them at all… She had raving reviews, was very approachable and accommodating, sent daily picture updates, and left the house and kitties in pristine condition (with a handwritten welcome home card).
Now for the not so great: I got a confirmation that litter was delivered to the house, but the sitter was unable to find it, so I checked the (outdoor only) nest cameras (sitter was aware of them) to see when and where it was dropped off at. This is when I see a young man walking out of the front door. I don’t think much of it, as I tell all of my sitters that they are free to have one friend over as long as it’s someone they would trust in their own house and not disruptive of neighbors.
The delivery was no where to be seen and no delivery person had been to the house, so I submitted a claim and ordered it again. The next day, I go to check the front camera to see if it arrived, it hadn’t, but I saw a different young man walking out of the house.
The day after that, I got another delivery confirmation and went to check the front camera to make sure it was there. It was. But so was a different young man, this time walking into the house. I didn’t mention anything as she was taking great care of the cats and house, and I did say she could have a friend over, but at this point I was definitely feeling a little awkward about it. I ignored it for the rest of my trip but couldn’t help myself from looking at the front door footage after returning home. Turns out she had a different man sleep over every single one of the 13 nights. Im not knocking this, I was young and wild once too, but I do feel a bit violated per se. I’m unsure if this is something that I should mention to her or in my review, as technically, she didn’t break any of my rules and I kind of feel creepy for even realizing, but she definitely overstepped boundaries.
The second thing - not as significant, but my light colored bathroom rug fell victim to what seems to be a shattered blush palette. She obviously put her best effort into trying to get it out but there are still some remains. Again, not a big deal as accidents happen, but I would’ve preferred she told me before leaving.

So anyone out there have words of wisdom for me? I’m leaning towards just leave it and move on, but if you are a host, is this something you’d want to know about?

I've recently been looking to rent a 1 bedroom flat and came across this advert on a places to rent website.

This person wants you to pay to stay in their flat and look after their cat, presumably while they're on holiday. AND they want you to pay the bills while you're there AND they want a £1000 security deposit. I'll post the text here rather than the link as the ad will probably get taken down at some point.

**Available 17th September until 28th October 2026 - £1500 total stay **

Looking for cat people/ person to look after my cat and my flat on the edge of Easton/ Redfield. The flat is fully furnished with modern appliances and all the kitchen equipment. All belongings will be removed from the bedroom leaving an empty sideboard, clothes rail and under the bed for storage. Will be tidier than the current photos!!

The rent is set a little low with the expectation that you will care for my cat (Suki) and the house plants.

The flat is big enough for a couple or well situated for a single.
- Bright double bedroom with privacy provided by plants in the front garden
- Large brand new kitchen inc new microwave, dishwasher and washing machine
- Well lit breakfast bar area
- Cosy living room with doors to the patio and view of the garden
- Comfy corner sofa that easily converts to large sofa bed
- Modern bathroom with rain shower over the free standing bath
- Secure outdoor bike parking in front garden
- Fibre broadband
- Standing desk with monitor in a bay window
- Hallway for coats and shoes and even a bike if you don’t mind squeezing past
- Nest thermostat
- Large garden and patio (See video): I do my exercise classes on the decking and also work from there as the wifi works well. May need watering if weather continues but no other responsibilities.
- Front garden for bike storage: Large chain and padlock for 1 bike - second could be added with own chain.

The area
- Quiet, friendly neighbours
- 3 mins walk to Bristol and Bath shared (cycle) path
- 7 mins walk to beautiful St Georges Park
- 5 mins walk to Church Road for cafe, delis, pubs and shops (independents and supermarkets - Tesco and Lidl)
- 14 mins to St Marks Road fr restaurants, bakeries, shops and the famous Sweet Mart
-15 mins walk to the river
- 30 mins walk to Troopers Hill
- Can give you a great 4 mile running route through Netham, along the river, (walk 😂) up Troopers Hill and through St George
- 5 mins drive to blissful paddle boarding spot
- 10 mins drive to the beautiful river walk at Conham River Park

Transport
- Fastest way to Temple Meads/ City Centre is cycling ( less than 10 mins) via the B2B
- Bus stops to Old Market and the Harbour directly outside (10-20 mins respectively)
- Lawrence Hill and Stapleton Road train stations 11 mins walk
- M32 3min drive
- On street parking readily available nearby with 2x loading spaces directly outside

The Cat - Suki
- Loves company more than cuddles - touching is on her terms
- Well behaved and polite
- Will love you if you play with her ribbon wand or ball
- Excellent bug catcher - you’ll never see a house spider!
- Has cat flap but uses litter tray*
- Will cover the costs of the cat sitter for more than 2 nights away or neighbours can help
- All expenses covered (Food and litter provided)

*If you don’t fancy doing the litter tray then this can be done twice a week by the cat sitter for £30 p/w - if it's regular I might be able to get this cost down

Cost Breakdown
- Bills (Water, gas/ electric, fibre broadband and council tax - Band G) = £300pcm
- Rent £900pcm
- Discount for cat-sitting -£100 pcm
Total £1100 pcm - negotiable on specific dates

Are you going to be in the vicinity of NYC in Mid September? If anyone is interested in a 2 week sit in NY about an hour north of NYC, please message me. Car available.

I have a very nice home with plenty of work space, and a dedicated guest room with dedicated guest bathroom. It's 5 minutes drive to a train station to NYC (one hour train). I have two healthy cats and a pool, though I might arrange to have the pool closed halfway through the sit. You will need to be able to drive as the area is not walkable and Uber/Lyft are not reliable here.

Hope to hear from you.

Dudeeee. Partner and I are at a five day house sit with a golden retriever and a Bernese mountain dog and we let them out in their fenced backyard tonight and ten minutes later we smell skunk and we’re like OH GOD. we look through the glass door and the golden is staring at us and foaming at the mouth and we start freaking out and try to call the HO, no answer because it’s late. We call emergency vet but they can’t do anything. So we splash some water in their faces to help them because they are freaking out. And we hose down their faces for awhile so they aren’t irritated. We messaged the HO about what happened and we’re leaving them outside I guess.

What do you think the cleaning expectation for us as sitters is?? Like idk what they will say but are we obligated to give them like five baths or whatever they need? Would we ask for payment if so?

My boyfriend and I have been in 4 different pet sittings places since June. We got 4 different dogs (a few cats).

The dog we have now, Kittie, an Italian water dog, is very cute, but she wasn't trained. Which means that we (mostly me in fact, because my boyfriend works 6 days a week) stay with a untrained dog who needs a ridiculous amount of attention and who's really stressed.

The stay is 3 weeks total. We have 8 days left to go... The other dog before wasn't much better, both barked when they see a leaf falling: Kittie even barked this morning after I farted 😭😂 I cannot even fart peacefully which is let's say not very relaxing. Her barking is very loud... Of course we didn't know it before coming; the owner (Let's call her Kate) told us just when we met that we needed to sleep with her 😵‍💫 I refused that and thankfully after 4 or 5 nights she got used to not sleeping with us.

Is it normal? Apart from my recent stays I have experience with cats but not with dogs. My boyfriend is a bit more but he has never seen a dog like that either.

It's much worst than having a baby: at least, with a baby, you can have quiet time when you go for a walk. But with this dog going for a walk isn't a break: she sniffs everything, pulls the leash all the time and barks.

I've been training her to walk properly since we got here and it's been WAY better - but she's 5, so her habits take time to change. Everytime we cross a street, she gets nervous and starts running ahead! She not only attacks every dogs, but by 3 TIMES SHE RAN INTO A MOVING CAR! She sprinted towards it while barking like a kamikaze in a mission!

I'm pretty sure it happens because her owner always let her lead 5 meters in front of her so obviously it makes crossing streets quite stressful for both of them. A dog isn't supposed to lead a human 🤦

I trained her to calm down and stay next to me and it's night and day (she might get back into her habits with Kate). She's also overall more relaxed since she realized that I won't walk her 5 times a day or play with her all the time.

Kate also told us we need to eat before feeding her. That if she didn't see us eating because we ate out, we need to eat a cracker in front of her before feeding her. Which dog won't eat their serving?

Also, yes it's a beautiful house (close to Sydney Australia) but we were told that there was a private deck that gets to the yard and she could go and play anytime. But no, because the deck is being reconstructed and since we got here there's workers all day. So no yard. In fact, it was just starting when we got here and it will be pretty much done when they'll come back. Exactly as if they planned their trip at that convenient moment 😭 so we deal with the noises.

So not only I can't relax with the dog anywhere but I cannot relax either in the house either because there's workers around at all the time. The noises, chain saw, their loud music, but also the dog unexpectedly barking all the time... At first I kept the shades open from the patio doors to let light enter but no, you don't do that when you're a solo female in a house all day if there's 3 men on the deck. The workers were quite polite but I don't feel very comfortable with it so I now close the blinds.

And in the beginning I also closed the blind in the front of the house so Kittie doesn't barks at everyone walking, and I read it was a good idea for a dog that barks. So now all the blinds are closed lol.

She also scratches herself a lot. We give ear drops and up to now I washed her 3 times. Sometimes it's hard to tell if she does it for attention or for real. When she wants to stimulation, basically all the time (I think Kate works from home and takes a break every hour or so to make her play, stimulate her and walk with her). If I try to chill she'll sit in front of me, scratch, cry, go around me in all directions, wait and stare, and do it all again. That's my "relaxing" time. I have a friend who's a dog trainer and she gave me some tips so it's a bit better... But still.

I'm so tired of the sit, I think I might not be a dog person also. I cannot do anything or start any project because I won't be able to concentrate long enough to get into it. I don't know what to do. My boyfriend said I could let her bark if I put her outside but I there's many neighbors and no dogs barking here. I feel stressed and I'm just looking forward it to be done. Now it's 8am, I already walked her once, there's workers plus electricians all around the house, I don't have electricity for one hour, their music is loud and bad and she barks at all of them. And I will have 5 more days like that because it's Monday 🤦

Yes I can go on a walk alone (I'm 30 minutes walking down hill from the ocean and coffee places) but then I still need to walk her when I'm back. And I might be too complaining but the fact that we're up hill and that whenever we go somewhere we need to go up and down hills all the time. If I go to a coffee place by the ocean I need to walk back 30 minutes uphill, it's not an easy one...a neighbor was surprised when he saw me and asked me asked if I was doing it everyday as if it was impossible, and he lives here lol.

I'm not too sure if it's just a normal pet sitting or it's an extreme one. But what I know is that after that I'll need a break from dogs.

Okay this is not that serious and just a mini rant. I was told after sit was accepted that an elderly neighbor may stop by. For context, I had the worst day and on my way to meet a HO for another sit, my abusive ex got onto the same bus as me. This has never happened before and I was shaken up. I don’t think he saw me but the whole time I thought he must be behind me watching. We got off at the same stop but he walked the other way thank God. I finished the meetup and got some pizza to relax when I got back. The neighbor ofcourse came in the middle of my decompressing pizza time 😅 I answered and said I’m sorry I’m just having some lunch right now. She asked if I have 2 minutes to sit outside and talk. She made some small talk about birds and how her dog is friends with the dog I’m sitting. She asked what time I walk the dog at night and what time I wake up in the morning which I found intrusive. I just wanted to be polite but I was pretty annoyed. She said she came by earlier so I’m not sure if she’s insinuating I sleep in super late after she asked what time I wake up. Maybe it’s all in my head. After about 15mins she left. Idk the point to this I’m just so annoyed and had a weird day. I wish I shut the neighbor thing down. I’m not the biggest people person(animal person 100%) but of course you have to deal with people in this line of work.

How come that HO aren’t required to deep clean for the sitters?

I have been a full time house sitter for the 5th year already. Before last year, I have got the sits mostly exclusively in Switzerland. This year I have decided to spread my geography and go to the seaside a couple of times.
So I did a sit in France (was a disastrous apartment that looked okish on the pics. I couldn’t have a backup plan, due to THS blocking dates policy), and, as long as I have already got my tickets and travelled there, had nothing left to do but stay there. Deep cleaned for a couple of dates and was putting up with 24-7 noise, humidity, the absence of actual kitchen there (the one that was present consisted of an air fryer, a sink, 1 scratched Teflon pan and one scratched Teflon sausepan) and the absence of any sitting area at all.
It Was quite traumatizing experience to survive (there is no other appropriate word for it) for the whole month.

Yes, I don’t have a budget to stay at the hotel for the whole month as a backup. And, if not for the pet sitting listing I have been approved to, I would not go at that specific location at the first place. And my home base is out of reach. I am relying on house sitting only for my accommodation.

Now, I have arrived to another sitting outside of Switzerland, to Italian countryside.
My host was very helpful before my arrival: asked me what kind of kitchen and bathroom stuff I need for my stay, and what kind of groceries he could get me.
Even, after my request, met me at the train station by taxi.

Upon arrival to his place I am realizing that we definitely have different standards of comfort and cleanliness: a very dark home (some common areas and bedrooms don’t even have a single window to air, the fridge and oven you don’t even want to approach (to say nothing of touching it), dusty filthy home, bugs and dirt in the bathroom…
The sit is 3.5 months long. The host was kind enough to accept me a few days earlier, and I see all of this now…
Of course, due to THS these dates are blocked in my calendar I am basically trapped here. Of course I couldn’t find another option (and wasn’t looking for one because I was relieved that the next months I am secured with housing).
I Took a day long trip with over 45 of luggage to get here, and realizing that I just don’t deserve to struggle with such a poor accommodation and to feel that pain for the next 3.5 months.
Don’t know what to do
Just in despair. Deeply frustrated by the requirements for the THS HOs.
How can IT be a FAIR exchange?

We are in the middle of a series of sits in the USA.
Every sit we’ve done have denied interior cameras but on arrival, we’ve found at least one.
That’s 3 out of 3 … Common for this country??
What do people do to get around this?

I keep seeing this happen and don't understand how they are doing it. I just withdrew my application for a sit after it became clear in the zoom call that the owner saw me as a worthless ant and not a fellow human trying to do a friendly exchange. Now it's showing up in my search results as a "new listing" again. It isn't new. It's the same listing with the same dates. Is there any way to remove or block listings that you don't want to keep showing up in your searches?

I have a sit booked on X day at 5pm. I want to stay in the city for a few more days past that sit, so I am applying to some additional sits after the end date. Most of them I noticed have put 9am - 4pm for time of departure.

Would I tell these HO that I have a sit that ends at 5pm on that day, but could come in earlier to get the keys/meet, but wouldn't be watching full-time until later?

How do you all communicate this or do you guys generally look for at least 1 night gap in between sits? I would imagine it could get messy if the HO's flight got delayed or an emergency.

Reports of a sitter shortage makes me feel a tiny bit better about not having a sitter five weeks out from our month long trip... but only a little. I'd love some advice since this is our first time using TH. We live in Saint Paul, MN with two dogs on a bus line half way between both downtowns. I think we have a nice house, and we would do all we can to be supportive and welcoming HOs. We've traveled extensively and know the trust that goes into staying at someone's home.

We posted the house over a week ago and have gotten two applications. One didn't followup on messages and then took another sit. The other has a young child and perhaps after some back and forth realized that it wouldn't be the best fit with the way the house is configured? I don't know as she hasn't responded to my last two messages inviting her to a video call.

For how much longer would you recommend that we just wait for applications before trying to find a paid sitter or other arrangement? Anyone here fancy spending a month in the twin cities this fall? (Great time of year to be here after the heat and before the snow!) It's a bummer that we paid for premium and still might just have to pay for a sitter.

Here's the posting - if there are red flags I'd appreciate knowing, as again, this is our first time and we were hopeful this would be a great resource to us as we plan to travel more in the future! https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/house-and-pet-sitting-assignments/united-states/minnesota/saint-paul/l/3082533/

Found this. And the last sitter who made this sit got the best first sit and review you can dream of:

https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/house-and-pet-sitting-assignments/south-africa/western-cape/cape-town/l/1426209/

I updated the app but am still getting nothing.

After the recent update I’m having trouble working out if it’s a cat or a dog! 😅

Why are all my current applications sitting unread? They are all for Los Angeles. Is this just a flaky city in general? Granted, the sit isn’t until October, but why aren’t people a little more anxious to see who is interested in watching their beloved pets? I just don’t understand it. The theoretical excuse of “I was on vacation when I created the listing” just doesn’t clock.

I am sitting in a neighborhood where I sat previously. The word got out that I am reliable etc. and I've been asked to sit for so and so and can stay with so and so during any breaks etc.

All very flattering. However, I have other plans which likely do not involve being in this particular area and not being tied down to caring for others' pets and homes.

A neighbor who is on THS asked me to sit, and I told them I really don't know my plans for then but it's unlikely. No worries, they said, we usually get lots of applications but it sure has been quiet. This IS a nice sit, favorably reviewed. They've contacted me again, hoping I will do it after all, putting pressure on...

Thing is, I'm not as desperate for housing as they may assume. I'm also a bit irked overall that this "community" has ignored me all summer, after promises to go kayaking, invite me to summer drinks, etc. Now it's all "but what can you do for us?"

I don't know. I guess I'm just venting. For context, they're all in the older boomer cohort. I'm GenX, which may as well be Gen Z as far as the older Boomer cohort is concerned (in my experience, at least if you're on your own/solo).

I love looking after pets. I done it twice now. It's awesome as I just love animals. I'm sure many can relate.

Is THS the best site for this stuff? I'm happy to sign up to others where we don't look after animals too but if people want someone looking after their home or something. Watering plants. Keeping things in line.

I travel all the time for work. Working from laptop online. So it fits in well with the lifestyle.