Petsitting has become its own industry, with apps and online petsitter finders available.
Average rates for catsitting in the United States range from $20 to $40 per drop-in visit—about 20- to 30-minute stop—where the sitter doesn't stay with the pet. Sitters can serve multiple clients this way, by just popping by once or twice a day to feed and water the pet and check their litter box.
Which can get quite messy.
Overnight stays with the sitter in their home or in-home petsitting typically costs between $50 and $115 per night. If it includes housesitting the pet, rules and expectations are required to be set in advance.
Where will the sitter sleep? What will they eat? What are the house rules?
While professional petsitter finders are readily available, some people still go the old fashioned route of asking a friend, acquaintance, or kid from the neighborhood.
Especially if they don't intend to pay for the services.
A woman asked to catsit turned to the "Am I The A**Hole" (AITAH) subReddit for feedback after a clash with the cats' owner.
Similar to AITA, the AITAH subReddit allows posters to ask for advice and post about ending romantic relationships—both things that are banned on AITA. However, there are no required voting acronyms—only suggested ones—and no official final judgment declared.
Pizza_dough42 asked:
"AITAH for being annoyed my mom's acquaintance called 'energy usage' a fair trade for two weeks of free catsitting?"
The original poster (OP) explained:
"I (22, female) house and catsat for an acquaintance of my mom's (41, female) for two weeks. No payment was ever agreed on, which is fine, I wasn't expecting one."
"But when I arrived, the house was basically empty. I'm talking empty shelves, no seasoning, no sugar or flour, nothing to put on bread, absolutely nothing. So I bought all my own groceries out of pocket for two weeks."
"It also wasn't just basic feeding and litter. It's a flat, so the cats can't go outside, meaning I was constantly entertaining them. They regularly pooped outside the litter box, which I cleaned up."
"One of the cats has trouble with his hind legs, so I was asked to massage his back legs and give him magnesium for it, and his leg trouble also gave him dingleberries I had to clean off him regularly. So this was daily hands-on care, not a 'just check in on the cats' favor. And before I leave I always clean the whole house, take out the trash and do laundry too."
"After she got back, she messaged me, upset but nice about it, that I'd used up a bottle of olive oil she'd gotten as a birthday gift (a 'dressing oil,' not for cooking, apparently worth around 40 euros). I hadn't known it wasn't meant for cooking, and there was no other oil in the house to cook with, so I used what was there."
"A previous time, she'd also commented that I'd taken bread from the freezer (it was the last two slices, I wasn't going to buy a whole new loaf for that) because it turned out to be one of her kids' gluten-free breads and she had to buy new ones."
"I told her I understood the oil thing was annoying, but also pointed out that there was nothing else in the house either, I'd had to buy all my own groceries, and that normally when you take care of someone's home and pets for two weeks (feeding, litter, cleaning up after them, medical stuff, all of it), it's common to at least have basic supplies provided or some compensation for groceries."
"I said it wasn't really about money, more that living in and taking care of someone's home for two weeks and having to fund it all myself feels off."
"Her response: first she said she never expected to pay, she thought it was just 'nice for me to have some time living on my own'. Then, after I pointed out that previous times there actually were basics in the house, she said she 'never really provided basics either time' and didn't expect to this time."
"Then she sent this: 'I don't actually intend to give any compensation. I think the energy usage you get from staying there is already a fair trade. So thank you so much for all the times you took great care of things. I'll figure out another option for the cats going forward'."
"So essentially: free housing = payment, my actual out-of-pocket grocery costs = not her problem, and now she's ending the arrangement instead of just... providing groceries or a small stipend."
"Am I overreacting for being upset here? It's not really about wanting to be paid, it's the logic of 'you living somewhere is the payment' while I'm still the one covering the costs."
"My mom knows about her after I told her the situation and thinks she is crazy! And her and my mom are not friends, but acquaintances."
"AITAH?"
Some Redditors weighed in by using the AITA voting acronyms:
- NTA - Not The A**hole
- YTA - You're The A**hole
- NAH - No A**holes Here
- ESH - Everyone Sucks Here
- INFO - more information needed
Redditors decided the OP was justified in being annoyed (NTA).
"No, that is out of order. You are doing her a favour and making sure her fur baby is looked after properly.If it was me I'd have asked if you wanted some cash for shopping or would like me to get some stuff in for you at the very least."
"Then when I got back I'd have probably offered you some cash too as my babies are more important to me than anything else."
"This would have been for a weekend or something. 2 weeks I'd have been leaving food or money for food and offering some extra to treat yourself. And that's after agreeing I'd pay for your 2 weeks too."
"I'll be honest (and happy to be corrected), but she sounds like one of the entitled that I've had to deal with often. They seem to think the weirdest things are adequate compensation for jobs/work being done. Like they are doing you a favour by letting you be there and you should pay for the privilege."
"It's mental. You are NTA 1000%." ~ TJWhiteStar
"So, in my opinion, it sounds like she intentionally left the shelves bare and intended for you to have to buy your own food etc... It is frustrating that after she did that, she would complain over the olive oil and the bread."
"She got free housesitting that would have cost her hundreds, but she wants to complain about losing $40 of olive oil and $0.25 worth of bread. Geez!"
"When she comes crawling back because she can find anyone else to provide free sitting, remind her of how inconsiderate she was and tell her NO!" ~ lawburgtn
"NTA. She will be coming back to you later when other people don’t put up with her crap. Don’t take care of her cats. She’s cheap and she is taking advantage of you."
"If a person is house sitting and taking care of of animals, they should have food provided for them and pay. She doesn’t even want to do one of those." ~ OddImprovement6490
"NTA. She absolutely is. I catsat for a work colleague once. They had a sitter the first week and me the second. I fed their cat, cleaned their litter trays, gave them clean water, played with them, sent pics, took out the trash, etc..."
"They offered to pay and I refused as it was on the way home from work, plus I've got my own cats so it was nothing really all that extra. Apparently I did a better job than the cat sitter they paid £400 for."
"They still wanted to pay me, but I refused. They gave me a £100 voucher for a restaurant I really liked as a gift instead. Couldn't turn it down." ~ BatteryAt14percent
"In a week of overnight petsitting like that, some sitters (depending on area) can get paid up to $3,000 a week. How this lady is acting is not just a**holish and entitled, it's practically criminal."
"My next step would have been to tell her 'good that you're finding alternative arrangements next time, because given your attitude towards people helping you even at expense to themselves, I will not be helping you again. And good luck finding someone unpaid to care for your cats with those attitudes'."
"Then going to the petsitter social media groups in my area and warning them about her." ~ Sutekiwazurai
"I pet/housesit for a mutual friend. I had a roommate at the time so it WAS a break for me to have my own space. I did buy my own food because I would’ve had to regardless."
"That said, I moved to my own studio apartment, was traveling sporadically to visit my boyfriend and couldn’t commit to a week or two, especially for FREE. Why would I want to stay somewhere else when I have my own cozy studio?"
"She would NOT take no for an answer, so I gave her a friend’s number but with the caveat, 'she will charge you.' She hasn’t asked since and this was several years ago." ~ Overall_Matter_2520
"Used you then 'tried to make you feel bad'. She is not a good human. It’s one thing to say 'I don’t usually pay much for this, would you be ok with trading a quiet place to stay for two weeks' versus waiting until she’s back."
"She absolutely knew what she was doing. Please tell your mom the internet says to drop her—she’s definitely not friend material and she’ll try the same ish with your mom." ~ AspiringJournalist00
"My mouth dropped open on reading that there was nothing left for OP."
"I had my ex look after our cats for a week, and made sure to not only stock the fridge with food I knew he liked, and change the bedsheets so he had a fresh bed to use, but to leave £50 'for anything for the house if it runs out, anything left us yours' and make sure the usual stuff that might be needed (toilet paper, washing up liquid, bleach, washing liquid) was well stocked."
"And showed him how to use the washing machine and tumble dryer and shower." ~ thecatsothermother
Everyone agreed cutting ties with this woman is best for OP. This isn’t a free service she needs to keep providing.
