| Do take up references. The vast majority of petsitters are very good, but friend of mine asked someone to come in and feed her cats twice a day while she went away from Friday to Monday and she came back to find cats distressed and without food or water - petsitter 'forgot'. And there is a woman in Grove Park who assures dog owners dogs will be well looked after and keeps them in her car without food, water, in little cages, and on a lead and muzzled. We only found out because they howl in winter because they are cold and howl in summer presumably because they are hot and thirsty. Take up at least two references, speak to them on the phone and when you decide on someone keep in constant contact - phone to check all is ok after a few hours and then every couple of days while you are away. It's not neurotic, before I got my cats I used to look after dogs when people went on holiday and I was delighted when the owners rang up to check that all was ok, if someone doesn't welcome that be suspicious. There are several recommendations for pet sitters on here, just do some searching in the forum search box. Good luck |