When. I went the same situation with my dog, mist here advised me against it. My situation was different though and what I wound up doing you wouldn't be doing.

Have you asked your vet?. Sometimes techs do this work on the side.

I thought Next Door would give me good leads. But they were flakey for the most part.

Hopefully others with cats will have ideas.

I was going to suggest asking your vet. A girlfriend uses a tech from her vet and she will stay over if required.

People here have had problems wiith online sites. If they kill or hurt or loose your cat, the warrenty is worth 0$.

My DS used Rover, liked the dog sitter, and now hires her outside of the app. But I have never used it. We found a dog sitter by asking a local FB group. We now have her scheduled for all our trips for the rest of the year.

We had a neighbor who dog sat for Rover. After retiring from teaching she wanted to travel so she picked places that she wanted to visit. The last time I spoke with her she had just returned from a month in Australia. The family had two adult dogs so it worked out well. She'd feed them and let them out in the morning and then she was free most of the day to visit, returning around dinnertime. The family let her use their car and she could even go out again after dinner. She moved to NC a few years ago and apparently still works for Rover.

My son’s SO was listed on Rover. She adores animals. She would bring the dogs to the house to stay with them after first meeting them and seeing if the dog got along with their dog, who is very chill.

Now so many of her Rover customers like her so much they contact her directly and they get a lot of word of mouth referrals. They dont stay in other people’s houses. They both have regular jobs with a lot of flexibility.

I would certainly get referrals from previous clients. I imagine the reviews on Rover are vetted ( ha ha) by the company as being actual clients. before they are posted

Neighbors across the street used Rover for their 2 dogs and I was not impressed.

They had a roving band of characters coming and going for those 2 weeks. Some, maybe most, of the people seemed ok in that they walked the dogs as my neighbors had instructed and paid for - but there were 2 or 3 people over that time who were not good in a few different ways.

It's hard to find good people and outside of being able to personally check references and talk with customers yourself, I don't know that I'd trust Rover or any other national company after what I saw.

Not Rover, but I saw a Twitter thread recently where someone used a site called trusted house sitters, and while she was out of the country, her cat died (unknown how), and the dogs were left with no air conditioning, food or water for several days. The sitter just flaked out and abandoned the house. So, now she's had to file police reports and trying to get some recourse from the site. Fortunately, the dogs seemed to be OK despite being left.

I would board them before I let anyone other than family into my home.

If your on the "Nextdoor" app? Lots of great people there hiring out as pet sitters.

Yeah, I've seen people hiring out as petsitters but no one I know or trust recommending a pet sitter they've used. Not only is your pet's well-being at stake but your home and everything in it.

I totally understand 3katz. It's so hard to know what to do. Before my parents passed away I was so grateful they were happy to take my dogs.

For dogs, I'd probably suggest a vet's boarding service. It's expensive but I think there would be some assurances the dogs would be kept kenneled, safe, and medical care is there if needed.

For a cat, again, I totally understand why you'd rather have someone come into your own home. I suppose most cats don't do well in a boarding situation, and it's not like they need to be walked outside multiple times a day. The key is finding someone you feel like you can trust with everything you own....and that's quite a chore and a risk anymore.

I found my excellent cat sitter on Nextdoor. I used a good one before her that ultimately retired, and also found her on Nextdoor. I also second the recommendations here of asking your vet.

@gsciencechick - I've had cat sitters for probably 30 years - most of them excellent. I used to use them a lot when we both traveled for work. Now it's just for vacation travel but right now I won't go anywhere (during MN season) because I don't have anyone I trust to take care of my cats, especially the senior one with IBD who needs medication. It would be torture for them if they were boarded and unfortunately we don't have family who can take care of them. On the plus side I think I have a good cat sitter lined up in SC - referral from a neighbor. I have not used her yet and only talked with her over the phone but will meet with her when we go back. Only drawback is she is very busy so probably no spontaneous trips that aren't planned well in advance. I could live with that.

We have used Rover several times. We never had a problem with it. Our daughter usually is able to watch our dog but we have had some times where it wouldn't work. With Rover, you read the individual summaries and decide who you would consider. We went to a few of the houses to see the setting, meet the people, and it worked out fine. Most of the people we met and used were doing it from time to time, not as a regular job. We had the chance to interview them and decide who we were comfortable with. We will do it again when the need arises.

I have used Rover a few times with good results for our high maintenance 5-cat situation (one special needs, couple need meds, one pees outside of box, one vomits regularly, etc.). To find those few good people, I read tons of reviews and interviewed a LOT. Here are some tips: I made sure to read reviews and find people who had repeat customers. Weeded out the reviews made by mothers and friends. I would never choose anyone who says in their profile that they bring their kids or significant others along. I always ask, if they have pets, who they use as a vet and how do they like that particular practice. I ask about their pets - love the ones who get their phone out and show me a thousand pics. I watch how they are with my pets - love the ones who talk baby talk (even though personally, it puts my teeth on edge) to my cats, *ask* if they can pet before just assuming, ask about the personalities, etc. I like the ones who appreciate written instructions, ask for local backup contacts if an emergency happens and they can't get to my house (though Rover supposedly has provisions for that instance), and for the phone numbers of other people who will be with me just in case they can't reach me. I like when they confirm on the day we are coming home that we are still on schedule, and ask me to let them know when we arrive home - if we were to be a no show due to an accident or something, they would go over and feed/scoop until they heard from us.

Hope that is helpful!

@Bluebell66 - Yes! Those are the exact kinds of things I look for too when I interview a pet sitter. For now I think I have two non-Rover possibilities lined up. One is a previous sitter who worked for the woman who retired/closed her business. She lives nearby and I really liked her but she's very limited in her availability to come by on weekday mornings though she could make a brief visit to feed them and then stay longer in the evening. I have two cats that barf if they eat too much too fast so I usually have someone stay longer to feed them smaller amounts over time. The other person takes care of a neighbor's dogs including staying at their house sometimes. She works nearby and loves kitties too so I'm going to meet with her and see what I think.

I've gotten so distrustful of Rover over the last few years because of a few incidents in our community. In each case, the pet sitter refused to cooperate fully, and Rover didn't do a thing to intercede. On our NextDoor, there are many people who have worked for years as independent pet sitters. Of course, triple-check references.