Pet sitting at home

Pet sitter for a cat or dog at home: how to find one and what to agree

Updated 21 October 2026

When a pet sitter is better than a hotel

Animals, especially cats, often find a change of place hard. A pet sitter comes to your home or lives in it, and your pet stays in a familiar setting. This suits a cat that is afraid of carriers, an old dog on medicines, or several animals at once. If it is better for your pet to stay for a few days in someone else's home or a hotel, see boarding and hotels.

How it works on BlaBlaPrice

In a request you write how many animals, for which dates, what is to be done and where you live. The site checks the text and tells you what is missing. Pet sitters reply in the chat: what a visit or a day costs, when they can start, whether they are ready to give injections, whether they will send photos. Reviews are shown beside the offers, and the best-value one is shown first. Contacts are opened only to the person you choose. More on the How it works page.

What to put in your request

• Animals — how many and which, age, special traits;
• Dates — for example, 5 to 15 August;
• Frequency — once or twice a day, or with an overnight stay;
• What to do — feeding, cleaning the litter tray, play, walks, watering plants;
• Special needs — tablets, injections, diet, an anxious dog;
• Area — pet sitters usually work near their own home;
• Budget per visit or per day.

Example: “Two cats, aged 3 and 7, one gets a tablet in the morning. I need visits once a day from 5 to 15 August: feeding, litter tray, play, a photo every day. Auckland. Budget up to NZ$6.16 per visit.”

How to compare offers

A visit once a day is usually fine for a cat, but a puppy or a dog needs more, since they must also be walked. So first decide how many visits you need, and then look at the price. Ask how much time the sitter spends per visit, whether they send photos or video, what they do if the animal falls ill, and whether they have your vet's contact. For medicines, ask whether they have experience with injections or very anxious animals.

How to prepare

Arrange an introduction before you leave: let the sitter see the flat, the litter tray, the food and the stock of medicines. Leave a note with the vet clinic, a phone number and the feeding schedule. Clarify how you will hand over the keys, and agree what to do if the cat hides or a door does not open. Agree in advance on a short daily report, and that the sitter writes at once if the animal refuses food or hides. Dog walkers can also help if walking is all you need.