What is Pet Sitting?
Millions of people have pets—from the more common dogs, cats, and birds through the most exotic lizards, snakes or insects. Unfortunately, many of them have hectic lives, work many hours, and simply don’t have time to spend as much time on their pets as they would like. The pet sitting business sprung up precisely to satisfy this demand for more personalized pet care services.
Pet sitting as a generic concept can include a variety of different services, tailored to the needs of the pet owner. It usually involves the pet sitter traveling to the owner’s house and taking care of the pet there. This is convenient for both the pet and its owner, since there it avoids travel trauma for the pet, which can be cared for in the familiar environment of its home, and it saves the pet owners time since they don’t have to transport the pets to various facilities. In addition to that, many pet sitters are also, in effect, house sitters: they may look after plants, and if the owners are away for an extended period of time, it gives the house a lived-in feel, which deters break-ins.
If the pets are dogs or cats, pet sitting may also be called dog sitting or cat sitting, respectively. Since dogs usually require a lot of outdoor physical activity, one of the most common forms of pet sitting is the dog walking business, providing services to dog owners who lack the time or commitment to walk their dogs regularly.
And for those that do prefer to have their pets cared for at a place different from home, there are pet day care services, similar to regular day care, where the pet owners can drop off their animal friends and pick them up at the end of a busy workday.
