Looking For Pet Babysitting While You’re Out Of Town?
Of course, you love your pet. He’s a member of your family. You’ve never thought about pet babysitting because you’ve never imagined leaving your best friend behind for more than an hour or two. But sometimes you have no choice.
What do you do when your good friend invites you on an all-expenses-paid island getaway? If you’ve been on semi-lockdown far too long, you absolutely must go. That means you need to find a pet babysitter you can trust.
It’s actually pretty easy to find a pet babysitter in Connecticut
If you need someone to care for your pet while you’re away, there’s good news. Hiring a local pet sitter is just as simple as ordering gourmet food, groceries, or other goods and services for home delivery.
- Google “pet sitters in Connecticut” (or your city)
- Visit a pet sitter website
- Search for a sitter who meets your needs
- Schedule your service and pay online
Many pet sitting websites operate like Anji, Home Advisor, and other professional referral sites. You scan a list of care providers and find one in your area and price range. Here are just a few:
- Home Sweet Home: Home Sweet Home Pet Care is an online referral service that’s also a local Connecticut business. The owners work with a local team. They serve Windsor, Bloomfield, Simsbury, East Granby, Avon, and Canton. They provide sitting services for cats and dogs, but they will consider caring for more exotic animals on request. HSH sitters are bonded and insured.
- Petsitter.Com: This sitter website allows you to filter your search based on the services you need. The Pet Sitters Connecticut page shows only sitters located in the state. Each one has a photo of your potential sitter and a personal message.
- Care.Com: Care.com (yes, the same company that connects you with home health care workers) will connect you with pet babysitters in your area. You can search for sitters in your city and sort them by hourly rate, services, location, age, and other preferences. In addition, each sitter has a “background check” link beneath their profile.
Pet sitters offer other services
Pet sitters don’t just provide babysitting services. All of the sitters online list various services for busy pet owners.
- Dog walking
- In-home visits
- Overnight and hourly sitting
- Dog training
- Cat or dog sitting
- Boarding
- Grooming
- Daycare
Sitter prices vary depending on the site. One site allows the pet babysitter to set their own pricing. Their pet caregivers charge from $10 to $30 per hour.
Pet babysitter vs. kennels
The biggest benefit pet sitters provide is personal attention and in-home care. While you’re out of town, your pet doesn’t have to get used to a strange environment. If you’re not comfortable with a sitter being in your home while you’re away, you might want to consider a kennel instead.
You drop off your pet, and the kennel staff cares for him while you’re gone. Just like pet sitters, kennels have positives and negatives,
- They cost about $35 to $50 per night, that’s lower than sitters’ rates unless they offer overnight rates for extended periods.
- Your pet will have other animals to keep him company while you’re gone.
- He’ll have a group of humans caring for him instead of one tired human.
Contact Hebron Veterinary Hospital
Contact us at (860) 228-4324 or visit our contact page to learn more about pet babysitting. Also, be sure to give us a call if it’s time for your pet’s regular wellness or preventative care visit.