The pet sitter handover: what they actually need to know

Most sitting disasters aren't bad sitters. They're good sitters who were told "she'll be fine, just feed her twice" and then found themselves at eleven at night with a dog who won't eat and a phone that goes to voicemail.

Write the food down as amounts, not descriptions. Not "a scoop" — 180 grams of the food in the blue bag, twice a day, at 7am and 6pm, in two separate bowls because he guards. Say where the food is kept, roughly how much is left, and what to do if it runs out. Say what he is never given: no cooked bones, no grapes or raisins, no chocolate, nothing sweetened with xylitol, nothing from the table.

Write medication instructions down rather than relying on a conversation: the name and amount exactly as prescribed, when and how to give it, and any food instructions. Ask the sitter to record each dose actually given. A missed or vomited dose needs medicine-specific instructions from the prescribing vet; do not invent a skip, repeat or double-dose rule. Keep the medicine in its labelled packaging and follow its storage instructions.

Before departure, ask the clinic what it requires for a sitter to request or authorise care. Agree the main and backup contacts, any spending instructions and how payment will be arranged. Give the sitter the clinic’s confirmed process and emergency number; do not assume that a signed note alone will be accepted.

Then the things only you know. He bolts if the front door and the kitchen door are open at once. She hates the vacuum and will be behind the sofa for an hour afterwards. He's fine with men in general but not men in hats. She's friendly with dogs on lead and not off it. Ten honest lines like that are worth more than a hundred about how much he loves a cuddle.

Have a real emergency plan, not a hope. It should answer four things: where is the nearest 24-hour emergency clinic and how do you get there without a car; who is the second person to call if I don't answer within fifteen minutes; where are the carrier, lead and a towel; and what is the microchip number. Print it and put it on the fridge. Panic destroys memory. Paper survives it.

Arrange the handover before departure. Let the sitter demonstrate the meal routine and how to fit the walking equipment, with you available for questions. In NetForPet, a public pet profile does not automatically grant access to private health records. Choose deliberately what to share through the available family or health-sharing tools, check the recipient’s access, and leave essential instructions in a form they can use if the app is unavailable.

Finally, tell them what a bad night looks like, and that they will never be in trouble for calling you. Repeated vomiting, a hard swollen belly with retching, straining in the litter tray, collapse, breathing that has changed — those go straight to an emergency vet, and the call to you happens from the car.