Pet or plant-sitting... official MoneySavingExpert.com discussion 15 October 2007 at 2:32PM edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in Boost Your Income 39 replies 33.1K views

Former_MSE_Lawrence

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Pet or plant-sitting

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my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

Remember you have to be checked out and insured to look after anyone else's pets - apparently even if you are not charging and you are not doing for family!

A friend of a friend asked if i could look after their dog while they were at work each day, offering £10 a day. Someone got wind of this and reported me to the people who investigate dog sitters to see if they are insured.

Be warned!

x

black-saturn

My daughter is interested in starting up a small business with my help as a pet sitter for small animals such as mice, rabbits, guinea pigs etc. Problem is she is only 13 so anything official would have to be registered in my name. Do you think this is possible. We have 8 small pets in this house at the moment and have had many others in the past which she has looked after.

Is it just a case of advertising and offering our services or is there more to it that that?

Skint_Catt

Are there any companies you can register with to do this on a casual basis? Like the Mystery Shop companies?

barnaby-bear

Skint_Catt wrote: »

Are there any companies you can register with to do this on a casual basis? Like the Mystery Shop companies?

I've done this on a live in basis but a lot of the people willing to pay you to live in their house and look after the cat aren't just concerned about the kitty. This was the top end of the market, very posh houses and basically it cut their insurance by having someone there. There are a lot of agencies the bona fide have proper insurance. You have to be a non-smoker. You have to be there overnight and the really top-paying ones insist on things like out of the house no more than 3 hours at a time. I got £100 a week plus a cleaner every day to clean-up after me They prefer older retired type people in general I was only accepted because the homeowner knew a friend and specifically wanted me, but they went throguh the agency to ensure I had a proper contract detailing having to be there and the insurance.

These are pretty typical criteria: http://www.ninasnanniesforpets.co.uk/recruitment.asp
Now I did it in student holidays but it'd be hard to do with a regular job/family.

sdrweb

Skint_Catt wrote: »

Are there any companies you can register with to do this on a casual basis? Like the Mystery Shop companies?

Try http://platinumpetcare.co.uk/display.asp?id=5

V_Chic_Chick

First I've heard about having to be registered. And unless these people coming round to "investigate" are either the RSPCA or the Police, I'm not too worried. And according to the second poster, I have to be checked out and insured to walk my elderly grandparent's dog to help them out :rolleyes:

I do pet sitting. It's fairly easy. I put up a few notices round where I live, stating something along the lines of -
- Experience (I work on a city farm, and have my own chickens, so I said that I specialise in poultry - and you'd be surprised how many urban chickens and ducks there are)
- Based in *insert area here so people realise you are nearby should something go wrong*
- Contact Helena on 07*********

I'd had several calls, and I charge around £3 a visit, depending on workload. No one has ever been unhappy with that I could charge more but I'm only 15 . . . I've seen someone else charging about £7 a visit just to look in on some cats, and £8 to shut up a few chickens!!!!!!!!!!!

Since the end of August, I've made over £70, which I'm happy about, given that in some cases I got £2.50 for opening a pouch of cat food

PS There are certain animals I simply won't deal with, particularly dogs that I can't control, or are vicious, or are of a breed which was bred for fighting (and I don't care how sweet the owners say they are, I'm not endangering myself).

tracyburt

V_Chic_Chick wrote: »

First I've heard about having to be registered. And unless these people coming round to "investigate" are either the RSPCA or the Police, I'm not too worried. And according to the second poster, I have to be checked out and insured to walk my elderly grandparent's dog to help them out :rolleyes:

I do pet sitting. It's fairly easy. I put up a few notices round where I live, stating something along the lines of -
- Experience (I work on a city farm, and have my own chickens, so I said that I specialise in poultry - and you'd be surprised how many urban chickens and ducks there are)
- Based in *insert area here so people realise you are nearby should something go wrong*
- Contact Helena on 07*********

I'd had several calls, and I charge around £3 a visit, depending on workload. No one has ever been unhappy with that I could charge more but I'm only 15 . . . I've seen someone else charging about £7 a visit just to look in on some cats, and £8 to shut up a few chickens!!!!!!!!!!!

Since the end of August, I've made over £70, which I'm happy about, given that in some cases I got £2.50 for opening a pouch of cat food

PS There are certain animals I simply won't deal with, particularly dogs that I can't control, or are vicious, or are of a breed which was bred for fighting (and I don't care how sweet the owners say they are, I'm not endangering myself).

Very useful information and you seem like a very level-headed person. I have used my cousin's daughter, aged 15, who has lived on a farm since birth and done work experience at the vets. I pay £5 a visit which covered feeding a cat, a rabbit & guinea pig, 4 chickens, and watering the greenhouse.

vixarooni

My brother did this for a friend of a friend, Got to stay in this fab house for a weekend and look after this dog. It was great! A little scary as it was in the middle of no where, i think thats why he asked me to come although heaven knows what i would have done aged 13!

i cant remember if he got paid but it was a nice change staying somewhere else.

Joyful

I use a company called Barking Mad who will take my dog to someone elses house to be looked after if I'm on holiday. They are always looking to sign up people who would like to care for dogs in their own homes.

black-saturn

V_Chic_Chick wrote: »

I could charge more but I'm only 15 . . .

So do you think this is something which my 13 year old animal mad daughter would be able to do? She would be interested in looking after peoples small animals such as rabbits, hamsters etc in her own home for about £10 per week.