How much to pay a friend for house and cat-sitting?

May 15, 2023 4:55 AM

A friend has offered to house- and pet-sit while I'm away for ~2.5 weeks. It's understood that this would be a paying gig, but said friend is uncomfortable with such negotiations and is leaving it to me to propose a rate. What should it be?

The pets in question are three healthy cats, and the house is a nice place in a quiet suburban area about 25 minutes from the friend's long-term residence, near Pittsburgh. There isn't much extra work to ask of them beyond caring for the cats, taking out trash, bringing in mail, and possibly mowing the lawn once or twice. Friend lives unconventionally, earning an uncertain income by doing jobs that range from nonprofit arts support, to leading hikes and cycling trips, and other odd jobs. They do not have a daily commute.

This friend wants me to decide how much to pay them, saying they trust me to be "fair," but during the initial discussion, they mentioned having recently been paid $50 dollars per day to feed and let-out (but not to walk) another friend's dog. That intuitively seems high to me, but my only reference point is another cat-sitter who charges $20 to stop in, feed, scoop litterboxes and play with the cats a little bit once a day. This particular trip is longer than usual, so a pet and house-sitter who'd be around more would be a comfort to both me and the cats.

This relationship is important to me, and I absolutely want to pay a reasonable rate, without feeling taken advantage of. Your advice and insight would be appreciated.

posted by jon1270 to Pets & Animals (24 answers total)

We pay our cat-sitter $50 a day for two half-hour visits with our two cats, with no other house-sitting responsibilities. Last time I checked (a few years ago), their "bed-and-breakfast rate" for feeding dinner, spending the night, and feeding breakfast, was $75 a night. This is in the DC metro area. I would jump at the chance to have someone staying with our cats for 2.5 weeks for $50/day.
posted by amarynth at 5:08 AM on May 15, 2023

You are paying not only for pet care, but also for house sitting and yard maintenance. By comparison, later this year I'll pay a similarly-circumstanced friend, who also wanted me to set the rate, $50/day to housesit and take care of my two dogs. That includes multiple leash walks per day. It's half of what it costs to board the dogs in our usual kennel, plus the house is looked after and not vacant, trash and recycling will be picked up, etc.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 5:10 AM on May 15, 2023

Given it's not just cat sitting, I think $50 a day is reasonable along with a well stocked fridge, and a gift card for food delivery.
posted by Ftsqg at 5:12 AM on May 15, 2023

$50/day for pet/house/yard care sounds like a bargain.

Friend lives unconventionally, earning an uncertain income by doing jobs that range from nonprofit arts support, to leading hikes and cycling trips, and other odd jobs. They do not have a daily commute.

This part is irrelevant.
posted by headnsouth at 5:24 AM on May 15, 2023

We pay $30/day for just cat sitting. If they're doing trash, mail, mowing too then yeah $40-$50/day sounds more reasonable.

Make sure you have a written list of tasks you expect them to do so that you don't assume that $50/day is for a bunch of stuff whereas they think it's just for feeding the cats.
posted by Jacqueline at 5:34 AM on May 15, 2023

You might check Rover.com in your area and see what other pet sitters are charging locally (taking into account, of course, that the platform itself take a cut.)
posted by minervous at 6:04 AM on May 15, 2023

I haven't paid a cat sitter in a few years so if anything I'm sure the prices have gone up, but I used to pay about $25 per visit for three cats, for JUST the cat-care and bringing in the mail, no trash or anything else. Plus extra if the visit were to include any holidays.

I would pay a house-sitter considerably more for the inconvenience of being away from their home; $50/day for house+pet-sitting would feel to me like I were the one taking advantage of my friend.

I took a quick look at websites for a couple of local pet-sitters around here since I'm also in Pittsburgh and it looked as if $70/80 a night was about the right price point for an overnight stay, with some add-on fees for weekends, holidays, or more than two cats.
posted by Stacey at 6:11 AM on May 15, 2023

Mowing your lawn once or twice should probably be at least $50 bucks all on its own on top of the cat care. (Last time I had my lawn mowed by someone else, like 5 years ago, it was $60+).

Also, this is your home and your pets that you're trusting to someone who's going to be spending a lot of time there. Do you want them to treat everything nicely? Don't cheap out.
posted by TwoStride at 6:30 AM on May 15, 2023

$50 per night is a good rate for a friend, professionals often charge more.
posted by emd3737 at 6:40 AM on May 15, 2023

I agree that $50/day is a good price for residential care. I pay $40/visit to my trusted catsitter/friend to stop in every other day for about 30 minutes (litter, wet food, water, attention, photos & occasional plant watering.) I have paid less and found people via Rover, which is reliable and has insurance for both parties. My cat sitter and I have also done free trades before but I believe strongly in valuing the work and paying fairly. You could probably find a local teen to do it for $25/visit. I wish I had a neighbor who’d do it for free (and I’d do it for them) but I insist upon paying my friend for her time, travel & expertise. Paying for pet care is definitely an expensive reality in 2023!
posted by smorgasbord at 6:41 AM on May 15, 2023

I usually pay about $70/day on Rover for residential cat care (2 cats) and no other chores, and I live in a very cheap part of the country.
posted by thelastpolarbear at 6:51 AM on May 15, 2023

I think getting a sample of rates on Rover for your area makes a lot of sense. We pay $75/day (plus a 20%-ish tip) for house sitting and three cats without any yard care here in Minneapolis and that's the rate our highly recommended sitter came to us with, but I'd expect regional variability. For us, we'd be willing to pay friends a slight premium for the peace of mind knowing they aren't weirdos (ok, actually, they are our kind of weirdos...)
posted by advicepig at 6:55 AM on May 15, 2023

We used to pay $50 and gradually raised it to $100, which feels super generous but also we really like knowing it's a trusted person who we can call on in an emergency + we do ask them to do small chores like dealing with the mail, putting out the trash cans, etc. We're in Los Angeles.
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:08 AM on May 15, 2023

I guess it really depends on where you live because wow some of these prices are very high for my neck of the woods. I would check with your local animal hospital that does boarding and ask what their fees are and then offer somewhere around that or higher.
posted by terrapin at 7:26 AM on May 15, 2023

Do you really need the lawn mowed over 2.5 weeks? I think if you do, I’d hire a lawn guy for that. I don’t like introducing blades and machines to an unknown (as in skill and ability) person who is caring for my home.

I live in Portland, Oregon, and I paid $20/day for a daily visit from a bonded cat sitter. She also watered the plants and brought in any mail. In your case, I’d sign up for the USPS service which scans your mail and then has them hold it while you’re gone.

Is your friend staying at your place or driving? I mean, even if they were staying there, they’d probably need to go between homes. It’s a real bonus to you to have someone keeping an eye on your place and not subjecting your cats to a kennel. Go ahead and shop around rates from different services but I suspect $50/day is a good deal.
posted by amanda at 7:43 AM on May 15, 2023

My cat sitter charges $20 for a short visit (which means scooping litter, feeding, taking in mail, short play session) or $30 for a longer visit (more play time + can take out/in trash + water plants). I have 2 cats.

Anyway, if I'm reading your question right, you asked this friend somewhat hoping for a friend deal (which isn't unreasonable in my friend circle but all friend circles are different), because you're worried about your cats being stressed by your absence. But now you're worried you've committed to paying more than you feel comfortable. A couple of thoughts:

1. Leave out some dirty laundry when you go - your cats will be comforted by your scent.

2. Decide on what is your budget you feel comfortable paying, and then go to your friend with that "Hey friend, I've decided my budget is [x], which I realize will likely not cover you living-in the whole trip which is fine- as long as you [name bare minimum] that's all I really need - does that work for you?" Maybe that means they only stay over a handful of the days, maybe they actually like the idea of getting to live at your place and so will do so anyway, but if your budget is limited it's okay to walk back a bit how much cat sitting you want.

3. You can absolutely go back to your friend. If your friend does lots of odd jobs for a living, they should have a rate. So if even after reading all of these answers you still feel unsure, I'd go back to your friend "Hey, I am probably over-thinking things, but I've never had anyone live-in before - so could you just let me know your daily rate for pet/house sitting and your rate for mowing the lawn?"

4. Or, if they are a kinda indirect Guess Culture person, assume them dropping the fact they once were paid $50 a day is in fact their expectation, and offer that - but if that means you can't afford them to live there every day, don't feel compelled to do so - your cats will be fine if say, they are alone for a few days on either end of your trip.
posted by coffeecat at 7:52 AM on May 15, 2023

I would offer extra/negotiate separately for mowing the lawn. I agree with everyone that $50/day is quite cheap.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 9:02 AM on May 15, 2023

This is pet-and house-sitting; mowing should be a separate payment. If this is a *genuine* benefit to your friend, 35 - 50/ day, and mowing would probably end up making it average out to 50/ day. This is an opportunity for your friend to earn some cash and have a bit of breathing room, so generosity is a good idea.

benefit: maybe they rent a room in a noisy house with limited privacy. Maybe it's a big treat to have your kitchen, streaming services, and bandwidth. Maybe they really enjoy your cat. Leave food, wine, beer and encourage them to enjoy.
posted by theora55 at 9:05 AM on May 15, 2023

I've taken gigs to pet/house-sit since I have remote work full-time as long as there is an internet connection. I charge $75/day regardless # of pets and chore list. While there, my attention is on the pet/house. I'm not running around visiting other pets, earning a living. This is pretty cheap considering $75/day is not a living wage in SF Bay Area.
posted by gloturtle at 9:43 AM on May 15, 2023

I paid someone $400 to watch my dog full-time for 3 days. I would say $50 a day for this is reasonable.
posted by coldbabyshrimp at 11:21 AM on May 15, 2023

Also, you can always say no and find someone else. I reread your description and, I say this with kindness, it sounds like you don’t respect this person’s lifestyle as much as you do your own or at least that their time isn’t as valuable. A leafy suburban house is not a better place to stay, especially when someone has their own place, than a tiny city apartment or rickety mobile home in the country. As someone who’s lived both in small apartments and large single-family homes, the amount of upkeep for the latter is hugely different. Also, because this person is used to doing gigs, they are much more aware of how much they value their time unlike salaried people where it’s stable and we can do more or less depending on our life at that moment. I absolutely know and understand the fear of being taken advantage of — it’s good that you checked here! — but I’d try to frame it as they’re doing you a big favor that should be compensated for generously or at least fairly. I could pay my sitter less or find someone who charges less but her value to me is greater. I’d want to be a friend regardless but I’m lucky she can help! But yeah this also means budgeting $500-1000 annually for cat care when I travel.
posted by smorgasbord at 12:32 PM on May 15, 2023

Inflation is a thing, and it’s more expensive now than the last time you had a sitter. $50/day is well within the norm here, and our cost of living is much lower than yours. That your house is nice isn’t really a bonus. This isn’t a vacation for them. You’ll be expecting to return to a nice, clean, safe home from your vacation. You are paying them to keep it that way. And it’s still a hell of a lot cheaper than boarding your cats.
posted by Bottlecap at 3:56 PM on May 15, 2023

A thought that might help as you consider higher costs: you already are willing to pay someone $20 for about an hour’s worth of cat-sitting work, and that’s with no other responsibilities, and the cat-sitter’s ability to go home at night and sleep in their own bed. A live-in sitter is going to spend a lot more time with your kitties, and do other things that will add up to more functional hours you’d be paying for. Your friend’s 24-hour anchor rate is the equivalent of 2.5 hours at the rate you already feel comfortable paying.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 5:34 PM on May 15, 2023

Thanks, everyone, for the thoughtful answers and clear consensus. I did check out Rover, and found offers ranging from $20-$150 a night, but it's clear that $50 is perfectly reasonable.

FWIW, I did a house and pet-sitting (of a sick, elderly dog) gig myself for a different friend a few years ago, for the grand price of zero dollars. At the time it was a nice change of scenery, and a sort of mini vacation. This situation seemed similar enough to give me pause, but evidently the $50 rate is much closer to the median than I'd realized. Thanks again.
posted by jon1270 at 6:37 PM on May 15, 2023