Pet-sitter instructions that leave less to guess

Start with the ordinary day

Useful pet-sitter instructions describe what your pets actually experience on a normal day. “Feed twice” leaves a surprising amount of room for interpretation. Record the food already agreed for each pet, its usual amount and timing, where it is kept and which bowl belongs to whom. This is a record of the current routine, not a place to invent a new diet.

Add the small household details that often live only in your head: the cat’s usual hiding place, the door that must stay closed, the dog’s familiar rest cue and the cupboard containing spare towels. Keep the first page short enough to use during a visit.

Make a separate profile for each pet

Our editable care-notes tool provides one profile per pet. Use the name a sitter will hear, a plain description and the details that distinguish that animal’s routine. In a multi-pet home, copying the same instruction across every profile can hide an important difference.

• Identification: name, appearance and where current identification details are stored.
• Daily routine: established food, water, toileting, rest and activity arrangements.
• Preferences: familiar toys, comfortable resting places and interactions to avoid.
• Current care: the veterinary instructions already provided, where they are kept and whom to contact with a question.

If a pet needs medication or specialized care, review the exact veterinary instructions with the sitter in advance. Do not ask them to improvise, change doses or use another pet’s supplies. Arrange an appropriately qualified caregiver when the required care exceeds the sitter’s experience.

Put contacts where they are easy to find

The ASPCA encourages a pet dossier and emergency information, and the AVMA’s emergency-information template includes contact preparation. For a routine handover, our suggestion is to put the owner, a backup contact, the usual veterinary practice and the chosen emergency clinic together. Confirm the clinic details and hours directly before leaving.

Discuss who can authorize urgent care and how the sitter should reach you. Any formal consent, payment arrangement or veterinary authorization should be handled through the appropriate real-world process. This website’s notes are not a legal authorization or a promise that a clinic will accept a particular arrangement.

Do a rehearsal, not just a document

Walk through one visit together. Ask the sitter to locate food, bowls, litter supplies, leads, carriers and the instructions without prompts. Show the doors and windows involved in daily routines. Check how the sitter will enter and leave while preventing an accidental escape.

Give access codes or keys through a private method you trust. They do not belong in a public profile or social post. Our tool keeps notes only in the current browser page, but a downloaded or printed copy is under your control; share it only with the people who need it.

Agree on a useful update

Choose a short update format before the first visit: meals offered, water refreshed, toileting observations, activity, rest and anything unusual. A photo can be helpful, but it does not replace a clear account of what happened. Agree how quickly a concerning change should prompt a call rather than waiting for the usual update time.

Date the handover and review it after a routine changes. Remove obsolete copies from the places the sitter will use. The aim is a calm, repeatable visit that follows the pet’s known care plan, with a clear route to help when something is uncertain.