[Dailydrool] In Home Pet Care

[Esther Strom]

Yeesh, here in Evanston (north suburban Chicago), $20 for that service would get you laughed at! Granted I would never have used a college student with all of Waldo's health problems - I wanted a licensed, bonded petsitter. The few times I used one, it was $20/visit, which included feeding and a 20 minute walk. Figure three of these a day. Then it's an extra $50 for an overnight stay. So we're talking over $100 a day for 24-hour care.

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Esther Strom and Waldo (ATB 07/18/2008)



----- Original Message ----

 I have hired a housesitter to take care of all of our beasts for probably 20 years.  This summer I raised the pay to $20 per day, mostly because of the cost of gas.  For that amount, I expect the housesitter to feed in the morning, make sure they get a long time outside, set the house up for the dogs before he leaves (close doors to certain rooms, put up baby gates, etc.)  I also expect the housesitter to come back around dinner time, feed again, make sure they go out again, and also walk the dogs in the evening.  Lastly, I want my housesitter to stay at the house overnight.  This keeps the house from looking empty as well as keeps the furbabies safe.  (They bring in the mail and newspaper.)
 
I know lots of people aren't comfortable with somebody staying in their house, but we feel better about someone staying at the house than having the pets at home alone at night.  Mostly I hire college students from church who are still living at home.  They really enjoy the opportunity to be on their own for a few days.  
I also try to have some food around that's easy to make - frozen pizza, mac & cheese, deli ham - teenager stuff.
 
In all the years we've done this, we've been extremely please almost every time.  FYI, we live in Kansas City, MO - where gas prices are lower than the national average.
 
Mary Lee

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