What is care sheet?
Updated By PetymFacts checked against official sources on
Quick answer
A care sheet is the written plan you leave for whoever looks after your pet: what and when it eats, walks and toilet routine, medicines and how to give them, habits and fears, and who to call, including your vet. Welfare bodies list these as the essentials. On Petym, the sitter follows your plan as written and logs each task.
Also called pet care sheet, pet care plan, pet sitter instructions, pet information sheet.
Key facts
- The RSPCA advises leaving your pet's usual routine, food and treats with clear written instructions on how much to feed and when. RSPCA
- It also lists your emergency contact and your vet's details, including the out-of-hours service, and any medicines with how to give them. RSPCA
- Behaviour and socialisation notes, exercise needs and familiar items such as a worn piece of your clothing are on the RSPCA's list too. RSPCA
- Licensed home boarders in England must record each dog's microchip number, vet, owner and emergency contacts, and vaccination, worming and flea dates. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (UK)
What should a pet care sheet include?
The RSPCA's essentials, plus the details that matter in an Indian home. Petym's free pet care sheet tool lays these out for you.
- Feeding: the food, the amount in cups or grams, the times, and any food your vet has said the pet must never have. RSPCA
- Medicines: name, dose as your vet prescribed it, times, with food or not, and how your pet takes it best. RSPCA
- Walks and toilet: times, route, harness or collar, the toilet spot, litter type and how often it is changed. RSPCA
- Behaviour: fears (crackers, thunder, the pressure cooker), habits, hiding spots, how it reacts to strangers and other dogs. RSPCA
- Contacts: your number, an emergency contact in the city, your vet and the nearest 24-hour vet. RSPCA
- Records: microchip number, vaccination card (DHPPi, rabies, Tricat), last deworming and tick treatment. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (UK)
- Home: the inverter, the AC and fan, the balcony door, the society gate rules, who else has keys.
Why write it down rather than explain it?
Because a sitter, a relative or a neighbour has to get it right every day without you there to ask. A spoken briefing at the door is easily half-remembered; a written sheet can be checked at 7 am when the cat is crying for breakfast or at 10 pm when the dog will not take its tablet. It also means every person who helps, the sitter, your maid, a neighbour with a spare key, works from the same instructions.
A written plan matters most for medicines. Write the medicine as your vet prescribed it, copied from the label or prescription, never a guess, and say what to do if a dose is missed: usually, call you or the vet. Petym's medication schedule tool turns a prescription into a printable chart.
What makes a care sheet easy to follow?
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How does Petym use your care sheet?
On Petym, your pet's plan, covering feeding, walks and medicines, is followed exactly as you write it, and the sitter logs each task as it happens, so you can see that the 8 am medicine was given at 8 am. You also get a daily photo update every day of the booking.
You go through the plan with the sitter at the free meet and greet before the first booking. Petym is pre-launch and not taking bookings yet, but the free pet care sheet tool works today, for any sitter, friend or family member.
Going away soon? Tell us your dates.
A checked local sitter feeds, walks and keeps your pet company at home, follows your care sheet to the letter and sends a photo every day. Petym is opening city by city: send your dates and we will tell you when a sitter can take them.
- Meet your sitter first, free
- PAN-checked, first-aid trained
- A photo every day
- Pay through Petym, never cash
Questions owners ask
What should I leave for my pet sitter?
- The RSPCA lists your pet's routine, its usual food with written feeding instructions, medicines and how to give them, behaviour and exercise notes, your emergency contact, your vet's details including out-of-hours, familiar items, and supplies such as leads and litter. A written care sheet keeps all of it in one place.
How do I write medicine instructions for a pet sitter?
- Copy the name, dose and timing exactly from your vet's prescription or the label, and say whether it is given with food. Add how your pet takes it best and what to do if a dose is missed, usually to call you or your vet. Never estimate a dose.
Is there a free pet care sheet template?
- Yes. Petym's free pet care sheet tool lets you fill in your pet's food, walks, medicines, habits and contacts and print or share it with any sitter, friend or relative. It works today, before Petym opens bookings in any city.
Keep reading
Related terms
More in services and booking
- Background checkA background check is what a pet care service verifies about a sitter before they care for your pet and enter your home. It can cover identity, police verification, references, training and the sitter's home. Services differ widely, so ask what was checked. Petym verifies identity with PAN; police verification is not one of its stated checks.
- Daily photo updateA daily photo update is a photo of your pet, with a short note, that the sitter sends each day of a booking, so you can see your pet is fed, well and settled. The best updates are specific: food, walks, toilet, medicines and mood. On Petym, a daily photo update is sent every day of every booking.
- Doggy day careDoggy day care is daytime care for your dog while you work: you drop it off in the morning and collect it in the evening, with no overnight stay. The dog gets company, play, walks and rest instead of a long day alone. Good day care screens each dog first and keeps groups small.
- Drop-in visitA drop-in visit is when a pet sitter comes to your home, once or more a day, to feed your pet, refresh water, clean the litter tray or take the dog out, give medicines and spend time with it, then leaves. It suits cats and independent pets that are happier at home. On Petym, drop-in visits are paid per visit.
- Group dog walkA group dog walk is when one walker takes several dogs from different homes out together, instead of a solo walk with one dog. It can give sociable dogs company and exercise, but more dogs means less control near traffic and street dogs. As a benchmark, England's licensing guidance caps a day care walker at 6 dogs at once.
- Home boardingHome boarding means your pet stays in a sitter's own home while you are away, living as part of the household rather than in a kennel run. It suits sociable dogs that settle well in new places. Good sitters take few pets, meet each one first and keep its records. On Petym, every sitter's home is checked by video first.
- House sittingHouse sitting means someone lives in your home while you are away, looking after the house and often the pets. The arrangement is built around the home: security, plants, post. Pet sitting is built around the animal: its meals, walks, medicines and company. Many pet owners want both, which is what an overnight pet sitter staying in your home provides.
- Key handoverA key handover is the agreed way a pet sitter gets into your home: a key handed over, one left with a trusted neighbour or the society office, or a digital lock code. In a flat it also means telling the watchman the sitter is expected. Done well, it is planned, written down and reversed when the booking ends.
- Meet and greetA meet and greet is a short visit before any booking where the owner, the pet and the sitter meet. You see how the sitter handles your pet and ask questions; your pet learns the sitter's face and smell. Welfare bodies advise meeting a sitter before hiring. On Petym, the meet and greet is free, before the first booking.
- Overnight pet sittingOvernight pet sitting means a sitter stays in your home, including overnight, while you are away, so your pet keeps its own home, routine and company. It suits dogs that cannot be left alone, senior pets, pets on medicine and anxious animals. It is Petym's main service: the sitter follows your pet's plan and is paid by the day.
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Sources
Each source was opened and read on the date shown. How Petym checks its sources