What is daily photo update?
Updated By PetymFacts checked against official sources on
Quick answer
A 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.
Also called pet sitter photo updates, pet updates, daily report card, pet care log.
Key facts
- RSPCA Australia says a cat left at home should have its health and wellbeing checked daily while you are away. RSPCA Australia
- The RSPCA lists the information a carer needs, including the pet's usual routine, feeding instructions, medicines and exercise needs. RSPCA
- PDSA lists signs of fear in dogs as a wide-eyed look, a tucked tail, trembling, cowering or freezing, and hiding. PDSA
- Licensed dog day care in England must keep a register for each dog, including its medical and behavioural history and diet. Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (UK)
Why do pet sitters send photo updates?
Because you cannot see your pet, and a photo plus a few facts tells you more than "all good!".
Across pet sitting, updates have become standard: owners expect to see their pet while they are away, and sitters use them to show the care has been done. The value is in the detail. A photo of a dog asleep on its bed after an evening walk, with "ate all of dinner at 7, walked 30 minutes, pooed normally, tablet given at 8", tells you the day went to plan. A cute photo alone does not.
Updates also catch problems early. If your cat has left half its food two days running, or your dog is not interested in its walk, you want to know on day two, not when you get home. RSPCA Australia's advice that a cat's health and wellbeing should be checked daily is exactly what a good update reports.
What should a good daily update include?
One photo is the minimum. These are the facts that turn it into a report.
- A clear, recent photo of your pet, ideally showing its face and posture. PDSA
- Food: what and how much it ate, at what time, and anything left. RSPCA
- Water, toilet and litter: normal, more or less than usual. RSPCA Australia
- Walks or play: when and how long. RSPCA
- Medicines: each dose and the time given. RSPCA
- Mood and anything new: hiding, limping, scratching, coughing, vomiting. RSPCA Australia
- The home: power cuts, heat, rain, visitors, anything you asked to be checked.
What can a photo update not tell you?
A photo is a snapshot. Read it with the note, and ask questions.
You may have read
A happy photo means everything is fine.
Myth
What the sources say
A photo shows one moment. Ask about appetite, toilet and energy, which are better signs of how the day really went. RSPCA Australia
You may have read
A cat that does not appear in the photo is ignoring the sitter, nothing more.
Myth
What the sources say
Hiding can be a sign of fear or stress. If your cat has not been seen for a day, ask the sitter to check on it and look at food and litter. PDSA
You may have read
More photos mean better care.
Myth
What the sources say
What matters is that the care sheet was followed. A log of feeds, walks and medicines, as the RSPCA's list of carer information suggests, matters more than many pictures. RSPCA
How will daily photo updates work on Petym?
On Petym, a daily photo update from the sitter is part of every booking, every day, whether it is overnight sitting, drop-in visits, dog walking, boarding or day care. Alongside it, the sitter logs your pet's plan as it happens: each feed, walk and medicine as you wrote them.
If something is wrong, you will not wait for the daily update: in an emergency the sitter calls you and takes your pet to the nearest 24-hour vet on the city's list. After the booking, you can write a review of the stay. Petym is pre-launch and not taking bookings yet.
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
How often should a pet sitter send updates?
- At least once a day, so you know your pet has been checked daily, as RSPCA Australia advises for cats left at home. On Petym, a daily photo update is sent every day of every booking. Agree at the meet and greet if you would like extra updates, for example after each walk.
What should a pet sitter's update include?
- A recent photo, plus what your pet ate, its water, toilet or litter, walks or play, any medicines with the time given, and its mood or anything new. Specific notes tell you far more than a photo alone, and help you spot a problem early.
What if the sitter does not send an update?
- Contact the sitter the same day. A missed update may be nothing, but you should not have to wonder. On Petym, the daily photo update is part of every booking, every day, so a missing one is worth raising straight away.
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.
- Care sheetA 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.
- 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.
Keep exploring
Sources
Each source was opened and read on the date shown. How Petym checks its sources
- RSPCA Australia: Can I take my cat with me when I go on holiday? (opens in a new tab)
- RSPCA: Exploring pet sitting options (opens in a new tab)
- PDSA: Noise phobias in dogs (opens in a new tab)
- Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (UK): Dog day care licensing: statutory guidance for local authorities (updated 1 June 2026) (opens in a new tab)