What is house sitting?
Updated By PetymFacts checked against official sources on
Quick answer
House 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.
Also called house sitter, home sitting, house and pet sitting, live-in sitter.
Key facts
- The RSPCA says the best option is often a friend or family member caring for your pet in your home, because it keeps the routine familiar. RSPCA
- If no one you know is available, the RSPCA says a pet sitter who stays in your home usually works best. RSPCA
- RSPCA Australia describes a house or pet sitter who stays at your home or visits, suited to cats that prefer few changes to their routine. RSPCA Australia
- Before hiring, the RSPCA suggests meeting the sitter, seeing a criminal record check certificate, checking references and confirming insurance. RSPCA
How is house sitting different from pet sitting?
The difference is what the arrangement is built around. Overnight pet sitting in your home covers both.
| House sitting | Pet sitting (overnight, in your home) | |
|---|---|---|
| Main purpose | Looking after the home: security, plants, post, deliveries | Looking after the pet: meals, walks, medicines, company |
| Pet care RSPCA | Often included, but depends on the arrangement | The whole point, done to the owner's written plan |
| Who does it | Friends, relatives or a house-sitting arrangement, sometimes unpaid | A paid sitter, usually with pet care experience |
| Checks before hiring RSPCA | Varies widely | Meeting first, references, ID and insurance, as the RSPCA advises |
| Best for RSPCA Australia | Homes without pets, or pets with very simple needs | Pets that need routine, medicines, company at night or care in a heatwave |
When does a pet need a pet sitter rather than a house sitter?
When the animal's needs are the main job. A house sitter who is happy to put down a bowl of food is fine for some pets, but a dog that needs two long walks a day, a diabetic cat on fixed-time insulin, a senior dog that has to be helped up the stairs, or a puppy still being house-trained needs someone who treats the pet's plan as the work, logs it and knows what to do in an emergency.
Indian conditions raise the bar too. In May and June a pet left in a closed flat during a power cut can overheat; in the monsoon, ticks and wet paws need daily attention; at Diwali, a frightened dog needs someone home in the evenings. A sitter who sleeps in the home is there for all of that.
What should you agree with anyone staying in your home?
Write it down, whether it is a relative, a house sitter or a pet sitter. The RSPCA's list of what to leave is a good start.
- The pet's routine, food and feeding instructions, and any medicines with written instructions. RSPCA
- Your contact details and the vet's, including an out-of-hours number. RSPCA
- Behaviour notes, exercise needs, and supplies such as leads and litter. RSPCA
- House rules: guests, which rooms are used, the AC, the inverter, the geyser.
- Who else has keys: the maid, the cook, a neighbour, the society office.
- What happens if you are delayed, and who decides about vet care if you cannot be reached.
Does Petym offer house sitting?
Petym's main service is overnight pet sitting in the owner's home: the sitter stays with your pet, follows its plan as you wrote it, logs feeding, walks and medicines as they happen, and sends a daily photo update every day of the booking. It is pet care first, in your home.
Petym is pre-launch and not taking bookings yet. Every Petym sitter's identity is verified with PAN and they complete pet first-aid training before their first booking, and you meet them free before the first booking.
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 is the difference between a house sitter and a pet sitter?
- A house sitter looks after your home, and may feed the pets as part of it. A pet sitter is there for the animal: its meals, walks, medicines and company, done to your plan. An overnight pet sitter staying in your home gives you both, with the pet as the priority.
Is it better to have a sitter stay in my home or board my pet?
- The RSPCA says a sitter staying in your home usually works best if no friend or relative is available, because the pet keeps its routine and surroundings. Home boarding suits sociable pets that settle easily elsewhere. Your pet's age, health and temperament should decide.
Should a house sitter have a background check?
- The RSPCA suggests meeting the sitter first, seeing a criminal record check certificate, checking references and confirming insurance. In India, police verification is a separate service you can request through your local police. On Petym, each sitter's identity is verified with PAN before listing.
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.
- 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.
- 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
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