Build your pet's care plan
Updated By PetymFacts checked against official sources on
Quick answer
Choose your pet, your dates and a service: overnight sitting, drop-in visits, dog walks, home boarding, day care or special-needs care. The plan adds up the nights, the visits and walks of 30 or 60 minutes, and the hours of care. It then prices the plan from Petym's rate card for your city, with extra pets and the long-stay discount.
Care plan builder
Add up the visits, walks and nights your trip needs. No prices yet.
Free, no sign-up
Your care plan
Enter your dates and choose a service to see the days, visits, hours of care and overnights it adds up to.
Prices from Petym’s rate card. A puppy, injections, festival days or a same-day booking add a fixed extra.
How does the care plan builder work?
It turns your dates and your pet's needs into nights, visits, walks and hours of care.
Pick your pet, the first and last day you are away, and the service. For overnight sitting and home boarding the plan counts nights. For drop-in visits, walks and special-needs visits, choose how many a day and whether each lasts 30 or 60 minutes, and the plan counts the visits and adds up the hours. For day care it counts the working days. You can mix services: a dog on day care through the week with a walker on Saturday, or a cat with two visits a day and a third on medicine days.
The plan ends with an estimated price from Petym's rate card for your city: each night, visit, walk or day, any extra pets, and 10% off a stay of 7 nights or more (15% off 14 or more). Extras that depend on the booking, such as a puppy, injections or festival days, are listed on the pricing page and added when you book. Use the plan to decide what care your pet needs and to talk it through with a sitter at the meet and greet.
Which service fits my pet and my trip?
A starting point. Your pet's age, health and temperament decide the rest.
| A day out or at work | A night or more away | |
|---|---|---|
| Adult dog PDSA | A midday walk or day care, since PDSA advises against leaving a dog alone for more than four hours at a time | Overnight sitting in your home, or home boarding |
| Puppy PDSA | Day care or several visits: puppies need a toilet break every 2 to 3 hours in the day | Overnight sitting, so the routine and toilet training carry on at home |
| Adult cat Cats Protection | Usually nothing extra for a working day | Drop-in visits at least twice a day, or overnight sitting |
| Kitten, older cat or cat on medicine Cats Protection | A visit at medicine time | More visits than twice a day, or an overnight sitter |
| Pet on medicine or recovering RSPCA (England and Wales) | Visits timed to the medicine, to your vet's plan | An overnight sitter if it should not be alone |
The four-hour and twice-a-day figures are UK welfare guidance from PDSA and Cats Protection; Indian heat and power cuts are a reason to plan more cover, not less.
What figures does the plan start from?
Three numbers from welfare guidance shape how many visits the plan suggests.
4 hours
PDSA: generally best not to leave a dog alone longer than this at a time PDSA
2 visits a day
Cats Protection: a cat sitter should visit at least this often Cats Protection
every 2 to 3 hrs
PDSA: how often a puppy needs a toilet break in the day PDSA
What does each service involve each day?
What a Petym sitter does, or will do once bookings open, in each service.
Overnight
Overnight pet sitting
The sitter stays the night in your home. Your pet keeps its own bed, food and routine and is not alone overnight.
30 or 60 min
Drop-in visits
One to three visits a day to feed, refresh water, scoop the litter, give medicines and play.
30 or 60 min
Dog walking
A one-to-one walk collected from your door, never a pack, kept to the cooler hours.
Overnight
Home boarding
Your dog lives in a checked sitter's home for the stay and follows your routine.
Daytime
Doggy day care
The working day in a sitter's home, with walks, rest and play, home each evening.
Visits or overnight
Special-needs care
Care to your vet's written plan for puppies, older pets and pets on medicine.
How many visits a day does my pet need?
Follow the branch that fits. If two fit, take the one with more care.
If Your dog would be alone for more than about four hours
Add a midday walk or visit, or choose day care or overnight sitting. How long can a dog be left alone? PDSA
If You have a healthy adult cat
Plan at least two visits a day, morning and evening. How often should a sitter visit a cat? Cats Protection
If Your cat is a kitten, elderly or on frequent medicine
Plan more than two visits, or an overnight sitter. How long can a cat be left alone? Cats Protection
If Your pet takes medicine at set times
Time the visits to the medicine and fill in the medication schedule. Pet medication schedule RSPCA (England and Wales)
If Your pet is anxious when left, or should not be alone at night
Choose overnight sitting in your home. Overnight sitting RSPCA (England and Wales)
What does the plan not include?
Prices, fees, cover for vet bills and cancellation terms are not part of the plan, because Petym has not set them yet. It will publish them before bookings open, and nothing here is a quote.
The plan also cannot know your pet. A dog that panics when alone, a cat on insulin or a rabbit recovering from surgery may need more care than any rule of thumb. Ask your vet what your pet needs, and use the meet and greet to agree the plan with the sitter. On Petym the meet and greet is free and comes before the first booking, and the sitter follows your written plan and logs each meal, walk and medicine as it happens.
What should Indian owners plan for?
In summer, walks move to the early morning and evening, which can mean two shorter walks instead of one long one. PDSA advises walking in the early morning or evening when it is cool. Plan the visit times around that, and around power cuts: a visit in the afternoon heat can be the one that checks the fans are running.
Housing society rules shape the plan too. If the gate only admits visitors at certain hours, or pets may only use the service lift, write that into the plan so visit times work. Around Diwali, an evening visit on the main nights, or an overnight sitter, keeps a frightened pet company during the fireworks.
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 much does pet sitting cost on Petym?
- Overnight sitting in your home is Rs 2,199 a night in Mumbai, Delhi NCR and Bengaluru and Rs 1,799 in other cities, for one pet. This tool adds up the nights, visits or walks your trip needs and prices them from the rate card, with extra pets and the long-stay discount; the pricing page lists every extra.
How many times a day should a sitter visit my cat?
- Cats Protection advises a sitter who can visit at least twice a day. Kittens, older cats and cats that need frequent medicine may need more visits, or a sitter who stays overnight. Ask your vet if your cat has a health condition.
How long can I leave my dog between visits?
- PDSA says it is generally best not to leave a dog alone for more than four hours at a time, and every dog is different. Puppies need a toilet break every 2 to 3 hours in the day. For longer gaps, add a walk or visit, or choose day care or overnight sitting.
Should I choose 30 or 60 minute visits?
- A 30 minute visit covers feeding, water, litter, medicine and a little play for one healthy adult cat. Choose 60 minutes for shy cats, several pets, a pet that needs brushing or medicine, or a dog that also needs a walk.
Is overnight sitting better than visits?
- For dogs away overnight, usually yes: a dog should not be alone all night. For a healthy adult cat, two visits a day often works. Overnight sitting suits pets that are anxious, on medicine or should not be alone, and keeps the house lived in.
Does the plan builder book a sitter?
- No. It is a planning aid only, and Petym is not taking bookings yet. Save or print your plan and use it to talk the care through with a sitter at the free meet and greet when your city opens.
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- Cat age calculatorCat years to human years from International Cat Care's chart, with the life stage.
- Cat food calculatorDaily calories from weight and life stage, as grams of dry or wet food from the pack's kcal.
- Dog food calculatorDaily calories from weight and life stage, turned into grams from your pack's kcal per kg.
- Dog walk plannerDaily exercise for your dog's breed, and when it is too hot to walk.
- Going-away checklistA dated countdown for your trip, for dogs, cats, small pets and birds.
Keep exploring
Sources
Each source was opened and read on the date shown. How Petym checks its sources
- PDSA: How to help your dog be comfortable with time alone (23 January 2025) (opens in a new tab)
- PDSA: Toilet training your puppy (opens in a new tab)
- Cats Protection: Going on holiday without your cat (opens in a new tab)
- RSPCA (England and Wales): Pet sitting (opens in a new tab)
- PDSA: Heatstroke in dogs (opens in a new tab)