# How much should I pay a friend to look after my cats whilst I'm on holiday?



## Cherrytree (Mar 5, 2014)

We are going on holiday at the end of this month for 10 nights and a friend of mine will be looking after our 2 cats. They are indoor cats so she will need to change 3 litter trays regularly, feed them twice a day, change water bowls and generally have a bit of cuddle and play with them. 
We are also kind of doing her a favour as she has recently had to move back to her parents house at 30 years old so she will actually be living at our house as well as cat-sitting whilst we are away. Bearing in mind that she will get full run of our house, I have told her to make herself at home i.e. take a nice hot bath as often as she likes, use the heating when she likes, help herself to any food in the house, have friends round - How much money would you say I should give her for looking after the cats? 
When we first discussed it, i kind of asked, she kind of offered......I said I would give her some money for it and she never politely declined so I know she is expecting some sort of payment. I am fully aware that it will be a cheaper option that getting a professional cat sitter in or putting the cats into a cattery (which I would never EVER do.....I don't want to leave them at home never mind somewhere they are unfamiliar with - Both ex rescue cats) but as it will be pretty much like staying in a hotel for her, how much is reasonable?
I originally thought £100 but my partner thinks this is far too high given that she will have our house to do with as she pleases.....I have to agree with him. 
So i thought £50 but then that just sounds a bit tight? Any ideas would be gratefully received as I don't want to pay too much but don't want to seem like i am taking the pi**! 
*
FYI for those of you that think I am more interested in what freedom I have given my friend in my house than the welfare of my cats - you are completely wrong. I have plenty of other friends that I could have asked and wouldn't have expected any money from me but I knew she could do with getting away from her parents. I in no way begrudge giving her money for looking after my cats and my home, I merely wanted to know what other people would pay for such a service. My cats are my world and she is looking forward to the whole experience more than I am looking forward to my holiday because I don't want to leave my babies even though this is the first holiday I have had in 3 years because I didn't want to leave them! Of course my cats welfare is my top priority hence why I have asked someone I know I can trust rather than a random pet sitter who could be anyone! *

Thanks in advance for your answers.


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## dorrit (Sep 13, 2011)

wow I'll look after your cats have the run of your house and get paid for it!

This summer I looked after my neighbours cat for 10 days I fed the cat, cleaned the litter box, sorted the mail and junk stuff kept an eye on her house... drawing curtains at night leaving a landing light on, opening curtains during the day etc

I never asked for payment and she never mentioned it but she gave me a e15 gift voucher for a loacal pet shop when she got home.. I was quite happy with that..


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## georgypan (Mar 31, 2014)

Would it be a good idea to get quotes from the local cattery, and a professional cat sitter just to compare, and then pay her say half of that? When I put my two in the cattery in May for two weeks she charged £100 which covered food, but that was a special rate because she was the breeder I got them from.


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## Cookieandme (Dec 29, 2011)

I go away next week and my pet sitter is charging me £11 per visit x 2 x 1 hours visits day = £22 per day x 7.5 days is £165


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## Ely01 (May 14, 2014)

I saw a cattery nearby charges 10 pounds per day, if that can be one ref (PS : I'm in Edinburgh, small town).

When I leave Oleg with my flatmate I don't pay her but always bring a little present back for her (a nice china cup, a box of chocolates stuffed with Baileys cream, a t-shirt).
When I left him with my student friends (who adore Oleg and were super excited to have him over) I had them over for a big three course meal after that!


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## NWForest (Nov 26, 2013)

£50 quid then and a bottle of Baileys - or her normal tipple.


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## Ely01 (May 14, 2014)

Perhaps 70 pounds? 
Or 50 pounds + a little present to mark the friendly service aspect of the deal?


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## The Wild Bunch (Jul 16, 2014)

your friend is very lucky. When I look after my friends cats. I do feeding, litter changes and playtime plus sorting out her terrapins and keeping an eye on her hiuse and doing post etc for free! When Daisy went to the cattery it was £13 per day. I think your friend is onto a good thing. Can I be your friend


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## clairescats (Feb 13, 2014)

This is a tough one. 

Last year when i went away we had a friend stay to look after the cats and we just bought her a pressie back from our holiday. She was having a rough patch at home and needed a break so it suited both of us really.


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## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

Wish I had a friend like you! When we go away and friends look after my cats and vice versa, we always give a thank you gift. I once looked after a friend's elderly cat for three weeks, visiting three times a day, and my friend gave me a nice gift. Aren't you also doing her a favour? It's not all one way is it? I think as you are giving her free access to everything in your house, food, etc, that should be part payment. Perhaps a gift voucher would be a nicer gift or an actual present so you can then spend what you like without talking cold cash. A cattery would be about £100-£140 so I think £50 in whatever form would be quite sufficient.


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## Gwen9244 (Nov 10, 2012)

A local "professional" cat sitter near me charges £35 a day! The local cattery, for the 3 of ours would be £30 a day. We found a house sitter (an absolute God send!) who comes and lives in the house and we pay her £10 a day which would barely cover her petrol and food. We currently have a friend coming in to do the overnight stays - she is in the same boat that she has had to move temporarily back in with her parents - I wouldnt pay her but I will definitely get presents as a thank you. If you think your friend is expecting payment I definitely wouldnt pay anything more than £5 a day.


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## Ragdollsfriend (Feb 13, 2014)

I think £50 is just fine. 

When we go away for more than 7 days my friends come from oversees to look after our cats and to house sit. They pay for their flights to the UK  I usually give them a small gift and pay for dinner for us all either the first evening when we're all together or the last one.


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## gorgeous (Jan 14, 2009)

Will your friend have any out of pocket expenses i.e. extra costs incurred if further to travel to work etc? If so perhaps take that into account.

Either way as has already been said 50 pounds is more than enough! Most friends would not expect payment...but perhaps a gift as a kind gesture.


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## catcoonz (Aug 4, 2012)

I will do it.

Currently have a cat in my home who I am looking after and not a friend either, she came here to ask for help.
Have the cat for 7 months, all I asked was food/litter to be supplied, payment for helping never came into it.

Sometimes I do wonder why people cant do favours, especially friends, out of the goodness of their heart, but then that's just me, I don't expect anything in return, I just enjoy helping.


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## Maiaetta (Jul 3, 2014)

£50 sounds fine to me as she will be staying there!


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## spid (Nov 4, 2008)

Thing is she didn't ASK to be paid, she was *offered* payment. Maybe she didn't turn payment down politely as she is a bit brassic but too embarrassed to say. Yes, she is using your house like a hotel (your words) but that makes it seem a harsh criticism on her from you. She is doing you a favour and you have offered to pay her. If you are trying to justify it all in that way, in a way you seem to resent what she will be able to do at your house,maybe a professional cat sitter would suit your needs better.


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## gskinner123 (Mar 10, 2010)

I agree with Spid. In those circumstances (i.e. she'll be living in your house) I think I'd only be considering that I was doing the friend a "favour" if they, for some reason, didn't at the time have their own perfectly reasonable accommodation with all the usual home comforts - which she does with her parents, much as she may not like the fact that she's had move back into her parents' home for a while.

I'd just feel very grateful that I had someone I knew well and completely trusted to look after my cats (not to mention the security of my home rather than it being unoccupied) without the hassle and worry of finding a suitable cattery and the stress that usually means for the cats. Unless my friend was going go on some mad binge with all the food in my freezer and cupboards I'd be happy to pay her whatever the local rate was for a cattery or cat sitter.


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## huckybuck (Jan 17, 2014)

I pay mine the same as it would cost for a cattery - so 3 cats, about 40 per day) plus I leave her a bit extra to buy food whilst she's here and a bottle of Baileys and choccies too. She does have a list of stuff I want her to do each day - run dishwasher, empty bins etc all the things I do if I'm here. And she looks after my chickens. But she is an absolute godsend (and she knows it) 

She actually takes holiday now for a few days to spend more time with the cats


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## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

I think £10/day is reasonable and it should be agreed beforehand with your friend. Anything less doesn't really impart the proper idea of her being responsible for your cats while you're away. That it happens to be convenient for her to stay in your house during this time is not relevant. I think it muddies the water not to keep the welfare of your cats a completely separate issue.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

I agree, I think £10 a day is reasonable. I don't see any justification for paying less just because she is your friend. She will have the same level of responsibility for looking after your cats and the house, as a professional live-in house sitter would.


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## Britt (May 18, 2014)

I would pay them whatever you would pay a cat sitter. I pay my cat sitter 10 Euros a day.


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## GingerNinja (Mar 23, 2014)

When I look after my neighbours cats I never expect anything but they usually bring me a pressie if they are away for more than a couple of nights  is a bit different but they do me favours as well for which I pay them in beer and dinners!!


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## Cherrytree (Mar 5, 2014)

spid said:


> Thing is she didn't ASK to be paid, she was *offered* payment. Maybe she didn't turn payment down politely as she is a bit brassic but too embarrassed to say. Yes, she is using your house like a hotel (your words) but that makes it seem a harsh criticism on her from you. She is doing you a favour and you have offered to pay her. If you are trying to justify it all in that way, in a way you seem to resent what she will be able to do at your house,maybe a professional cat sitter would suit your needs better.


Thanks for the comment but you are wayyy off in what you are saying. I simply wanted to give everyone the full picture about the situation so they could answer correctly. I in no way _resent_ (your words) what she will be doing in my house hence why I have offered it all to her. I am very grateful for her looking after my cats but at the same time, I am also helping her out by giving her freedom in my house and get away from her parents for two weeks which is why I was so unsure on how much I should be paying as she is not a professional cat sitter and other than feeding them, changing litter etc she will be left to her own devices. She is more excited about it than I am about my holiday.


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## Jellypi3 (Jan 3, 2014)

Thing is she will be using your gas, electric, your food, your litter etc. I don't see why you should pay the same as a cattery because they would normally provide these things plus charge a little more for the care your cat receives. I'd say just offer her £30 plus a pressie from your holiday.


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## Amin (Jul 31, 2009)

apart from ,food/expenses, your friend should not be asking for payment. she may need your help one day.


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## Cookieandme (Dec 29, 2011)

Jellypi3 said:


> I'd say just offer her £30 plus a pressie from your holiday.


You aren't serious :thumbdown: how did you come up with that amount.

Personally it doesn't matter if she is benefiting from the arrangement, the OP is getting a reliable person to look after her cats and ensure someone is in the house which is always a bonus.

The alternative is to put them in a cattery, if the OP begrudges £80 - £100 which is about half of either a professional pet sitter or cattery then they shouldn't have suggested the arrangement.


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## Jellypi3 (Jan 3, 2014)

Cookieandme said:


> You aren't serious :thumbdown: how did you come up with that amount.
> 
> Personally it doesn't matter if she is benefiting from the arrangement, the OP is getting a reliable person to look after her cats and ensure someone is in the house which is always a bonus.
> 
> The alternative is to put them in a cattery, if the OP begrudges £80 - £100 which is about half of either a professional pet sitter or cattery then they shouldn't have suggested the arrangement.


I'd personally not pay her anything tbh, but the OP has suggested money so i'd offer a token gesture. I don't think the OP is worrying about money, but a professional cat sitter has to travel so would expect reimbursement for petrol + time, a cattery has overheads such as a building to heat, people to pay etc so you pay for that, whereas a friend staying at your home, paying no rent or anything, surely can't command as high a price as a professional service because all they are doing is living in your house. If a friend had to travel everyday to feed them then yeh I'd say pay them more, but that's not the case here. Maybe I'm just stingy but if I were staying at a friends house I wouldn't expect any money just for feeding their cats?


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## spid (Nov 4, 2008)

Cherrytree said:


> Thanks for the comment but you are wayyy off in what you are saying. I simply wanted to give everyone the full picture about the situation so they could answer correctly. I in no way _resent_ (your words) what she will be doing in my house hence why I have offered it all to her. I am very grateful for her looking after my cats but at the same time, I am also helping her out by giving her freedom in my house and get away from her parents for two weeks which is why I was so unsure on how much I should be paying as she is not a professional cat sitter and other than feeding them, changing litter etc she will be left to her own devices. She is more excited about it than I am about my holiday.


I did say you SEEM to resent it, it's just how your phrasing reads to me. You imply that you are doing her a HUGE favour, but we haven't heard that she is terribly unhappy with her parents.

Why not just ask her what she would accept? If she is very excited then I don't expect she would accept much at all.

My comments were more pointed at the people saying how awful she was for *expecting* payment. Hence me pointing out she didn't ask she was offered.

I suppose I find it strange that you would ask strangers advice (giving all the details) before asking your friend if there wasn't some kind of resentment or hidden angst about the situation. Either that or you want to offer more but it's your bf who has made you doubt.

But hey, it really doesn't matter. I'm just an amateur slooth who often reads too much into situations.

In the end you have to go with what YOU feel comfortable with, not with what strangers suggest.


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