What to do for the baby(kitty) sitter?

[DottyG]

I have a kittysitter that takes care of my boy if I'm out of town.  I'm not sure what to do for her for Christmas.

I know the natural suggestion is MONEY, of course.  But, I don't have a lot left after all my expenses right now.  And, what's a good amount to give her, if I did go that route?

Anything else I could get her or do for her?  I don't know her interests that well.  Basically, she works a lot of hours (moble vet's assistant), so I don't know that she has a lot of off-time to do other things.  She has everything she needs for work, so I don't need to get her anything in that line.

Help - I need suggestions (that won't break my bank account)!

[dawbs]

mine gets a petsmart gift card...
but on the home-made side of things, is it safe to assume she has pets?

Because the pet owners on my list get home-made dog biscuts.  and home-made cat treats.  and home-made dog and cat toys...

[DottyG]

To be honest, I know she has pets but I'm not sure what or how many.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to buy anything. I need to do something quick and easy.

[RainhaDoTexugo]

I second the PetSmart gift card if it's in the budget.  You can get them at petsmart.com, so you won't have to go to the store, if you have a few days to wait for it to arrive.  If not, at least it's a quick in-and-out purchase if you go with it.  I don't know a single pet owner who wouldn't appreciate free critter food, and she can use the money she would have spent on litter or toys or whatever and buy something for herself.  In fact, you might even want to make a note of that in the card.  Even if she's picky about organic food or something (we're fairly picky ourselves), she can still get toys or equipment or books

[Gambitgirl]

since she's a pet assistant a PetSmart of Petco gift cards sounds like a good idea...unless it seems like you're fishing for her to buy your kitty stuff LOL!

[Buffy2424]

Give her one of your christmas cards that you send out +  1) a baked good  or  2) a bottle of wine or  3) a small gift certificate to one of these places: target, amazon, petsmart, drsfostersmith (great pet products), starbucks...  "From the kitties." 

Re: amount, in my opinion $10 is not too small and $25 is not too large.  You could spend less than $10 on a gift if you had more time, but at this point I'd go with a $10 gift card. 

[DottyG]

Do you think people like this expect a monetary tip, though?  I'd hate to get a gift card and have her think, "DANG, I wanted cash!"

Not that she would be rude about anything I give her.  But, the thing is - she takes good care of my boy.  And, I do want to do something nice for her.  But, I don't have a lot of extra money to be spending, so a $100 tip would be kinda out of the picture for me right now - even though she does deserve that - and more.

[Esther_bunny]

Do you bake? If so, perhaps some holiday type bread (pumpkin bread) or cookies might be nice.