"Yes," then "No" -- is this too P/A? Small update reply #17

[Elle]

Unless you live way out in the boonies there ought to be more than one petsitting service. When I went out of town recently I was spoilt for choice when it came to petsitting agencies. There is a national registry of companies and most of them have bonded employees.

www.petsitters.org

Her point about the phone is pretty strong, to me. If this woman asked (in the days before cell phones) if she could call her next client from your house, or check in w/ her family, or if she could be reachable while she was there for several hours, you'd probably say yes.

You yourself say you live off the beaten path, it'll take her a while to get there (she can't email in the car), she'll be there a while, twice a day.

In this world, people communicate--with other clients, with their families--via e-mail and cell phone.

Just using the internet connection I could understand. I'd have no objections to my petsitter whipping out her laptop and hopping on my wireless to check her email. However, asking to use my computer? Uh-uh, no way, not gonna happen. She can use my phone to call her next client if she wanted, but not my computer. My phone doesn't have work documents on it, or banking info, and I don't worry about getting viruses on my phone. Besides even the ZOMGBBQ!!!! I NEED A RESPONSE NOW!!! emails I get from my coworkers can't wait a few hours.

All in all, I'd feel more comfortable letting her wear my underwear than I would letting her use my computer. 

[Kaypeep]

I was a pet sitter for several years (Helped pay off credit cards!) and the notion of clients leaving food for the pet sitter is not unreasonable, IF the sitter is staying at your house.  Part of the agreement of me watching pets and their house was that they provided some food for me to eat while I was there.  (I could stay anywhere from a weekend to 3 weeks.)  But if this girl is just dropping in to check food/water/litter I think it's out of line to expect food.  It's definitely out of line for her to be dropping hints about what her other clients do in ways that only benefit her.  (The extra checks thing really got me!)

I guess my bottom line is, if she's not staying over night then you owe her no special priveleges such as internet or meals.  When I did drop-in service like this, I would entertain myself with a book or magazine to keep the pet company for a few hours; after walks, of course!

[sociology71]

Hi All, OP here.  Thanks for all your replies.  I left town yesterday in the early morning, and the pet sitter was supposed to come by twice yesterday, AM and PM.  She is not staying overnight; she's coming twice a day for an hour or so at a time (she said she might stay longer) to feed my cat, play with her, and administer medicine.

I called yesterday evening, and she said that everything had gone just fine.  My cat let her give her the medicine, and even accepted a few pats (my cat takes some time to warm up to people).  So, that was a huge relief.  The sitter didn't mention anything about the computer at all (I had taken it with me, with a note that I needed to finish some work on my laptop while I was away).

A few posters mentioned that there are probably other pet sitters available in my area.  That is correct.  What happened was that I first called this sitter a couple of months ago, after seeing her website and reading all her positive references.  She's not with petsitters.org, but she is with Pet Sitters International, and bonded/insured.  Anyway, the phone conversation went well, so I agreed to hire her.  She didn't want to set up an in-person consultation until just a few days before my trip, because she wanted my cat to be able to remember her when she came to pet-sit.  So, I didn't actually get to have a long in-person chat with her, and hear her request for internet/computer access, until less than 48 hours before my actual trip. That's why I said that I felt "stuck" with her, because the other pet sitting services in the area require that reservations be made more in advance than that, especially for first-time customers.

Anyway, I'm just relieved that my cat seems to be doing well! 

Edited to add: Reading this over, I realize that I really should have interviewed more than one pet sitter back when I was first looking around!  I just felt satisfied with our phone conversation and kind of stopped my search at that point.  A big mistake on my part-- I should have done some comparison shopping!

Edited a second time to add: Just to make the timeline clear (I said in my original message that I was leaving "next week"), so that no shenanigans are called  :  Called the pet sitter originally in late February. Met with the cat sitter in person Wednesday (5/21) at 1pm; left for my trip Saturday (5/24) at 8am.