Catsitting for 20+ CATS!

[Randi]

I've just got a new cat-sitting job lined up and I charge $15 pr. visit, but that is because it's not far away. I stay at least an hour, often two. I can there on my bicycle in about 15 min. However, with that many cats and if it takes time to get there, you could charge a bit more.

[Jessika]

I've done a looooooooooot of research on petsitting professionally as I do it on the side for clients at the clinic QUITE often. I decided not pursue it as an actual LLC to for a couple of reasons.... paying taxes and fees on the income and fees for having an LLC and having to pay for bonding and insurance... it really adds up, and considering it isn't something that I do every single day (maybe a few jobs a month) I felt it wasn't worth pursuing it.

That being considered, when you're doing it "on the side", you absolutely need to charge what you feel your time is worth, but must also consider that "professional" sitters in your area charge higher prices because they are a legal business, have the insurance and bonding, etc. If you charge TOO much, these potential clients may go with one of the professional sitters instead as they have "all the bells and whistles".

I think $30 a day (assuming one visit a day?) is pretty fair, considering it only took you about an hour. I've stayed longer with some of my kitty visits and charged half of that (and most of the time was spent attempting to find/catch a very unhappy diabetic kitty to give her her insulin...). I only ask for $15/visit for a "reasonable" amount of cats and 2 dogs (really a "reasonable" amount... I consider 30mins - 1hour for a visit a reasonable amount of time for $15, regardless of the number of pets I'm caring for), and I ask $45/night for my overnight visits (I stay at the house 24/7 except for work or any errands [like getting food etc] or events that I've already made the owner aware of. Of course, no client has ever expected me to stay at the house 24/7 but I feel an obligation to since they're paying me to watch their pets.). Most "professional" pet sitters in my area charge $15-20 per visit up to 2 pets, charge additional fees per each additional pet and for extra services like medicating, etc. They charge upwards of $60/night for overnights and that does NOT include a mid-day potty break and generally only includes the hours of 9pm - 9am or 7am. I feel like I am getting paid fairly for my services when most of the pets I sit for are so low maintenance, anyway... and most of my clients round up or tip very generously!!!!

Again though... charge what you feel YOU'RE worth... if you're happy with $30/day then that's the perfect price for you

Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents, ignore it as you wish haha

[phesina]

Thanks, folks, for your feedback and thoughts on the price and others aspects of the matter. I am working on my response, but it is taking me a while to get all my (many) thoughts together and compose a coherent reply. I'll be back soon!

Pat

[phesina]

Thanks, Karen and Jessika. I've also put this question out on a Yahoo group of Ann Arbor-area petsitters that I belong to, most of whom have been doing it as legal businesses full-time or as a substantial part of their income for quite a long time. A couple of them responded saying they thought $30 was reasonable for an hour's work in this area, but with so many cats and so many details to keep track of, I might want to go higher.

Also, since these are not rescue cats and she is breeding them for profit, I might consider a higher rate to care for all these special cats. That's some of my thinking too (and why I want to line up liability insurance before doing this again!): these are valuable cats (in the marketplace, I mean; as we all know, ALL cats are valuable!).

One said "Wow! I'd be scared to take that on, I think! More power to ya!"

The other asked, "Does it smell?" (with so many cats?) I replied, yes there was some aroma, but I thought that might be due somewhat to intact males on the premises. She then said "UGH I didn't even think about the fact that the cats are not spayed/neutered! Sounds far more complicated than I would want to take on even for more money. " She's been in business since 1994, too!

Carol, the Van breeder, was talking about going to another show in mid-October and being away longer for that one. I haven't heard from her yet. I don't know if she'll argue if I raise the price. I also don't know who she'd get if she doesn't have me. She was happy with my work this time; I did everything she wanted and some above and beyond.

Her son, who lives nearby and I think is in his 20s, has provided cat care for her on occasion, but he is not exactly dependable, shall I say? She told me before that he doesn't want or like to do it. The last time she went to a show and he was in charge, he told her on the phone one morning "I don't feel like going over there today. I'm going to hang out with my friends." I don't know if she somehow browbeat him into going over to do the bare minimum, or if she had to cut the show short and rush home early.

I'd kind of like to do it again, even if it's at the $30, now that I know the whole setup more. I spent at least an hour a visit, and that was with everything going smoothly. If any complications come up, such as one of the kittens escaping from the kitten room, I'd be spending a LOT more time getting things back in order!

There's another concern of mine: her house is pretty much wide open. There's just a screen door in front, which locks with a key, but it would be nothing to cut through the screen. That goes to an enclosed porch, which has a regular door going into the rest of the house, but that door doesn't lock, at least from the outside. Around back, it's a screened in porch, which leads to another door that can be locked from the inside.

Jessika, thanks for all your research and thoughts on the business end of it. I don't pet-sit full time and don't really want to. I'm organized as a business to some degree: I have a business name registered with the county (Friendly Paws Pet Care), and I have business cards out here and there. I don't have a web site or advertise. I am considering liability insurance.

I work some as an independent contractor for some of the sitters who are in business. My own clients are people I've known from other contexts or friends of friends or who otherwise have found out about me by word of mouth. They've all been people with a "reasonable" (good way to put it, thanks!) number of pets, mainly cats, and I spend about half an hour a visit, taking care of the chores and then just hanging out with the animal(s) to give them some company. I charge for the visits of that type from $15 (for a guy right here in my apartment building), $17-18 for most clients, and the newest one $20, which is becoming the going rate around here.

Carol, the breeder, and I connected through a web site called Care.com, which is about getting people in various helping professions together with people looking for such services. I believe it was our very own Tracey (krazyaboutkats) who tipped me off about Care.com!

Pat

[Jessika]

Since you are registered as a business (LLC?), do you not have to claim the income and pay taxes on it?

There will be some months where I'm triple booked (one overnight with 3 "kitty visits" was the most I did for a weekend... was SO busy!), some months where I get a few overnights back to back (longest stretch was 3 1/2 weeks of overnights), and other months where I am dead and wish I had some work. Thankfully I have a few very loyal repeat clients who pay me very generously (seriously, one of them goes out of time multiple times a month sometimes, or will give me a day's notice for an overnight... and if I can I always say yes because the dogs are so easy and she pays so well!) so it makes up for the dead time. I made a large down payment on my new car AND paid for a brand new fancy washer and dryer when we moved into our new house due to money saved up over the past year from pet sitting alone!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do! Sounds like you already have it figured out