A pet sitter brief: short, specific, and useful
Give the selected sitter one usable handover for this booking.
Once a sitter has been chosen, a friendly conversation needs to become an accurate working brief. The sitter should be able to find the next task, a current instruction and a contact without searching months of messages. Include what this booking requires, while keeping private household information out of unnecessary circulation.
Before you begin
- Use one dated version and identify who may update it.
- A sitter's agreement is not veterinary authority.
01Define the booking and access
Write the dates, expected visits or stay, animal's identity and named sitter. Confirm the permitted entry route and which rooms, keys or codes the job actually requires.
Share access details privately with the person taking responsibility. Do not bury an apartment code in a document also being forwarded to a transport provider or a public community group.
02Describe ordinary care precisely
Record the actual food, household feeding instructions, water and cleaning tasks, and the animal's usual rest and interaction preferences. Show where supplies are kept rather than writing simply everything is in the kitchen.
Walk through one visit together where practical. Ask the sitter to describe the next step in their own words; this reveals unclear instructions without turning the animal into a demonstration.
03Keep medical directions traceable
Include current vet-issued instructions and the original labelled medication where relevant. Identify the prescribing clinic and whom to call if a direction, missed task or supply problem needs clarification.
Do not ask the sitter to invent a replacement treatment or copy another animal's medicine routine. If the job requires a skill they cannot provide, resolve that with the vet and sitter before leaving.
04Agree updates and escalation
Decide what a useful check-in contains, when you expect it and what happens if it is missing. An update may describe food offered, tasks completed and an observation rather than only a flattering photograph.
Give a main and backup decision-maker plus the usual veterinary contact. Agree how urgent concerns and costs are communicated; a spending discussion should not become a reason to ignore a veterinary emergency.
05Test and close the handover
Before departure, confirm the sitter can find the brief and reach the contacts. Mark unresolved items openly instead of assuming they were covered during the interview.
At the end, collect keys, revise temporary access where appropriate and ask for a factual handover of completed tasks and concerns. Keep the useful care record; avoid keeping unnecessary access information in shared copies.
Questions to take with you
Questions worth asking
- Can you find the next task and the relevant written instruction?
- Who do you contact if you cannot enter or reach me?
Your working note
- Booking __; sitter __; dated brief __; private access channel __.
- Check-in agreement __; backup __; unresolved item __; closure __.
This is practical preparation, not veterinary, legal or travel clearance. Confirm individual care with the appropriate professional and current terms with the actual provider.
Sources and how to use this guide
These sources support the principles in this guide. It has not had a veterinarian’s clinical review, and it is not a facility inspection or a service-quality certification.
