What to leave for your pet sitter: a complete checklist

The short list

• How to reach you, and a backup person nearby who has a key
• Your vet, and the nearest emergency clinic with its hours
• Who may make emergency decisions, and the limits
• Food: what, how much, when, and what is never allowed
• Medicine: name, dose, times and how to give it
• Routine: walks, litter, sleep, play, fears
• The home: where things are, bins, plants, anything odd
• A daily log for the sitter to fill in

Emergency decisions: who decides, and what they may approve

This is the part most sheets miss. The AVMA suggests choosing one trusted person to act for you if your pet has an emergency and you can’t be reached. It may be the sitter or someone else. Tell them:

• All the ways to reach you, including fellow travellers if useful
• Your regular vet’s name and contact details, and your preferred emergency clinic
• Your pet’s conditions that could lead to an emergency, and how you would want them handled
• Which treatments or procedures need your direct consent, such as major surgery
• Whether they may consent to euthanasia if necessary
• Your pet insurance provider and policy number, if any
• A spending limit
• Your wishes for aftercare if your pet dies

Agree how bills will be paid: whether they pay and you repay, or whether you leave a payment method or put one on file with the clinic. Put all of this in writing and sign it. Ask your vet whether they have their own authorisation form, and give them a copy.

Feeding and treats

Write the food, where it is kept, the amount per meal (as your vet advised), the times, which treats are allowed and anything that must never be given. Leave enough food and medicine for the whole trip plus a few extra days, as the AVMA suggests, and show the sitter where it is.

Medicine, exactly as prescribed

For each medicine write the name, the dose exactly as on the label, the times and how to give it: with food, in a treat, as drops. Add one fixed line: “If a dose is missed or brought up, call the vet before giving another.” A sitter should never guess with medicine.

If two medicines look alike, say how to tell them apart. Leave them in their original containers.

Walks, litter and quirks

Walk times and the usual route, lead or harness, litter cleaning, where your pet sleeps, favourite games, commands they know, and what scares them: other dogs, bikes, the vacuum. These small facts are what make a sitter’s day go smoothly, and the AVMA suggests sharing exercise and play preferences too.

The home

Where the lead, bags and cleaning supplies are, bin days, plants that need water, and anything that behaves oddly, like a door that does not latch. Give alarm codes and Wi-Fi passwords in person rather than on a sheet left in plain view.

A daily log the sitter fills in

A simple grid answers “How was she?” better than any message: date, breakfast, dinner, medicine, walks, litter, notes. It also shows the next person exactly what has been done if more than one sitter helps.

Leave up-to-date vaccination records too, including proof of rabies vaccination: boarding, groomers and clinics may ask for them.

Make the sheet and print it

The pet sitter sheet turns all of the above into two printed pages, with a filled example to copy from. It runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.

Keep it current in Keepie

1. 1

   Invite the sitter as a Caregiver

   With a Keepie account, invite your sitter to the pet’s Care Team as a Caregiver, with access until the day you return. Care Team is included for 7 days after your first invite; adding people after that needs Premium.

   How Care Team works
2. 2

   Share the Care Card

   Choose to share the Care Card: allergies, a care warning and the vet to call, with a Call button. Health records stay private.

3. 3

   The sitter marks care done

   Walks, meals and medicine appear on the sitter’s Today. They mark each one done, and can add a note.

4. 4

   You see the day

   From wherever you are, you see what was done, by whom and when.