I would pay her the lesser amount, ask her your questions, and then leave it and never hire her again.

We had something like this happen with yard care we paid for. A friend's son while we were away for a couple of months. Turns out the yard got so bad that the neighbors said they went over and mowed the yard themselves. The parents did not know and I think were taken aback by OUR reaction. I think the kid lied to the parents, and they just did not understand where we were coming from.

Keep the neighborhood peace. Just don't hire her again.

If she was told to feed cat every other day, that could happen! I have 3 cats & the other day I heard this noise, went to the kitchen to investigate & there was my one cat chewing on the bag of food! And, she still had food in the dish! Soooo its possible! Cats are funny little creatures!

Donna (^_^)

What a tricky situation and I have been there. We left a little Westy in the kitchen with instructions to our groomer to come at least 2 X a day to water, let outside to play and exersize. Got home and it was OBVIOUS poor baby had been just locked up for 3 days, as she started peeing and drinking like crazy when I opened the door. Very puzzled at the time and feeling so bad! Next day went to the groomer's place and was told that her brother had a serious motorcycle accident hundreds of miles away, so she had never gone to the house at all (no cell phones in those days). Yes, she should have made other arrangements. I could never look her in the eye again. It simply broke my heart that our precious baby was left that way....it took a very long time for me to forgive myself for such cruelty.

So....I hope the "sitter" will be honest with you, but I would hesitate to make any accusation based on no food or water in place. Our dog just "shut down" for those days she was alone. This is one of my regrets and I wish I didn't have to think of this again! It still brings tears to my eyes......Nanny

How much food was eaten out of the bag of food? Was the kitty litter box changed? (check the garbage can) You can tell how much the cat was cared for by that information. Have you left your cat for that long a period of time before? The cat may have been morning your absense and didn't eat as it normally does. I think you need to talk to the sitter and see what is up...

Don't jump to conclusions. Talk to her first. She may have feed the cat but not as much as you normally do. One of my cats will tear into the bag if her food bowl has been empty for any amount of time. I had to start keeping it in a plastic bucket to keep Lexie out of the bag. Believe me her and her 18# aren't starving..

littlebit

I would ask the sitter what days she had been there...and, since you had no pre-agreed price, pay her no less than $10 for each day she said she was there.

My sitter(from a professional service) charges $17/day to feed Foxy, empty her box, play with her a bit and bring in the mail and newspapers. And she comes in every day. That is the going rate for pet sitters in this area.

I have a standing order that the sitter call me on the first day, and leave a voice mail on my cell. This way, I am assured that the service has begun.

If you use this sitter again, I would suggest she call your cell from your home phone, and leave a voice mail if you don't answer...every day. This way, you know she was there.

My cats will open bags of food even if they have a full bowl set out for them. I would be upset though... no water or food in the cat's bowl. Maybe she just forgot that time, but had did it the other 3 times?

I agree talk to her and find out what happened. I wouldn't pay her the full amount.

I have a professional cat sitter too. She comes in once or twice a day, but charges the same $14. a day irregardless. For that price she even gave my diabetic cat 2 insulin shots a day. I'd look into a professional cat sitter if I were you, although you may have to pay more than Monica or I do.

How very sad Nanny. That would have broke my heart too. My Mom did leave my dog once when I was out of town. They had to leave town because of some sort of emergency - I forgot what it was now. They did try to get friends to come in and care for my dog, but the dog wasn't very friendly and the friends were too afraid to get close enough to him to let him out, so we had messes to clean up when we got back. I think they did get some food to him though.

i am really sorry that happened, that would keep me from ever trusting someone else w/ my pet again. i would follow the above advice thou and not rock the neighborly boat too much. there must be great pet sitters in the area as i have family who live in Zionsville, Carmel and Noblesville who treat their dogs like children, as i do, and travel alot.

i am grappling w/ having to board my furgirls who are now 10 yrs old for two more vacations this yr at their vet. we always board there but as they get older i feel worse about it. this past dec one gained 3 lbs in just a week and she has severe hip displasia. they each get a 5'X 5' sleeping crate area and have outside time but i have seen nicer accomodations at daycare places they've been to. but daycare places are not our vet where they know everyone and all of their care has been handled there. i have a pet sitter whom i trust to come by during the day during the semesters when DH is also gone all day(thou we do have our place completely covered in wireless net cameras) but i can not bring myself to trust anyone beyond an afternoon visit :-(

i hope you find another sitter. BTW i wanted to say congrats to your DH on his placement and i'm glad your family gets to stay put! ~ liz

You do not ask kids to do tending pets or plants especially pets unless you have adult back ups that will see that it is done.

Those things do happen and its your pet that suffers.

8 days, poor thing, that is too long to do without food and water.

I feel if you really want to go away, you pay money to make sure your pet is well looked after.

And maybe take them to your vet or a really good kennel for them to stay at.

Or go to a pet bonded person that will come daily for sure and feed and care and love your pet while away.

Its something all pet owners learn.

Kids especially teens are caught up on their own lives.
They want the money many but not do the work.

yes, its costly but pets are costly and part of it is finding pet care when going away.

Its hard.

My parents got adults that stayed upstairs in their house while they traveled when they retired and I saw it all.

And its not the nicest for pets involved. We had both cats and dogs and the pet/house sitters all either liked the dog or cats, but not both. And some just put up with, they fed them but that was it. They loved staying in a beautiful home free except to buy groceries and they also got use of one car and just had to buy gas for that.

NO, its hard to find the right person that will really love your pet and care for it just like its there.

Maybe ask around and see if any seniors are wanting extra money and care for your pet while you are away.

My mom's friend when they had these two dogs, the male would go their daughters and the female would dog would go and stay with this older lady who loved her so much and spoiled it rotten.

Many seniors love pets but can't afford to have themselves.

Something to check up on next time you must go away.

When we went to my brother's wedding, my parents asked this kid up the road and he threw a party which the neighbours must have really loved. Our dog got revenge though, he got tangled up with a skunk and the kid had to wash him in tomato juice in the bathtub.

Those are things pet owners go through.

I have seen horrible things that happened to our pets that my parents left.

Why didn't I care for them, my parents wanted people staying in the house as phone calls were being made casing to find out if anyone was home or not. I was working full time then.

Liz-I can vouch for Preppy pets. They can be together in a unit if you desire, but they are only in there for eating or sleeping-otherwise they can mingle among other dogs if you like, or get several walks a day-and you can pay for private play. Night-time has monitoring for fire or break ins. I use the one on Michigan Avenue and the people there are super nice to the dogs. They have a vet on call, plus you would leave them the number of your own vet. Sparky gets so EXCITED when we get close to Preppy Pets. He pulls me from the car straight to the door and jumps on it to get in! Check out their website and then go for an unannounced tour.

On our street we do ask the kids of neighbors to look after pets. On the surface we ask the kids to look after the pets (and get mail, trash cans, etc), but it's understood that the parent is the enforcer/back-up. So they pay the kids $10 or whatever, but the parent is also aware of everything that needs to be done. It can be a good way to learn about responsibility and respect and trust.

I have to say, my kids love our neighbors dogs (we're the only ones with cats), and do treat them like our own. They walk them, play with them, or just sit and pet them for a long time. Sometimes even when the neighbors are home!

So, if my 16 y/o didn't fulfill his responsibilities to a neighbor I would want to know about it, and I would not allow my son to accept the payment if he slacked on his duties.

In this case, I think I would ask the neighbor girl when was the last time she was in the house and state my concern that the cat's dish was empty. See if you can find out what happened while you were gone. Then decide how much she earned based on the duties she fulfilled. I'm not following the concern about her finding the food b/c the cat found it. LOL. My cat will also tear into the bag if I'm so much as 30 minutes behind schedule filling her dish. Actually, her dish can be full upstairs when I bring in a new bag and leave it downstairs, and she'll tear into the new bag b/c it's closer, I guess. But I know my cat eats much less when we are out of town. I have to tell our neighbor girl to dump it out each day and give her fresh even if it looks like she didn't touch it b/c she will not eat food left out. Knowing that our cat would most likely leave food uneaten, it would really leave me wondering what happened if her dish were empty and she acted hungry.

I don't know if I'd trust her again, either. Did you speak to her parents at all about the arrangements? At 16 she should surely be able to get job directions and do them independently, but as a parent I would want to know if my 16 y/o didn't fulfill a commitment to a friend/neighbor. Whether it was pet sitting or mowing, I'd want to know if my kids were less than responsible to neighbors. If it were the other way around and a neighbor didn't do quite the job expected watching our cats, I would speak to them like I would my own kids, saying that I trusted them and I'm disappointed. It's a big deal to allow someone to enter your house and care for your pets when you are gone, the young person needs to understand the value of the trust and respect between you all.

Thanks for everyone's input. I really felt I could trust her because she takes such great care of our kids. I really felt that if I can trust her with the kids, certainly she could take care of the cat.

We go on vacation once a year for this long and long weekends throughout the year, and the cat has been fine every other time. The dogs get boarded at a professional boarder.

We have a container feeder and water for the cat. It usually takes her about a week to empty them. When we left they were both about half full. So, she always has continual access to food and water. I've never had a problem with her breaking into the bag, because she always has food. And oddly enough, I store her food in a rubbermaid container, and for some reason I didn't this time. I'm so grateful because she wouldn't have been able to break into that for food. I also forgot that we had left the dog's water out too, so she did have access to water. Not the freshest water, but she didn't have to go without.

I'll call the sitter tomorrow and see how things went for her while we were gone. I'm sure something came up. Although, I'm still gunshy about having her stay with the kids again.

Thanks everyone.

Frankly you are lucky that a 16 yr old with an empty house didn't P-A-R-T-Y!

I have a multi-cat household and have used a professional sitter (the same one) for 20+ years. I give her $50 a day now - she's never asked for a raise- I just try and keep her pay similar to the vet techs that pet sit in our area.
She's terrific. Makes two visits/day and spends at least 1/2 hour with them. She'll take in the mail, look after the garden ponds etc. I know from the way my furkids respond to her when she visits before I go away - that they have quality time in my absence. My cats over the years have had medical issues and required medication more times than not. She's excellent in this regard. Her husband knows the cats should she ever have an emergency health issue and need a back-up. My current four are very active - I can only imagine what I'd arrive home to find if they were on their own for without twice daily visits.

I join the other's who have had their cats chew through a food bag. Now my cat food is kept in a plastic cannister.

Do any of you think about liability when someone comes into your house? I guess I'm alway's protecting myself from someone injuring themselves while in my home. I've had neighbors ask if we can take care of each others cats while we are out of town. I declined due to liability risks. (I have a umbrella policy on my insurance). What if someone is injured and claims that I was negligent? What if they come to feed my cat and the cat has a medical issue. Would they take the cat to the vet? Have we agreed on a cost we would pay if emergency vet care is needed?
I think it is in your best interest to use a animal care service that is licensed and bonded. It's just not worth the risk of having someone in your house.
Also, with the teenager, what if they have friends over and they are drinking? You would be liable if they drink and drive.
One of my neighbors cleaning ladies fell off a chair while she was cleaning. She was not bonded and insured. This person was liable for her injury.
Donna

Yes, to a bonded professional sitting service. They have the name of Foxy's vet, and have permission to take her to the vet if they sense a need to. The vet also has sitting service's permission on record.

My sitter is assigned to Foxy...only in an emergency would another sitter be sent. The sitting service has sitters fill in a short visit reports, giving time/date/notes that is left on the kitchen table for me to see when I get back.

This past winter, while we were in Fla, our town got it's only big snowstorm of the winter. The sitter called me the next morning on my cell to tell me that,although she had left extra food/water "just in case", that she had made it to the house, and everything was fine.

That's the kind of treatment you can expect from a professional service.

PS - Sitter told me, that day, that the driveway had been plowed for her - it was my next door neighbor who knew she was coming.

Good neighbors and good sitters make for no-stress vacations.

Once again, I am a little late to the discussion, but I still have 2¢ to offer!

First, why try to trap the catsitter? Just ask her what happened, tell her that the cat tore open the bag. Was the "weekly feeder" (I don't know what else to call it) empty? Even if the cat had only half rations for a couple days, it wouldn't suffer much damage.

Second, other posters have had the same experience I've had: My cat would chew open the bag, no matter how much food was in his dish. So I resorted to a plastic container, just like you did. I think most cats will chew the bag of cat food, maybe just for "fun" just because it's available.

Third, if the cat feeder can supply a week's worth of food and water, maybe the catsitter thought there was more food available than there was. How was the litter box? Does the cat weigh less now?

Anyhow, that's my 2¢. And yes, I'd pay her. Since she's responsible and good with your kids, I'd keep her as the babysitter, too. Even if she did forget to visit the cat or something, everyone is entitled to a mistake or two. Maybe she caught a cold and didn't feel well. She sounds like a good kid to me.

Sherry

I agree with the posters that think you might be jumping to conclusions. I wouldnt dream of giving instructions to feed my animal "every other day". When we go away, I have the pet sitters come a few times a day, animals need human attention too, not just to be fed. Feeding a cat every other day doesnt seem like enough. If you came home on thursday and that was her day to come, the food bowls could have very well been empty, after all, no one was there for two days.

If she thought to bring in the mail, the garbage and feed the crabs, im sure she didnt forget about the cat. It probably just wasnt enough as per your instructions.

Thank goodness you left the food out. Sixteen seems a bit young to give that much responsibility to, especially if you're like me and go ballastic if your animals aren't been treated right.

I would give her the facts straight up and see what she says. Tell her what you noticed. I wouldn't make the money an issue so pay her what you had decided, and don't use her again.

I'm very lucky to have my sister and brother in law living right downstairs. When we work alot or go on vacations, we take care of each others pets. Sometimes during the day if nobody is home we'll visit each others pets to give them treats or make sure that there is water.

How often are the crabs fed? I doubt that she would feed them and not the cat. If you usually store the cat's food in a container, the bag more then likely became a toy for her.

I hire teens often. The first few times I make a point of giving the directions to them in front of one of their parents so the parent knows what is expected.

My thoughts are from the other side of the coin. I watch/sit several of my neighbors animals in their absence.
Sometimes it may be for several weeks at a time. Dogs, cats, turtles, gerbils, snakes, you name it.
I know that animals tend to act out when their owners go away. Their daily schedule is changed and they usually are upset for a bit, and sometimes bored.
I can see a cat or dog chewing through a sack of food just for fun. The water issue, however, I have a problem with.
Cats especially don't drink that much water, not near as much as a dog. My concern lays where the cats water was empty. They can go several days without food, but water is
essential. If worse comes to worse, they will drink out of the toilet, so always make sure the lid is up and some type of water is available anytime you leave town just in case of an unexpected situation with your sitter.
When I vacationed many years ago, I left a feeder for my 3 cats that lasted for a week with food and water. They did just fine. They are well worth purchasing at your pet store.
All the furbabies I watch get several visits a day, and I usually spend an hour each visit petting and playing.
Teens are almost always in a hurry to do things, and I am not sure they would take their time to do the job well. But then again, it really depends on the teen. I love animals, and treat them all as if they were my own. I have never charged anyone, but I consider them all friends, and what comes around goes around. The day may come when I will need their help. I wish I could help all of you with you pet sitting. That would be heaven for me!

Trin

Maybe sixteen year olds have changed, but when I was sixteen I had a driver's license and a job. I was babysitting toddlers when I was 13. I would have considered pet sitting a step down in responsibility.

Personally, I would pay her and I wouldn't have her watch the cat again. The kids I'm not sure about. My only kids are cats! I just couldn't be comfortable relying on her again, I've be too nervous the next time.

One good source for a pet sitter is a local vet. The woman that watches mine is the receptionist there, but she is actually a vet tech (she also runs a rescue organization.) When I was on vacation she would call me when she was at the house and tell me what they were doing. I have a lot of very specific instructions for my babies, and she followed all without complaint. She charged $18 per visit (if you want 2 visits per day it's $25 per day). My neighbor also came by once a day just to give them some company. I don't think every other day for an entire week is often enough.

I just think you're lucky that your cat was able to chew through the bag to get food, and darn lucky the dog's water was available. Cats can die soon without enough water, and if you're only feeding kibble then they need to drink more out of a bowl. When feeding canned food the moisture content is high enough so they don't tend to go to the water bowl as often.

If your cat hadn't had access to the dog's water a very serious health issue could have developed. Frankly, I wouldn't entrust my 2 furkids to the care of a 16 year old.

I agree with sephia!

Maybe I'm nuts, but where did a dogs water come into the picture?

Trin

This is why I don't travel much. That would totally freak me out to find my cats with no water or food. I think it would start inappropiate behavior in them. Cats like routine which is why I would never board them. They love their house but they also like me to feed them their wet food at the appropiate time. I swear they wear watches. If I go to the Jersey shore for just a night and two days, there are five litter boxes and plenty of dishes of dry food and many water dishes so they always have both when I return. Now that I have a dog, I guess I'll board him unless my DD will take him. Her cat terrorizes him so that might be a problem. I doubt I would hire this girl any more. In all the years of having 15 cats in all, none ever chewed thru a bag of food, but my son's cat did.

I think when it comes time to pay her, you should calmly address all your concerns, Indy and see what she says. Let her know that you are disappointed in her and emphasize how important it is to fulfill all duties when you have said you would and a life is at stake. You should probably also tell her that you are wondering now about leaving her with your children, that you are that disappointed in her. That may help to drive the point home.

My cats would chew thru a bag of food in a heartbeat, if they were hungry. I'm glad your bag was there. It could have been the case of boredom, though, instead of hunger, but if the food supply was empty, I'm leaning toward hunger.

Trin, late Thursday night Indy added that the dog's water was available to the cat in another location.

This is why I like having our house/dog/cat sitter live-in while we're away. She LOVES the animals, I don't really care about the house as long as she dotes on the beasts. And she tells us stories that makes it obvious that they are her entertainment and concern. We pay her $30 a day and have 6 pets.

Now that I think of it, our cat food is stored in a rubbermaid type container because Trevor wouldn't leave the bag alone even when his bowl was freshly filled. When he got sick in December and wouldn't eat, I took the bag out and tipped it sideways and he gleefully stuck his head inside and ate!! The lack of water is very telling. 2 cats only drink a half a bowl a day here. The litter boxes should have given more clues as to when the last visit was.