run85 t1_j20nv2s wrote on December 28, 2022 at 8:23 PM

To put an ad in for Rover, I both cat sit and have had people sit my cats on that app. Anyone in your neighborhood with a certain number of reviews has proven that they have fed/checked in on however many animals and that the owners were satisfied. So if you’re nervous, hire someone who has a lot of reviews. You can also ask someone to do a phone call or to come and meet your cat if you want to talk to them in person before you go. While you’re gone, the sitter has to send a certain number of photos of the animals and you get notified when they’re there and when they have left.

Despite being a sitter myself, I was also a little worried the first time I hired someone random to visit my cats. The truth is that most people who do gig work like this are trying to make a few bucks on the side, and they’re probably quite interested in keeping an income stream alive. If you don’t show up to someone’s house, I think you would get booted off of the platform.

loonlaugh t1_j20s7du wrote on December 28, 2022 at 8:51 PM

Definitely ask for a meet-and-greet with any potential sitter. Some Rovers charge for it, some don't. We met with a handful and considered any charges worth it to narrow down one(s) we felt would work for us. And then we also had another one or two for backups that we could schedule if our main one wasn't available. Luck!

run85 t1_j20upmi wrote on December 28, 2022 at 9:08 PM

I think meet and greets are good! I’d say about half of the people who’ve hired me have done them. Of those folks, maybe half just wanted to talk to me and half wanted me to meet the animal. It is kind of intimate to have someone in your house; it’s definitely ok to ask for their full name, too.