20+ Pros and Cons of Being a Pet Sitter (Explained)

A pet sitter provides routine care for pets at times the owner is not available to take care and is on vacation. They usually stay in the home of the pet owner, because the pet will stay in their familiar area.

Besides basic caring for pets, they do also provide services such as vacuuming pet hair and collecting mail for the owner. Most do limit their service to owners of cats and dogs while other pet sitters specialize for small mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, and even amphibians.

Advantages of Being a Pet Sitter	Disadvantages of Being a Pet Sitter
Pet sitting is not stressful	Distrust and uncomforted
One can work with many different animals	The Messes
Working with pets is fun	The messages and lack of availability
One can get meaning in life	The clients and red flags
Pet sitters do not work several extra hours

Advantages of Being a Pet Sitter

Pet sitting is not stressful

An advantage of being a pet sitter is that this job is not very stressful. Though, one will have pets that do not listen to their instructions and misbehave.

Even then, compared to several other jobs in the world, one will not have a similar stress level as they do not have to face enormous time pressure and will instead be able to enjoy their time at work in a much more relaxed manner.

One can work with many different animals

Not only will your workday be rather relaxed, but you will also be able to work with many different animals. It is very interesting to work with different animals. This will be a lot of fun as it makes one’s time at work very engaging and thrilling.

Like, if one only cared for an individual animal for a longer duration of time, the probability is there that their work will be very boring.

In turn, if one is able to care for several different pets and work for several different clients, they will always learn character traits and new things and it will be really beneficial when it comes to learning about animals and how they behave overall.

Working with pets is fun

A benefit of being a pet sitter is that this will just be a lot of fun. If one loves working with animals, the profession of a pet sitter will definitely be great for one since they will be surrounded by pets for the entire day.

Though, it is not for everyone as not all are passionate about animals and several people do not like animals at all. And if one is really affectionate about pet sitting and actually wants to work with pets, it will be a great way to spend their day.

One can get meaning in life

What they do as a pet sitter is more than just a job for most. Moreover, only caring for pets is a real passion for them. As several pet sitters are not in their profession for simply earning money. Many people even get real meaning in their life by working as pet sitters.

Caring for a pet is a real satisfaction as it stays for the birth of new ones, watching them grow, playing with them, nursing them if they get ill, and helplessly watching a pet die if one is not able to cure or prevent.

It is more engaging for elder people who usually do not have that much social contact anymore.

Pet sitters do not work several extra hours

One will not have to work several extra hours as a pet sitter. Moreover, many pet sitters usually work less than the average of 40 hours a week and few of them work even only part-time.

Consequently, depending on how much money one needs right now and how much one wants to work, they will usually have the option to work as per their comfort. Though, it also depends on the agency one works for or even works self-employed.

Therefore, pet sitters are usually very flexible in this aspect and will also have sufficient leisure time which they can spend on things they like more than work.

Disadvantages of being a Pet Sitter

Distrust and uncomforted

Everyone has their private space, secrets, and privacy. If anyone violates, it makes us very uncomfortable and annoyed and we do not take them easily, distrust them and be uncomfortable.

The pet sitter will need to enter their home while they are away. Though it apparently seems obvious, this is definitely a legitimate concern. Pet enthusiasts must make sure they choose a pet sitting agency that is reputed and thoroughly screens their workers.

A big concern is that the pet will be alone for the entire day. It may not be detrimental if one works as their pet is used to that, but it could be annoying and stressful for pets that are used to having company throughout their usual day.

The Messes

Anyone who has experience of ever seeing a dog excretes up or poop blood or has ever cleaned up animal poop, diarrhea, throw up, or pee knows the mess that gets created. They have to be always ready to clean up the mess to make the environment clean and healthy.

The houses with pets usually very often get messed up by dog poop where the dogs roam freely; they tend to eat/chew the shoes, mattress, soft toys, bedsheets, curtains, etc.

Bigger pets like an elephant, a big dog, cow, or bull trend to make bigger messes and need to be cleaned several times a day. Buffalo and elephants, which are basically amphibians, need bathing and safekeeping from the sun.

The messages and lack of availability

Pet Sitting is an around-the-clock and an all-season job. At times, when people go to their work or plan a vacation, they will require pet sitters to attend to their pets.

Usually, rich people get enthusiastic and keep a pet without having any time for caring for their pet. Though one can always refuse to cater this need but at risk of calling someone else and losing the client.

The life and priorities of people are very dynamic and changing. Clients tend to regularly need the pet sitters and regularly communicate their needs. In unavoidable circumstances, a pet sitter has to refuse to attend to clients.

They may have to cancel all their appointments if they become ill or get infected. But as the pets need continuous care the client has to call some other pet sitter and there is always the risk of losing a loyal vintage client.

The clients and red flags

The pet sitter must have in their mind Red Flags. They must know where to stop. They must know where to continue.

As they are the ones having experience caring for animals, have a better understanding, they know the situation better.

However, they may have different priorities and aspects than the client. A situation can be risky or unsuitable to pet but an enthusiast client may force a pet sitter to do it.