Pet Sitter Instructions Checklist for Dogs and Cats: What to Write Down Before You Leave

A sitter should not have to search a long document while a dog is waiting at the door, a cat has missed a meal, or a clinic is asking who can authorize care. Give the sitter one operational page for every visit, then attach conditional detail that is opened only when medication, behavior, access, an emergency, or the return handover requires it.

Write observable instructions: amounts, locations, equipment, stop conditions, and named contacts. Replace “as usual” with what the sitter can actually see and do. Date the packet, rehearse it in the home, and leave the same current copy in print and in an agreed digital location.

The one-page core handover

Keep this page to what must be known on an ordinary visit. Use one row per animal where needs differ, and put the pet’s name and photograph at the top if animals could be confused.

Add a prominent “not permitted” line: for example, no off-lead access, no dog greetings, no balcony, no visitors, no treats outside the listed container, or no handling of a particular body area. The sitter should be able to complete the final visit check by physically seeing every animal, checking water and elimination, securing the defined boundaries, and sending the agreed update.

Medication and treatment sheet

Create a separate sheet for each animal receiving medication. Copy the pharmacy or veterinary label exactly: medication name, strength, dose, route, time, whether it is given with food, storage, start and stop dates, and the prescribing clinic. Include a photograph of the container and note where supplies, oral syringes, gloves, sharps containers, or prescription food are stored.

Describe only the administration method the animal already accepts and that the prescribing clinic has approved. Ask the clinic to write the fallback if medication cannot be given by that method. Without a written fallback, the sitter stops and contacts the owner or clinic before another attempt or any change to dose, timing, or formulation.

Medication authority ends at the written owner and clinic instructions. The sheet should say who is called after a refused, dropped, vomited, late, or uncertain dose and what information to report; it should not ask the sitter to diagnose the event, repeat a dose, double the next dose, substitute a product, or change the route. Record the result of each attempt so the owner, backup, and clinic receive the same facts.

List the animal’s known treatment reactions and the clinic-written contact threshold. Demonstrate the approved method during the handover. If the sitter cannot give it without force, repeated failed attempts, or unsafe restraint, the instruction is to stop and contact the owner or clinic. Arrange another caregiver or a veterinary plan before travel when the ordinary method is not safe for this sitter and animal.

Behavior, handling, and conflict sheet

Describe behavior as a sequence rather than a label. “May freeze and back away when a hand reaches over his head; stop reaching and toss the lead-side treat away from the door” is usable. “Can be moody” is not. Record known triggers, early stress signals, safe distance, recovery signs, preferred rewards, and the action that ends the interaction.

Include walk equipment, routes to avoid, dog or wildlife distances, cat hiding locations, and any history of escape, bite, scratch, chase, panic, or confinement distress. Unknown history belongs on the sheet too. It tells the sitter not to run an experiment.

Write one conflict line for each animal pairing, not one household label. For each pair, mark the normal zones, feeding order, shared doorway or window risks, early blocking or stalking signs, the barrier that restores separation, and which animal is counted first after a disruption. If animals who normally share space begin avoiding resources, guarding routes, or fighting, the sitter returns to the written separation layout and reports the change rather than testing another meeting.

Home access and containment sheet

Provide the address exactly as emergency services and the clinic should receive it, building name or unit, parking and entry instructions, alarm steps, key or code method, Wi-Fi only if needed, and the location of the electrical panel, water shutoff, fire extinguisher, carrier, leads, and cleaning supplies. Separate household access from financial or private information the sitter does not need.

Walk the sitter through the lock sequence. Mark gates that do not latch, doors that rebound, windows or screens that are not animal-proof, rooms that remain closed, delivery risks, and where an animal may hide before the sitter leaves. State what to do if a key fails, an alarm activates, a contractor arrives, severe weather begins, or the home becomes unsafe to occupy.

An access failure needs a timed call sequence before the booking starts. List the backup key or authorized contact, property manager or alarm contact where relevant, owner and backup order, and the threshold for reporting a missed welfare task. The sitter does not force a lock, climb a boundary, share a code with an unlisted person, or leave an exterior door unsecured. If access cannot be restored in time for essential care, the named owner or emergency contact activates the documented alternative.

Containment instructions must still work when the sitter is carrying food or managing more than one animal. If the sequence depends on two hands, two people, or temporary barriers, arrange that before the booking rather than leaving the sitter to invent a solution.

Emergency care authority and veterinary escalation

Ask the regular and emergency clinics what consent, contact, transport, and payment documentation they will accept for this booking, then use their form or record their instructions. Name the owner and backup, but describe a sitter’s spending or treatment role only to the extent the owner and clinic have documented it. This packet does not create legal authority or guarantee that a clinic will accept a payment arrangement.

Include insurance details where relevant, allergies, diagnoses, medications, vaccination and microchip records, mobility limitations, and local emergency contacts. If a clinic requires a deposit, card on file, insurer preauthorization, or direct owner consent, the owner should arrange it with that clinic before departure rather than leave the sitter to negotiate it.

Stage the records, medication reserve, carrier or lead, recent photographs, water, food, hygiene supplies, and containment equipment using the pet emergency kit guide. The sitter should know what can leave with the animal and what must remain at home.

Ask the named clinics to define which observations should bypass routine owner updates, and copy that wording into the attachment. For those clinic-defined situations, the sitter follows the documented call and transport sequence. The packet should never tell a sitter to delay a veterinary call while waiting for informal approval that the clinic has said is unnecessary.

The emergency handoff records who calls, who transports, and which authority applies. It also names the animal that must remain separated, the records and medication that travel, the person who secures the home, and where the sitter leaves an update if the owner is unreachable. The clinic decides assessment and treatment; the sitter follows the documented consent and payment boundaries and reports what was observed, given, transported, and handed over.

Handover rehearsal and return debrief

Complete one full visit together before departure. The sitter enters, locates each animal, measures a meal, follows the door sequence, finds medication and records, secures the home, and sends the planned update. Correct the sheet where the sitter hesitates; do not rely on a verbal explanation that is absent from the packet.

Rehearse one conditional branch as well: a refused medication, an animal not found at head count, or a failed key. The sitter should reach the correct attachment, contact, and stop condition without the owner coaching each step.

Agree on the update format: head count, food taken, water, urine and stool, medication result, movement or play, behavior change, home issue, and a photograph when safe. Define which changes require a message, phone call, clinic call, or immediate emergency action. If another walker, family member, cleaner, or neighbor may enter, name them and state how handoffs are confirmed.

Set a communication cadence with an overdue-update threshold and backup recipient. For example, the packet can require a short completion message after each visit, one fuller update in an agreed window, and a call to the backup when a required update remains unacknowledged for the written interval. The threshold is an operational handoff, not permission to postpone a clinic-defined emergency call.

Leave a return-debrief page with spaces for the final visit time, last meal and medication, elimination, supplies running low, home or access problems, incidents, and changes from baseline. On return, the owner reads it before resuming care. A missed dose, reduced appetite, damaged barrier, or conflict should not disappear into a casual text thread.

The return debrief must end in a named care decision: resume the documented routine when observations match baseline; continue separation and repair a failed barrier before access changes; contact the clinic about a medication, intake, elimination, injury, or behavior concern; or keep the emergency handoff active until the clinic or backup closes it. Record who owns the action and when it will be reviewed. The rehearsal is complete only when the written packet matches the visit, including the final lock, update, and exception handoff.

Sources

Sources reviewed July 13, 2026.

• ASPCA: Pet sitter safety
• Humane World for Animals: How to choose and prepare a pet sitter
• VCA Animal Hospitals: Giving pills to dogs
• VCA Animal Hospitals: Giving pills to cats