How to choose a pet sitter: 12 questions to ask before you book

Why do these questions matter in B.C.?

Because no one checks a pet sitter for you. AnimalKind, the BC SPCA’s animal welfare accreditation and referral program, says it plainly on its pet care services page: “Pet care services are unregulated in B.C. Anyone can open a boarding facility, grooming salon, or run a dog daycare, regardless of their education and experience.”

AnimalKind wrote standards for dog daycare, dog walking, pet boarding and grooming, and it calls them voluntary. In-home pet sitting is not on that list. When someone will sleep in your home and feed your pet, the questions you ask are the main check you have.

The sources in this post are from B.C. The questions themselves work just as well if you are hiring a sitter in Edmonton.

What are the 12 questions to ask a pet sitter?

Keep this list on your phone or print it for the first call. Write the answers next to each one.

How they care for your pet

1. How do you handle pets, and how do you reward them?
2. Have you had any training in reading cat or dog body language?
3. Will you stay overnight in my home, or visit during the day?
4. If I have a dog, how often will you walk them, and with what collar or harness?

Health and emergencies

5. If my pet takes medication, are you comfortable giving it?
6. What would you do in an emergency, or if my pet gets hurt?
7. What happens if you get sick during my booking?
8. Will you tell me about every incident, even a small one?

Updates and the booking

9. How will you keep in touch, and how often will I get updates and photos?
10. Can I meet you before I book, with my pet there?
11. How do dates, rates and cancellations work?
12. Do you carry business insurance, and what does it cover?

Questions 1, 2 and 6 are the three the BC SPCA lists on its page about finding humane pet care services.

What does a good answer sound like?

A good answer is specific. “I love animals” is a nice thing to hear, but it does not tell you what the sitter will actually do.

#	Question	Why it matters	A good answer sounds like
1	How do you handle pets?	The BC SPCA says carers should use food, treats and play, not punishments like spray bottles or leash corrections.	Treats, play and patience. No talk of punishment, “dominance” or “alphas”.
2	Body language training?	AnimalKind asks whether caregivers can recognize fear and distress behaviours.	A course they can name, or clear examples of the signs they watch for.
3	Overnight or visits?	It decides how many hours your pet spends alone each day.	Plain hours: when they arrive, when they leave and where they sleep.
4	Walks?	AnimalKind says shock, prong and choke collars should never be used on dog walks.	Your dog’s usual gear and route, and a plan if your dog gets loose.
5	Medication?	A sitter who is unsure about tablets or drops should say so before you book.	A clear yes or no for your pet’s exact medicine, plus questions about how you give it now.
6	Emergencies?	AnimalKind asks whether a service has an emergency plan for injuries and building evacuations.	Your vet’s name, the nearest after-hours clinic and the point at which they call you.
7	If you get sick?	Your pet still needs dinner if the sitter cannot come.	A named plan, given without a long pause.
8	Incidents?	AnimalKind tells owners to say no to services that do not tell you about incidents.	“Yes, every time, the same day.”
9	Updates?	You will want to know how your pet is settling.	How often, by text or which app, and whether photos are included.
10	Meet first?	Your pet meets the sitter before you leave, and you see how they handle your pet.	Yes, at your home, before the first booking.
11	Dates, rates, cancellations?	No surprises after you book.	A clear way to check dates and a quote for your dates and pets.
12	Insurance?	You should know what is covered before you hand over keys.	A plain yes or no, and what the policy covers.

What extra questions should you ask a dog sitter?

Dogs leave the house, so ask about the outside part of the day too. These come from AnimalKind’s checklist for dog walkers, and they fit a dog sitter just as well:

• Will my dog be walked alone or with other dogs?
• Will my dog go off leash?
• What is the plan if my dog escapes or gets lost?

• How do you manage leash pulling and a lot of barking?
• If you drive my dog anywhere, how will my dog be secured in the car?

What should you ask a cat sitter?

A cat’s stress can be quiet. AnimalKind’s cat boarding checklist names the signs to ask about: “fearfulness, excessive hiding, lack of eating, urination out of the litter box, and excessive vocalization or grooming.” Turn that into questions for a cat sitter:

• What will you do if my cat hides and will not eat?
• Will you check the litter box every day and tell me if something looks different?
• Will you leave my cat’s hiding and perching spots as they are?

How do you interview a potential pet sitter?

Treat the meet and greet as the interview. It happens in your home, with your pet in the room, so you learn more than you would on the phone. The guide to what happens at a pet sitter meet and greet goes through it step by step.

1. Send your dates first, so you only meet sitters who are free.
2. Meet at home with your pet there. Watch how the sitter says hello.
3. Ask the 12 questions and write the answers down.
4. Notice what the sitter asks you. AnimalKind says a good service asks about your pet’s vaccination and parasite prevention status, health concerns such as allergies or injuries, typical behaviour, fears and favourite rewards.
5. Listen to your gut. In AnimalKind’s words: “If a pet service provider says or does something that makes you or your pet uncomfortable, it’s okay to leave or stop to ask more questions.”

If an answer worries you, the list of pet sitter red flags helps you decide whether it is a deal breaker. For the wider search, start with how to find a pet sitter you can trust.

What should you ask a pet sitter’s reference?

A reference is a past client who agrees to talk to you. Ask for one whose pet is like yours, such as another senior cat or another dog who pulls on the leash. Then ask:

• How many nights did they care for your pet?
• Was your pet settled when you came home?
• Did updates arrive when they said they would?
• Was anything different from what you agreed?
• Would you book them again?

How do I answer these questions?

Here is what I can tell you up front. I meet your pets before any booking. I stay overnight in your home, so your pet keeps the same routine. I post my availability as date ranges, and I’m already taking bookings into 2027. Summer 2026 was my busiest in years, with a record eight new clients. Rates depend on your dates and pets.

The rest of the list, from training and walks to insurance and a backup plan, deserves a real answer in conversation, not a line on a blog. Ask me at the meet and greet, and hold my answers to the table above.

I sit in Ladysmith, Nanaimo, Cumberland, Courtenay and Comox on Vancouver Island, and in Vancouver and Edmonton. You can read about pet sitting in Nanaimo and Ladysmith, pet sitting in the Comox Valley or how my in-home pet sitting works. The pet sitting FAQ answers the quick ones. When you know your dates, send them to me and I’ll reply with my availability. Once you have booked, the pet sitter checklist shows what to leave out before you go.