Whenever I tell someone I’m a pet sitter they get a goofy grin on their face and imagine that all a pet sitter does is play with puppies and kitties all day. They say how much they would love my job. Most of the time being a pet sitter is a great job but there is one portion I don’t think I will ever like or get used to; when I get notification from a client that their beloved pet has passed away.
You see, we get attached to your pets just like you do. We each have our favorites and look forward to our visits when the client goes away. So, imagine the pain that you feel when your pet passes away and multiply that several times. We take each loss as if we’ve lost one of our own.
Worse yet, is when a pet passes in our care and we have to notify the client. It’s really hard to tell someone that their pet has died, especially when it wasn’t expected. One question we ask when we first meet to fill out the paperwork is “In the event of your pets death during your absence what arrangements should be made?”. Many people are incredibly grateful that we are so thorough but I’ve also had people burst into tears at the mere thought. The overwhelming response is to take the pet to the vet and the vet will hold them until you return home.
Thankfully neither scenario happens frequently, but it does happen and for some reason we always seem to get these notifications in threes.
Leave a Reply