How to Prepare a Pet Friendly Home for a Petsitter: Top Tips

When pet owners leave pets and a home in the care of a sitter, they often forget to prepare a pet friendly home for a petsitter. What do we mean by that? Well you need to prepare information that helps them learn about your home, the dangers you are aware of for your pets. You can help the sitter by preparing early, offering a reference document and walking them around your home guiding them around the indoors and outdoors on your property. Read on to learn our top tips to keep your pets safe in our absence.

Preparing a Pet Friendly Home for a Petsitter: What Most People Forget

Photo source Pexels

Want to make sure a pet sitter can take care of a home without incident?

Pet parents think about food bowls. Leash and walking schedules. And they definitely write down that emergency vet hospital number.

But there are dangers hiding in almost every home that few pet owners consider. The ASPCA received 451,755 calls about poisonings in 2024 alone… and the majority occurred right inside pets’ homes.

The solution?

Doing a little preparation can prevent 99% of dangers like these. And it doesn’t take hours of babysitting the home before leaving for vacation.

What you’re going to pick up:

• Why Preparing a Home for a Pet Sitter Is Important
• The Most Common Household Hazards That Surprise Pet Sitters
• Drains & Pipes: Danger Most Pet Owners Overlook
• A Fast & Easy Checklist to Make Any Home Sitter-Ready

Why Preparing a Pet Friendly Home for a Petsitter Is Important

Think about it…

A pet sitter is entering into someone else’s living space. They aren’t familiar with where the hazardous chemicals are stored. They don’t know if there’s loose fencing in the backyard. Or what shade of green identifies that poisonous oleander plant in the garden.

Preparing a pet friendly home for a petsitter before leaving to go on holiday isn’t just helpful for the sitter. It keeps the pet safe too.

The problem is most pet parents don’t prepare well enough or early enough.

Most owners leave a note on the fridge with the food schedule. Maybe they open the cabinets to show where the food and treats are kept. But that’s about it. Pets are smart. They will find what they’re looking for if there’s an opportunity.

A pet sitter faces the same problem when they don’t know the home they’re working in. If a pet gets into something and needs help in the middle of the night, the sitter needs to know exactly where to find everything.

Giving the sitter an hour to walk through the home could spare everyone from disasters that aren’t convenient (or affordable).

The Most Common Household Hazards That Surprise Pet Sitters

Pet Care Warning –

Believe it or not…

Cleaning chemicals are the hazard most pet parents forget about. Those bottles of Windex and Clorox tucked quietly underneath the sink can wreak havoc on a curious pet who finds them.

That stigma is backed up by science. Non-prescription meds were the cause of 16.5% of pet toxin exposures reported to the ASPCA in 2024. That covers everything from dog poisonings to cats. Medications are consistently the top reason why people call.

Pet sitters aren’t mind readers. Tell them where dangers are hiding.

Walk the sitter through the home, demonstrate the routine chores and remember to show them potential problem areas. Open every cupboard, closet and drawer so they can see exactly what the pet could get into when nobody is home.

Some top tips for preparing a pet friendly home for a petsitter:

Inside the home, most people fail to check the following:

• Medications: Pet parents buy medications for every problem, big and small. Many pets have been poisoned because pills or medication bottles were left out.

• Food: Chocolate, onions, coffee and grapes are just some examples of tasty human foods that can kill pets. If they’re kept in low cabinets or bathrooms, they need to be moved before leaving.

• Objects: Needles, pins, rubber bands and hair ties. Pets have seriously harmed themselves by chewing on these items because they can’t see them safely tucked away.

• Chemicals: Whether it’s pesticides, fertilizer or bug spray. Garden chemicals are another common source of poisoning.

Are you starting to see a pattern here?

These are exactly the type of dangers that homeowners walk by every day without noticing. A pet sitter cares for the home like it’s their own. But they won’t know where these toxins are hidden without being told.

Drains & Pipes: Danger Most Pet Owners Overlook

Okay, time for the bad news.

Outdoor drains and pipes can be harmful to pets if they’re not properly maintained. Dogs will drink from puddles that form around drains after it rains. Cats will try to look inside of them if the openings are exposed.

Failing drainpipes and drains are a breeding ground for bacteria. If debris or outdoor chemicals have pooled inside of them, a pet could become seriously sick by drinking that water.

Older homes are at an even greater risk for this happening. That’s why it’s important to get drains and pipes looked at every year.

Professional drain inspections can save time, money and hassle.

A non-invasive drain inspection can reveal blockages, cracks and structural damage without tearing up the garden. Services like checking new drainage systems with CCTV technology can show the inside of pipes without destroying the yard.

Why does this matter to petsitters?

Because they won’t know a slow-draining drain is causing water to pool in the backyard. Or that the puddle forming near the garden hose is actually dirty water coming from the house.

Petsitters aren’t familiar with the home the way an owner is. Checking drains is another quick tip that can prevent possible disaster.

A Fast & Easy Checklist to Make Any Home Sitter-Ready

Creating a pet-safe home doesn’t have to be difficult.

Here’s a simple checklist to follow. Print it off, tack it to the fridge and follow along with the pet sitter during the walkthrough:

• Lock up Medications & Chemicals. These go in cabinets too high for pets to reach. Don’t leave pills or medication bottles on countertops.

• Sweep the Yard. Look for loose fencing, toxic plants, sharp objects or standing water near drains that pets can reach.

• Double Check Outdoor Drains & Pipes. Take a quick look at all exposed drains and pipes outdoors. Look for cracks, blockages or pooling water. If something looks off, contact a professional before leaving.

• Label Everything. Not just food and treats. Label medications (if the pet needs them) and important phone numbers too. Make sure everything is easy for the sitter to find.

• Walk the Petsitter Through the Home. Don’t rely on sticky notes. Physically walk the sitter through each room of the home and show them what NOT to touch. Point out where the pet’s first aid kit is kept. Where the backup vet hospital number is. Even show them where the pet likes to hang out.

That’s it! Nobody needs to spend all day babysitting the home before leaving. Take a deep breath. Spend an hour walking through the home with the pet sitter and problem areas will reveal themselves.

Bringing It All Together

Preparing a home for a pet sitter isn’t difficult.

The challenge comes when homeowners forget to mention the dangers pets love to get into. Unsecured medications, toxic foods kept in low cabinets, garden chemicals and damaged drains and pipes are all dangers that require extra attention.

Preparing a Pet Friendly Home for a Petsitter in Summary

The hazards exist. Now it’s time to teach the pet sitter where to look.

The easiest way to prepare any home for a pet sitter is to combine two simple strategies:

1. Walk through the home inside – Do a room-by-room walkthrough showing the sitter specifically where hazards are kept.
2. Walk around the property outside – Take the sitter outside and do a yard check. Ensure that drains are clear and pipes aren’t broken.
3. Prepare a written reference document – this will help give them points of reference that guide them around all the danger areas for your pet, as well as the running of your home.

Pet sitting emergencies are usually caused by the same problems. Keep them from happening by following the steps above to prepare your pet friendly home for a petsitter.

Take care of the home before leaving, to ensure that everyone will be thankful later.

Further reading about finding pet sitters

At Housesit Match we like to share useful blogs and practical advice about finding petsitters, preparing a pet friendly home for a petsitter, housesitting and pet sitting. We hope you find this small selection of our blogs on house sitters useful.

Housesitters keep pets safe at home and save money

What a housesitter does – Top 10 responsibilities

The Affordable Alternative to Dog Kennels

What is Housesitting?