Looking for a pet sitter - Arlington, MA

[Goby]

Hi all - we have finally reached a point where Goby's BG has stabilized. We are now trying to get back to a normal-ish routine, but are having trouble finding someone with experience who we trust to be our pet sitter during times where we will eventually be taking vacation, or if we wanted to have dinner out and not have the need to rush back.
Most pet sitters in the Boston, MA area are not experienced in insulin and we are very over protective and particular. I've also checked in at local cat boarding places, but they either do not offer insulin or its exorbitantly expensive. Plus we've never boarded our cats and I'm pretty sure they'd hate it and be super stressed out, so we want to avoid this if possible.
What do other people do? How do you connect with others in your area that might have a diabetic cat and would be willing to trade off pet sitting responsibilities so we can get a bit of freedom back in our lives?
Any advice would be super helpful. Thank you!

 

[Barri & Sonny]

I have had a lot of good help posting an ad on "Care.com" It is a childcare/pet service/ errand/odd job website. When i need pet care, i post exactly what i need, am very detailed in what i write and whom i choose to interview. You can read reviews and reports on sitters and see their experience...even get references and background checks

 

[Goby]

I have had a lot of good help posting an ad on "Care.com" It is a childcare/pet service/ errand/odd job website. When i need pet care, i post exactly what i need, am very detailed in what i write and whom i choose to interview. You can read reviews and reports on sitters and see their experience...even get references and background checks

Thank you! I will definitely check out care.com

 

[Goby]

Thank you! I will definitely check out care.com

I tried to sign up for this but didn't realize that you need a subscription in order to use the site. Is this correct?

 

[Barri & Sonny]

No you do not have to pay unless you sign up for "premium" membership...i never paid

 

[Barri & Sonny]

Sorry...i was wrong...when i looked for nanny jobs i never paid. When hiring a pet sitter, i paid a 1 month membership. When i found my perfect pet sitter...i cancelled the membership. I made sure i hired someone who was close to my apartment, could come 2x a day, had a picture in their profile, and has previously admistered insulin to a cat

 

[Goby]

Sorry...i was wrong...when i looked for nanny jobs i never paid. When hiring a pet sitter, i paid a 1 month membership. When i found my perfect pet sitter...i cancelled the membership. I made sure i hired someone who was close to my apartment, could come 2x a day, had a picture in their profile, and has previously admistered insulin to a cat

Thank you for letting me know! I'll consider doing that and I appreciate the double check

 

[ja9390]

I've had friends and coworkers offer to help me out, but I'm still very nervous and would need to be extraordinarily confident in their abilities to take care of my boy when I'm gone. He's using a very harsh insulin right now. Even if I'm only going out to dinner, the thought keeps running through my head that, god forbid, the person could accidentally shoot too much insulin into him and there's really no coming back from that. I'd rather feel like I have to be in a rush to help him all the time, than spend one minute thinking of that scenario. I'm sure the worrying will wear off but we're new to diabetes. I'm even weary of the people who say they're highly trained on the internet. I will ask my vets office next time I go if any techs offer pet sitting services. Will look into care.com as well. Do you have any family who lives close by that could help you? Family would be my first choice. Glad you posted this!

 

[Goby]

I've had friends and coworkers offer to help me out, but I'm still very nervous and would need to be extraordinarily confident in their abilities to take care of my boy when I'm gone. He's using a very harsh insulin right now. Even if I'm only going out to dinner, the thought keeps running through my head that, god forbid, the person could accidentally shoot too much insulin into him and there's really no coming back from that. I'd rather feel like I have to be in a rush to help him all the time, than spend one minute thinking of that scenario. I'm sure the worrying will wear off but we're new to diabetes. I'm even weary of the people who say they're highly trained on the internet. I will ask my vets office next time I go if any techs offer pet sitting services. Will look into care.com as well. Do you have any family who lives close by that could help you? Family would be my first choice. Glad you posted this!

I completely understand how you feel and my husband has said those exact same things. He is the one that does the insulin and barely trusts me to do it and I grew up working at a vet clinic and both of my parents are vets. It's hard giving up that control! We will bring our cats to my parents when we do longer vacations, but for weekends or just a dinner out, it's not feasible because they're 2 hours away and the cats don't like being in the car.
In the meanwhile, I'm still looking and hoping to find someone capable and trustworthy. It's definitely a hurdle though. We were on the paranoid side before this and now we're in paranoid overdrive. Keep looking and I'm sure at some point we'll find the right match for pet sitting!