What to leave your pet sitter

Leave your pet sitter enough food and treats for the whole trip plus a few extra days, every medication in its labeled bottle with written doses, leashes and litter, cleaning supplies, your vet’s details and a signed vet authorization, a list of emergency contacts, your travel itinerary, and a backup plan for the key. Put it all in one spot, with one page of notes on top. That way your sitter spends the visit with your pets, not hunting through cupboards.

This guide is about what you hand over. Getting the house itself ready (thermostat, codes, Wi-Fi, off-limits rooms) is covered in how to prepare your home for a pet sitter. If you want it all on paper, the pet care plan checklist is a printable version you can fill in.

Food and treats: the whole trip, plus extra

Count the meals, then add a few days. Flights get delayed and Front Range snowstorms close roads, and a sitter who runs out of your pet’s food has to switch brands or go shopping mid-stay.

• Enough food for every meal of the trip, plus two or three days. Leave the backup bag or cans unopened, next to the open one.
• The scoop or cup you actually use, with the amount per meal written on a note. “One scoop” means nothing if the scoop isn’t there.
• Treats, chews and any food toppers, with a note on how many a day.
• A list of foods your pet must not have, including people food they beg for.

Medications, in their labeled bottles

Leave every medication in the original pharmacy or vet container, with the label on. The label shows the pet’s name, the drug and the dose, and it’s what an emergency vet will ask to see. The ASPCA’s pet sitter safety guide suggests a written list of each medication, the dose, and when and how often it’s given.

• Count the pills and make sure there are enough for the trip and a few extra days. Refill before you go if a bottle is low.
• Write down what each one is for, and whether it goes with food.
• Leave pill pockets or whatever trick gets the pill down.
• Note anything kept in the fridge, and where.

If your pet needs something more involved, like timed meals for a diabetic pet, tell Hope at the walkthrough and she’ll tell you honestly what she can do.

Gear and cleaning supplies

• Leashes, harnesses and a backup collar with ID tags, by the door you use for walks.
• Poop bags, more than you think.
• Litter, a fresh bag beyond what’s in the box, plus the scoop and liners.
• Cleaning supplies for accidents: paper towels, an enzyme cleaner and trash bags, kept together.
• A carrier or crate, where it lives, in case a pet has to go to the vet.
• Towels for muddy or snowy paws.

Vet information and a signed authorization

If your pet gets sick at 9 p.m., your sitter needs to know where to go and needs permission to say yes to treatment. Leave:

• Your regular vet’s name, address and phone number, and the emergency animal hospital you’d want used.
• A short medical summary for each pet: age, weight, health conditions, allergies and microchip number.
• Vaccination records, or a note that your vet has them on file.
• A signed vet authorization. It names your sitter, gives them permission to approve care while you’re away, and sets a spending limit. Call your vet before the trip and ask what they need on file. Some clinics have their own form.
• The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center number, 888-426-4435, from the ASPCA guide linked above.

Emergency contacts

• Your cell number, and anyone traveling with you.
• A local backup person who knows your pets, has a key, and can make a decision if you can’t be reached.
• The people the house might need: plumber, landlord or HOA.

Tell your backup person they’re on the list. A name they’ve never heard about won’t help much at midnight.

Your itinerary

Leave your flight numbers, where you’re staying, and any stretch when you’ll be hard to reach, like a long flight, a cruise or a cabin without signal. Add the exact day and time you expect to be home. If your return slips, your sitter knows to keep going and how to check with you.

A backup key plan

Keys break, phones die and smart locks lose their connection. Decide ahead of time what happens if the main way in fails:

• A second key with your backup person or a trusted neighbor, and their number on the contact list.
• If you use a smart lock or keypad, a physical key as backup.
• Tell your sitter where the backup key is and who to call for it.

How Hope gathers all of this

Before your first booking, Hope or one of her sitters comes to your home for a free walkthrough. You show them the food, the medications, the gear and the cleaning supplies. They go through your vet, your emergency contacts, your trip dates and the key plan with you, and ask about anything that isn’t written down.

It all goes into a written care plan. On a stay, your sitter does a photo walkthrough on arrival, sends at least one text and photo every day, and tells you right away if supplies are running low or anything seems off. More planning help is in Hope’s pet care guides, and answers to common questions are on the FAQ page.

Source checked in October 2026: ASPCA, linked above.