How much should I pay someone to watch my cat?

I am leaving to go home for Christmas and I will be gone for about 3 weeks. One of my neighbors in my apartments is going to keep an eye on my cat for me while I'm gone. I also am going to ask her to water my plants. Kitty has an autofeeder and autowaterer but scooping out the box will be necessary. What is a good way to pay someone for doing this for me? Gift cards or cash? How much should I give her? Just not sure what is reasonable and customary in this situation, thanks in advance for advice. :)

We've only had weekend sitters for our cat so far (apart from family, who gladly do it for free), and we've asked local kids, and paid them a small amount, about the price of a movie ticket. Had we asked the parents we would have asked just as a favour, but it seems like a good "small job" to hire kids for.

My gut feeling says go with a favour back, or giftcards, wine bottle or similar. The more you appreciate it and need it, the more personal.

Funny - I'm just now reading a fascinating book about how and why people act irrationally in a predictable manner in many situations, and one of the authors points is the difference between social norms (doing things for the warm fuzzies) and market norms (doing things for money).

The professional pet sitters around her charge a minimum of $20/visit, or $35 for 2 visits/day.
I pay the neighbor kid about $20/5 days. I also try to remember to buy them something like a T shirt.
If a neighbor adult does it, I usually get a gift certificate to a local restaurant for about $20. I feel odd giving a neighbor money. The only reason an adult ever stops in to feed my dogs is one of my dogs bites and the mother doesn't like her 13 year old going in my house, whereas the 13 yr old doesn't mind, he knows how to avoid the dog.
All anyone ever does is stop in and feed them. Having someone come in and spend time with them costs more, but back to that biting thing, I don't ask for that.
When I drop my guys off at friends houses for extended trips, I buy dinner at a nice restaurant, my last 8 day trip cost me $140 dinner for the 3 different pet sitters. I have too many pets.

The place where I board my cat charges $12 a day. That includes food.

I've kept an eye on my neighbors cat and I expected nothing but she gave me a bottle of wine for Christmas.

Three weeks is a long time to be expected to pooper scoop for a neighbor - a gift certificate to a restaurant and a bottle of good bubbly or wine would be appropriate. Just make certain the neighbor drinks first - don't give alcohol to someone who doesn't imbibe.

Also make certain the neighbor knows who your vet is, leave the kitty carrier where it can easily be found, and your contact phone numbers.

Can you take your cat with you?

Or board it.

I take comfort in knowing that knowledgeable people know my cat and are watching out for her. They can spot illness that an untrained eye might miss. It does happen, my cat developed an abscess tooth and one of the employees took her to the vet and got her on antibiotics. We were only gone for a couple of days but the early intervention kept the issue from being an emergency and gave us time to get her to a vet dental specialist.

I also find that my cat seems better adjusted when we return home, no panic because she was left behind.

Kitty is now 15 years old. She does NOT like new places so I think boarding her would be more stressful than having someone come check in on her. And because of her age the vet said do not fly with her.

I was thinking of something around $25/week in some form of payment? Does that sound fair?

is there an opportunity to pay back the favour? as in does your neighbour have a cat you can look after when she's away?

I'm going away next week for 5 nights and a co-worker is coming to stay at my place (I don't like to leave them alone longer than a weekend). He doesn't ask for money, but he wants a nicely stocked cupboard and fridge, so I guess in a way I'm paying him about $25-30 for food.

I've also advertised my place on craigslist to house/animal sit in exchange for rent. I fortunately live in a trendy neighbourhood so I always have people interested. But when I get back I usually give them a $20 gift card to Starbucks as a thanks for keeping my animals alive and not destroying my place.

I have cat sat for people (both times 2 weeks) and neither of them "gave" me anything other than a verbal thanks. While I don't do it to get stuff, it's still nice to get a gesture of thanks if nothing else than for me to want to do it again if they ask!

hijack/

lph - is the book in English, and if so, what's the title/author? I read Sway a couple of years ago and found it really fascinating.


/hijack

If it's a case of a friendly neighbor doing you a favor, a gift worth $25 a week sounds fair. I'd probably do gift cards or certificates because cash seems a little cold, though that's not really rational. I agree with a nice bottle of wine if the neighbor drinks it (or entertains).

I'm glad you have someone you trust, especially since it's an older kitty.

Where I used to live I had my neighbor stop in to check on our cats and bring in our mail. She would not take money or gift cards from us. So I would also bring her and her two kids back gifts from our vacation as a thank you. She loved that.

15 was when I started boarding my 2 cats due to health issues and needing medication. They both adapted very well and my current kitty complains but settles pretty well.

I think my current kitty would freak out if she were left home alone for 3 weeks.

We have been so fortunate, and found a woman in Fountain Hills to come to take care of our babies. Our four babies!

She charges $15/day, if she stays over it is $50. With her daily rate we give her $20 and we know she drives 40 miles round trip to get to our home. Plus she does "beauty shop" with the girls and the boy (Kegan, 16, Tessie, 5, Sophie 1.5, and Theo, 6 months!) She always leaves us detailed notes which are a riot and tells us what everyone has been up to!

We pay our pet sitter, who comes and stays if we're gone more than a couple of days, $35/day for 2 cats or $50/day if the dog stays too (we usually take the doggie or she goes to the home of our dog walker). If she just stops over to feed/check litter, it's $10/visit. A neighbor once came on the spur of the moment and we gave him a 6-pack of his favorite beer - never saw such a big smile out of him before!