Pet sitter checklist: what to include in handover notes

A good pet sitter handover should answer ordinary questions quickly and make an unexpected situation easier to handle. The aim is not to write a manual for every possibility. It is to leave one current, readable source of truth about your companion, the home, and the people to contact.

What should a pet sitter know before you leave?

Start with the facts that identify the animal and shape daily care: name, species, age, distinguishing features, microchip details where relevant, current health conditions, and the best way to reach you. If several animals share the home, give each one a separate profile so instructions cannot be confused.

Add your travel dates and the moments when you may be unreachable. Name a nearby backup person who has agreed to help. The ASPCA recommends sharing your itinerary, emergency contacts, veterinary information, and the person authorised to make decisions if you cannot be reached.

A concise dog sitter handover template to copy

Use one sheet per pet. Fill in the details with the sitter before you leave, and keep medication directions exactly as prescribed. This is a handover summary, not permission to change treatment.

• Pet and dates: name, identifying details, care dates and times when you cannot be reached.
• Food and water: usual food, measured amount and times, fresh-water routine, and where supplies are stored.
• Daily routine: toilet breaks, walks or litter care, rest, handling preferences and escape risks.
• Medication: original labelled container, current veterinary directions, last administration and who records the next dose; include the clinic’s instructions for a missed or refused dose.
• Vet and emergency contacts: regular clinic, out-of-hours hospital, owner and agreed backup; confirm the consent and payment arrangements with the clinic in advance.
• Supplies and access: lead, carrier, cleaning materials, keys or agreed temporary access, and a secure way to share access details.
• Communication: when to send an update, what to record, and who to call immediately for a concern instead of waiting for the next message.

Keep the sheet somewhere the sitter can find quickly and share it privately. Use a medication log for individual doses and the daily pet routine guide to separate essential care from optional activities. Do one walkthrough together: the sitter should be able to find the food, water, supplies and emergency number without searching old messages.

How should you describe the daily routine?

Write what actually happens, not what an ideal day is supposed to look like. Include food and approximate amounts, meal times, fresh-water routine, toilet or litter care, walks or exercise, sleep arrangements, and any household rules. Say where supplies, carriers, leads, cleaning materials, and waste bags are kept.

Behavioural context matters too. Note familiar hiding places, known triggers, safe ways to greet or handle your companion, and what usually helps them settle. RSPCA guidance advises leaving routine, feeding, exercise, health, behaviour, equipment, and familiar-item details for the person providing care.

What emergency information belongs on the care sheet?

List your regular veterinary practice, its address and phone number, the nearest out-of-hours or emergency hospital, and a local contact who can attend in person. Confirm with your clinic and sitter how consent and payment would work if urgent care were needed while you were unavailable.

Do not make the sitter interpret a list of symptoms. Leave a simple instruction: for any urgent concern, call the veterinarian or emergency hospital promptly and follow professional advice. Add practical home details such as the carrier location, evacuation route, alarm instructions, and where the water shutoff is only when they are relevant to the stay.

How should you share medication and health instructions?

Keep every medicine in its original labelled container. Copy the current name, strength, dose, route, schedule, storage instructions, and the prescribing clinic exactly; then demonstrate the routine before you leave. Record when each dose is given so two caregivers cannot both assume the other person handled it.

Ask the prescribing veterinarian in advance what the sitter should do if a dose is missed, refused, spat out, or vomited. The answer depends on the medicine. A sitter should not repeat, change, or stop a dose from a generic online instruction.

How can you make the handover easier?

Walk through one normal care cycle together: enter the home, find the animal, prepare food, handle any medicine, secure doors, and send an update. Let the sitter try the tasks while you are still there. This exposes unclear instructions and gives your companion a lower-pressure introduction.

Agree on an update rhythm and what it should contain. A short note after each visit — arrival, food, water, toilet, medicine, and one observation — is usually easier to scan than a stream of messages. Leave the current care sheet both digitally and in one obvious physical location.

What information should stay private?

Share what the sitter needs for the agreed care and emergencies, not your entire personal archive. Use a temporary access code where possible, avoid leaving unrelated identity or financial documents visible, and explain which photos or updates may be shared with other people.

Remove access when the stay ends and update the care sheet before the next handover. A useful document is current, scoped to the job, and understandable without opening private conversations or searching through several apps.