Can you make a good income as a pet sitter?

You can make a decent income as a pet sitter but not by working for big pet sitting agency as an employee.

The way to make a good income without trashing your car and yourself by running around to ten different pet homes each day at all hours of the morning and night, is to own your own pet sitting business.

To make good income you need your own clients and you have to charge a fair price that is high enough to make a living. This way you can control your hours and your pay.

To charge enough to make a good living requires that you live close enough to an area that has a lot of affluent people, or you have to be willing to travel to areas that pay well for pet sitting.

You Don’t need to be an expert to get started as a pet sitter
Becoming a pet sitter isn’t that hard, and pet sitting is a legitimate business for grownups! At first glance pet sitting might look like a summer job for teenagers looking to make 10 bucks for dog walking or house sitting.

I didn’t think anyone would be willing to pay well for pet sitting because I had has sat for people with pets a few times and they were not willing to pay much if at all. I thought it was just something you did for friends on the side.

Then one of my Pilates students had her pet sitter cancel. I volunteered without even asking the price. She paid me $100 per night to stay in her home with her 2 adorable cats for a week. It was the easiest 700 dollars I had ever made, and I got to snuggle wonderful animals to boot!

A lot of people use the kid down the street to house sit and pet sit and pay way less than 100 per day. But those are not the customers you want.

I have had many clients tell me how much they appreciate having a reliable grownup to care for their pets while they are gone and to have someone to house sit as well. They tell me they have so much peace of mind and they are willing to pay well for that.

How do you start a pet sitting business?
To start earning your own pet sitting income you just need to be friendly, personable, mature, honest, trustworthy and dependable.

You also need a reliable car so you can accept a wide enough range of geography to get enough jobs. I try to keep within a 30-mile radius of my home base and charge more for going farther away.

And of course you have to genuinely like animals, like hanging out and playing with them, being patient, not mind picking up dog poop or cleaning a litter box or cleaning up vomit now and then.

It also helps to have flexible hours to visit pets at various times of the day. So having a regular 8 to 5 job makes it hard to transition to pet sitting as a full-time income.

Can you go full time as a pet sitter?
When I was teaching Pilates, I taught from 6 am to 11 am 4 days a week and had to turn away a lot of pet sitting jobs because animals needed to be walked and fed between 7 and 11 in the morning right when I was in the middle of my 4-hour teaching shift.

Once I gave up those regular teaching shifts, I was able to expand my business and immediately doubled my pet sitting income.

It was hard to let go of that regular monthly income. But I was miserable teaching large group Pilates classes where I felt like a robot, and wanted to do more pet sitting and I knew I could make great money because of the area I live in.

A side gig is handy when building a pet sitting business
So now I teach a few private students and substitute a few group classes when my pet sitting schedule is slow.

I also have a niche website for Pilates for older adults who want to get fit. So, I am building an online business with the expertise I have from 20 years of teaching.

Think about your own knowledge and experience and I bet you can come up with an idea for a course or website as a side business to supplement when pet sitting is slow.

Pet sitting can provide great income if you have access to high-end clients
If you live in a fairly affluent urban area with at least some upper-middle-class neighborhoods, you can make a decent living as a pet sitter, but it takes time to build clientele.

Depending on how much you can spend on advertising and how many people you can get to refer your business, it can take months or even years to get to full-time income. That’s where having a flexible side hustle comes in handy.

Starting with a pet sitting company as an employee or freelancer
When I tell people I do pet sitting for a living they often ask if I work for one of the big pet sitting companies. “God No! I have my own private one-person pet sitting company” I tell them.

The last thing I want is to be  paeon making minimum wage driving my car into the ground scurrying all over Silicon Valley, while someone else scoops up most of the profits.

The best way to make a good living as a pet sitter is to work without a middleman or agency and keep all the profits for yourself.

At first you may need to work for a company or have a listing on a site that is established and has a ton of business already, until you build up enough clients who go away regularly or need dog walking daily while they are at work.

My experience with Meowtel
I still have a listing at Meowtel for cat sitting only. I know a lot of people start on Rover, but I didn’t like the randomness and last-minute feel of that platform and other similar platforms.

Meowtel requires two references to fill out a form vouching for you as a pet sitter, and Meowtel puts perspective pet sitters through an online live zoom screening.

So, with Meowtel you usually get a decent clientele who are willing to pay a little more. You set up your own pricing and do everything yourself except the contracts and payments.

At Meowtel you are required to do a meet-and-greet with each customer before you start the pet sit. So, there is time to back out once you have met with the pet and owner, if it’s a bad situation.

I have had a very good experience with Meowtel. The clients are nice, and the pay and tips are decent. Now that my own business is getting busy, I often block off parts of my Meowtel schedule where I don’t take any new Meowtel clients.

The platform is easy to use at Meowtel with zones and pricing you can adjust as well as a calendar where you can decide when to make yourself available and for what amount of time.

Pet sitting apps
Rover, Care and other online apps are the fast-food delivery mentality people need a last-minute pet sitter or dog walker, and they don’t care who it is. Some people do well with these listings. Try out a couple of different sites and see what you like.

I have tried Thumbtack, but the accuracy of the app is not calibrated for pet sitters in my area, and I was not able to narrow down the locations enough to make it worth my time. The leads they sent me were always 60 to 80 miles away.

If you make last minute bookings, be careful you don’t end up with nightmare dog walking gigs with big dogs who drag you along behind them, Yuck!  I hate getting dragged on the end of a leash by an ill-trained monster. And I do not have to because I get to choose my clients.

Other agencies to try: Care.com, trustedhousesitters.com These online listing sites can help you get started until you start landing clients of your own without having to give a cut of your earnings away to a middleman.

Pet sitting is a seasonal business
Pet-sitting spikes in the summer months and during the holidays.

You have to be willing to work during peak vacation months May through July and on Thanksgiving, Christmas through New Years if you want to make a good income as a pet sitter. I have also made money during the slow months with clients who travel a lot for work.

50 to 80 percent of your pet sitting income will come during the peak months. January through March are usually a trickle unless you land clients who travel for work regularly.

So, if you have a spouse or kids, and other family commitments pet sitting may not work as a full-time business for you.

Or you may structure it as a doggie day care, boarding pets in your home, or taking doggies to the park during the day service rather than offering overnight house sits, or morning, midday and evening drop in visits.

There are slow months where I have made as little as 800 dollars and months where I have made 6000 dollars in a single month and I have barely started advertising.
I happen to be situated in Silicon Valley California where there are limitless Tesla-driving millionaires, billionaires, techies, and MDs who love their pets more than they love their children😊.

The Bay Area of California is the ideal location for making a full-time living as a pet sitter because many people are already accustomed to paying higher fees for services.

Also, I don’t have a lot of family obligations, and I don’t care about holidays in the least. I have no pets of my own because I don’t believe in keeping animals in a tiny space, which ironically is all I can afford because I live in Silicon Valley.

A day in the life of a pet sitter
In May of 2025, I quit my Pilates teaching shifts so I could take on more pet sitting jobs. I was tired of getting up at 4 am to rush and feed pets breakfast before my 6 am teaching shift. It was time to commit to doing more pet sitting jobs.

Today I moved out of one gated mansion in Woodside California where I was taking care of the nicest most beautiful gentle German Shepard for 10 days.
The same day I moved into another gated mansion in Los Altos for 11 days.

I have hardly been home in the last two months because I specialize in overnight house sitting while people are away on vacation or away for business.
I also do drop in visits for half an hour or longer for people who don’t need overnight pet care and house sitting. Many of my cat sitting jobs are once or twice a day drop in visits.

For the next few weeks, I have a pool, a Pilates studio, the choice of three guest bedrooms, a fully stocked gigantic kitchen, and a sweet little dog to care for.

I will be spending the next 11 days with this adorable little dog except for going out to take dance and yoga classes and to do one or two morning and evening drop-in pet-sitting nearby where I will clean litter boxes, feed kitties and play with them for half an hour.

All I have to do at my overnight pet sit is keep the doggie company, feed her, play with her, and take her out for walks and then she curls up beside my feet while I work on my online business the rest of the time.

I have to water a few plants and be here for furniture delivery too; but it is not a demanding job compared with teaching Pilates.

Respecting Pet-Parents’ homes is a must
I will make sure to clean up after myself. I will not be having a huge party or inviting friends over to use the pool. There are cameras here so there will be no guests except me and the dog. Trustworthy and mature, remember?

For me the tradeoffs are worth it. Pet-sitting is fun and not all that demanding compared with other jobs I have had. I don’t have to be anywhere on a set schedule or make presentations or work long grueling hours. And I have time to work on my art, tech skills and online business every day.

So how do you start a high paying pet sitting business?
To get training as a professional pet sitter you can join Pet Sitters International, create a pet sitters listing, and take some of their online courses and certifications.

I got a listing there and some training after I had already been pet sitting for a while to learn more about pet first aid and different issues with dogs, cats, birds and other pets.

Join Nextdoor and put up a business profile and start posting pictures of pets you sit for and a description of your services.

Fear Free is another great online resources for pet professionals that have certifications.

Volunteering at a shelter is a great way to learn more about animal care and get more experience too.

It helps if you know about animals. But depending on your specialty you really don’t need to know a lot.

The more training and specializations you have the more money you can make.
I do not have a lot of training and have not received certification from PSI or Fear Free yet and this has not hindered me from getting decent pet sitting clients.

Background check for trust along with some experience
You need to get a background check and have it available to clients at least until you get some testimonials and a list of clients to give new people to contact who will vouch for you.

You can create a listing on Thumbtack, or petsit.com or join a pet sitting app or agency like Meowtel, Rover, Care.com, trustedhousesitters.com or a local pet sitting company that will help you get your first background check.
You have the option to save a copy of your background check to give your own private clients once you start getting your own clients.

You might do a few pet sitting gigs for an agency to try it out if you don’t have neighbors or friends to pet sit for.

Reviews are the gold standard for building trust
A listing site like Nextdoor, petsit.com or Thumbtack will supply a form for your gig clients to fill out giving you five-star reviews if you do a great job. And these can serve as your first proof of trustworthiness when you start booking your own clients.

How to dispense with agencies and get clients directly
As soon as possible you will want to cut back on jobs for agencies which take a cut from your pay.

Also, agencies make it hard for you to vet clients properly. They often expect you to do jobs sight unseen and this can be dangerous or just unpleasant. I like to deal in higher end long-term repeat clientele as much as possible.

How to advertise your services
Get business cards and pass them out at yoga class or where you work etc.
Get a listing on Pet Sitters International the cost is 155 per year.
Create a pet sitting business profile on Nextdoor
Create a listing on Facebook Marketplace
Your local chamber of commerce might be worth joining to get a local listing, this can be costly but worth it.
Build a simple one-page pet sitting website for your company: sign up for my free one-page website template here
Get friends to refer you to other people with pets. Word of mouth is the best advertising of all and was how I got my first 5 or 6 clients who referred me to their friends.
Use social media like a Facebook page, Instagram, pinterest, Blue Sky, etc. and publish articles and video about pets to get engagement.

Decide on your specialties and services
Do you want to do dog walking?
Are you one of those macho companies that walk 8 or 10 dogs at a time?
Do you have a big van and bring 10 dogs to doggy parks as a group?
Do you specialize in cat sitting or dog walking?
Do you provide overnights house sits and for how many days in a row max?
Do you offer half-hour visits? Hour long visits or all-day pet sitting?
Do you specialize in puppy training?
Do you board animals in your home? This will require specialized insurance.
Do you offer grooming or nail clipping services?
Do you offer to transport pets to vet appointments?
Do you know how to administer diabetic injections?
Do you know how to administer pills with a popper or liquid medications with a syringe?
 
I specialize in overnight pet sits and mostly cats
I personally do 80 percent cat sitting with drop in visits and overnight stays because that is what most people in the urban area where I live want. I have done midday dog walks exactly 3 times for a company that specializes in that. I just never seem to get that request.

Also, since the Covid lockdown more people work at home, so dog walking has gone down a bit because of that.

Most of my jobs have been house sitting where I take care of the cat(s) or dog(s) for a week or two or even up to a month or longer while the family is on vacation.

I also offer daytime longer pet visits, of 3 or 4 hours for a discounted hourly rate for anxious pets who don’t like to be home alone all day.

I organized a pet first aid course with some other pet sitters locally to get certified in pet CPR. I learned to give insulin shots to pets by having an owner show me how.

 I do not offer dog or cat boarding in my home. And I do not bring large groups of dogs to the dog park. I only transport pets to the vet in an emergency.

I don’t even know how to do grooming tasks like nail clipping, but no one has asked so far.

Most people clip their pets nails themselves or take them to a groomer around here. Though I would like to learn some of those skills as time goes by.

Vetting new Pet sitting clients
Do a simply 20-minute meet-and-greet to see if the animals and humans meet your standards. Have them show you around and explain the pet care to you.

Decide if this is a place you would want to visit daily for a week or would you be ok stay overnight in their home? Is the place reasonably clean and pleasant? Is it in a safe neighborhood? Is this a pet you want to walk or spend time with? Is it well behaved?

You can always turn down a job if it doesn’t feel right… or wait until you drive away and then cancel giving some excuse if you don’t want to confront or insult the person.

If you do decide the job is for you, find out if they have a lock box or get a copy of the key and make sure it works before you leave. Otherwise, they will have you drive back a second time right before the trip to get the key.

You will also want to be able to drop the key into the mail slot or find a hiding place when the pet sit is over, so you don’t have to drive over an extra time and charge them for key drop off.

Payment
What will you charge for your various services?

Don’t forget to figure in federal and state tax requirements when setting up your pricing and build that in. Of course, with your own business you will be able to take a lot of deductions for advertising, supplies and gas mileage.

Look at what other companies in your area are charging and match that or perhaps start a little under with a discount for new clients and then gradually ramp up to slightly higher end clients who can afford to pay more.

In my area I am able to charge charge $35 to $40 per half hour drop in visit and I have had clients raise the payment to 40 per visit just because they like to round up and be generous.

I charge $80 to $100 or more for overnight pet sits depending on the number of pets. And I will be raising my prices and dropping lower end clients as time goes by.

How do you accept payment? Check, cash, Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, etc. Do you want to be paid in advance? Do you accept more than one installment for a larger payment for a long trip?

Do you have a cancellation fee?

Pet sitting liability insurance
Make sure you get pet sitting insurance and bonding against lost or damaged property to protect yourself if a pet is injured or runs away or needs veterinary care. I have used Pet Sitters Insurance
And Pet Care Insurance

You may want to get workers compensation insurance as well.

Contracts and forms and legal stuff
You will need to have clients fill out a simple online contract which you can get from Pet Sitter’s International and change it to meet your needs. Then save as a PDF they can fill out online.

You need all the information about the pets in writing, have them type up an email or print out a form with instructions on pet feeding, walking, medications, veterinarian, emergency contact while they are gone.

You might want to file for a fictitious business name so Nextdoor will let you post as a business.
An LLC might be a good idea down the road if you decide to hire employees or make significant revenue with an online business. I had an LLC as an umbrella for all my business niches. But it costs around $300 to $500 per year to file the paperwork which was not worth it for me at this stage of my business, so I dissolved it for now.
Other considerations
As an independent contractor or business owner you will need to provide your own health insurance, so,  this is something to think about if you presently happen to have a job at one of the rare companies that actually still provides health insurance and benefits.

Another thing to think about is that soon you will have an email list of people who trust you in their homes and with their fur babies. So, you have a list of people who need pet care products.

I came across PawTree which is a quality customized pet food and supplement company that offers a free website and training to new distributors. All of it is done online so you don’t need any products of your own. Check out PawTree for ideas to make passive income as a pet sitter. I also have been researching other affiliate products for pet sitters to share with clients.

Check out my resource page for pet sitters who want to make passive income offering affiliate products to pet sitting clients.

Need a pet sitting website? Get my free template and Canva video course and give yourself some brand authority!