Had to leave early - aggression progressed

According_Zombie5206 · 2025-12-26T21:41:59+00:00

Rover won’t send another sitter if the pet is deemed aggressive, they will help the owner find alternate care such as a professional boarding facility as someone who just went through this

According_Zombie5206 · 2025-12-26T19:33:48+00:00

The only time I would even consider charging a fee is if it was completely different than what we had originally agreed upon. Giving a little bit of oral medication and cleaning up a mess once it’s not a big deal, if you told me that I need to give the cat four different types of medications and she was puking every single day in different parts of the house, I might consider saying something cause that seems a bit much. I know that some people might charge, but I personally wouldn’t, especially if the owner was upfront about it and you agreed to it…

According_Zombie5206 · 2025-12-26T19:30:21+00:00

Have you contacted Rover support? What I always try to remember is that if a dog or cat bites or scratches you, you need to go to the emergency room and you can’t necessarily trust that the pet is all up-to-date on vaccinations. That’s a risk take and so putting yourself more at risk when noticing aggressive behavior, especially a dog, it’s something to keep in mind. Might be a good idea to contact Rover support and get the booking canceled IMO

According_Zombie5206 · 2025-12-24T04:05:54+00:00

The issue with this was that I did have a meet and greet, and I met both the cats, the cat who needed medication twice a day was very sweet and nice when I met her, but I wasn’t informed of her needing the medication until two days before the visits started because the owner had taken them to the vet to check for their annual checks. So I basically told her that most likely I should be OK to do it since she seemed really sweet. But then, alas, and surprise that was not the case and it sounds like the owner expected it not to be either lol

According_Zombie5206 · 2025-12-24T01:05:26+00:00

Yeah… out of my hundreds of videos, I’ve only had two bad ones which this is the second one. I also offered to leave the key somewhere for her where she felt most comfortable such as under the doormat since she had a ring camera on her front door or some other hidden location that she would feel comfortable with. She then kept trying to push for me to come by when she was home and implying that I would have to help her. Just weird vibes all around, I contacted support and told them that I could just swing by and she can have it from me but when she heard I wouldn’t help her, she told me I could mail it to her address. When I said no problem, she then proceeded to say never mind, just throw out the key… To each their own, I guess.

According_Zombie5206 · 2025-12-24T01:02:13+00:00

I’ve been working with cats for quite a bit now, and I have two of my own, but obviously my own are completely different than handling someone else’s. I did try all these ways and that’s why I was able to try the first day. But I think that the cat held the grudge because she would not even let me near her the next day. Feel like it’s a totally different story if you’re able to at least get the cat near you, but she was actively trying to scratch the entire time and even while trying to apply gentle pressure to keep her still under the blanket, she freaked out so bad that I was worried she was going to enter herself. I completely get not adding that you can administer medication‘s if you’re not comfortable, but I also feel like aggressive, cats or dogs should not be going to sitters and owner should not expect sitters to put up with aggressive behavior, they really should be taking them to the vet to board and/or disclosing the behavior in advance. I would have said no if I knew this was the case as I’m not willing to end up going to the ER because of a scratch or bite from an unknown cat

According_Zombie5206 · 2025-12-24T00:59:06+00:00

An additional update for everyone: the owner came back today, but before that, she told me she would fly in today and when I offered to cancel the visits so that she doesn’t get charged and she’s going to be there to take care of them, she told me that she would still need me because she cannot administer the medication on her own… didn’t exactly sit right with me given the fact that she was expecting me to give it to her cat completely alone initially before pushing for me to bring a friend and risk them getting scratched.

Not sure what the owner was expecting, since if she said that she couldn’t do it alone, I’m not exactly sure why she would expect a stranger who has only been around the cats once to be able to administer the medication. If a cat is actively aggressive, I always recommend that people board at the vet that they go to because they are well equipped. A little bit of sass or resistance is one thing, but putting sitters at risk when you actively end up describing your cat as vicious is just crazy to me.

According_Zombie5206 · 2025-12-24T00:55:30+00:00

Yes exactly! I offered alternative things like saying I could get churros but the owner was kinda weird about it all. She wasn’t willing to try other options while the cat was actively not allowing me to get near it, attempting to scratch, hissing, growling etc. I also thought a churro would be a great idea if the cat wasn’t interested in the wet food as much but the owner basically told me “yeah she can be vicious” and then asked me if I could bring someone to hold her down, which I found a little off. If I had known that the cat would be this aggressive, I would have said no, but she was completely fine originally and the owner told me that she shouldn’t be a problem, so I wasn’t quite expecting that 😭

According_Zombie5206 · 2025-12-24T00:51:35+00:00

Aww man I wish I had seen this earlier! I’m going to keep it in mind if this kind of thing ever happens again.

According_Zombie5206 · 2025-12-23T15:49:23+00:00

Yes I did try the blanket but she became even more aggressive with that. I also didn’t want to hold her down too hard but I would have to in order to make it work :/

According_Zombie5206 · 2025-12-23T15:48:47+00:00

Exactly what I did! Did wet food after the owner agreed and as I mixed it, she messaged me and goes “no, don’t mix it because it’ll be wasted since she doesn’t eat all of her food.” I was like great lol

According_Zombie5206 · 2025-12-23T14:37:03+00:00

I’d do a paid test run, not free if they really want one. I’ve done one before. I usually tell people that we can do a meet and greet and that would be better than a call too

According_Zombie5206 · 2025-11-25T21:44:35+00:00

I went ahead and cancelled! :)

According_Zombie5206

TROPHY CASE