Cat Sitter Fed Up with ‘Ridiculous’ Requests Is Called ‘Manipulative’ for Raising Client's Fee
The pet sitter says their responsibilities have increased "every month" since taking on the new client
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Woman holding cell phone (stock image)A woman says she recently raised her cat-sitting rate — and claims her employer is now calling her “manipulative.”
The woman shared her story in the “Am I Overreacting?” forum on Reddit on Friday, Jan. 17 to seek input on whether her current feelings about the situation are valid.
“Background: I’ve pet/house sit for someone for several months now,” the Reddit user began her post, adding, “She’s paid me $25 per night to stay at her house and take care of her sick, elderly cat.”
“Every month, her requests get more and more ridiculous,” the original poster (OP) continued. “On Halloween she instructed me to sit outside and pass out candy. [...] Next, she wanted me to vacuum and dust her house even though she had a cleaner.”
The Redditor then shared that the cat owner recently texted her shortly before she was supposed to begin cat sitting and provided additional pet care instructions. “She texted me last night saying that I now have to give the cat blood pressure medicine by hand and physically put it in his mouth.”
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Woman vaccuming (stock image)The OP says she ultimately sent a text message back to the cat owner stating that she would be implementing a rate increase to $40 per day moving forward.
“Your expectations have risen since we first started working together,” read the opening line of the Redditor's text, which they shared in a screenshot embedded within the post. “And because your expectations continue to rise, I have decided to raise my rates effective immediately.”
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“As you are not my employer, but rather my client that I provide a service to, my daily rate is now $40 per day,” they added, while also clarifying the rate does not include overnights.
In response, the client wrote, "Your extreme unprofessionalism, your unchristian like behavior, and above all else- your manipulative and twisted behavior by placing an innocent cat in the middle of your scheme the day we are scheduled to leave the country will absolutely NOT be tolerated."
Citing a contract the OP "signed," they went on to say they were "terminating" their deal with her, per the screenshot of the text message embedded in the post.
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Woman holding cat (stock image)The OP concluded her post by asking if she was “in the wrong.”
“Am I actually being manipulative in this?” she asked the “Am I Overreacting?” community.
One commenter — who says that they owns a dog boarding home — admitted that they typically thinks it’s “kind of s-----” to raise rates without advanced notice. “Butttttttt, the client also increased/changed certain responsibilities the day before the stay too,” they conceded.
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Others noted that they think the OP needs to be better about laying out expectations before taking on assignments. “You need to lay out clear expectations when you take on a client. Day rate pet sitting includes: these hours, these responsibilities that's it,” one person advised.
“This needed to be nipped in the bud wayyy earlier,” wrote someone else, writing that the OP should have said, “Oh no sorry for the misunderstanding, I am just a pet sitter, I do not do cleaning,“ long before the most recent incident. They later added, “I do think administering tablets for pets is part of the 'pet sitting' job, however.”
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