Pet owners no longer have to worry about where to leave their four-legged friends when they leave home – they can be taken to pet hotels or entrusted to babysitters. These services are rapidly becoming popular in Lithuania, but pet hotels and babysitters criticize each other: the latter claim that some pets are uncomfortable in hotels, while pet hotels emphasize the high quality of services. Prices also vary: for an hour with a pet, a pet sitter can ask 25-30 euros, while a night in a pet hotel with spa treatments can sometimes cost 70-100 euros.
Aliona Krištopaitiene from Vilnius has been working as a pet nanny for about 7 years. Although the title of her position is associated with raising or training an animal for some, the interviewer says that it is only taking care of another person’s pet.
“There really is no upbringing. If a person knows something, knows how, he can do it, but there is no training in the service. It’s just taking care of the animal when the owner leaves, so that he is calm and the animal is safe and satisfied with life,” says A. Krištopaitienė.
Aliona notes that caring for pets is different, as cats and dogs (in turn, other pets) have different needs by nature.
“I only go to see cats at home, because, in my opinion and according to the knowledge I have, only a person who has already been with a cat can take a cat home, because a cat is a territorial animal. At that time, the dog is a group animal, so it needs company, and a home will not provide as much benefit as a cat that stays in its territory”, explains A. Krištopaitienė.
Aliona herself mainly takes care of cats, but during almost 7 years of activity she has gained experience with other animals as well. However, at the moment, it is difficult for the woman from Vilnius to accept new orders – the woman already has regular customers.
“I have my own clientele, and inserting an animal with a schedule, such as a sick dog, is already significantly more difficult. As a result, people usually take care of either dogs or cats,” comments A. Krištopaitienė.
Pet sitter Aliona about inexperienced caretakers: “There is trust, but there are no demands”
Aliona says that animal care services are becoming more popular. This is also shown by the pet care app “Boop” created by Lithuanians Deividas Celencevičius and Gediminas Geigal. The three-year-old app has over 30,000 users. community members in Lithuania. Boop is currently valued at 3 million euros, according to a press release.
The app works on the basis of ads: the owner uploads a pet care ad, and a nearby sitter chooses a pet and offers the service at their own rate.
However, there are various risks, because the activities of pet sitters are not regulated. The host has to choose from offers based on the experience of potential babysitters, previous ratings and feedback from other hosts.
“My colleagues and I have been providing this service for quite a long time. There is trust, but no demands. Now, every person who thinks they can look after animals advertises that they provide this service, and the person who hires them has no way of verifying them. There is no licensing,” says A. Krištopaitienė.
According to the interviewer’s knowledge, animal sitters currently only need to register their individual activities. If a person plans to keep animals in their home as a hotel, then the requirements of a pet hotel will apply. However, there are no requirements for the qualifications of a person who will provide pet sitter services.
“Now all the responsibility falls on the owner’s shoulders, because he is not a specialist and has to choose a specialist”, smiles A. Krištopaitienė.
According to the interviewee, without sufficient knowledge of animal behavior and care, many mistakes can be made. Therefore, the statement “I want to take care of animals because I love them very much”, according to A. Krištopaitienė, is not a valid argument for starting this activity.
“Love of animals is not a sufficient reason. It’s not about loving animals – it’s about work. When there is love, there will simply be better care, but that alone is not enough – you need both love and knowledge,” says animal nanny Aliona.
Told how much the service costs
A. Krištopaitienė revealed to the tv3.lt news portal what her working day looks like. The main tasks are to change the water and serve food. Other activities depend on the species and breed of animal. If Aliona comes to the cat for the first time, let her observe the environment and settle down. If you are visiting a cat for the first time or looking after a dog, you can take other activities. Sometimes she brings toys or treats after coordinating with the pet’s owners.
Working hours also differ. Aliona usually visits the cats once a day and spends 40-60 minutes, sometimes longer.
“There are cases when the owner wants more often – then twice a day. If the animal needs to be injected or given medication, then the visit schedule is adjusted again,” says the interviewer.
You need to spend more time with the dogs. In addition, sometimes the owners do not go on vacation, but ask the pet sitter to walk the pet for the day.
“If such a service is ordered, the walk is long, as it is recommended to walk the dog at least once a day for an hour. If the dog stays with the handler longer, there will be several walks, one of which is long. Then the maintenance time increases. It all depends on the breed. There are very active dogs and there are passive ones,” explains the pet sitter.
Currently, A. Krištopaitienė is asking 25-30 euros per hour for an hour spent with the animal. “That price includes taxes and expenses. The price may seem high, but when you start calculating and know that this is my only job, then everything looks different,” says the pet sitter.
Aliona also has assistants (students), whose services cost 20-25 euros.
Not everyone can work as a pet sitter
A. Krištopaitienė says that after the coronavirus pandemic, when people could travel freely again, the flow of animals increased significantly. No longer able to accept everyone, Aliona began to prepare other nannies. However, out of about 10 students, only one is actively working.
“People imagine this activity in one way, but when they get to know it, their fantasies disappear. It’s more of a way of life than an activity. Imagine – everyone goes away to celebrate Easter, Christmas, New Year, and you take care of the animals, in the summer too. If people go on vacation, they usually go for seven days. This includes weekends. It’s not a Monday-Friday job where you really know the schedule. There is a lot of activity, there is little. It must be acceptable for a person to live like this”, says A. Krištopaitienė.
In addition, pet sitters have to face various, not always pleasant situations: animal diseases, aggression and other unforeseen events.
“For example, you arrive, unlock the door, and everything is thrown up because something is wrong with the cat. Everything happens”, says A. Krištopaitienė.
Another reason, according to Aliona, that many people do not start working as pet sitters is the fear of advertising on the Internet.
“Without a page, nothing will happen, you have to talk constantly: I take care of animals. You have to enter the market until you get up to speed until others start recommending you,” says the interviewer.
“People are usually afraid to speak up because they are afraid of criticism. I already had to go through the hater phase. But you don’t cling to animals. They wrote to me: your slurred accent, crooked teeth – things that have absolutely nothing to do with animals,” she adds.
Pet hotel – from spa to taxi
For temporary care, pets can be left not only with babysitters, but also in special hotels. They argue their superiority over babysitters by the high quality of their services, experience and convenience.
“Our staff has an endless amount of experience with animals, which sitters can lack. We create a friendly environment for pets, we organize leisure activities, long walks to parks, we promote socialization with other animals or people, but only with the permission of the owners,” the administration of the Zoohotel told the news portal tv3.lt.
The hotel did not elaborate on whether their person had to complete certain studies, but noted that all staff must have “significant experience with pets.”
“There is a trial period for the employee, during which we observe and evaluate how the person works, whether he loves animals and whether it is possible to allow that person to work with our four-legged customers,” Zoohotel states.
Most pet-friendly hotels offer additional services: pet grooming, spa, training, transportation to and from the hotel.
The price of a pet hotel depends on the type, size and care period of the pet. Caring for a small dog or cat for one working day will cost 10-20 euros, a large dog – from 20 euros, a rodent or other animal – 5-10 euros. When leaving a cat for the weekend, you will have to pay 25-35 euros, a small dog – from 34 to 88 euros, a large dog – from 54 to 100 euros.
Additional charges may apply, such as for late pick-up or public holidays.
There are also requirements for pets entering the hotel. Pets must be dewormed, spayed, microchipped. Some hotels do not accept animals until they are 3-4 months old. age, estrus heifers.
In turn, pet owners have requirements for hotels. As Zoohotel points out, there are very specific requests, such as for food to be measured in grams and given no less, no more; do not give treats that would cause an allergic reaction; give or administer medication; so that the room has a view through the window, etc.
The hotel also shared two stories that made the staff wonder and laugh.
“One of the strangest requests was when the food had to be measured not in grams, but in granules. The owner accurately specified that the puppy needs to be given 18 pellets of dry food per feeding and not one pellet more,” the Zoohotel administration points out.
“Probably the funniest story was when the owners couldn’t deliver the puppy to us, and we didn’t have the opportunity to come pick it up, so the owner ordered a taxi. The driver drove up to our hotel with a puppy sitting quietly in the back seat alone. The whole situation looked very funny,” says Zoohotel.
Bookings for pet hotels are flooded mostly during holidays, long weekends, children’s holidays and during the warm season. The peak of orders is observed in spring and summer.
The requirements for the operation of animal hotels are approved by the State Food and Veterinary Service (VMVT).
Author: Toma Andrulytė, TV3.lt
Tags: service rapidly popular Vilnius euros hour MadeinVilnius .lt
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