Pet Sitter Handoff Checklist for Dogs and Cats on the North Shore
What to leave for a pet sitter before travel: feeding, walks, litter, medication notes, vet contacts, emergency plans, and home details.
Pet sitting
A good pet-sitter handoff makes the pet feel known. Not perfect, not precious - just known.
Write down the routine exactly as it happens.
Meal times, food amounts, treat rules, and where supplies live. Walk route, leash behaviour, dog greetings, and no-go areas. Cat hiding spots, litter instructions, favourite rooms, and comfort habits. Medication notes, vet contact, emergency contact, and carrier location.
Tell the sitter what is normal.
Does your cat hide for the first ten minutes? Does your dog skip breakfast when anxious? Does your older pet move slowly in the morning? These notes help the sitter tell normal from concerning. BC SPCA guidance on choosing pet care includes asking how a sitter handles pets, emergencies, time spent with the pet, walks, insurance, and medication comfort. Those are good questions before any handoff.
Add the home layer.
In-home pet care usually touches the house too. Leave notes for lights, mail, plants, packages, garbage, parking, keys, alarms, and the muddy towel situation. That is especially useful on the North Shore, where rain, hills, and house layouts can turn a simple pet visit into a small logistics puzzle.
A pet handoff should help the sitter notice change.
The best pet notes do not just list tasks. They explain what normal looks like. If your dog skips breakfast when nervous, say that. If your cat hides for the first visit, say that. If medication is easy only when tucked into a specific treat, say that too. This matters because pet sitting is partly observation. The sitter needs to know when something is normal personality and when it is worth calling you.
Use the “normal, concern, call” structure.
Normal: the behaviours your pet often shows. Concern: changes you want the sitter to mention in the next update. Call: symptoms, missed medication, escape risk, injury, or anything that needs immediate attention. Vet: clinic name, phone number, carrier location, and payment or permission instructions if relevant.
The BC SPCA question list is a useful owner filter.
BC SPCA recommends asking how a sitter handles pets, what happens in emergencies, how much time is spent with the pet, how walks are handled, and whether the sitter is comfortable with medication. Those questions are not awkward. They are the job.
Make the pet routine visible enough to repeat.
Pet care often goes wrong in the gaps between obvious tasks. The sitter knows to feed the dog, but not that the dog refuses breakfast unless the bowl is moved. The sitter knows to clean litter, but not that the cat hides when the vacuum has been out. The little context is the care. Write down what happens before, during, and after each visit. For dogs, that may mean leash, route, towel, water, medication, and rest. For cats, it may mean food, litter, water, hiding place, and whether the cat wants attention or distance.
Use questions as a trust filter.
A sitter who asks specific questions is doing the work. They should want to know what normal looks like, what worries you, what the emergency plan is, and how often you want updates. That curiosity is a trust signal.
Use BC SPCA’s sitter questions as the backbone.
BC SPCA’s sitter guidance focuses on practical welfare questions: how the sitter handles animals, what happens in an emergency, how much time they spend with pets, how dog walks are handled, whether they are insured, and whether they are comfortable with medications. Those are the exact details that belong in a handoff. Turn those questions into instructions. Instead of only asking “can you walk him?” write what the walk should look like. Instead of only asking “can you give medication?” write the dose routine, where the medication is kept, and what should happen if the pet refuses it.
The handoff should protect the pet’s normal routine.
Pets usually cope better when the person coming in understands the ordinary rhythm of the home. That rhythm includes where food is served, how quickly the dog eats, which door the dog uses, where the cat hides, what noises are normal, and what behaviour is unusual enough to mention. The more specific the handoff, the less the sitter has to interpret. That is especially important for in-home care, where Denise is trying to keep the pet steady inside their familiar space rather than moving them into a boarding environment.
The handoff should define normal.
Pet sitting gets better when the sitter knows what is normal for the animal. Appetite, bathroom, hiding, barking, pulling, medication, and sleep habits all matter because they help the sitter notice change. BC SPCA’s sitter questions are a good owner filter: ask about emergencies, time spent with pets, walks, medication comfort, and how the sitter handles pets. Those are practical trust questions, not awkward ones.
The visit note Denise would want to receive.
Food, water, medication, walk or litter, and mood. Anything different from the normal behaviour you described. A photo when it is helpful and not stressful for the pet. A call if appetite, medication, injury, escape risk, or access changes.
The short version
The sitter should know what your pet loves, what your pet avoids, and what you want to hear about right away.
How Denise can help
Denise can use your dog or cat routine as the centre of the care plan, then fold in the home details around it.
Related local services
Contact Denise
Call 604-913-0751 or email leaveitwithdenise@gmail.com to book a short consultation for home, dog, cat, and plant care in West Vancouver and North Vancouver.
Leave a Google review
If Denise has cared for your home, dog, cat, or plants, an honest Google review helps other North Shore homeowners know what to expect.