Earn $500 to $1,000 a Month Taking Care of Cats

You may have heard about Meowtel which is an app that cat sitters and cat owners use to connect with each other. In this post, I am going to tell you all about my experience as a Meowtel sitter. So if cat sitting is something that you’ve ever considered doing or on the flip side, if you’re a cat owner wondering if this a viable option to find an awesome cat sitter, then you’ll want to read further!

So let’s talk about the application process which, by the way, is not a joke. So take comfort in this if you are a cat owner. Take comfort in the fact that Meowtel is very serious about its application process. They really do a good job screening people. I remember this being very different on Rover.

To get requests on Meowtel it’s very different. You fill out an application; and that application includes a quiz, too, The quiz is not a huge deal. It deals with cat knowledge and cat sitting situations. It’s basically something where if you’re reading the material they give you, and paying attention, you can easily pass the quiz.

You also have to provide references to them, which they absolutely check, I know for a fact. So I had to provide three references of people I had cat sit with before and I know they reached out to them because my references told me they did.

Then, once they kind of clear those hurdles, they schedule an onboarding call which is done electronically. Mine was via zoom and it’s essentially like a face-to-face meeting with somebody where they kind of explain how Meowtel works. They explain the rules and the guidelines to follow.

Then they help you set up your sitter profile. So more accurately, I filled it out, and then they reviewed it. They looked at my photo and they said, “You know that’s a great photo,” they read my bio, and they gave suggestions for things that I could tweak or play up. They talked to me about setting my rates and radius.

There are one time a day drop-in visits, two times a day drop-in visits, and overnight visits. You can make yourself available for any or all of those things. Then you can set different rates for each one. They give you some guidelines on rate setting and like what in your area is the general average rate, so you kind of know if you’re in the ballpark.

Then, in terms of radius, that’s basically just how far away a client lives. I remember my onboarder reminding me when setting my radius that 10 miles is 10 miles there and 10 miles back.

The first 60 days is a trial period. During that trial period, some of the expectations include that you need to respond to all customer inquiries within the 12 to 24 hour period allotted for that, and that variation just depends on when that customer initially sent you the message.

So they give you more time for messages that arrive in the middle of the night when you might be sleeping. First is the message that arrives at noon in the middle of the day, but you should just be prompt when responding to customers. Also, that includes accepting or rejecting a job.

They’re definitely really strict and reiterated multiple times that you are never to take a job off of Meowtel, meaning if a customer reaches out to you, you can’t say “Well, here’s my cell phone number; give me a call and let’s discuss that,” or have them pay you separately off the site, or just shift business away from the app in any way. If they catch you, they can kick you off.

Another expectation is that you update your availability at least once every 30 days. So make sure you stay current with when you’re available. Then finally, they just let you know that during the trial, if any complaints get escalated to Meowtel, and if they rule in that customer’s favor, they will deactivate your profile. But don’t panic about that, because that’s what trial periods are for.

Once you pass the onboarding call they will start you out by giving you your first review on your sitter profile, which is helpful, because it’s a five star review and they basically tell people that your references have been checked and you’re a sitter in that area. So that will help kind of kick start your business.

The clients I’ve had so far have been amazing. The cats are just so adorable! They range from young, rambunctious kittens, to older cats with some health challenges. They have different personalities, you know some hide from me the entire time, some greet me at the door and want to play the entire time, and everything in between. The one constant is no matter what the situation is, I’m just thrilled to be there. Cats make me happy, so I really enjoy being able to go into all these different environments, and see all the different kitties!

I pride myself on taking great photos and little video clips to send to the pet parents. You’ll do that through their app.

Another rule that is essential is that you conduct a meet and greet before taking on a job. You want to meet with the owner to make sure it’s a good fit, and to receive any feeding or medication instructions, and you’ll need to get the code to the house or gate code to the apartment complex, or the house key.

The amount that you make is going to basically reflect how much effort you put into it. I think that pretty realistically, just based on my early experiences, it’s super feasible to make $500 to $1,000 extra dollars a month, without doing anything too crazy.

You just need a few clients to keep you in the loop when they go out of town regularly. Or just try to get longer jobs. Of course, it depends on if you are doing one time a day visits, two times a day visits, or overnight visits. But I think $500 to $1,000 is a completely realistic range.

Flexibility is one of the things that makes it super awesome to do this job. So, if this is something that interests you, I would seriously encourage you to sign up and see where it takes you!

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