Left with somebody else

A handwritten pet care note taped to a fridge beside a measuring cup — What the person taking over needs is written down and left where they will find it, not remembered at the door.

What the person taking over actually needs written down

Handing an animal to a house-sitter, neighbour or family member is an act of optimism. The handover goes well, the instructions seem clear, and then you leave. What the person is actually holding is a set of habits they have never witnessed and a creature that knows something has changed.

The solution is not a longer conversation. It is a written sheet — one side of A4, ideally — left where the person will actually find it: taped to the front of the enclosure, or beside the feeding station. Not emailed the week before. Physically present.

What goes on the sheet

Feeding is the part people get wrong not through carelessness but through goodwill. Write the amount by weight, not volume, and name the food precisely — a rabbit's pellet and a guinea pig's pellet are not interchangeable, and dried fruit offered as a treat can become a daily expectation. If you weigh food instead of scooping it, say that, and say what the correct weight looks like on your scales. Specify the time, not a vague morning or evening.

Water needs its own line. Not "top up if low" — change it, when, and in which container. A bird that drinks from a fountain, a rabbit that uses a bottle and a cat that prefers a moving tap all need explicit instructions, because the person covering for you will default to whatever seems logical to them.

An open pet carrier left out as furniture in a room — Left out with the door open, the carrier stops being a signal and becomes furniture.Photo: Bunkac Bebec / Pexels

The cleaning task for that specific number of days. If the stay is four days, say which enclosure needs spot-cleaning on which days, what to remove and where to put it. Keep the run door instructions separate if access is non-obvious — an outside caretaker who cannot get in has simply failed, with no fault attached.

What normal looks like. This is the hardest thing to write, because you have internalised it. Write it anyway: how much this animal usually eats, where it usually sleeps, how it responds to being approached. A caretaker who knows baseline behaviour can notice a departure from it. One who does not has no reference point at all.

A vet contact. Not a diagnosis, not a list of symptoms — simply the practice name and number, noted for the person's own peace of mind, and the instruction to call a vet rather than improvise if something seems wrong.

Leave the sheet even if you have told the person everything verbally. Memory degrades under mild stress, and looking after someone else's animal is a mild stress. The sheet is not a slight on their capability; it is the thing that makes their job possible.

Empty pet carrier with wire door sits on living room floor near a sofa — Send the carrier the animal already knows rather than borrowing an unfamiliar one.

What the sheet needs — in order

Feeding: food name, amount by weight, time
Water: container type, how to change it, when
Cleaning: which tasks fall on which days of the stay
Baseline normal: eating level, usual location, how the animal typically reacts to approach
Vet contact: practice name and number only: no medical advice on the sheet

EVBB is an independent publication about routine animal husbandry. It is not a veterinary service and offers no medical advice. For any health concern, consult a qualified veterinarian.