Cat sitter fed up with ‘ridiculous’ demands, called ‘manipulative’ for raising client fees

A woman says she has recently increased her cat-sitting ratio and claims her employer now calls her a “manipulator”.

The woman shared her story in “Am I Overreacting?” Asked for comment on the Reddit forum on Friday, January 17, to find out if her current take on the situation is correct.

“Background: I’ve been pet/housesitting for someone for months,” the Reddit user began the post, adding, “She paid me $25 a night to live in her house and take care of her sick old cat. .

“Every month, her demands become more and more ridiculous,” the original poster (OP) continued. “On Halloween, she asked me to sit outside and hand out candy. […] Next, she asked me to vacuum and dust her house even though she had a cleaner.

The Reddit user then revealed that the cat owner recently texted her with additional pet care instructions shortly before she was supposed to start caring for the cat. “She texted me last night and said I now have to give the cat blood pressure medication by hand and then put it in my mouth.”

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OP said she ended up sending a text message to the cat owner saying that going forward she would be increasing the rate to $40 per day.

“Your expectations have risen since we first worked together,” began the Reddit user’s text, which they shared in a screenshot embedded in the post. “As your expectations continue to rise, I have decided to raise rates immediately.”

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“Since you are not my employer, but rather a client to whom I provide services, my daily rate is now $40 per day,” they added, clarifying that the rate does not include overnight stays.

In response, the client wrote: “Your extreme unprofessionalism, your un-Christian behavior, and most importantly, the fact that you put an innocent cat in the middle of your plans on the day we were scheduled to leave the country, this… Manipulative and twisted behavior will never be tolerated.

According to screenshots of text messages embedded in the post, they go on to say they will “terminate” their deal with her, citing the contract the OP “signed.”

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The OP ended her post by asking if she was “wrong”.

“Am I really manipulating this?” she asked the “Am I overreacting?” community.

One commenter—who said they own a dog boarding home—admitted that they generally find rate increases without advance notice “kind of bad.” “However, the client also added/changed certain responsibilities the day before check-in,” they admitted.

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Others have noted that they think the OP needs to do a better job of laying out expectations before accepting assignments. “When you take on clients, you need to set clear expectations. Daily pet sitting includes: these hours, these responsibilities, and that’s it.

“This needs to be nipped in the bud as early as possible,” someone else wrote, adding that the OP should have looked at recent events as early as possible. They later added, “However, I do believe that giving pills to pets is part of the ‘pet sitting’ job.”

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