Your booking is confirmed and your bag is nearly packed. Your pet’s handover deserves preparation too. A meeting, familiar belongings and clear instructions help a relative or sitter understand everyday life. You do not need to plan every minute: focus on useful reference points rather than spreading them across a string of messages.
Arrange a suitable first meeting
Before a first stay, set aside a quiet moment with the sitter. Introduce your pet, its habits and the places it will use. At home, show entrances, equipment and permitted rooms. Elsewhere, discuss the spaces and any other animals. Dogs and cats do not all react in the same way.
Describe how your pet usually greets someone, what frightens it, interactions it enjoys and situations to avoid. Gradual introductions cannot guarantee behaviour, but give the sitter practical information. For a particular difficulty, consult a professional who knows your pet rather than improvising last-minute training.
Explain an ordinary day
Someone can love animals without knowing yours. Write down usual meal times, food storage, walks, toilet breaks or litter care. Include resting preferences and small routines that help transitions. “The lead is by the front door” is more useful than “everything is as usual”.
The PetStorya care profile gathers feeding, routine, behaviour, sleeping, walks and general instructions. Keep it easy to scan. If something important changes during the stay, contact the sitter directly too: an updated profile does not replace a conversation.
Pack and label what is needed
Gather familiar food, accessories, bags or litter, bedding and useful documents. Separate daily items from things that simply need to be available. For several pets, label supplies and explain which portion or accessory belongs to each. A recent photo and an up-to-date pet profile help avoid confusion.
Walk through practical details: where the carrier is, which lead to use, how doors and garden access should be secured. Use an appropriate separate method for keys and sensitive home information. Do not put alarm codes, passwords or banking details in care notes.
Check health instructions before leaving
Explain known allergies and current treatments using the veterinarian’s existing instructions. Check that information applies to the care period. Show required documents and share the veterinary contact if you wish. “Give the medicine” does not clarify what was prescribed.
The health notebook stores recorded information. It does not select doses, treatments or a response to symptoms. Ask your veterinarian to clarify ambiguous instructions before departure and pass that clarification on. The sitter should not have to interpret a medical file alone.
Share care access, not your login
PetStorya lets you create temporary access for a defined period and choose useful sections: identity, feeding, routine, walks, behaviour, contacts and selected health information when needed. Documents must be chosen explicitly. The sitter reads authorised information; the link does not grant your account or automatically make them a collaborator.
Choose a duration within your plan’s limits and review the content before sending the link. Access expires and can be revoked. If arrangements change, check dates and selections instead of forwarding an old link. The PetStorya plans explain care and document limits.
Agree on contact and the return
Provide a reachable contact, a backup person if needed and the veterinary details you choose to disclose. Agree on communication, a reasonable frequency of updates and what to do if you cannot be reached. Ask for a handover covering meals, outings and any difficulties, without turning the stay into constant monitoring.
Your departure checklist
- Meeting completed and surroundings explained.
- Routine and individual needs clearly described.
- Supplies ready and health information checked.
- Contacts and care dates confirmed.
- Temporary access reviewed, documents selected and link sent to the right person.
On your return, update the profile with useful observations and revoke access if you no longer want it active. Create your pet’s profile for free and prepare the next handover in a private space you control.