A 7-day trip with 2 visits a day costs $350 to $800 in the US, £250 to £600 in the UK, and 1,120 to 2,800 CNY in China, at $25 to $60 per visit. That is 14 visits and roughly 7 hours of someone else's time, which works out to $50 to $114 a day. The price is set by visit count, not by cat count, so a second cat is usually the cheapest part of the booking.
What 1 visit at $25 to $60 includes
A standard cat visit is 25 to 35 minutes: fresh water in 2 bowls, wet food from 1 can or 1 pouch, a full litter scoop, medication if it is on the label, 10 minutes of play or brushing, and 1 photo sent by message. The low end of the range, $25 to $35, is usually a neighborhood sitter doing 3 to 5 visits a day on foot; the top, $50 to $60, is a bonded service with insurance, a backup sitter, and a written visit log. Anything quoted at $15 is normally a 10-minute welfare check with no play and no photo, and it is the version that misses a cat hiding under a bed for 2 days. Ask for the visit length in minutes before the price, because a 15-minute visit and a 35-minute visit are quoted in the same $25 to $60 band in many cities.
Why 2 visits a day is the floor
A cat left alone for 24 hours has no water if a bowl tips, and a cat on twice-daily medication needs a 12-hour gap kept. Two visits also split the day into 2 windows of 11 to 12 hours, which is the longest stretch most vets are comfortable with for a healthy adult cat. One visit a day saves $175 to $420 over a week and is the single most common way a 7-day booking goes wrong: the cat is seen once, the litter box is checked once, and a urinary blockage at 03:00 is found 15 hours later. For a cat under 6 months, or one on insulin, 3 visits a day at $75 to $150 a day is the usual recommendation.
7 days in numbers
Fourteen visits at $25 is $350. Fourteen at $60 is $840, which is why most sitters quote a 7-day package at $350 to $800 rather than 14 times the single rate. Add a holiday surcharge of 20 to 50% and the same week lands at $420 to $1,200. A 2-week trip is rarely double: many services price days 8 to 14 at 10 to 20% less, so 14 days runs $640 to $1,450 rather than $700 to $1,600.
Per-visit and per-week rates by region
| Line item | US (USD) | UK (GBP) | China (CNY) | 7-day subtotal (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 visit, 30 minutes | 25 to 60 | 18 to 45 | 80 to 200 | 350 to 800 |
| 2 visits a day | 50 to 120 | 36 to 90 | 160 to 400 | 350 to 840 |
| 7-day package | 350 to 800 | 250 to 600 | 1,120 to 2,800 | 350 to 800 |
| Second cat, per visit | 5 to 10 | 4 to 8 | 20 to 40 | 70 to 140 |
| Holiday surcharge | 20 to 50% | 20 to 40% | 30 to 50% | 70 to 400 |
Across one city the same 7 days spans 1.5 to 3 times depending on whether the sitter is an individual, a small agency, or a clinic-run service with a vet on call. Clinic-run sitting sits at the top and is the only version that can authorize treatment without a separate phone call.
The 3 handover items
- Key, entry code, and a backup. Hand over 1 key and 1 code, name a neighbor with a second key, and write the alarm and door sequence on paper instead of explaining it at the door.
- A 1-page care sheet. Food type and amount per meal, water bowls and their spots, litter type, where the carrier is, hiding places the cat uses, and the medication schedule copied from the prescription label word for word.
- Written vet authorization with a cap. The clinic name, address, phone, the cat's record number, and a stated spending limit such as $500 or 2,000 CNY, signed and dated. Without it a sitter can only call you, and a blocked cat does not wait for a reply.
Do the handover in person, 30 minutes, 2 days before you leave, and send 1 test message from the sitter's phone so both sides have the number. Leave the carrier out and open, not in a closet: a cat that needs a 20-minute car ride at 02:00 should not first be chased through the flat.
What pushes 7 days past $1,000
Five add-ons do it. A holiday week adds 20 to 50%. A third daily visit adds $175 to $420 over 7 days. Subcutaneous fluids or insulin injections add $5 to $15 per visit, or $70 to $210 a week. A zone fee for 15 km or more adds $10 to $25 per visit, $140 to $350 a week. And a key handover done twice, once before and once after, adds $20 to $40. Stack a holiday, a third visit, and medication and the same cat costs $700 to $1,700 instead of $350 to $800.
5 checks before the keys change hands
- Ask for the insurance certificate and the backup sitter's name in writing, not a verbal promise of 24-hour cover.
- Confirm 2 visits a day in the contract, with the time windows, since a 14-hour gap is what turns a routine week into an emergency.
- Test the photo-and-message routine on day 1 and require 1 message per visit, not 1 per day.
- Put the spending cap and the clinic's phone number on the same sheet as the feeding notes.
- Book the first sitting for a weekend trip before a 2-week one, so you learn the sitter's reliability at low stakes.
If the cat is on daily medication, the sitting cost sits on top of the routine bill: see what a year of vet visits adds up to at /cost/vet-visit-frequency-cost/, and what a single hospital procedure would do to the same budget at /cost/transfusion-and-dialysis-cost/. Add your own city rates with /tools/cost/.
Frequently asked
Is one visit a day ever acceptable for a cat?
For a healthy adult cat with a large water fountain, 2 litter boxes, and a 24-hour gap of no more than 24 hours, some sitters accept 1 visit. It saves $175 to $420 a week, but it leaves the cat unobserved for up to 23 hours and is the most common reason a blockage or an infection is found a day late. Cats on insulin, cats under 6 months, and cats on twice-daily medication need 2 to 3 visits.
Should I tip a cat sitter, and how much?
Tipping is optional and separate from the $25 to $60 visit rate. A common practice is 10 to 15% for a 7-day booking, or $20 to $40 flat, and more if the sitter handled medication, a vet trip, or a holiday week. Check whether the agency already adds a service charge of 10 to 20%, because a tip on top of that is double counting.
What if my cat hides the whole time the sitter is there?
Hiding for the first 2 days is normal and is not a reason to cancel the booking, but it is a reason to require proof of life: a photo of the cat, a note on how much food was eaten, and a litter box check every visit. If the food is untouched for 48 hours, the sitter should call you and then the vet, which is why the written authorization and the spending cap matter.
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- What a Cat Costs in New York, London, Shanghai and Tokyo
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