How much does a pet sitter cost in Australia?
The answer depends on the service and on whether you live in a capital city or a regional one. These are the bands Petme sitters typically list.
| Service | Capital cities and their commuter belts | Regional cities |
|---|---|---|
| Drop-in visit (feed, play, check) | $30 to $45 a visit | $22 to $35 a visit |
| Cat sitting visit | $30 to $50 a visit | $22 to $38 a visit |
| Dog walk | $28 to $45 a walk | $22 to $35 a walk |
| Doggy daycare at the sitter's home | $50 to $75 a day | $35 to $55 a day |
| Dog boarding at the sitter's home | $55 to $90 a night | $40 to $65 a night |
| House sitting (the sitter stays at yours) | $60 to $105 a night | $45 to $75 a night |
The capital-city column covers Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart and Darwin, plus the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Central Coast, Newcastle, Wollongong, Geelong and Mandurah, where rates track the nearby capital. Owners pay a 0% booking fee on Petme, so the sitter's rate is the whole bill.
Overnight pet sitting rates in Australia
There are two overnight options and they are priced differently. With house sitting, the sitter sleeps at your place, so your pets keep their own beds and your home is not left empty. In a capital city that typically costs $60 to $105 a night. With home boarding, your dog stays at the sitter's place, which typically costs $55 to $90 a night in a capital city and $40 to $65 in a regional one.
House sitting usually sits at the top of the range because the sitter gives up their own evenings at home. It tends to be the better fit for cats, for several pets at once, and for dogs that do not settle in a new house.
How much does a pet sitter charge per visit?
A drop-in visit with a Petme sitter typically costs $30 to $45 in a capital city and $22 to $35 in a regional city. A visit covers feeding, fresh water, a litter tray or a quick toilet break, and time with your pet. Cat sitting visits run slightly higher at the top, $30 to $50 in capital cities, because some sitters include medication or a longer play session.
Most cats do well on one visit a day. Dogs left at home usually need two, or a visit plus a walk. The guide to drop-in visits covers what to ask for.
What a week of pet sitting costs
Seven nights or seven days, worked out from the same bands:
- House sitting in a capital city: 7 nights at $60 to $105 comes to $420 to $735. In a regional city, 7 nights at $45 to $75 comes to $315 to $525.
- Dog boarding at the sitter's home in a capital city: 7 nights at $55 to $90 comes to $385 to $630. In a regional city, $280 to $455.
- Cat sitting, one visit a day for a week in a capital city: 7 visits at $30 to $50 comes to $210 to $350.
- Two drop-in visits a day for a dog for a week in a capital city: 14 visits at $30 to $45 comes to $420 to $630.
Ask the sitter for the total for your dates in the chat before you book, especially over Christmas and the school holidays, when some sitters charge more for the busiest nights.
How sitter rates compare with boarding kennels
Kennels publish their own prices, and many charge per calendar day, so the day you drop off and the day you pick up are both counted. On the price pages we checked in October 2026, a standard kennel ran from about $65 to $100 a day in Sydney, $39 to $74 in Melbourne, $36 to $60 in Brisbane and $38 to $49 in Perth, before peak surcharges. Those surcharges can be large: one western Sydney kennel adds $26 per dog per day between 20 December and 28 January.
So a kennel is often cheaper per night than a sitter, more so in Brisbane and Perth than in Sydney. What you get for the difference is one carer and either your own home or a house instead of a run. The dog boarding cost guide for Australian cities sets out kennel prices city by city.
Types of pet sitting available in Australia
The Australian pet sitting market covers the same range of care types as the UK and US, though how they're priced and delivered varies by platform.
House sitting is when a sitter stays in your home overnight while you're away. This keeps your pet in their own environment, on their own routine, with one consistent person. It's particularly well-suited for dogs that don't settle in unfamiliar spaces and multi-pet households where moving all animals to a sitter's home creates more disruption than it solves.
Boarding means your pet stays overnight at the sitter's home. This works well for social dogs who adapt easily to new places and aren't distressed by different smells and spaces. It typically costs slightly less than house sitting because the sitter isn't giving up their own home for the duration.
Drop-in visits, where a sitter comes to your home once or twice a day to feed, walk, and spend time with your pet, are the most cost-effective option for independent cats, dogs that do fine alone for stretches of time, and shorter absences where your pet just needs someone to check in. See the guide to drop-in visits for what these typically cover.
Doggy daycare, where your pet spends the day at a sitter's home, suits working owners whose dogs need company during long hours and aren't suited to being left alone for a full day. Rates for daycare tend to sit between drop-in and full overnight boarding.
How to find a verified pet sitter in Australia
The Australian pet sitting market has several platforms operating nationally, but verification standards vary considerably.
At the entry level, platforms function more like classifieds: sitters self-register, upload a photo and a short bio, and start taking bookings. Reviews accumulate over time, but there's no independent identity check or background screening before the sitter goes live. These platforms are common and have large sitter pools, but the responsibility for vetting rests almost entirely on the owner.
Better-structured platforms verify identity and run a background check on every sitter before they can accept bookings. Profile content also tends to be richer: photos of the sitter's home environment, a record of what types of animals they've cared for, response rate, and whether they've handled pets with medical needs. These are the platforms worth using when your pet has specific requirements or you're booking for an extended trip.
Petme connects Australian pet owners with verified local sitters. Every sitter completes identity verification and a background check before taking their first booking, and owners pay no service fees on top of the sitter's rate. The Petme Protection Plan may contribute to eligible vet costs up to $32,000 during a booked sitting. Every completed booking earns cashback toward future sittings.
What to look for in a pet sitter profile
Across any platform, the most useful sitter profiles tell you something real about who the person is and how they've handled previous bookings. Generic profiles that read the same as ten others on the same page give you very little to work with.
Specific signals worth looking for: photos taken in the sitter's actual home environment (not stock images), a clear description of what types of animals they've cared for and how they handle pets with specific needs, recent reviews that mention concrete situations rather than just general approval, and a response rate above 90%. A sitter who takes days to reply to an initial message may not be someone you want looking after a pet who needs timely attention.
Red flags worth noting: profiles with only one or two reviews despite a long tenure on the platform, review language that sounds templated or unusually uniform, and sitters who haven't updated their profile in a year or more. A good sitter is usually actively booking and has a genuinely evolving profile.
Beyond the profile itself, the meet-and-greet is where you actually assess fit. No amount of profile reading replaces seeing how a sitter interacts with your pet in person.
When a sitter suits your pet better than a kennel
For dogs with separation anxiety, older pets who are set in their routines, cats (who are territorial and particularly sensitive to space changes), and multi-pet households where splitting animals across different boarding arrangements creates additional disruption, in-home care wins on welfare grounds.
Boarding is genuinely better for some dogs: social breeds that bore easily, high-energy dogs who need more stimulation than a single sitter at home provides, and younger dogs who adapt quickly and benefit from the social element of being around other pets. Knowing your specific dog's personality is the only reliable guide to which option actually suits them.
For a practical comparison of options, the guide to dog sitting vs doggy daycare covers the tradeoffs in detail.
Preparing your pet sitter for an Australian booking
What you hand over to your sitter before you leave matters as much as who you pick. A sitter who knows your pet's feeding schedule, medication routine, vet details, and what to watch for in terms of health signals can respond to a problem. A sitter left to figure things out alone cannot.
The basics to cover before any sit: feeding amounts and times, exercise requirements, the name and address of your regular vet and an emergency vet nearby, any medications or supplements with exact doses, and behavioral notes specific to your pet (what they're afraid of, what calms them down, how they react to strangers at the door). This information should be written down and left physically in the home, not just sent in a message that the sitter might not find easily under pressure.
The full checklist for what to hand over is in the pet sitter prep guide.
Frequently asked questions about pet sitting in Australia
How much does a pet sitter cost in Australia?
A Petme pet sitter in a capital city typically charges $30 to $45 for a drop-in visit and $60 to $105 a night for house sitting. In regional cities the same services typically cost $22 to $35 a visit and $45 to $75 a night. Each sitter sets their own rate and shows it on their profile before you book.
What are overnight pet sitting rates in Australia?
Overnight house sitting, where the sitter stays in your home, typically costs $60 to $105 a night in a capital city and $45 to $75 in a regional one. Boarding your dog at the sitter's home typically costs $55 to $90 a night in a capital city and $40 to $65 regionally.
How much does a pet sitter charge per visit?
A drop-in visit typically costs $30 to $45 in a capital city and $22 to $35 in a regional city. Cat sitting visits run $30 to $50 in capital cities. Most cats need one visit a day, while dogs left at home usually need two.
How much is a pet sitter for a week?
Seven nights of house sitting in a capital city come to $420 to $735, and $315 to $525 in a regional city. A week of daily cat sitting visits in a capital city comes to $210 to $350. Ask the sitter for the total for your exact dates before you book.
Is pet sitting more expensive than a kennel in Australia?
Often it is, per night. Kennel price pages we checked in October 2026 ran from about $36 to $100 a day across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth before peak surcharges, while a capital-city sitter typically charges $55 to $105 a night. Cats and dogs that do not settle in a new place usually cope better with a sitter in their own home.
How do I find a pet sitter in Sydney or Melbourne?
Start on a platform that verifies sitters before they go live, then filter by suburb, dates and the type of care you need. Read three to five profiles, focusing on what reviews actually describe, and book a video call or a meet-and-greet before you confirm. The pet sitters in Australia page lists sitters by city.
What should I ask a pet sitter in Australia before booking?
Ask how many pets they look after at the same time as yours, what they do if a pet seems unwell, and which emergency vet near you they would call. For house sitting, also ask how much of the day they will be at home. The guide to choosing the right pet sitter has a full question list.
What checks do pet sitters in Australia go through?
The checks depend on the platform you book through, so look at what it actually verifies. On Petme every sitter completes identity verification and a background check before their first booking, and describes their experience with animals in their application. Some sitters also hold a pet first aid certificate, which is worth looking for on a profile.
How far ahead should I book a pet sitter for Christmas in Australia?
Message sitters as soon as your dates are fixed, because the summer school holidays run from mid-December to late January in most states and that is when sitters fill first. For off-peak travel, two to four weeks is usually enough. Leave time for a meet-and-greet before the stay.
The main thing to get right is the vetting: a platform that checks its sitters, a profile that tells you something real, and a meeting before you commit. The price is easy to compare once you know the bands above.
