Beijing Pet Sitting Services You Can Trust

Whether you are planning to travel during the upcoming festive season, or are just fed up leaving your furry friends at home all day when you're at the office, fear not. From pet sitters to professional pet stores and a thriving 'couch surfing' pet community, Beijing has plenty of options, no matter your specific needs or budget.

Door-to-door cat and dog sitting services

If you've ever owned pets, you'll know that they are creatures of habit who generally prefer to stay at home where they can maintain their regular diet and routine. So, for shorter periods of time, the best option can often be best to have a sitter visit your pets at home to feed them and for some toy time.

Maggie He is a fluent English-speaker and a true animal lover who has adopted six stray cats and one stray dog. She provides door-to-door pet sitting services at very reasonable prices (RMB 50 for 30-minute cat visit, and RMB 70 for 30-minute dog visit), including feeding, playing, scooping and refill litter box, light cleaning of surrounding food and sleeping areas and the thing you crave the most: daily photo updates. She'll even water your plant friends too if you ask. Click here for more information and set up an appointment.

Kudi Pet Store (酷迪宠物)

Comparing to a private door-to-door pet sitting service like the one described above, taking your pet to a kennel when you are away might be a bit more pricy, but do come well-equipped, and professional staff can provide longer hours of contact time and care than a once-a-day service.

Pet store Kudi has been around for years, with dozens of branches across the city, and provide exclusive pet services ranging from grooming to medical care. They can also help take care of cats and small to mid-sized dogs for different ranges of time, and send video updates to owners on a daily basis. Care prices start at RMB 50 per day for cats, RMB 80 for dogs. Care is available for a maximum of ten days. Enquire in-store for prices and services available, as these details could vary from store to store. 

Furry Couch Surfers

Based upon the original couch surfing volunteer travelers network, the idea behind Furry Couch Surfers, which was founded by local pet owner Nid Nair, is to provide the pets a cage-free and safe environment when the owners are away on holidays or business trips. 

The group is made mostly of members that are pet owners or rescue foster animals. Via the WeChat group, members exchange pet-caring ideas and help one another out by volunteering to look after pets who need a home, with the understanding that the favor will be repaid (or paid forward) at some point in the future. 

Most of the time, the community helps to take care of dogs and cats, but they've also bee known to care for less common pets like birds and fish. Contact the group manager on WeChat (ID: nid09_11) to request to join.

READ: Where to Adopt Rescue Animals in Beijing

Photo: Krista Mangulsone (via Unsplash), courtesy of featured organizations