Cat sitting in Australia means someone caring for your cat in its own home while you travel, either by living in the house for your dates or by visiting once or twice a day. No Australian animal welfare authority publishes a maximum number of days a cat can be left on visits alone. RSPCA guidance is that where you can, someone stays with your pets in their familiar environment, and where nobody can, a trusted person visits at least twice a day.
So the real question is not what a cat sitter does. It is how many days of short visits your particular cat can take before somebody should be sleeping in the house. That is decided by the cat rather than the calendar, and the eight things that move it are below.
One scope note first. Sitterly covers the live-in half only. A sitter stays in your home for your dates and cares for your cats there, and no money changes hands for the sit. We do not offer drop-in visits, cat boarding at a sitter's home, daycare or walking. Where your cat needs one of those, this article says so.
The RSPCA sets a daily floor for cat care and no ceiling
The RSPCA Knowledgebase page on cat care while you are away describes a house or pet sitter who stays at your house, or visits at least once or twice per day, to feed your cat, change litter trays and provide company and enrichment. It sets two conditions on any arrangement: that your cat's health and wellbeing is checked on a daily basis, and that they are kept contained, meaning confined to the property, for safety reasons.
RSPCA Australia's guidance on planning for your pets if you are going away over the holidays, published 22 December 2020, puts an order on it. For cats it says it is best to have someone stay with them in their familiar environment, and where that is not possible, to arrange for a trusted person to visit at least twice a day. The same page says to leave plenty of supplies including extra in case you cannot return home as planned, to give the carer the veterinary records and the vet's contact details, and to check the microchip details are current.
That is a floor with no ceiling. Somebody has to lay eyes on the cat every day, twice where nobody is living in. Nothing published here says a cat is fine on visits for five days but not eleven, because the number of nights was never the variable.
The floor, in one line
Every day you are away, someone has to see the cat, not just the food bowl. A sitter who confirms the food went down, the tray was used and the cat was in the room is doing the job. A sitter who reports that the house looked fine is not.
Eight things decide whether daily visits are enough
| What we are weighing | Daily visits can reasonably work | Someone living in is the safer call |
|---|---|---|
| Age and health | A healthy adult cat with no ongoing treatment | A kitten, a senior cat, or a cat under treatment for a diagnosed condition |
| Medication | None, or something the cat takes without a fight | Twice daily dosing, fixed hour dosing, or a cat that must be held |
| Appetite history | Eats normally and has never gone off food when you travel | Has stopped eating during a previous absence, or eats by hand |
| Urinary history | No history of straining, blockage or crystals | Any history of urinary trouble, particularly in a male cat |
| Number of cats | One cat, or cats that share food, trays and space comfortably | Cats fed in separate rooms, or cats that turn on each other under stress |
| Doors and escape risk | A contained home and a cat with no interest in the front door | A cat that bolts, especially where the door opens onto the footpath |
| Season | Mild weather with cool rooms the cat can reach | Summer, where cooling and water need checking through the day |
| Your distance | A short trip, phone on, able to answer within the hour | Long trips, poor reception, or a vet a long drive from the house |
Two or more rows landing in the right-hand column is the signal to stop pricing visits and start looking for someone who will be there. One row on its own is usually a briefing problem rather than a format problem.
A cat that goes off its food is why the gap between visits matters
Cats do not eat the way dogs do. The RSPCA Knowledgebase on feline nutrition says that given the choice cats eat 8 to 16 meals a day, recommends they are fed little and often, at least 5 meals a day, with multiple sources of fresh clean water freely available, and advises that any change of diet be made gradually over 4 to 7 days.
Three things follow. Leave enough of the food your cat already eats for the whole stay plus a few days, do not change brands in the week before you travel, and tell the sitter what the cat actually eats in a day rather than what you put out. A change in appetite is the earliest signal most owners get, and it is invisible to anyone who only sees a bowl twice.
Agree in writing, before you go, at what point the sitter stops watching and rings the vet, who authorises treatment and up to what amount. Who pays the emergency vet bill during a sit covers how Australians settle that, and handing over medication and post-surgery care covers the dosing side. This is general information rather than veterinary advice, so ask your own vet where the line sits for your cat.
Straining to urinate is the one sign nobody should wait on
The RSPCA Knowledgebase on inappropriate urination in cats states that where a cat cannot urinate or cannot urinate normally, with signs including straining without passing urine or without passing a normal stream, that cat could have a urinary blockage, and that this is a medical emergency. It says blocked urination is generally a problem associated more with male cats and can be fatal, and to see your veterinarian immediately if you suspect your cat could be blocked.
That paragraph is the strongest argument for continuous presence over short visits. Someone living in notices repeated trips to a tray that produce nothing. Someone visiting for twenty minutes sees a tray, and an empty tray looks like good news. Our guide to cat urinary problems, crystals and UTIs sets out the signs.
The same page notes that frustration, stress or anxiety can change a cat's urinating habits, and names a new person in the household as a trigger. A cat urinating outside the tray while you are away is more likely telling you it is unsettled than being difficult, and your sitter needs to hear that from you first so they report it rather than quietly clean it up.
Litter trays are the thing most owners under-brief
The RSPCA Knowledgebase on litter tray use says one cat needs at least two trays in physically separated locations, and that a household with more than one cat needs at least one tray per cat plus one, in multiple separate locations. Trays belong in quiet, private but easily accessible areas, away from food and water, with about 3 to 4 cm of unscented litter, and faeces and urine need to be removed daily with the trays emptied and cleaned regularly. It also advises against moving trays about, which is worth remembering while you tidy the house for a visitor.
So the litter half of a brief is five lines, and most handovers carry one:
- How many trays there are and exactly where each one is, including the one behind the laundry door.
- Which litter, and where the spare bag is kept.
- How often it is scooped, where the waste goes, and which night the bin goes out.
- Which cat uses which tray, if that matters in your house.
- What to do if the cat starts using the floor, which is a report-it item rather than a cleaning job.
Pet care handover notes has a full template you can copy, written by the hour rather than by heading.
Australian summer changes the answer for a cat that is fine in July
The RSPCA Knowledgebase on protecting companion animals from heatstroke says cats need access to cool areas and, if it is too hot outside, may need to be confined indoors, that all animals need free access to water, and that heatstroke is a life threatening emergency needing immediate veterinary attention.
A west facing unit in Perth, a top floor flat in Bondi or an uninsulated Queenslander in Ipswich is a different house in February from the one it is in July. The cool room may be the one your cat cannot open, a water bowl in the sun goes warm by lunchtime, and a cat shut out of the bedroom for the sitter's privacy may have lost the coolest floor in the place. Someone living in can open a door, run a fan and refill water through the afternoon. Two visits cannot.
Write the summer lines into the brief: which rooms stay cool, whether the air conditioner or fan may be run, where the second and third water bowls go, and which windows must stay shut because there is no screen. Planning pet care across the Australian summer covers the timing problem as well.
What cat sitting costs depends on which of the two Australian markets you are in
There are two, and they price nothing alike. In the paid market you hire a sitter and pay a nightly or per visit rate through a platform that takes a cut. In the non-monetary exchange the sitter stays in your home for your dates and the accommodation is the compensation, so nothing changes hands for the sit itself. Sitterly is in the second market, is free for homeowners, and takes no commission from either side.
No Australian authority publishes an average price for cat care, and the figures that circulate come from companies selling the service. PetCloud's services and prices page listed house sitting from $30 to $50 a night when read on 22 August 2026, while its own location pages said about $45 per night on the same date. Read any single figure as that seller's guide. What pet care actually costs in Australia gives each number with its publisher and the date it was read.
| Cost | Non-monetary house sit | Paid in-home cat sitting |
|---|---|---|
| The care itself | Nothing. The accommodation is the exchange | A nightly or per visit rate set by the sitter |
| Platform fee | Free for homeowners on Sitterly, no commission either side | A commission or booking fee, which several Australian platforms do not publish in full |
| Food, litter and medication | You | You |
| Vet treatment while you are away | You, on limits and authority you agree in writing first | You, on limits and authority you agree in writing first |
Ask a cat sitter what they would do with a cat that hides for two days
It is the most useful screening question there is, because the answer separates people who have lived with a cat from people who have read about one. A good answer says hiding is normal, that they would confirm food is going down and the tray is being used, and that they would sit in the room and let the cat come out on its own timetable. An answer that promises to coax the cat out is the wrong one.
Four more worth asking before you agree to dates:
- How much of the day will you be at the house, and what are you doing while you are here?
- Have you given a cat tablets before, and what happened?
- This cat is indoor only. How would you handle the front door?
- What will your updates look like, and how often?
On that last one, ask for evidence rather than portraits. A photo of an emptied bowl and a note that the tray was used twice tells you more than a picture of your cat being held. Then meet in person with the cat in the room, at your place, and walk the sitter through the hiding spots so nobody concludes on day one that the cat has escaped. Cat sitter or cattery covers containment rules and the boarding decision, and house sitting against boarding and drop-in visits compares every format side by side.
The two day rule for shy cats
Tell your sitter in advance that the cat may not appear for a day or two and that this is normal. Sitters who have not been told assume they have done something wrong, and the ones who panic start searching cupboards, which is exactly what a frightened cat does not need.
Sitterly is a place to find someone, not a guarantee about them
Sitterly does not vet, screen or approve members, does not supervise sits, and provides no insurance, guarantee or replacement sitter. Email verification is automatic. A police check is optional and member initiated, reviewed by our admin team once a member completes it. You can filter the sitter list by police check, and each profile shows what that member has done. It is a filter, not a promise. Reviews appear only after a booking is marked completed, so volume is low on a newer platform and a short history is not by itself a red flag. What you can read is how someone writes about cats, what experience they list, and how quickly they reply, which we publish as a reply rating. Sitterly supports the connection. Homeowners and sitters remain responsible for their own arrangements.
Cat sitting in Australia, answered
- How long can you leave a cat alone?
- No Australian animal welfare authority publishes a maximum. RSPCA guidance is that a cat's health and wellbeing is checked on a daily basis, that it is best to have someone stay with them in their familiar environment, and that where nobody can, a trusted person visits at least twice a day. Whether visits are enough depends on your cat's age, health, medication, appetite and urinary history, how many cats share the house, the weather and how far away you are.
- How much does cat sitting cost in Australia?
- On the non-monetary exchange model nothing changes hands for the sit, because the sitter is compensated with accommodation, and you still pay for food, litter, medication and any vet treatment. In the paid market, PetCloud's services and prices page listed house sitting from $30 to $50 a night when read on 22 August 2026, and its own location pages said about $45 per night on the same date. No Australian authority publishes an average.
- How many litter trays should I leave out for a sitter?
- RSPCA guidance is that one cat needs at least two trays in physically separated locations, and that a household with more than one cat needs at least one tray per cat plus one, in multiple separate locations. Keep them in quiet, accessible spots away from food and water, with about 3 to 4 cm of unscented litter, scooped daily.
- Does Sitterly offer drop-in cat visits?
- No. Sitterly covers live-in sits only, where a sitter stays in your home for your dates and no money changes hands for the sit. Drop-in visits, daycare, walking and boarding at a sitter's home are not part of it, so if your cat needs one of those, a paid local service is the right place to look.
Find a cat sitter
Browse sitters near you, filter by ID verification and police check, and read a few profiles properly before you message anyone. If you would rather sitters came to you, post your dates on the listings board and say plainly that the cat is the job, including trays, medication and how the cat behaves with someone new. Listings are free for homeowners, there is no commission on either side, and you are never obliged to accept anyone.
General information only, not veterinary, legal or insurance advice. Prices quoted are figures published by the named platform and read on 22 August 2026, not market averages, and they change. Cat containment and registration rules differ between states, territories and councils. Speak to your vet about your cat's needs, and if you think your cat is unwell, contact your veterinary clinic or an emergency animal hospital straight away.
