The owner pays. The bill for emergency treatment follows you home, not the sitter standing at the counter, which is why that sitter needs written authority to seek treatment on your behalf and a dollar figure they can approve without first reaching you. Sits where this becomes a problem are almost always sits where one of those was never put in writing.
That settles who decides, so your sitter is not guessing at a counter at 2am, and who pays. It also gives a clinic something to act on when they cannot reach you.
- The owner stays financially responsible. Daily care transfers to the sitter. The bill does not.
- Write a one page emergency authority first: vet, after-hours clinic, authority to treat, spending limit, backup contact.
- Australian emergency clinics generally expect payment at the time, plus a deposit on admission.
- Pet insurance is your policy. Most insurers make you pay in full and claim afterwards.
- Agree reimbursement in writing: how much, how fast, by what method.
- Vet availability thins over Christmas and New Year. Check your clinic's holiday hours.
Why the owner stays financially responsible
What transfers when a sitter moves in is daily care, not ownership. In most states and territories that carries a duty of care under animal welfare law: Queensland's guidance on who counts as a person in charge covers anyone with custody, care or control.
That is a welfare duty, not a financial one. It obliges a sitter to get an unwell animal help, but it does not make them your pet's guarantor or the vet's client. Consent for treatment, and responsibility for the bill, stay with you.
The other reason to settle this early is scale. PetSure's 2025 Pet Health Monitor, drawn from 2024 claims across 700,000 insured pets, reported that the most expensive dog health claims were for lymphoma, with one case above $61,000, and tick paralysis, with a top claim over $57,000. Those are outliers rather than typical bills, but the range is wide enough that a spending limit set at $500 is worth thinking about twice.
What a written emergency authority should contain
Call it what it is: a written record of your instructions. It gives your sitter something to hand over, and a vet a basis for acting when you cannot be reached. Keep it to one page.
The fields to write down
- Pet details. Name, species, breed, age, weight, desexed or not, microchip number.
- Health summary. Medications and doses, allergies, chronic conditions, recent surgery, anything relevant before anaesthesia.
- Your regular vet. Name, address, phone, hours, and whether you hold an account there.
- Your after-hours clinic. The nearest 24 hour hospital, with the route. Work this out now, not at 2am.
- Authorisation wording. A sentence naming your sitter and the dates, authorising them to present your pet for veterinary treatment in your absence.
- The spending limit. A figure the vet may proceed to without reaching you, and an instruction to attempt contact above it.
- Who to call, in order. Your mobile, a second number, then a named backup.
- Payment arrangement. A clinic account, a card you will authorise by phone, your backup attending, or reimbursement.
- Insurance details. Insurer, policy number and claims line. Claims are yours to lodge.
- End of life instructions. The gap that causes the most distress when missing. Say whether you want contact before any euthanasia decision, and who decides otherwise.
Sign and date it, and cover it at the meet and greet alongside the other questions worth settling before you confirm.
Setting the spending limit
There is no standard figure, and anyone quoting you one is guessing. The limit's job is to let a vet start without a phone call: consultation, imaging or bloods, pain relief, stabilisation. Ring the clinic you would use, ask what that comes to after hours, and set your limit above it.
Circumstances move it. Three weeks in the Kimberley with patchy reception argues for a higher limit and an empowered local backup. A long weekend in Bendigo argues for less.
This is a record, not a contract
An emergency authority you write yourself is a record of your instructions. It is not legally binding and does not oblige a clinic to do anything. Its value is practical: it tells a sitter and a vet what you want, in writing, when nobody has time to work it out.
How Australian vet clinics actually handle payment
People picture the vet quietly billing the owner. That can happen at a clinic you have used for years. At an emergency centre at midnight, usually it does not. Animal Emergency Service sets out a typical arrangement on its fees page: an estimate before treatment, payment due at the end of the consultation, and a deposit on admission.
From your sitter's side that is an unfamiliar suburb, your dog, and a deposit request they did not expect. They can pay it or explain the animal is not theirs.
Better ways to handle payment
- Pre-authorise with your own clinic. Give them your sitter's name and the dates, and ask whether they will hold a card.
- Call the after-hours clinic too. Some will note your authorisation and payment arrangement on file.
- Nominate a local backup who can pay. Someone nearby who can attend or pay by phone removes the problem.
- Keep the clinic's number in your own phone. Most will take a card payment from the owner.
- Never send card details through messages. Not yours, not your sitter's. Reimburse by bank transfer instead.
Where pet insurance fits, and where it does not
Pet insurance is your policy, not your sitter's, and it does not change who pays on the night. ASIC's Moneysmart guidance on pet insurance is direct: most insurers require you to pay the vet in full and claim afterwards with receipts.
Check four things in the product disclosure statement: the excess, the annual benefit limit, the waiting periods and the exclusions. Moneysmart notes most insurers exclude pre-existing conditions, and flags less obvious ones including skin conditions and tick bites.
Reimbursement, agreed in writing
If your sitter might be out of pocket, settle four things before the sit starts.
- The cap. The most you are asking them to front. Zero is a reasonable answer.
- The evidence. They keep the itemised invoice and send photos the same day.
- The timeframe. A specific number of days, not "when I'm back".
- The method. Bank transfer to an account they nominate.
Sitterly is non-monetary and does not hold funds or mediate disputes, so this is a private arrangement between you. The house sitting agreement guide shows where it fits; what to do when a sit goes wrong covers the aftermath.
Knowing when it is actually an emergency
A sitter who is unsure will overreact or, worse, wait. Give them a reference point. Animal Emergency Service publishes a list of signs that warrant an immediate visit and recommends phoning ahead from the car.
- Breathing that has stopped, or is laboured or noisy
- Collapse, sudden weakness, or loss of balance
- A seizure over two to three minutes, or several in a day
- A swollen abdomen, especially in a deep-chested dog
- Straining to urinate, urgent in male cats
- Bleeding that will not stop, or a puncture wound
- Major trauma: a car strike, a fall, an animal attack
- Repeated vomiting or diarrhoea, especially with lethargy
- Suspected snake bite, cane toad contact, or a paralysis tick
- Severe pain, inability to stand, or difficulty giving birth
Poisoning and suspected poisoning
The Australian Animal Poisons Helpline runs 24 hours a day on 1300 869 738 and can say whether this is monitor at home or drive to the clinic now. It is a non-profit, and consultations with a poisons consultant carry a fee, so agree in advance who pays it. Have the packaging, your pet's weight and the exposure time ready.
Skim the RSPCA's list of common household dangers before you go: chocolate, grapes, onion and garlic, xylitol, macadamias, cooked bones, paracetamol, lilies for cats, and permethrin flea products used on a cat.
Heat, the Australian emergency
Heatstroke is the emergency most specific to an Australian summer, and it moves fast. The RSPCA calls it life-threatening and lists constant panting, pale or red gums, drooling, vomiting, weakness, confusion, tremors and collapse among the signs to watch for. Its advice: cool the animal with room temperature or cool water, keep the environment cool, and seek veterinary attention immediately.
Vet Voice, the Australian Veterinary Association's guide to summer hazards, covers prevention: cooler-hour exercise, water, shade, never a parked car.
On the east coast, brief your sitter on paralysis ticks. The RSPCA notes they occur from north Queensland down to Victoria: year round in the north, spring to late autumn further south. Early signs include wobbliness in the back legs and a changed voice. The RSPCA also advises withholding food and water, because affected animals cannot swallow safely.
Christmas and New Year
Peak sitting season is also when vet availability is thinnest. Clinics close or cut hours across the public holidays, and surcharges apply. Before a December or January sit, check your clinic's opening dates, write them into the authority, and find a 24 hour hospital that will be open. More in the guide to Christmas and summer pet care planning.
For sitters: what to do in the moment
- Make the animal safe. Remove the hazard, get them out of the heat, apply pressure to bleeding. No food, water or medication unless a vet says so.
- Decide: now, or the morning? If anything above applies, go now. If unsure, ring a clinic and describe what you see.
- Call the clinic before you leave. Say you are the sitter, and read out the authorisation and limit.
- Call the owner, then the backup. If nobody answers, tell the clinic and hand over the backup's number.
- Photograph the estimate and send it. If it exceeds the limit and nobody answers, ask the vet to stabilise and manage pain while you keep trying.
- Keep every invoice and write it down. Times, symptoms, what you did, who you spoke to.
Sitters: you are not obliged to spend your own money. If you cannot pay a deposit, say so at the start of the conversation, not the end.
What goes wrong when the vet asks who is paying
- Assuming the sitter will pay and sort it out later. Few people can absorb a four figure bill on an hour's notice.
- Naming a vet but not an after-hours clinic. Your regular clinic is shut at 11pm, which is when it matters.
- Naming a backup who does not know it. Ask first, and give them the same document.
- Setting no limit, or one too low to cover a consultation. Either way the vet must reach you before doing anything.
- Forgetting the microchip register. If your pet gets out and is scanned, an old number is a dead end. PetAddress shows which registry holds the chip.
Frequently asked questions
Can my sitter authorise surgery on my pet?
In practice a vet will want the owner's consent for a significant procedure and will try hard to reach you. A written authority lets a clinic move quickly on stabilisation, pain relief and diagnostics, and gives a basis for acting if you truly cannot be reached. It does not replace consent for a major decision.
What happens if the vet cannot reach me?
That is what the backup decision maker is for. Name someone local, contactable and willing, give them the same document, and put their number under yours. Without one, a clinic applies its own judgement, which may not match yours.
Should I give my sitter my credit card details?
No. Pay the clinic by phone, set up an account or card on file in advance, or nominate a local backup who can pay. Reimburse by bank transfer if your sitter does pay.
Does Sitterly cover any of this?
No. Sitterly helps homeowners and sitters find each other and communicate. It does not provide insurance, process payments, supervise sits or mediate disputes. As the about page puts it, Sitterly supports the connection: homeowners and sitters remain responsible for discussing expectations and deciding whether to proceed.
What to settle before you leave
None of this prevents an emergency. It removes the delay and guesswork when one happens: one page of instructions, one call to your vet, one agreed number, one backup who has said yes.
Not listed yet? Create a free homeowner account and build a pet profile with your vet, medications and emergency details in it, so it is all in one place from the first conversation. Preparing your home and pets for a house sitter covers the rest.
This article is general information only, not veterinary, legal, insurance or financial advice. Speak to your veterinarian about your pet's health, and to your insurer or a qualified adviser about your policy. Sitterly is not a party to arrangements between users.
