You've covered feeding times and the walk schedule. But if something actually goes wrong — your dog eats something they shouldn't, your cat won't come out and won't eat for a day — does your sitter know who to call, how far they're allowed to go without you, and who decides if you can't be reached?
The short answer
Five things: your vet's details, an after-hours option, permission to act, a spending limit, and a backup decision-maker. Miss any one of them and an emergency becomes two problems — the actual emergency, and your sitter standing in a vet clinic not sure what they're allowed to do.
1. Your regular vet
Name, clinic, address, phone number, and hours. Your sitter needs to be able to get your pet to a vet who already has their history — allergies, past conditions, existing medications — rather than starting from zero with someone new.
2. An after-hours or emergency vet
Regular clinics close. If yours does, your sitter needs a second number for after-hours or emergency care, ideally one you've already checked is reasonably close.
3. Permission to act
This is the one people skip. "Take them to the vet if needed" isn't permission — it's a suggestion. A sitter who isn't the owner often can't authorise treatment without something in writing, and vets will ask. A short note — "[Sitter's name] is authorised to seek emergency veterinary treatment for [pet's name] on my behalf while I'm away." That note isn't a binding legal document — a clinic can still insist on reaching you directly, especially for anything major. But it signals intent clearly and clears the bar for most day-to-day situations.
4. A spending limit
Nobody wants their sitter making an on-the-spot decision about a $4,000 procedure with no idea what you'd be comfortable with. Give a number. "Anything under $500, go ahead. Above that, try me first, then call [backup contact]." It's not about the money — it's about not putting your sitter in an impossible spot at 11pm.
5. A backup decision-maker
If you're unreachable — flight, no signal, time zones — who makes the call? Name one person and make sure your sitter and that person both know they're it.
What this looks like when it's not written down
It looks like a sitter calling you four times from a vet's waiting room while a receptionist waits for an authorisation you never gave. Most of the time nothing goes wrong on a pet-sitting stint. This is specifically for the times it does — and it's exactly the kind of thing that's easy to forget to mention until it's already 9pm and something's happening.
Quirks & All keeps emergency contacts, vet details, and a decision contact behind a PIN on your pet's profile — so if something does happen, your sitter isn't hunting through old texts to find a number you sent them three sits ago.
→ Print the Pet Emergency Information Card — a one-page card with all five, ready to fill in and pin up. On regular medication? Pair it with the printable medication schedule — a row per drug, dose, and timing.