Enjoy the summer trip. Sounds lovely!
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Our neighbors use a paid house/petsitting service – the person has to walk dogs.
We did have ducks that were semi-wild. They would come by to be fed two or three times a day. They were more than able to find food on the river where we live, except in the winter. But, they are now gone (we’re not sure if they were eaten or found a better food supply, probably some of both). When they were around, we would ask someone to feed them daily. For a while had the OCD-ish son of a friend who would come and leave the place cleaner than we left it. He was one of ShawWife’s failure to launch kids who we were helping – ShawWife helped him get a job in our town. He was living with roommates in a situation he didn’t like so we thought it was a mutually beneficial trade (beautiful house in a secluded spot on a river with a pool). But he’s moved back with his dad.
Now, we have no pets. Do you think it is a good idea to have a house sitter if there are no pets?
The house was empty for our 2+ weeks in Asia – my assistant came by periodically and checked on things and ShawWife’s studio assistant came by the studio for some work-related stuff. But, should we be thinking about a housesitter if we go away for a month?
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I feel like people should use this arrangement more! How great would it be to have a friend/family member in a city you’d like to explore….they provide the house (while they are away) and the friend/family member gets free lodging in a city they want to explore - and takes care of the pets!
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We are not retired yet, but basically empty nesters. D1 is launched and in another city. D2 just finished sophomore year. So this past Xmas the two knuckleheads decided to get us a cat. We have never had a cat or dog while married.
Cat is fine, but we were enjoying less responsibilities. Cats are definitely easier than dogs, but still something to keep alive. We wanted a break from that.
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Did you consider saying no to accepting the cat? IMO a surprise pet is a big no-no!!
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I live in a 55+ building. I see both sides of the coin with pet ownership in your senior years. Some people are lonely, they live alone and their dog is their best friend and gives them needed company. Others feel saddled by their older dog. They feel that they can’t go on vacation and leave the dog for long periods of time. One woman in my building has expressed how freeing it was that her dog died. Maybe if these people had younger pets, they wouldn’t be so hesitant about getting pet-sitters or boarding them.
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We decided to forgo pets after our last urchin died. Dog was 14.Cats were each nearing 20! If we adopt again, they could easily outlive us at this point. The freedom to travel on a moment’s notice is great, but we miss a pet also. We fostered briefly, and will offer to do that again. We have also considered signing up as sitters with Trusted Housesitters, but have yet to register. Anyone here do that as a sitter?
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When we went away for a month, we paid a neighbor to come and just walk around the house once a week, to make sure the heat was working, the furniture wasn’t floating away, etc.
Our heat did die while we were gone, so we were glad to have her do it. She would have done it for free, but we insisted on paying her.
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One thing that needs to be done periodically in a house that sits unoccupied is filling all P traps with water. Otherwise, if a P trap dries out,
sewer gases will be wafting through the house! 
Just flush every toilet and run water from every faucet for a few seconds once in 1-2 weeks.
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We don’t have pets and generally leave our house empty. RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol) will come check the perimeter about every other day for no cost. I can see what’s going on through our Ring cameras. We have neighbors who will pick up random packages and take the trash bins to and from the curb.
Because there’s only the two of us in our three bathroom house, we rotate which shower, etc. to use. Decades ago we had a slab leak when we were gone for three weeks. A friend came by to water plants and discovered the leak. She shut off the water to prevent further damage and even contacted our insurance to start drying it out. These were the days before cell phones and she figured there wasn’t anything we could do, and didn’t want to ruin our trip. Have leak detector sensors now in places most likely to leak (laundry room, fridge, kitchen sink/dishwasher and hot water heater).
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We have a neighbor with whom we trade vacation duties. We go on more, shorter trips so he provides more trips to the airport, but when they leave to see their dd and grandbaby for a month dh waters and mows and I grab packages (it’s amazing how much the wife shops while on vacation!) and pick up mail.
I figure it evens out. He saves us on car service. We call him our Guber. 
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But those young pets grow old too and end up in the shelters because everyone wants kittens and puppies! I really wish some of the senior community or care homes woud adopt some older cats and older dogs - there would have to be consideration for those with possible allergies but it is sad to see lonely older animals who have lived a great life with a loving owner who up and died on them - off they go to a cage. Sad to me. If (IF!) I replace my cats as they pass, it will be with an older cat from the shelter. They may not have much time left but they will be happy and loved.
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There are many rescue orgs that adopt out senior dogs only. I know someone who has rescued several dogs and gave them a Wonderful life for their last years.
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I’m glad you hear that. The shelter lady that helped us with our cats they were 3, 2, and 1 year old at the time, said that senior cats just stay in the shelter. They will pick 1 or 2 of them to be out all the time roaming as their home, not in cages. But she said it is difficult for older cats because they are not typically friendly to other animals.
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We have concerns about water leak when gone. In winter, we just turn off the water to the whole house. In summer we’ve been turning off water to the washer (upstairs) and dishwasher because we needed to leave main water on for the lawn irrigation. My husband recently did a minor plumbing project in the basement that we’ve talked about for years. He installed an extra valve so that we take summer trips and leave the water on for sprinklers but turn it off for the rest of the house.
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‘Healthy Yards’ - I had to google this, as it is not in my geographic area, as far as I know. Terrific to look up once we do move.
Agree with ease in making friends - with our ‘senior career’ with being active with grandkids when we move, my focus will first focus on ‘settling in’ with house/home and how I can assist DD1 with her young family (5 kids now ages 3 months to 7 years). At some point, DD1/SIL will transition to home purchase - the rent house they have fits all their needs at present time, and rent is reasonable.
DH will really enjoy teaching the grandkids shop stuff and handy skills as they get old enough. The older two can watch and learn some now.
DH’s parents both died at 92, and his father was in skilled care for the last few years. They talked every night on the phone to say goodnight to each other and exchange “I love you” - which was not heard out of their mouths when they both lived at home (stoic German upbringing and not hearing those words).
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I also suggest running things by FA (if you have one) and also local elder care attorney - in your area, they may have some good advising based on your individual situation, their knowledge of the facility, CCRC, and can perhaps run by some pros and cons you have not thought of but apply to you.
I was part of the group that started it in our town in 2019. We got slightly delayed in being active because of the pandemic, but with outdoor meetups we were able to get on track fairly quickly. The main group has tons of free downloadable material on their website.
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DD1, her older two kids, and I were at lunch with the gal that retired that DD1 slid over into that position. Her H went out to where their kid/grandkids live, but due to elderly dog and issues, she stayed behind. Not the kind of retirement DH and I have in mind.