FAQ

We provide cat sitting, caged pet care, dog walking, drop-in pet sitting, mini day stays, overnight care, extensive care, SNIFFari and pet taxi services. For more details check our services page.

Wilmington, Castle Hayne, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, Hampstead, Leland, Southport, & Oak Island, North Carolina. Check out our Service Area page for more details.

Yes, we are insured for your saftey and peace of mind with Business Insurers of the Carolinas (BIC).

We run background checks on all potential Pet Butlers as well as checks references, completes in-person interviews, undergo on-the-job training, to include hands on and formal education to expand their expertise to provide the best care for your pet.

Our Pet Butlers must have an obvious strong affinity for animals of varying types & have a vocation in the pet industry to be considered. Their experience ranges from personal, volunteering with animal rescue groups or shelters, to professional, training, grooming, vet technician, previous animal caretaker positions, &/or possession of pet sitter certifications.

All our staff is reliable, trustworthy, professional, and in possession of various certificates, with pet first aid and CPR being a requirement.

Once a Pet Butler, our sitters and dog walkers are required to take a monthly mini course.

We carefully consider who will work well with each pet. While all our Pet Butlers love animals, we understand that people & animals need to accept each other too. If, for whatever reason, you want to try another Pet Butler, let us know & we will be happy to accommodate!

You may not have the same Pet Butler each & every time, especially when it comes to holiday scheduling. However, we do try to keep clients with the same Pet Butler whenever possible. Each client has a Pet Butler who attends the required in-home consultation to meet you and your pet(s), designating that Pet Butler as your “primary.” A backup Pet Butler may be used if the primary Pet Butler is unavailable when a request for future services is made.

The client may choose to meet the backup Pet Butler before they fill in for scheduled service for a fee, or the client can rely on Pawsatively Golden Pet Care, LLC to ensure the right backup is assigned. We work as a team & all our staff are professional & skilled.

Yes, our consultations are a way for clients and Pawsatively Golden Pet Care, LLC’s staff to ensure that our services are the right fit for your family. While we are confident we have the right Pet Butler for the job, sometimes pets & people just don’t click. If this happens, we will happily regroup so you may meet another Pet Butler, free of charge. We are good at picking up on these things, but clients know their pets best, so we encourage clients to request another Pet Butler if they feel that their pet isn’t connecting well with the chosen Pet Butler.

To request a consultation, the client must fill out the intake form. Following that, a staff member will contact you within 2 days and conduct a phone consultation. Phone consults are brief conversations where we gauge what your pet’s specific needs are so that we can match them with the right Pet Butler. This is also the time to disclose special needs or behavioral concerns as this can absolutely affect who we put with the client. During this brief phone consultation, we will review your intake form and determine whether we will be able to move forward with services. If we accept your intake form, you will get an activation email from us to create your client portal.

Portals must be completed before we move forward with services, including proof of rabies vaccination. Please note, credit cards are required to be on file to request services.

Consultations typically last about an hour and are billed accordingly. If you require another consultation to meet a fill-in Pet Butler, we highly encourage you to put in the request at least 5 days in advance of the start of service to allow time to coordinate, otherwise we may not be able to honor the request. There is a charge to conduct a second consult and no portion of it will be applied to the next service – that only applies to the first consultation. The only exception is if the first selected primary Pet Butler was not the best possible match or if it is illness related.

Please note: If you move to a new home or introduce a new pet to your household and request a meet & greet to accommodate these changes, there is a $30 fee for your Pet Butler to visit your new home, observe the updated routine, and review the new setup. All consultations are billed as a minimum of a 60-minute drop-in.

If you need an additional consultation to meet a fill-in Pet Butler, we strongly recommend submitting your request at least 5 days before the start of service to ensure we have enough time to coordinate. Requests made with shorter notice may not be guaranteed.

There is also a $30 fee for a second consultation. Exceptions to this fee apply only if the initially assigned Pet Butler was not the best fit or if the need arises due to illness.

Yes, we have minimum visit requirements for the safety of your pets.

We promise to always provide quality care that your pets need to thrive. We do not cut corners and your pet’s health and safety are our top priorities. The minimum visit requirements only apply if the pet parents will not be home at any point between our visits.

For our free-roam dog clients, we need to check-in at least twice daily for 30 minutes, once in the morning and once in the evening, though we highly recommend adding a third drop-in service to allow for a midday potty break. Crated dogs & dogs under 1 year require a minimum of 3 daily drop-ins, 30-minutes each.

Cats & caged pets in our care require a visit at least once every 24 hours.

Horses, pigs, chickens and other “livestock” or “range” pets need to be checked on at least twice daily for a minimum of 30-minutes each. If we are mucking stalls, increase these to hour visits. The number of range pets & responsibilities may cause minimum durations to increase.

Our minimum visit requirements are to ensure the health & safety of your pets while you are away and cannot be amended.

We request all new clients use a lockbox for us to access their homes.

Lockboxes provide you with the peace of mind that last-minute care is possible when no key exchange was made. This way, our staff will have immediate access to your home in the case of an emergency. The code for the lockbox can be updated as often as you like, just let us know the code when you need our services.

You can use an existing lockbox you already have, purchase a new one, or have Pawsatively Golden Pet Care, LLC ship a lockbox to you for $40, which includes our admin processing fee. Lockboxes are not required but are highly suggested to ensure smooth and secure access to your home without the need for key handovers.

We also keep keys on file for those who wish it. Keys are stored in the office in a lockbox with a randomly generated number corresponding to the client’s account. No identifiable information will be stored with the keys. If you require pick-up and drop-off for FOBs, a gas surcharge will be applied for the Pet Butler to accommodate your request.

Drop-In Pet Care (Up to 60 minutes)

• For our morning drop-in care clients, please notify us by 5pm the day before if you need a visit removed or changed. You will not be charged if you cancel/reschedule by 5pm the day before.
• For our noon and later drop-in care clients, please notify us by 9am the day of service if you need to reschedule or cancel. You will not be charged if you cancel/reschedule by 9am.
• If you contact us to reschedule or cancel outside of these perimeters you will be charged 35% of your service fee.
• If the appointment is not cancelled, and our Pet Butler arrives to carry out services and is not needed, the entire visit plus $15 will be billed to compensate for our Pet Butler’s lost time.

Mini Day Stay Services

• Cancellations made 7+ days before a scheduled service will be refunded 100%.
• Cancellations made 4-6 days before a scheduled service will incur a 15% cancellation fee.
• Cancellations made within 72 hours of a scheduled service will incur a 25% cancellation fee.
• Cancellations made within 24 hours of a scheduled service will incur a 50% cancellation fee.
• Cancellations made after 9am the day of scheduled services will still be charged in full, with the first day being non- refundable. Any remaining days will be credited to the account to be used for future services.*

Overnight & Extended Pet Care

• Cancellations made 7+ days before a scheduled service will be refunded 100%.
• Cancellations made 4-6 days before a scheduled service will incur a 15% cancellation fee.
• Cancellations made within 72 hours of a scheduled service will incur a 25% cancellation fee.
• Cancellations made within 24 hours of a scheduled service will incur a 50% cancellation fee.
• Cancellations made within 24 hours of the start of service will still be charged, with the first 2 days being non-refundable. Any remaining days will be credited to the account to be used for future services.*

Pet Transportation & Relocation Services (Driving)

• Cancellations made 72-hours prior to the scheduled transport week will be refunded 100%.
• Cancellations made within the 72-hours prior to the scheduled transport week will be charged a rescheduling/cancellation fee of 20%.
• Cancellations made within 5-7 days of the scheduled transport day will incur a 25% fee.
• Cancellations made within 3-5 days of the scheduled transport day will incur a 30% cancellation fee.
• Cancellations made within 48-hours of the scheduled transport day will incur a 40% cancellation fee.
• Should cancellations be made after the 48-hour deadline for the scheduled transport day, a fee of 50% will incur.
• Transport week will always begin on a Sunday and end the following Saturday

Holiday Cancellations

• Pawsatively Golden Pet Care, LLC gets more requests for reservations than we can handle during the holiday time periods & we may have turned away other clients because we have reserved time for you during this busy season.
• Cancellations made 14+ days before a scheduled holiday service will be refunded, minus the non-refundable 50% deposit. ***
• If you miss the deadline to pay in full and have not already arranged something with the office, your services will be cancelled and your reservation given to someone else.

*If future services are not booked within a 3-month period, the client forfeits their credit. Please note, credits
cannot be transferred to another account.
** The purpose of this document is to disclose Pawsatively Golden Pet Care, LLC’s cancellation policies. Policies may
be altered at any time without prior notification.
*** Please see “Holiday Information” PDF for more details.

All clients are required to let us know how much we are approved to spend on emergency services for your pet in the event you are not reachable.

We reserve the right to act in the best interests of the animal at all times.

Our system automatically applies a 20% tips to all services. If you wish to change or alter this, you must change the settings in your portal. Overages in payment will be given to the Pet Butler as a tip unless the client specifically states that it is intended to go towards something else.

Pet Butlers receive 100% of their tips so if you think your assigned Pet Butler did a great job, please consider leaving them a tip

It is not always required to pay a deposit before a service. However, for holidays and other especially busy times, you may be asked to pay a deposit. Your deposit will secure your requested service and can be made at time your booking is confirmed.

For services booked over peak holidays (e.g., Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s), a non- refundable deposit of 50% of the total fee is required at booking to secure your slot. The remaining balance is due two days before the start of service. Cancellations less than 7 days before the holiday will result in a full charge for the reserved services.

If payment is not made and no effort has been made to contact the office, your services will be cancelled with no refund. *

We recommend booking early for holidays and high-demand periods to secure availability.

Payments are due in full 3 days before service, except for holidays which have special instructions. If payment is not made, services will be terminated unless something was previously worked out with the management. Payments can be made through the app, Time To Pet, using Stripe to process the payment.

Scheduling is on a first-come-first-serve basis & we do not overbook. We will do our best to accommodate last-minute service requests, but it is based on availability. Any multiple-visit services, including overnights, booked within 24 hours of the requested service will incur a $20 late booking fee. Any single-visit services booked within 24 hours will incur a $10 late booking fee.

Holiday late booking fee is $35.

Our Pet Butlers and Pet Walkers will use their best judgment while caring for your pet & home at the time of inclement weather.

We will attempt to carry out your care instructions as requested to the best of our ability. The care we provide your pet, along with your pet’s safety are our primary concerns so adjustments may be made to accommodate.

In the event of severe inclement weather, the service schedule may be changed, interrupted, or altered due to uncontrollable circumstances. This is to include the possible relocation of your pet if the threat of inclement weather is severe enough to warrant it. Likewise, in situations such as this, if your assigned Pet Butler has their own pets at home and no one to watch them, they may bring them to your home (when able & ideally with your permission) so they can make sure they are also safe. All precautions will be made to keep pets separate to prevent harm to any of the animals. The only exception to this would be if the pet has been with this group of pets before for playdates or other offered group activities.

If it is not safe to drive to your home to start services, your emergency contact will be notified so they may check on your pet & we will inform this contact that they will be notified again once our Pet Butler is able to resume services.

If at any point the animal is deemed as being aggressive or confrontational for any reason, the provider will notify the office and the owner as soon as they are in a safe place to do so to receive guidance. We will attempt to follow any guidance given by the client. Pawsatively Golden Pet Care, LLC has the right to terminate any client agreement of services if the animal being cared for begins displaying undue aggressive and/or confrontational behavior.

In the event this was to occur, and the client was not able to be reached or if the client is unable to come back early, Pawsatively Golden Pet Care, LLC’s management will assess the situation and react accordingly.

If management feels there is an underlying medical emergency, a trip to the emergency vet will ensue and the client will be notified as soon as the Pet Butler and the animal are safe. In conjunction, should Pawsatively Golden Pet Care, LLC management determine there are no suggestions of a medical concern, the animal may be confined to a room or crate for the remainder of the service, minus food/water and potty breaks. If at any time management deems the situation has passed, we will continue normal services while taking special note of activities & behaviors displayed. A detailed update will be given upon the client’s return. If this issue is completely new for the animal, we may recommend taking your pet to a vet to make sure there is not an underlying medical concern.

Pawsatively Golden Pet Care, LLC management and Pet Butlers have all taken various animal behavior and care courses and have certifications available to view on our website. We are knowledgeable and professional and will do everything in our power to care for your pet no matter the circumstances, but safety is always our top concern. If we believe your pet to be out of our realm of expertise, we can refer you to some local trainers and behavioralists.

Typically, we cannot accept jobs where a third party is expected to provide care during times we are also scheduled. For example, a client might ask their neighbor to handle midday check-ins for free or hire a sitter from a third-party service and request us to fill in when that sitter is unavailable.

Unless there are special circumstances, this practice is not allowed due to liability concerns. If something were to happen to your pet while under another person’s care, it could be difficult to prove that the incident did not occur during our scheduled time. However, if we are informed in advance and agree to the arrangement, we can take additional steps, such as documenting the pet’s condition upon arrival and departure, to ensure clarity. In such cases, a signed waiver will be required for our records.

We do make exceptions for certain situations, such as hospice-type contracts where we work alongside other pet care companies or in-home veterinary providers to deliver around-the-clock care for pets with critical needs. In these cases, we are happy to collaborate to ensure the best care for your pet. However, for general circumstances, this type of arrangement is too great a liability to accommodate.

We will happily conduct drop-ins while you or a housemate is there, we just ask to be notified when possible. If a client is not home, we require notification if someone else is also going to be there. This is to include scheduled services such as lawn care, etc.

We have found that being there while the client is there can increase the comfort for the pet if they are especially skittish. We have no problem conducting drop-ins or walks with the pet parent or while someone is home to gradually get them used to our presence so you may go out of town with peace of mind. We do require our clients to inform any others in the home of our visits and ask that we are made aware of if someone will be in the home upon our arrival.

If we enter a client’s home and were not notified anyone should be there and if we cannot verify that the person is supposed to be there, authorities will be called.

We prefer not to encounter housemates in the home while we are there, but we are aware that sometimes this cannot be helped. We will work with you as best we can, but if communication is

not there and their being there interferes with us carrying out our duties, you may be dismissed from our services.