Frequently Asked Questions
Helpful answers about your services, process, policies, and what to expect when working with North Hills Pet Care
Getting Started
We offer dog walking, pet sitting visits, cat visits, and vacation pet care. Services may include feeding, fresh water, potty breaks, litter box care, medication administration if needed, playtime, and plenty of attention while you’re away.
North Hills Pet Care proudly serves pet families in Warrendale, Marshall Township, Wexford, Cranberry Township, Mars, and nearby North Hills communities. If you’re unsure whether you’re in our service area, reach out and we’ll be happy to check.
Getting started is simple! You can reach out to us in whichever way is easiest for you:
- Fill out the quick form on our Contact Us page.
- Call or text us directly at 412.206.9087.
- Email us at info@northhillspetcare.com.
Once you connect with us, we will follow up to schedule your complimentary meet and greet. After our meeting, we’ll send you a secure client portal link where you can easily log your pet’s care routines, sign onboarding forms, and request all future visits.
Yes. We conduct a complimentary meet and greet with both Gabrielle (our founder) and your primary designated sitter. This allows your pet to get comfortable with their primary caregiver, while ensuring you meet Gabrielle, who manages everything on the backend and serves as your first designated backup sitter.
Client Portal, Scheduling & Policies
All scheduling is handled through our secure client portal (Time to Pet) where you can request services, update pet details, and view updates. For clients with recurring weekly schedules, we will set everything up on the backend for you so you don’t have to input repetitive requests each week.
Once you become a client, yes. The portal keeps your pet’s care information, visit requests, invoices, and updates all in one place so nothing gets lost. We keep the process simple and guide you through setup.
We always recommend requesting services as soon as possible to guarantee availability. Holiday periods, summer weekends, and overnight stays fill up incredibly fast, so securing your dates early gives you the best peace of mind.
We understand that schedules shift. You can manage and cancel visits directly through the client portal under the following guidelines:
- Single & Occasional Bookings: Cancellations made more than 24 hours in advance receive a 50% credit to your account for future use. Cancellations made less than 24 hours before service begins are non-refundable and full service fees apply.
- Recurring Weekly Schedules: We offer extra leniency for our regular, repeat clients because we know life happens week-to-week (sudden illness, working from home, etc.). Just reach out through the portal as soon as a change pops up.
Yes. After every visit you will receive a detailed update that may include notes, photos, and information about how your pet did during the visit. Updates are available through the client portal and can also be delivered by email.
Whenever possible, we aim to provide consistency so your pets see a familiar face. Because we manage fixed employee schedules, your primary sitter will handle the majority of your visits. If they are off-shift or unavailable, another highly trusted, vetted member of the North Hills Pet Care team will step in seamlessly.
All of our team members have full access to your pet’s detailed care notes in the client portal to ensure your exact routine is always maintained.
This is exactly where the power of a team-based company shines! Unlike a solo pet sitter who might have to cancel your care if an emergency pops up, North Hills Pet Care has built-in reliability.
Because we operate as a fully employed team, we maintain proactive contingency plans. If your primary sitter gets sick or faces an unexpected delay, Gabrielle (our founder) or another fully trained, background-checked team member will step in immediately to complete the visit. Your pet’s care continues seamlessly without you ever having to stress or scramble for a backup plan.
Visits are scheduled within service windows rather than exact appointment times. This allows us to safely manage travel time, traffic, and other scheduled visits.
If your pet has medication or another time-sensitive need, please let us know and we’ll do our best to accommodate.
Care, Safety & Training
Yes. North Hills Pet Care is fully insured for professional pet sitting services, giving clients added peace of mind while their pets are in our care.
Every member of our team undergoes a strict vetting process. They are fully background-checked, insured, and Pet CPR Certified. From there, they are personally trained by Gabrielle to meet our company’s golden standard of care.
Never. We carefully match our sitters based on their specific comfort levels and experience. If a sitter does not handle large breeds, or if they have a cat allergy, they are never paired with those households. Your pet will only ever be paired with a caregiver who is confident and fully equipped to care for them.
Yes, absolutely. We are fully experienced in administering a wide range of pet medications, including oral pills, topical treatments, supplements, and liquid drops.
To ensure your pet’s safety and absolute precision, we will carefully review their exact dosages, scheduling, and administration methods during our initial meet and greet. All medication instructions are permanently logged into your secure client portal profile so that every scheduled team member can follow your exact routine perfectly.
Clients must provide reliable home access for scheduled visits. This may include a key, lockbox, keypad entry, or other approved method. We recommend a lockbox as a backup entry option whenever possible.
The safety of your pets and our team members is our absolute highest priority. To ensure we are never caught off guard, we establish a customized severe weather game plan with you during our initial meet and greet. During major weather events (like severe winter storms or flooding), our team operates on a structured protocol:
- Routine Adjustment: Visit times may be slightly shifted or widened to allow our sitters extra time to travel safely on the roads.
- Communication: We keep you fully updated through the client portal if weather conditions impact our usual arrival windows.
- Emergency Contacts: We always ensure we have your approved local emergency contacts, gate codes, or neighbor access options on file in your portal as part of your backup plan.
We will always make every reasonable, safe effort to complete scheduled visits and ensure your pets are comfortable, safe, and cared for.
Payments, Rates & Availability
Yes! We offer dedicated 11-hour Overnight Stays as well as 24-hour Extended Stay Care to keep your pets safe and comfortable in their own home while you are away.
Yes, we operate 365 days a year. Holiday bookings fill up quickly, so we recommend requesting those dates as early as possible.
To fairly compensate our dedicated team members for working on major holidays, our holiday rates are structured as follows:
- Drop-In & Walk Visits: An additional $7 per visit.
- Overnight Stays: An additional $15 per night.
- Extended Stay Care: An additional $15 per 24-hour cycle
Holiday pricing applies on select holidays, including New Year’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.
We accept ACH, Debit Cards, and Credit Cards securely through your client portal, and we offer automatic payment enrollment for your convenience. Our payment timelines are structured to minimize constant account adjustments:
- Single & Occasional Bookings: Payment is due 48 hours prior to our first scheduled visit.
- Recurring Weekly Schedules: To account for the flexible nature of daily routines, recurring schedules are invoiced and processed 48 hours after the last visit of the week has been completed.