Experience With Your Species, Specifically
Open with the question that filters fastest: which small pets has she cared for, for other people, and for how long. Caring for a confident rabbit is a different job from caring for a pair of skittish degus or an elderly hamster, and a sitter who has only fed cats may not know that a guinea pig sitting silent and uneaten is an emergency, not a quiet evening.
Ask what went wrong on a past sit and what she did. Every experienced sitter has a story about a blocked water bottle, an escape, or an animal off its food, and the quality of the answer tells you how she thinks under pressure. Vague reassurance at this question is the clearest warning sign a first meeting offers.
The Emergency and Vet Questions
Ask directly: if you came in and my rabbit had not touched his hay and left no droppings since your last visit, what would you do, and how quickly. You are listening for same-day action and a vet call, not waiting to see how he is tomorrow. Small pets deteriorate fast, and the sitter's instinct on this scenario is the single most important thing the meeting can reveal.
Follow with the practicalities. Does she drive, is she willing to take an animal to your vet, does she understand you are authorising that trip in advance, and how will she reach you. Ask who covers if she is ill or her car fails mid-trip, and treat 'no one, but I am never ill' as an answer that ends the arrangement for any trip longer than a weekend.
Routine, Reporting, and Following Instructions
Walk her through a normal visit and ask her to describe what she would do in your home, in her own words. Compare it silently with your routine: does she mention water before you prompt, does she plan handling time, does spot-cleaning occur to her. Then ask how she reports back — a message and photo after each visit is a reasonable expectation to set now rather than hope for later.
State plainly that your written instructions rule, including the fussy parts, and ask whether she is happy working that way. A good sitter welcomes exact instructions because they remove guesswork. A sitter who waves them off as unnecessary intends to improvise your animals' care, and improvisation is what you are paying to avoid.
Watch Her With the Animals in Front of You
End the meeting at the enclosures. Let her offer a hand, handle whoever tolerates it, and refill a water bottle while you watch without coaching. Calm, slow movements, comfort crouching at cage level, and no grabbing at a retreating animal are the behaviours your pets will live with for a week.
Agree the fee, the visit times, and the key handover only after all of that feels right. Shortlisting sitters through the KinsLe Pet Services Directory gives you trusted local candidates to hold this meeting with, so you are choosing between known options rather than starting from a stranger's advert.