'This is so embarrassing': Petsitter Karen Crosses the Line and Neglects Owners' Pets

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Sep 20, 2023 1:00 PM EDT

What do you get when you hire a Karen to pet-sit your cats, dogs, and… piranhas? A whole lot of crazy, that's what. 

From the very first encounter with this Reddit user and his mom, it was clear that Karen was trouble personified. She had a list of demands and complaints that would make any sane person run away. But against their better judgment, they decided to give her a chance, hoping she would prove them wrong. Spoiler alert: she didn't.

Things took a fishy turn when he entrusted Karen with his precious piranha fry. He gave one simple rule: change the water every day. But Karen had other ideas. She was terrified of the fish and refused to touch them. She left them in the same dirty water for two weeks, causing them to get sick and pass away. But that's just the beginning. Karen's wild antics also include body-shaming their poor dog and an absurd hospital incident that ultimately seals her fate.

Dive into the full story below and prepare to be flabbergasted by the sheer cluelessness of someone who was entrusted with caring for innocent animals.

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  • 01
    Dog
    via RDNE Stock project
  • 02
    Font - Posted by u/Gemini_fish 1 day ago Petsitter Karen and the crazy s*** she put us through. Karen
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 03
    Font - My dad died in August of 2020, and my mom found herself taking long trips to see people who were vital to her support network. Grief hits us all differently, I leaned on my love of aquarium keeping and an ugly fish.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 04
    Font - She found Karen on the rover app, she was a live in pet sitter who would move into our family home to care for my mom's shepherd mix Leon and Michi our cat. She would bring her dogs with her, and would sleep in a downstairs bedroom.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 05
    Font - Karen was an interesting person from day one. I live about 30 minutes away from my mom, and would swing by on my weekends to pick up my medications. I swung by one weekend while my mom was out of town and met Karen after knocking on the door.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 06
    Font - I got my meds, we spoke about my rescue project, and I left. She texted my mom "please don't have (Gemini) come over while I'm here, I'd appreciate it." Ok... weird request, but she had some trauma so we just wrote if off as that.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 07
    Font - Everything seemed to go really well from then on, mom would let Karen know when I was heading over and the couple times that she didn't get the message in time, we chalked up to "sucks to suck, check your phone more often"
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 08
    Font - Then came a trip to Texas that I was super excited for. I had tickets to Moody Gardens to see their arapima and saltwater displays.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 09
    Font - I had spent around $200 on 8 piranha fry that needed very special care, and I decided to put my trust in Karen. I gave her a very specific list, but the most important thing to do was to change the water every day. I had even written detailed instructions on the side of the 5 gal fish bowl they were living in. Piranha are trashy fish
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 10
    Font - and just rip and tear their food, leading to a lot of food waste that can cause ammonia spikes. We went over the list, she agreed to everything, and odd I went to Texas with my mom.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 11
    Font - 8 days later I returned to an absolutely disgusting bowl and 8 very sick fish. I did am emergency change and called her. "Hey, when did you last do a water change, I've got some sick fish and I need to know so I can reacclimate them."
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 12
    Font - "Oh, I never did it." "What." "Well I was just so worried about them getting sucked up in the siphon, I just didn't want to-"
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 13
    Font - "I have a cell phone, you could have called me." "Well yes but I didn't want to interrupt your trip! You're paying me to take care of the animals."
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 14
    Font - To summarize the end of that conversation, I didn't pay her for her work with the fish. My mom still payed her for her time with the other animals, but in my mind she should have contacted me instead of just deciding to not do the work I needed her to do.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 15
    Font - To be absolutely clear. It would have been healthier for the fish to just stay at my house untouched. I lost two fish because of her negligence.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 16
    Font - She texted my mom and went absolutely ballistic. She told her that she would never petsit for me again because I was mean to her. To be fair, I probably was. I wasn't happy about her decision.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 17
    Font - Fast forward a year. The most notable thing that happened with Karen was that she had made some offhand comments about Leon being fat, Leon was still a puppy at the time and was going through a chonk-lank-chonk- lank phase of growth. After a trip she took him in for an allergy shot where the vet noted that he was somewhat underweight.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 18
    Font - At this point I started demanding that we fire Karen. The breaking point came later in 2022, I was at work when I got a call from my mom.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 19
    Human body - "I'm ok, there's no need to worry...." "Mom, you can't open a conversation with that, what's going on?"
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 20
    Font - ....I've been in the hospital since about 11 this morning, I'm going in for emergency surgery tomorrow, and I'd like you to come see me afterwards" 11 "Mom what the f are you talking about?!??! I'm on my way right now"
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 21
    Font - "You don't have to worry, just finish out your shift and get some sleep" I most definitely did not do that. I skipped out of work, packed my stuff, and rushed over to the hospital, practically breaking a land speed record on the way. I walked into the emergency department and over to a nurse
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 22
    Font - "Hey, I'm here to see (My Mom) do I have the right ward?" The nurse glares at me and goes "We are not accepting visitors for that Patient, and that's that." Before slamming the window in my face.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 23
    Font - At that point I started to feel the adrenaline second wave followed by a cold rage. I knocked on the window again and a second nurse came over. "Look sir, we arent accepting visitors at this time for safety reasons, please don't make me call security."
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 24
    Font - So I did the only thing I could do. I sat down and called my mom. I explained the situation and she was equally as confused and upset as I was. She called an emergency ward nurse. I could hear their conversation through the phone.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 25
    Font - "Well ma'am, the hospital got a phone call from someone who said she knew you, and was upset that you were staying in the ER, the Med-Surg ward is full. She said she was going to come down with a doctor and "teach us a lesson" hospital policy is to deny visitors for patients mentioned in a threat."
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 26
    Font - "Oh my god, that's my dog sitter, I asked her to watch the animals today and she just.... this is so embarrassing...." "Ma'am we also have someone out front who is refusing to leave" "That's my son, let him in"
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 27
    Font - I was let in. Mom had her gall bladder removed and ended up spending a week in the hospital, and because of Karen I had to show my ID every single time to a very lovely night security guard.
    via u/Gemini_fishf*****
  • 28
    Font - Karen was fired shortly after mom's hospital stay ended. Something about overstepping her boundaries.
    via u/Geminifishf*****

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pets ridiculous karens in the wild reddit thread Reddit rude karen entitled people
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