Owner wants me to let her cat outside, only getting paid for an hour

[Gtathatchers]

I’m doing hour long drop ins for a cat everyday for 2 weeks, I’m only a few days into it. Prior to starting we had a meet and greet and they did not mention about her having to go outside. They don’t have a cat flap or anything, so I have to be here to let her out and to let her back in. The problem is that I’m only being paid for an hours drop in, but when I let her outside, she is never back within the hour. Yesterday, I was here for 2 hours, waiting for her to return, and she only did so because it started to rain. The owners said to walk to the park with her, and that she’ll follow me, so I attempted this and she did not. She’s deaf, and isn’t very food or toy motivated. At first they said to use her harness so I assumed she would be comfortable with it, she wasn’t at all. I tried the gentle approach of trying to put it on her back while she was distracted with some wet food but she’d freak out every time I put it on her, and start hissing, so the owners said please take her out without it, walk to the park and she’ll follow you so I braced myself and did it. She did NOT follow me and instead roamed around on top of the garages in the car park next to their house where I couldn’t get her down from. I stayed outside and watched her until she escaped through a hole in someone’s fence. I did laps around the estate trying to find her until I decided to go and wait in the garden for her to come home. This time she came in half an hour after the agreed hour long drop in period. The second time was much the same except she came in an hour after the drop in should’ve ended, only when it started raining. If it hadn’t started raining she would’ve come back in much later. I’m not sure what to do, she meows to go out all the time but I can’t dedicate hours of my day to waiting for her to return as I’ve scheduled my days based on the fact I’m here for an hour plus commute time. Wwyd?

Just dont let the cat out.

You seem to be communicating with the owners, so tell them the current arrangement isn't working. Either they pay you for longer or you don't let the cat out.

Just don't let her out no matter how much she meows if they say anything just point out you only paid 1 hr

No is a complete sentence and all that !

I run a Cattery and people can be crazy in what they think is acceptable , and don't realise how differently their pet may behave with another person.

Just explain that it's not feasible and don't do it, will end in disaster when cat goes missing .

Naughty cat, tell her she needs to come in. Only joking. Tell the owners she goes out and yours having to wait in for her, that she won't use the harness or follow you. Does she have a litter tray indoors. You can coax her in by rattling dreamies but you should be getting paid for the hours you are there. Why does she need to go outside, they need to build a patio for her.

Explain to the owners that you’ve tried the things they’ve suggested but it hasn’t worked. As the cat won’t come in reliably, you think it best from a safety standpoint that the cat stays indoors for the duration of the cat sit. If they insist on you letting cat out they will need to pay your standard hourly rate for each hour / part hour over the agreed original timings (try to be firm about not letting the cat out though).

I think you should ask to be paid for the additional hours you’ve already done, but equally, if you don’t feel comfortable asking I can understand why.

We have 2 cats, one uses the cat flap, the other refuses to. When we have a cat sitter the cat who won’t use the flap gets kept in for the duration. She has the run of the house, uses the litter tray, but will sometimes do a spite poo next to the tray or on the upstairs landing, but I’d far rather that than risk losing her.

Poor cat and foolish owners. Either they pay for more time or you keep the cat in with a litter tray.

Just keep her in, poor thing. As she is deaf, I wouldn't let her out at all. They need to come up with safer ways to keep her entertained outside.

This.

You should have said you couldn’t let her out at all in a one-hour slot, tbh. Live and learn, say no upfront next time you get an unreasonable request.

That all sounds so stressful! I'm a catsitter too and I had a very similar situation. It actually made me rather anxious waiting indefinitely for the cat to return whilst I had other things I needed to be doing. In the end I just kept him inside. I felt guilty when he meowed to go out, but I kept him entertained with lots of playtime and fusses instead.

My situation was a bit different as they had told me he goes outside, but they also said it'd be easy to get him back in by shaking his treats bag (it was not).

I think especially as they didn't mention this during the meet and greet, you're well within your rights to say something like "I've tried all of your suggestions, but it's just not feasible for me to let her out during the one hour timeframe. I'll keep her entertained indoors instead".

Have you updated them about how each visit has gone so far? If so, and they still expect you to take her out, they're being very cheeky.

Don't let the cat out

Message the owners to say you can’t let the cat out as she doesn’t return within the hour, won’t follow you and doesn’t like her harness. Tell them you will play with her during the hour so she has some engagement and stimulation. Alternatively if you’re up for it) let them know that for an increased fee you can stay longer to give her time outside, but make sure you get their agreement in writing re compensation for that.

I wouldn't let the cat out. I'm currently feeling the wrath of one of mine as we've had to lock the cat flap as he has a vet appointment in an hour and we can't let him out as we couldn't guarantee he'd come back in when we called him.

It's deaf.

"Dear owners, this is not working. If you want me to let your cat out and wait for the return, I will need to charge you for the actual hours that I am here. Here is the excess bill so far, please pay by return. Going forward, I can go back to one hour per day but will not let the cat out, or we can terminate the arrangement."

You explain to the owners

if I let the cat out and she doesn’t come back for 2 hours, you will be charged. Having tried the harness and the walk to the park, neither were successful. That is what has happened on the last 2 occasions. Going forward do you want me to visit for an hour and charge for an hour, or do you want me to let her out and bill you accordingly?

kind regards

They seem bloody bonkers. And I'm a cat owner! Cats will do what they like and when they like. Just don't let her out.

I'd stay for the hour, if it didn't come back then leave it food and water outside. I'd leave after an hour. I'd message them go say he didn't return within the hour. Do they want to pay another hour in the evening to bring him back in?

Either:
Don't let the cat out.
Ask for more money until the cat comes back.

If you get a "no" to each of this, refuse further business.

You could suggest going back to let him in, when he doesn't return on time, and charge them for the extra.

They're being unreasonable adding instructions to what you've already agreed upon.

You say “Hi, letting her out won’t worked with what you’ve booked with me because of my other visits I’ve got booked in,
Ive booked your visit for the hour as requested, if you’d like to change that to a two or three hour visit then I’ll look at my diary later to see if I can fit that in, otherwise we can leave it at the hour agreed and she’ll have to stay in”
Then you invoice adjusting the first two days from one hour to two. Be professional and let know how you work or you’ll be taken advantage off by lots of customers. I learnt the hard way.

Bonkers! We use cat sitters a lot and our cats usually have free access to the outside during daylight hours but when away I always keep them indoors as it's unfair to expect the sitter to wait around. And we have a cat flap! Definitely let the owners know it isn't working

Do they realise that it’s a cat?
Does the cat not have a watch? Maybe it doesn’t know that the hour is up?

I'm more of a dog person but even I know that a cat is unlikely to let a stranger put a harness on it and walk it to the park!

I wouldn't let it out.
They sound bonkers

Batshit. Message and say you can’t let it out again because it won’t come back within the hour and you can’t take the risk. Even if they offer to pay you for another hour later still say no as you can’t guarantee the cat will have it’s listening ears turned on by then because it’s a cat FFS, not a teen with a curfew! If this is something you’re trying to make a business of then don’t agree to try anything like this again in the future- you’re just setting yourself up for either an unhappy client or working unpaid hours because cats be cats and it’s so obviously going to go wrong.