Cat sitter snooping...

[BakeOffBabe]

We've just come back from a week away and it appears that the woman who looks after our cat has been upstairs and in at least one of the bedrooms.

We've used her for about five years and have always been happy with everything but DH has some expensive equipment in one of the bedrooms. He didn't have time to pack it all away so without telling me folded a piece of paper, placed it on top of the door, pulled the door shut and took a photo of it poking out. When we came back the piece of paper was on top of the door in a totally different position.

Nothing has been taken but now I feel really uncomfortable. There is absolutely no reason for her to go upstairs and into a room where the door is closed shut. Her husband and son help out so it may not even have been her.

What would you do? Would you say something? I don't want to make a fuss but equally I'd like her to know that i expected better really.

If I had to ask someone to catsit and the airing cupboard sprang a leak I would not think of blaming the cat sitter for not checking. That would be really mean.

Flumpet - that's what I do too, just a quick glance in shut rooms to make sure it's all ok.

But like I said I do it for friends when I'm cat sitting for them, I don't cat sit for strangers so I don't know if I would or not.

But then I also take my coffee down and sit with their pets for half an hour or so as well in case they're lonely, lol.

The friends know all this also.

Cats can open doors. So a door being shut is no guarantee of a cat not being in there! Ours jump up on the handles and open our bedroom door in the morning when they're hungry.

I'm a checker too. I'd feel awful if someone got home from holiday and had eg water damage or a broken window etc and I hadn't noticed it. I have no interest in snooping in people's belongings though!

Usual got there before me.

And me usual!!

Well, it's interesting that opinion is divided.

Our boiler actually sprang a leak the week before we went away. If it had happened when we were away and the cat sitter hadn't noticed/said anything then I would have just put it down to our tough luck. I really wouldn't make it her responsibility to notice these things.

We never had the conversation about whether she would or wouldn't check the house. We just asked her to pick up the post (as you can see it through our front door) and feed the cat. He only goes in one of the bedrooms (the only door that was open) and doesn't usually go very far so is usually around for feeding time at the zoo.

I guess it just depends on what people are comfortable with. Personally, I don't want a stranger looking around my house without telling me that's what they do or flagging up if there is a problem (i.e. hadn't seen cat for a while so needed to do a reccie). If she's doing one thing and I expect her to be doing something else then fine that's a miscommunication by both of us but putting the paper back? Sorry, that just smacks of a guilty conscious. I'm sure those of you who do cat sit and make no bones about checking rooms wouldn't go to the bother of putting a piece of paper back even if it did piss you off that it had been put there.

Never mind, thanks for all your input. It's pointless saying anything as we're clearly cuckoo control freaks so she won't probably won't understand either. I feel my efforts would be better spent looking for a new cat sitter.

I'd suggest, OP, if your dh doesn't trust someone - who has been coming in to your home for 5 years without cause for issue - enough to set a trap for them, then a cattery might be better suited. Some really are like cat hotels these days!

And fwiw I completely agree it was a bit dodge for them to put said trap back!