Cat sitter cancelled

[SpittinKitten]

I'm due to go away for the Bank Holiday weekend. My usual sitter wasn't available, so I posted a request on the catinaflat site, and booked a sitter who contacted me to take the booking up.
She's just got in touch cancelling because apparently she can't afford to travel to come and meet beforehand or over the booking period.
I'm really miffed, and will have to cancel the whole trip now if i can't find a short notice replacement.
I just wanted to vent somewhere - agh.

Have you tried a cattery? Dcat was very well treated

OP, if you disclose the area you live in, maybe someone can help?

What sort of area are you in?

Do you have any neighbours with teenage/older primary school children? When our cattery was booked out recently, I arranged with a mum on our street to help her 10 year old come in morning and evening to feed the cat and change her litter tray. Easy job for them, 10 mins max a day, they never saw the cat as she hid under the sofa when they came!!

This is why I use a cat sitting company. If for any reason the lady who normally comes to me can't one of the others will. Its a little more expensive but it means I know I'm not going to have try and find someone at short notice or worse midholiday.

Neighbours/neighbours teenagers?

I use a neighbours 18 year old lad. My two love him.

what area are you in Op?

I'm near Leeds.
All the catteries I've tried are fully booked; the neighbours that I know are away.
Ive just found someone on the same site who's available but blimey - over £90.
Gonna have to suck it up and plan better with a cattery next time!

Have you asked your neighbours? If we don’t have someone to do cat feeding swaps with, we pay a local teenager to do it. Maybe ask first before cancelling?

Ask a local dog walker to come in and do it.

Er offer to pay the original sitters travel obviously!

Why aren't you paying for the sitter's travel? Someone shouldn't have to be out of pocket to do a job for you.

The sitter should be setting her prices so that she can afford to come to work!

Would your boss pay your fuel bill?

I know this will shock people, but I don't even bother with a cat sitter for a weekend away. Just leave them plenty of food and water and they'll be fine.

Yes, they did pay some of it when I had to work at home.

Okay, so the site works by the sitter setting the price? In that case, yes, she should have set her price high enough.

There are some really good house/pet sitting agencies, though, OP. Yes, you have to pay for them, but they are reliable and experienced sitters.

Although for just a weekend away, I would probably just get someone to pop round and check on the cat once or twice.

I wouldn't go back now to the original as the issue with transport would put me off. If the newly booked person has their own transport or lives near I'd stick with them

I just had a look at the site and it looks like the sitter has a standard price that they set. But if you book someone who is outside your local area, then they will obviously need to ask for transport costs on top of that. Maybe she didn't realise you weren't local? Although I would agree that I'd feel weird about going back to her now since she really should have been on top of that from the start.

@beastlyslumber the sitter who cancelled is about 1km away, which made it even odder. I was very clear about where she needed to come to.

I was going to offer to cover her travel upfront, but she cancelled the whole booking before i had chance. And yes, she set her own prices.

I'll look into proper agencies as well as catteries next time - thanks for the suggestion. My pet insurance website recommended the catinaflat site, I'll see if they have any agency recommendations.

The replacement I've managed to get is driving (I think) but lives within a 20 minute walk, so barring them exploding or something there shouldn't be any issues getting here.

I wish i could just take my cat on holiday!

This thread is over a year old and she was looking for a sitter in Leeds, not London