Sitter problems reassurance needed

[Puppylucky]

Hi - apologies if this shows up twice it disappeared just as I was about to post it!
To cut a long story short we are away for 8 days and our boy Marvin is at home with a new cat sitter. Whilst she is very capable she also has a full on job that she is doing remotely during her stay with us. Unfortunately Marvin is going through a night time crying and prowling phase (common with Maus) and she isn't really coping as she understandably needs her sleep
From Spain I am limited in what I can actually do to help and am dreading the daily messages about her disrupted sleep. In desperation I have agreed that she can shut him in the kitchen even though I know he will hate it and probably get even more distressed. I know no one can really help but please can someone reassure me that I won't scar my cat for life trying to please my sitter! Cat tax of Marvin giving her the stink eye attached

Scar her for life by shutting her in the kitchen of a night? I'm assuming you're joking?

Marvin is a him . Sorry I thought that would be obvious. He's a rescue cat with a tricky back story around abandonment. I used hyperbolic language light heartedly but I am worried that he will be distressed. Does that make more sense to you?

Was the sitter made aware beforehand that he would yowl and cry all night and disrupt her sleep?

Yes. But she now admits she's never dealt with a vocal cat.

Sitter needs a pair of earplugs.

I assume she can at least shut him out of the room she sleeps in?

Can't she just go home to sleep and come back in the day to feed and see him?

Tried both of these as suggestions - she already has earplugs but they aren't enough and she lives too far away to travel backwards and forwards. I think she basically goes from sit to sit so doesn't really have a home base at hand. It's my fault really as I didn't understand her circumstances as well as I should have. I just feel really bad that poor Marvin has to be put under room arrest in his own house to keep her happy.

Tell her to get some ear plugs.

He’ll be fine. We shut Louie in the kitchen overnight (and our girl before him) and on rare days he doesn’t want to go to bed he does some am-dram flumping on the floor complete with “ooft” noises. Most nights he’s tucked himself up in his bed (which we bring from the living room and put on the kitchen table, he also has his cat tree in there and another cat bed) by the time I come back from brushing my teeth. Louie is a 4am breakfast wanter rather than a yowler.

Yeah, she needs to get some earplugs!

Poor Marvin 😢. Assume you’ve tried Feliway etc?

We have tried everything! To be fair this is his first summer in the UK so everything is new to him including early sunrises and increased wildlife action, which is why he's acting up. I do feel for the sitter as I know how annoying he can be and he clearly isn't settling for her in the same way he does for us, but I also can't help feeling really bad for him.
I just get the feeling he's too much for her all round and she just wants him to go away and be quiet while she works / sleeps. It's put me off using a sitter to be honest, as it's clear in this instance it's the place to stay she wants and Marvin is now a bit of an inconvenience.
@Judystilldreamsofhorses thanks for your reassurance. I know he will put up with it but I do think he won't be happy. Still it won't kill him!

I don’t feel sorry for her, he’s an animal. He doesn’t know he’s being annoying, he’s communicating his feelings (upset/distress) in the only way he can.

She doesn’t get to offer her services as a cat sitter and then complain that the cat is getting in the way of her life… that’s outrageous.

Are you paying her, or is this a Trusted Housesitters type thing where she is doing it for free? I don’t think it’s unreasonable tbh that she needs to work and get some sleep, unless you’re paying a lot each day. I think he would be ok in the kitchen, I shut my very needy rescue cat in the kitchen for the first year I had her, she was fine with it.

Thank you @Lench that's kind of how I feel! I'm also worried that she will end up shutting him away all the time and not just at night. It's a Trusted Housesitters booking @greendish and I agree that does make it more tricky, as she's not being paid - although she is living somewhere for free which is clearly beneficial for her.
I'm just unsure about whether or not I'm being unreasonable, as I do know how annoying he can be, but on the other hand being locked in the kitchen is not something he is used to ( he likes to sleep with us or his sitter) and he won't understand why she is doing it.
It breaks my heart to think of how confused he's going to be, if she does it night after night. To be honest it's ruined the holiday to a large extent as I'm worried about him ( and her) and just want to go home 🙁

I’d be telling her straight that the only reason she has a free house to use for 8 days is because she’s meant to be looking after a single cat! That she’s staying in the cats home and you are stressing about him and if she was being nice to him then he wouldn’t be stressed!!! Do not give her positive feedback on your return on the website and I’d personally contact the company! Yes it is her problem and she’s being a diva and awful entitled behaviour! The free accommodation comes with the cat to look after otherwise she wouldn’t be there!! Dont let her shut him in the kitchen!! Make it clear to her that she’s caused the problem by her behaviour and if she is kind and understanding to the poor cat he will calm down!!

Oh this has totally put me off using trusted house sitters.
(Also failing to understand why she's looking after a cat if she doesn't actually like cats. Why can't Marvin sleep with her? And then they both get sleep. )

My cat sitter only pops in for 30 minutes a day max, it's seems a lot to have someone staying over.
However I really can't see the cat coming to any harm being shut in the kitchen overnight.

I love our cat so, so much, but I don’t want him sleeping with us, because he’s a total pita - he’s a lovely cosy little bed friend until sunrise, then he will mither relentlessly until he gets fed. No amount of automatic feeder will stop him. Sunrise today was 04.14. I think it’s a real shame for Marvin if he’s upset, and I would hate to think of our cat being distressed, but I don’t think it’s fair to say the sitter doesn’t like cats!

(Last time we went away overnight our neighbour couldn’t get the big front door lock open, only the Yale. Cue me Googling the overnight bus from a gig venue three hours away. I could have got home at 2am. A bit of WD40 sorted it in the end, and we got new keys cut asap.)

This (in spades!!) a free house and the only quid pro quo is to look after a cat and she’s complaining about that!

OP, would you let someone live in your home when you went on holiday if you didn’t have a cat? I’m guessing not!

I think you’ll have to pay a catsitter next time if you have a tricky cat that needs lots of attention and calming, you can’t expect someone from Trusted Housesitters to give up their sleep. My cat is very vocal, I actually stopped shutting her in the kitchen at night as when she started up with the yowling because of foxes I could hear her from upstairs anyway. I’ve got a cat sitter staying next month (paying a small amount), I’d absolutely tell her to shut my cat in the kitchen if the noise was bothering her and she thought it would help her sleep.

Well I guess that's where you and I differ @greendish ! Although no money changes hands on THS she is getting a pretty sweet deal in terms of free accommodation ( which she is using to live somewhere more convenient for her). What I am getting more and more upset about is her lack of ability to compromise. She just keeps complaining about what a light sleeper she is and how when she is disturbed she can't get back to sleep. All cats are crepuscular to some degree so Marvin isn't alone in being annoying at night. If she is this sensitive to the potential for disruption then she probably shouldn't be a pet sitter in the first place. I just feel trapped abroad knowing she isn't looking after my cat properly (to my standards anyway) and it is genuinely upsetting. But I agree I will never use THS again after this.

I have two Maus and in summer one does tend to wake up and demand to be let out at 4.30 am. They are locked in late evening. Sometimes there are complaints, but my boy has learnt to settle down as he doesn't get to go out again till morning.

With cat sitters he does tend to be annoying and refuse to come in!

No helpful words OP, just that I wouldn’t be able to relax in your situation worrying about my cats either. Poor Marvin. I would be giving her the stink-eye too if I were him. And I would be so happy for cats to sleep with me if I were a catsitter!

Is this the THS's first sit OP? Or do they have previous experience? As a previous cat owner and current dog owner I've never had an animal disturbing my sleep night after night, that's really not normal. If this THS is experienced and had good reviews that suggests it's a YOU problem not a THEM problem.

Even if they were vocal most of the night keeping you awake?