Cat sitter - what happens if cat is unwell or injured?

[26birdsong]

I’ll check with our cat sitter, but what usually happens. Are they usually happy to take them to the vets? They’ve got all the vets details and we leave the carrier out to hand.

We tried a cattery and she absolutely hated it, was totally miserable and took a while to get back to herself when home, much prefers staying at home with a cat sitter.
she has the sure pet cat flap with a curfew so she’s locked in at night, perhaps reducing her outside hours might help reduce the time she’s out slightly (although cats being cats, she’ll stay out as long as she fancies!)

I’m just a tad worried about if anything happens when we’re abroad and not easily able to get home.

We have a friend who moves in to cat sit for our 2 boys when we go away. My son who lives elsewhere is always on standby incase a vet visit is necessary. The friend has our vet details so knows where to take them if needed and my son would pay the bill and make any necessary decisions on our behalf.

I look after a friend’s dog and have their vets details in case they are needed.

If it was an emergency I would go immediately. Aside from that I would probably check in with them before taking him.

Who is your cat sitter? They may be friends, relatives, neighbours or professional cat sitters. But at the end of the day it boils down to their feelings about cats and their reasons for cat sitting…

Ideally they just love cats and all the other reasons are secondary - monetary, feeling obligated, wanting to do you a favour. However, some cat sitters may just want the money for as little effort as possible.

I love cats and would usually be willing to cat sit, with or without remuneration. However, if I needed the money, I might become a professional cat sitter.

Ask lots of questions but go with your gut.

Is it a professional cat sitter?
We use a cat sitter regularly. They have the vets details. She would take the cat to the vet and inform us.
I’ve provided her with my pet insurance details so she would tell the vet the details and they’d either claim from the insurer or we’d pay when we got back. I guess it depends on your vet.

I also assume they would charge you for their time spent taking the cat to the vet.

Professional cat sitter, she is brilliant, has been to us loads but it’s usually only a few days. Yes I’d definitely pay for any additional time.

I’d ask her, I’m sure she has a policy in place. Have you signed a contract? It might be in there.

My professional cat sitter would either contact me first (if not serious) or would take to my vet.

she has my vets details.

When I cat sat for my neighbour for a couple of weeks I had his vet details and knew where the carrier was - his cats aren’t insured so if anything had happened I would have had to pay I guess, then him square up with me.

MIL usually cat sits for us and would bring the cat to the vet (which is also her vet, and our neighbour’s vet). We are well insured.

In all cases we’ve been in regular contact via WA. I would have phoned neighbour if either cat needed the vet, despite him being abroad.

I’m a cat sitter (professionally). I would take the cat to the vet and contact the owner who would then need to give the vet permission to do whatever is necessary. Or you can contact your vet in advance and say you give me permission to make decisions on your behalf (which I have in place for a horse I look after as the owners are often uncontactable).

Our professional cat sitter had to take the cat to the vet a couple of years ago. She sent me a photo of cat’s paw the night before as it didn’t look right, then a new photo in the morning, it was very swollen. Said she had made a vet appointment and would call me when they were there - I was on loudspeaker in the consultation and agreed to the treatment. The vet called me later that day to pay over the phone. Cat sitter keeps her own carrier in the car. She was very apologetic about having to invoice me for her additional time but I was more than happy to pay.

This is why I use a professional catsitter. They will take the cat to the vet, and as mentioned above, my vet knows that they can approve emergency treatment if I can't be contacted.; I also like that they are a small team so I know if anything happens that means the catsitter meant to come can't one of the others will come. I've never had mine taken to the vet but they did get a late, short visit from not their usual sitter one day because the lady who comes to me had had to take the cat she went to just before mine to the vet.

They will also do minor first aid. one of mine had a fight and they dealt with cleaning a small wound and monitoring.

Dog not cat but same principle. We used to use a dog carer in their own home. I always used to give them a signed form that gave authorisation for any necessary vet treatment including current vet details and made sure they knew we would pay either remotely or when we got back. Ultimately my concern was they got any vet care if needed and removed any paperwork for the carer so vets didn’t need any further authorisation if I couldn’t be contacted.

Yes of course - that’s part of the deal surely?

Just remembered that I did sign to say that the cat sitter could approve vet treatment if they can’t get hold of me.