Talk to me about having a Cat Sitter visiting your home whilst you are away?

[Verbena91]

We have a newish cat and are looking ahead to Christmas when we are going to be away for a few days. I had a cat as a child and my grandad used to come and feed her, but that's not a option for us and we have no-one locally we can ask, so we are going to book a cat sitter service. I have a recommendation of a company from friends.

I just wondered how people find using a cat sitter and if there are any tips or advice on what to ask for? How many times a day do they come to you for example?

Also I feel very funny about having people in our home - I don't feel very comfortable but I think I just need to get over it as I definitely don't want to put our rescue cat in a cattery, and I also don't want to stop having holidays!

Does anyone have a petcam or anything like that? Do the pet sitters mind if there are cameras? Do you lock your rooms before they come?

A lot of questions!

Ours come in once a day, feed cats, take photos of cats to send us if they're in and then leave. If they were more sociable indoor cats they'd play with them a bit. They only go upstairs because I've asked them to go up and check on the cats if they're not downstairs. I suppose they could go rogue and do something stupid but that would be the end of their business. Check they have insurance and a DBS.

We use kitty angels which are a service around the midlands I think.
They visit once a day but twice a day is an option, they send lovely updates with pictures and videos every day. I’ve no reason to distrust them and they can have free rein of the house to search for our kitty. They tend to come visit you/your cat first, so I guess you can book someone else if you have a bad feeling about them. At the first visit they checked if there’s anywhere out of bounds.

I have a doorbell camera and would only check that if it was getting late and I hadn’t had an update.

If my neighbour isn’t free I use the Pawshake website & pick someone with a lot of good reviews, then decide for certain once I’ve met her & seen how she interacts with my cat. She comes twice a day for 30 mins at a time.

Hi OP. I worked as a cat sitter for a few years and use them myself.

I always behaved as if there were cameras even if there weren’t. It didn’t make a difference. I fed the cats, gave meds, brushed them if they liked it, played with them, hoovered/swept up, changed the litter and water. I brought in post and watered plants. Put the bins out. Fed all sorts of other pets including snakes and axolotls! I sent updates and pictures and videos to the owners. I even went on Christmas Day.

Most cat sitters are brilliant. They will only take the job if they love cats. It also means someone checking on your house which once I discovered a leak and was able to turn the water off for them.

Hope this helps!

Ours visits twice a day to provide breakfast and dinner. They are also responsible for maintaining and changing a litter tray. Our cat gets lonely, so is also fussed a lot, and often groomed whilst the cat sitter is here. They're also responsible for administering daily medication. We get daily whatsapp updates. My lovely sitter will also collect the bins in, and even watered the garden!

Otherwise we come home to a hoarse cat.
Not cheap but worth every penny.

I also used to be a cat sitter. I would never dream of touching anything in the customers home or just nosing around. A lot of customers have cameras and even if they didnt I acted like they did. I literally narrate myself as I am walking around the house explaining everything that I do. Also each job is pretty short so there isn’t time for much more than feeding the cat, clearing litter trays and hopefully playing with the cat.

DH and I are pet sitters.
Two of the main agencies are "Trusted Pet Sitters" and "UK house sitters".
Both of these sites work on Trust, the house sitter pays a small yearly fee to the agency to register and then stays in the house for free. The same applies to the person wanting a sitter, they also pay the agency a small fee.
There has to be complete Trust on both sides.
As a sitter we are very professional, discrete and able to maintain confidentiality (we have sat for some quite high profile and high wealth individuals) and in return we expect the house to be warm, clean and safe and the pets to be relatively well behaved.
It works brilliantly. They know their home is in good hands and we get a free holiday.

Alternatively you can have someone pop into your home twice a day to feed an outdoor minimal care cat, (usually £12-£15 a visit) but an indoor cat or dog would need more stimulation and company than that.

You can also home board a dog, where the dog goes to stay at someone's home got the week. Where I live this would cost £25 per day.

Ours go to the cattery and I really don’t understand why people have issues with them! We didn’t feel like the first cattery spent much time with our cats so tried a different one and they are completely wonderful. The boys have a comfortable “chalet” with indoor and outdoor space to themselves and get much much more attention than a cat sitter would give- they know all their little quirks and I have a high level of confidence that they are closely supervised. I also know that they are safe and enclosed whilst I’m away. I don’t need to worry about them not liking the sitter, or someone coming into my house. They are complete pros at their dietary requirements, medication and health conditions and had our spicy, unsociable ginger boy coming for cuddles within days!

I use Kitty Angels. They're fab. I book them for an am and PM visit. One cat has twice daily meds. They usually stay for 30 minutes, feed, clean up, play and I get lots of pictures and videos.

You give them a full overview of your cat, preferences, what to do and not to do. Mine even put the bins out on bin day. Open blinds etc. So it is great. My cats love their sitters 🥰 i feel much more relaxed knowing they're so well looked after.

You can do a pre-meet too and that is helpful to see what they are like interacting with your cat.

We tend to use overnight sitters, but you can also get them to visit one, two or three times a day. I use sitters with lots of experience of cats, DBS checked, with insurance, and with lots of good reviews over a decent period of time. Ideally I like to use someone with training in pet first aid as well, not because I think they're necessarily going to need to use it much, but because I think it shows that they're committed to building a good reputation and a reputable business.

I know it can be weird having people in your home, but for me its a better option than putting my cat in a cattery, which he'd really hate. I've never locked any rooms or put cameras in; its hard I know, but I feel if I've done my due diligence I should trust them as professionals to do their job. I read somewhere that for the sitters the owners are much more hard work than the actual pets, and I don't want to be one of those! Especially as the good sitters are very in demand and can pick and chose their work. Its a line of work that is very reliant on good reviews so if someone has been doing it for a while with lots of good, verified reviews then I take comfort from that.

We use rover
Found a girl who stays in the house all day sleeps there till we get back £25 a day lady

Yes I have one.

she comes twice a day and takes photos of my cats to prove they are alive.

it’s much easier than a cattery.

she has insurance etc and animal experience

They typically come once or twice a day and feed, sort litter trays, and play/fuss. if you have a personal recommendation I wouldn’t be worried about them snooping in your house etc - they won’t have time and it’s not worth their job!

Most cats prefer to be at home although my sociable, fearless old cat strangely seemed much happier in cattery. Current cat also goes to cattery as he has medical issues and needs keeping a closer eye on. But we’ve used visiting cat sitters for weekend breaks etc and never had any issues.

This is so interesting @LancashireButterPie ! I used Trusted House Sitters for a while until I had a really bad experience with a sitter. She couldn't cope with Marvin being noisy at night and ended up locking him away for most of the time so that she could work - I wrote a thread about it at the time. It never occurred to me that sitters would have expectations around a cat or dog's behaviour - people tend to market themselves as experienced animal lovers who can deal with anything but your post implies that is not the case. I actually don't use THS anymore as the experience was so off putting.

I have a lovely cat sitter, she’s a trainee nurse at ny vet. I pay her to pop in once a day but she looked after them during the summer and as it was so hot she came in twice a day to make sure they weren’t overheating and they had enough water. I completely trust her, but also there’s the added thing that I know her full-time employer should she go rogue and do anything awful! She sends me photos just to keep my crazy cat lady paranoia under control and the cats are so much happier being in their home to being taken to a cattery.

I actually really like having somebody coming into my house a couple of times a day when I’m away. My catsitter does all the things that everyone has described above with my cats but she also opens and closes blinds, puts lights on and off,and turns the radio on and off, so I think it makes the house look a bit less empty. And she’ll put the bins out.

I had one I knew through work and that was great. I also used Cat in a flat when she was unavailable. I got two students who were from Mexico and just wanted to have cat cuddles. They were brilliant. I had a very sociable cat at the time and she loved it. The late Penelope used to just hide from any cat sitter, so I gave up and left her with a timed feeder. But buy then she would come with me to my parents.

I’m thinking of this option for my cats, I have a nice house and live in a touristy area, how do I know who’s coming? Do I get to speak to them or do they just turn up?

Mine comes twice a day, for a quick feed in the evening, and a feed, cleaning and play time visit in the morning.
My cats get sad of they don't get hunan interaction.
I don't lock any doors, as my cats would see that as against them and be distressed. Not that they want into the rooms, they just don't want that option taken away.

I made sure to meet with the sitter ahead of time and get to know them, so we felt really comfortable.

I have a rescue cat and I only ever go away for 2 nights. I’ve always left her with a cat cam, extra food and water, radio, feliway and an emergency contact should I see anything on cam. In the summer, I wondered if she would be good with a cat sitter so I arranged one and she came and met my cat etc and off I went to camping. For me, it was a massive mistake and I went back to original plan!

The lady was lovely and fine though, she came from petpals and was happy to come twice a day and do whatever was needed. I don’t remember it being overly expensive either.

Ours is the veterinary nurse from our local practice. She looks forward to visiting our cat and our cat likes seeing her. I know she’s in good hands if any emergency occurred and I get sent a video or photos each day. She gives medication too along with a good fuss and treats.

If i go away for a week i use cattery but a few days a pet sitter, find one you like and trust they come in and feed and play with them usually half an hour and take videos and photos to send you,.the pets prefer to be at home,.,ive found a lovely one, the one before took photos and put them on her instagram and i was furious,

I used a local small firm (just run by a couple). We tried them for one holiday when we didn't have anyone available and since then just book them whenever needed.

Because we use them fairly frequently they now just hold a copy of our key, it saves a lot of hassle.

Forgot to say - they do 2 visits a day.

We asked the neighbours or teenagers we knew well. <shrug>

It depends on what you want to do, and what they want to do - you may want a phone call but they might only do video calls as many sitters I’ve had through Trustedhousesitters have had one dodgy sit and they want to see what they are getting into. There’s a community forum on THS where you can see some of the issues that come up from both sitter and homeowner perspectives.

Always check references on the site, and whether they have previously looked after cats, don’t be afraid to ask awkward questions, be honest about any (bad) behaviour and needs of your cat, and how you expect to be updated. If you don’t want smokers/children/people who will leave your cat at home for 15 hours a day or whatever, be upfront in your listing as you don’t want to spend time interviewing someone who is completely unsuitable.

I will say that I knock myself out cleaning in preparation for any sitters arriving, and I’m prepared for breakages and accidental damage (freezer contents defrosted twice…) and I’ve just read a review of someone who had great references when they contacted me in the summer and I was considering for a future stay where it looks like their most recent sit was a complete mismatch of owner/sitter and the sit was cut short with a bad review.

If you live in a touristy area you will probably receive a lot of applications but THS cap them at 5 at a time so you have to “reject” applicants if you want more to come through - but let the sitters know you’re doing this and still considering them. Be prepared that sitters might be applying for multiple sits at a time so don’t hang about or they might accept something else.