Cat-Sitters, Pet Sitters and House Sitters: A Nanny for Your Cat!

What exactly are cat-sitters? This service comes under many different names but basically you employ somebody for a fee to either visit your home and feed your cats once or twice a day or that person lives in your home for the duration of your holiday.

Advantages:

• Your cats are likely to be more settled being around familiar things and enjoying their usual food!


• Every day the cat-sitters are checking your property and removing from sight the obvious signs of you being away.


• You are paying for the cat-sitting service so no guilt with asking a favour again from friends family or neighbours.


• You might have read the friends', family's and neighbours' requirements and decided to get in professional help, or you might be new to the area and not know anyone. Additionally perhaps you would prefer that your friends did not snoop around your home!


• If you have many cats or are a cat breeder then cat-sitting might well be your only option.


• Your cat-sitters should be insured (check this is the case) which is another advantage over the friend route.


• No trauma with getting the cats into the pet carrier, I have 2 that are easy and 2 that are quite the opposite!


• No last minute panic because the cats always know something is up and make themselves scarce. However my cats would not be allowed outside in my absence unless I had a secure cat proof garden. Cats will wander more because you are not around and the dangers of traffic, wild animals and cat fights are just not worth the risk to me. So you will still have to get them in, in good time before you leave. If you can’t get them in then the cat sitter will not fare any better.


• You will not have to bother with delivering or collecting your Siamese cats from a cattery, and some cats get car-sick or worse.


• It is becoming easier and easier to get this service where ever you live.


• If you have the full house sitting service then burglars are deterred, your cats and other pets will have company fulltime and your plants will be watered. These companies can fix most of the things that you need to have taken care of while you are away.

Disadvantages:

• Economic, even the once a day visit is likely to be more expensive than a cattery where you cats get more than one visit a day. The house sitting service is a large financial undertaking so you need to sit down and work out if the service is worth it for your specific circumstances.


• A large commercial cat-sitters will have to work very hard to provide the personal service of a local cat sitter. The employee who will visit your home (hopefully the same employee) will also be looking after many different pets and there can be a difference between an employee and the self employed owner and manager.


• It is becoming a popular and hyped self employment opportunity. You will have to check the character and qualifications of these newly self employed cat sitters. Their love of all animals is a good start but you need a lot more from the person who undertake the responsibility of your cats and homes security.

Have a look at the following free checklist before phoning or visiting a possible cat sitting service.

TIP: Highlight the questions that are important to you from the checklist so you don’t leave anything out whilst on the phone. It is best to phone them first and then make a short-list of the best and then arrange a visit.

Cat Sitters, Cat Sitting Checklist

Here goes:

Make a mental note of the appearance of their cat-sitting business forms, web site and the state of their business premises from the web site or during your visit. Make a rough judgment, do they seem like your kind of people? Do you feel confident that they can do the job? Are the people cat lovers or do you get the impression that they are more interested in the business? Are they keen to ask questions of you?

How long have they been in business? Long enough to either have a good or poor reputation?

Do they have insurance? Find out what is covered and for how much and what is excluded. Now compare the insurance cover with the opposition.

The charges. Be very careful that you are comparing like with like. Beware the smaller quoted charge with lots of extras that add up to a larger bill. If feeding your cats twice a day is important to you then check what that will cost. Dealing with cat trays can be an extra. Do you have indoor or outdoor plants that will need watering? Is there anything else that you would like them to do? Make sure that you have a list of your needs before you visit and get them to quote you for your actual situation. Are they flexible or not? If they are not accommodating worry.

Ask them what happens if you should get delayed on your return and is there a contact phone number manned out of office hours?

Do they or the staff have any animal qualifications? Ask them if they don’t tell you. Remember experience can be even more valuable than a short college course.

Do they police check their staff, check references and past employment records?

Do you get to meet the actual person who will be looking after your Siamese cat? Will it be the same staff member all the time? Can you meet the cat-sitter in your home so you can show them the layout of the house and any problems like unusual locks on your doors! They also need to know the cats names and tell them apart.

TIP: Please see the friends family and neighbours checklist because the same things are important whether you are paying for the service or not.

Remember it is unlikely that the right person will have all the ticks in the box so just make sure they have the important ticks as far as you are concerned. Bottom line are you happy with your ‘person’ looking after your Siamese and that same person being in your home alone while you are on holiday?
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