ER! So much free time to travel! But how do you handle... cats?

[kcowan]

So, they are a touch needy, but two weeks with only token human interaction does not seem to have caused permanent damage.

Ours were fine when we both worked all day, but after we retired, they quickly adjusted to us being around and leaving them with twice a day neighbours visits did not cut it. They threw up often. Spoiled I guess. So we got cat sitters, usually by offering our place for free. Also selected home swaps with other cat lovers.

 

[RunningBum]

This thread really touches a raw nerve for me. We were just gone for two weeks . We left our cat at home with a neighbor to feed once per day. She mostly ate dry food but got wet food once per day with a blood pressure pill. The cat was very shy and often would hide when the neighbor came by. Well, we got home and she was hiding and obviously very sick. It was the middle of the night when we got home and we ended up taking her to an emergency vet clinic that was open 24hours. Treatment didn’t help and we had her euthanized yesterday. She was 15 and not in the greatest of health. I know this could have happened when we were home but I can’t help but feel remorseful. I am typing this with tears in my eyes...those of you who have lost a pet will understand. We had her since she was a kitten.

That's really rough. I would guess if she was already 15 and not in good health, she didn't have long to live anyway. I had a somewhat similar situation a couple years ago, one of my cats was going quickly downhill with a tumor as my 10 day vacation was approaching. The vet agreed she would not likely make the 10 days, even if I boarded her there and they watched her. I made the decision to have her put down the night before I left. I agonized over it, but as soon as I left the vet's office I felt a tremendous burden removed. I still miss her as pet's are part of our family, but there's only so much you can do. I hope you can see this in time and remember your 15 years with her well, and accept her fate as inevitable no matter what you did.

 

[NW-Bound]

My daughter changed her mind, and said her cat would be less stressed out if allowed to stay home and not brought over to our place. As we are not close by, she has arranged for friends to come over each day to check up on the cat.

I am not going to have some "cat time", but the welfare of the cat is more important.

 

[HughJass]

Don’t know if it would work for you but my wife and I have found great pet sitters around us by using the Rover app. Mostly to watch our dog in their home. Good filters to help you find compatible sitters and easy to arrange a meet & greet before the trip. Good luck!

 

[bearkeley]

LOL! I believe I have seen your ad! None of the dates have worked for our schedule yet, though.

Have you guys seen ours? We are on a few others and have had success with about 7 or 8 sits around the world. We look forward to getting our cat and dog ‘fix’ .., also a great way to really get to really explore an area!

 

[simple girl]

Have you guys seen ours? We are on a few others and have had success with about 7 or 8 sits around the world. We look forward to getting our cat and dog ‘fix’ .., also a great way to really get to really explore an area!

I don't think so. If you are a sitter, I probably wouldn't have seen yours since I am also a sitter. I only browse the available housesits.

We have done 4 sits in the USA (one in Brooklyn, 3 others in FL). Looking forward to doing an international sit someday when DH retires as that will give us more time and ability to travel long distance. I agree, it is a fabulous way to explore new areas and enjoy others' pets at the same time!

 

[googily]

Hmm, we may have to set up an ER.org pet/house sitting network!

 

[Dreaming of Freedom]

My wife is a crazy cat lady, & we have 11 Maine Coon kitties. Once our pet sitter retired in 2011, we interviewed a dozen others before we found a woman who had the right experience & a bond. The cats are fine by themselves, as long as they have some interaction with people once a day.

How do you interview pet sitters? What do you do? What do you ask? I need to find a good, reliable, trustworthy pet sitter.

One of my cats had to have all her teeth removed by age 7, and her weak stomach can only tolerate certain wet foods. I pretty much need a pet sitter to come once a day to feed them. I wish someone made a good, affordable autofeeder for wet food so we could at least go away for the weekend without having to deal with getting a pet sitter.

 

[RunningBum]

I wish someone made a good, affordable autofeeder for wet food so we could at least go away for the weekend without having to deal with getting a pet sitter.

 

[braumeister]

I use Schrödinger's Cat Sitting Service.

But there is some question about their reliability. I wonder if they're actually showing up or not.

 

[savory]

We house and pet sit and have been doing it for a few years now. We have also had people house sit at our house. Coincidentally, as I write this, we have responded to a posting and are waiting to see if we will be selected.

Its worked well for us and based upon the reviews, it has worked well for the house/pet owner.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

How do you interview pet sitters? What do you do? What do you ask? I need to find a good, reliable, trustworthy pet sitter.

One of my cats had to have all her teeth removed by age 7, and her weak stomach can only tolerate certain wet foods. I pretty much need a pet sitter to come once a day to feed them. I wish someone made a good, affordable autofeeder for wet food so we could at least go away for the weekend without having to deal with getting a pet sitter.

We haven't had to interview for a while, but the first part is introducing them to your pet and watching them interact -- assuming your pet isn't the kind to hide under the bed at the slightest noise. Even then, I guess you could observe how they talk to your cat under the bed. You can tell someone is a cat person just by the way they talk to your cat.

I also ask how they keep track of keys/codes. Anyone who says they write down the street address is a hard pass. It doesn't have to be ridiculously complicated, it should be hard for someone to steal the key or codes and also to figure out which house/apt. they're for.

Then you can ask what their visit would be like. Ours have all socialized with our cats for 10-15 minutes. They also will bring in the mail and take the garbage & recycling cans to and from the curb on the designated days. I'd also ask about pills and shots, even if you don't need them yet. Former and current vet techs are great sitters, because they usually love interacting with animals plus they are more attuned to looking for health issues.

Our current sitter also texts us photos of each of our two cats getting attention from her at least once a trip. It's not something we agreed upon, but it's a really nice touch.

We have the same issue, as one of our cats developed stomatitis very young and had to have all her teeth pulled, so we need two visits a day. Ka-ching! But our cats before this needed pills and insulin and heart and thyroid medication, so this doesn't even feel like that big a deal now. Although the one without teeth also gets a shot, it's monthly now -- Adequan, for joint problems. So far I've been able to give her her shots before or after our trips.

 

[kcowan]

We had a vet tell us one of our cats was diabetic and needed special treatment. We quickly got another vet. Never had a problem again.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Our dogs are very needy so we hire someone to spend the night. My son can do it some of the time. Only one dog needs medication now once/day so that’s much easier than when 2 dogs needed 3 medications/4 times a day.