House Sitters
 

I googled this subject and found a few agencies but I have no word of mouth recommendations so I'd like to find out any Fororites' recommentations or any bad experiences, for that matter. We have one very shy cat so I'd like to find a quiet person who likes cats. We have a nice large house in a southern calif. suburb 3 miles from a well-known beach area. Thanks.

Since I have indoor only cats, I wouldn't be very good on vacation with a housesitter (worried about them getting out. We do take them in the backyard when we're home). I live in the San Gabriel Valley Foothills (Southern Cal). and coyotes ate one of our cats about eight years ago and it wasn't pretty.

I hate admitting this, but we actually take our cats to a Cat Hotel (insert Southern California jokes here) in Burbank (I believe it's the same place where Jay Leno takes his cats. Man, it's getting worse).

We joke that boarding our cats here costs as much as one of us to go on vacation, but the piece of mind the place gives me is worth it (sort of). They get lots of play time, and the cages are actually (dare I say) mini condos. God, maybe we Californians ARE crazy.
((H))

NO, you Californians aren't crazy...we routinely board out two Portuguese Water Dogs at what we feel is the best kennel in the area and it often adds $1000 or more to the cost of a two-week+ vacation. I agree you are paying for peace of mind AND not having to worry about 1) the sitter had a heart attack and is mouldering on the living room rug; 2) the dog (or cat) got away from the sitter and run over by a car; 3) the sitter set the house on fire; 4) the sitter got hospitalized after the car accident on the way to a) the liquor store; b) Target; c) Taco Bell; d) Home Depot to buy tools to fix what just got broken in the house.
I wish I KNEW a good, reliable, totally healthy sitter (we actually flew a friend in from (and back to) Toronto once while we were in Europe for three weeks but she's no longer in good health.
The things we do for love!

I wish that I lived close to everyone here (from Wyoming)...I house sit for a ton of people here at home as a supplement and money for books (I'm a poor college student)! Best of luck in finding someone daph!
:)

Intrepid..you are so funny! My DH had a PWD dog 60 years ago and my neice is a breeeder of them!
Whatever you can feel comfortable with ..just add it into the cost of your trip. But Intrepid has a good point..Anything can happen to a sitter but a kennel or a cathouse always has staff available

An idea....

If you're close to a university, you might consider asking the staff there if they know of **reputable** students who house/pet-sit. I'll bet there are at least a few students who have great reps as sitters.

I second the above recommendation to check at a university. You could also just post a notice looking for a sitter and requiring references (that you would then call). We and most of the people we know always use house sitters (and we have an indoor cat) - often secretaries or friend's college age kids. It would be well worth finding a college student you like and could use for several trips, though.

For Lauren25...which flight should we book you on for our upcoming trip to Paris and London in November? Or would you rather wait for the two-week trip to Russia next July?????

I met a great cat sitter via her ad at the neighborhood grocery store bulletin board (this is Seattle). Also receptionist and nonmedical staff at the vet's office either do, or know of people who kitty-sit.

Hi.

You may want to visit a number of vet offices. Many have bulletin boards with solicitations for house-sitters. We found our sitter through another couple we met at the vet.

(Special note to PWD owners (you know who you are): Our guy and his overly sensitive black lab companion would both have heart attacks if we kenneled them. Our house-sitter will cost us about $1500 for our upcoming three-week vacation, but it is worth every cent.)

You're welcome.

Yes, I do know...as we like to say, our PWDs allow us to share THEIR home!! We actually do feel at ease with our current kennel situation and the two boys seem to enjoy going there (they board together). We'll actually have a good friend sitting for an upcoming trip over Labor Day but am still looking at November and next July...I agree that the money is well-spent and a cheap price to pay for what we get in return.

Well, I can do Maitaitom one better. The place we take our fur babies (two dogs--a malamute and a good old-fashioned mutt--and three cats--all garden variety) is called a "Pet RESORT!"

I mean, really tom, you can keep your measly little So. Cal. "hotel" Here in the Sooner state we send our pets to a RESORT! How positively POSH can you get? Ha-ha! It seriously cracks me up every time I write out the check for this place. But it IS really nice and our dogs, at least, LOVE it there (the cats really could care less, I think.).

Jennie :)

A good house sitter is Very hard to find. I know of horror stories too many to mention and a personal house sitting situation where the guy didn't even show up.

I'm not sure why you need a housesitter to take care of your cat. Mine does fine with a once-a-day visit from a neighbor. Now a dog would be another matter.

"your measly little So. Cal. "hotel"

I feel so guilty now. When I take them in September, I'm going to splurge for the "Cat Suite with the television always turned to Animal Planet."
((H))

I second the last opinion. I don't do this but my neighbor always just hires a pet/household visiting service while on vacation. Someone comes to the house to pick up mail, water plants, feed the cat, and that's it. If the cat is shy and used to being alone anyway, and an indoor cat, wouldn't that be enough? I don't think that would work so well for a dog, but cats are pretty independent.

Having had a housesitter once, and that was a visiting professor at a wellknown So Cal think tank I worked at in Santa Monica, who stole some things (excuse me, permanently borrowed), and did things exactly the opposite as I told him (ie, one of the few rules was to never leave the house with the groundfloor windows open with the window locks -- of course he did for days), having a housesitter is something I would avoid at all costs. It's too expensive and risky and I don't like having strangers in my stuff, regardless. I think it's a lot cheaper to find a good kennel or a day visiting service.

"I'm going to splurge for the "Cat Suite with the television always turned to Animal Planet.""


I mean, really Tom, it's the LEAST you could do! Ha-Ha!

daph, if you're a member of a church/synagogue/mosque/whateveryou could ask around there. My next door neighbor's "pet person" was found this way.

Jennie :)

"I mean, really Tom, it's the LEAST you could do! Ha-Ha! "

You'd think. But my tabby is lobbying for a condo with ESPN and HBO.
((H))

Intrepid:
If you lived nearby I would gladly watch your PWD for you. I am currently "baby sitting" an Irish Wolfhound. Love him to death.
You just have to find the right trustworthy person...We had a girl who stayed our house and had friends over...our current house sitter is a senior at UW and is amazing with my puppy and cat.

Thanks for all your fine ideas, even though somewhere along the way this veered into being a "dog thread". Our cat is a Siamese and they are considered by some to be "dog-cats" so I guess that's O.K. When we board her she hides all the time in the bed or box that they give her but at least she does eat. Our teen sitter has dogs that the cat smells so there isn't much chance of a relationship there but that sitter is reliable and very careful not to let her escape [we also have coyotes and once out our cat would only come in for us]. We even have a cage/barrier by the front door so that she can-t sneak out. But just because cats don't whine or bark while their family is gone does't mean that they aren't very lonely. She is at least 16 [a stray] so I hate to leave her as I don't know how much time she has left. But we don't know how much time we have either so must go! Christina-We have a friend, now retired, who also worked at R---[?] He's not good at following directions either!

Well, frankly, I was a bit leery when I read the suggestions for finding some "reputable" student from a local university...I am sure they are reputable but getting all A's isn't really a qualifier now is it?
Lauren25, please tell my fellow UW Alum Hello.
I can certainly sympathize with not wanting to be away, especially if the animal does get into life-terminating difficulty but what can we do???
There are Pet resorts around this area (No. Virginia) too but as you probably all know about everything tries to be "upscale" around this area.
Every time we go away I worry a little bit even when the two boys are at the kennel and every time we come home I wonder why I was worried...sigh!

No one said anything about grades or anything related to academics. My suggestion was to ask the staff at a local university, who might be more likely to go out of town for various reasons, if they know of a reputable house/pet SITTER. Meaning, someone who has done it before and has a reputation for being reliable, when it comes to respecting and taking care of someone else's home and pet(s).

I suggested college students because as a college student I, myself, was always glad to work for some extra bucks.

My veterinarian's office has a bulletin board where pet-sitters post their business cards. One of his assistants does pet-sitting, so I have her stop in every evening to feed my cats when I travel. She likes my big screen television, so that means she'll spend some time watching television and the cats will have some company for a little while, besides being fed. I also like the thought that she would be able to recognize medical problems, and I always leave written instructions giving her permission to take them for treatment if needed.

Good idea, DP.

I dont feel comfortable to have a stranger in my house taking care of my pets.. For my peace of mind,I rather take them to my vet while I am in vacation, at least I know that they are safe and well taken care.. What happens if the cat sneak outsite? There goes another stray...

Maitaitom - I live in Toluca Lake which as you know is next door to Burbank. What is the name of the cat hotel you take your pets to? Lately I haven't had the best of luck with cat sitters.

Thanks

Well I guess I owe BrimhamRocks an apology for misunderstanding his post but I'm still not convinced that a college instructor/professor could without any doubt whatsoever safely vouch for a student's behavior other than what was seen in the classroom.

(BR flutters HER eyelashes at Intrepid)

It was just a suggestion, as are all the other replies to daph's original question. I think that it would be difficult for ANYONE to safely vouch for another's behavior, except in reference to what they have personally witnessed in a classroom/work environment/etc.

Even choosing a pet resort or kennel carries a risk, because if you have never used them before, you are relying on the word of others and advertisements. Until you have actually contracted with a business for any kind of service, and then use and are satisfied with that business PERSONALLY, it's all just a matter of faith, really.

Again, my point was to ask about reputable sitters, meaning ones that the staff have used PERSONALLY and can recommend because they PERSONALLY had a positive experience with that person.

Good luck, daph, whatever you decide.

Madison,

It's called:
The Cat Hotel
1807 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA 91506 
(818) 845-0222

We've taken our cats there on about six or seven occasions and have had a good experience. You can call them and they'll let you come over and take a look at the place. It's always locked which I like, and they let the cats out pf their cage to play periodically throughout the day.
((H))

I am so relieved to read that there are people like us. We have one house dog, four cats who stay indoors and a pot-bellied pig. We pay someone to stay in the house when we vacation. My husband's mother used to watch the house and animals for us. She said it was a vacation because we have all the modern conveniences. Alas, she can no longer house sit for us. We asked and asked people who we knew and finally found an older student who was going back to college and needed some money. It adds $50.00 per day to our trip, but it is worth it. This way our house is not left vacant to encourage thieves and the animals are well taken care of. I like the idea of contacting veterinarians; I never thought of that one. I can recommend older college students; our sitter is careful with the animals and this way they are not more traumatized by having to leave their house. Our pig has a routine that if changed, makes her very unhappy. She actually became depressed when my husband's mother died last year because she would go to her house and visit with her grandmother every day in the morning. My husband's mother lived very close by so that Penny, our pig, could walk to her house. The sitter tells us that the cats don't seem to mind us leaving, but the pig and dog do. I can't imagine putting them in a local kennel in that the kennels here are just a cage and run with a person who comes around and feeds them. I do know that when we get home, all of the animals just crowd the room wanting attention from us. The day we can't get a good sitter, is the day we quit travelling.

Good grief, I had no idea people are wanting pet and house sitters so badly and having trouble finding them. I'm a youngish retired federal law enforcement officer, female, honest, reliable, good with animals, particularly cats. I live between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., willing to travel into northern CA. I'm leaving for the winter in less than two months, but maybe in the spring, I can help some folks out.

Jennit--I had to laugh at your "Pet Resort," since that's what our children (both married with families) call our house! When they travel we get to keep their dogs. (Our daughter and husband have a golden retriever and black lab, and son's family had a yellow lab) Those dogs love it here--they get to run free in the woods, swim in the river, then come into the air conditioning to sleep it all off.
And in return, when we travel they keep our little Crawdad pup.
Byrd

P.S. And sometimes we get to have the grandchildren, too!

Your vet should have business cards for people who offer cat sitting services. They will come to your house but not stay overnight. This got pretty expensive for me as my indoor girl needs to be fed 2 times/day instead of just leaving food out. One of the staff at vets office may be willing to do that too.

I try to visit So Cal at least once a year and would be happy to sit in your house if timing could be worked out. Obviously, I could visit more often if I didn't have to impose on my friend in Burbank. She has someone come in to walk her dogs but I don't know if he does cats - or if that is even your area. You can email me at [email protected] if you want me to get that info for you or if you want more personal info on me and my trustworthiness. Good luck!

I feel so guilty now. When on a very extended trip, I rented my apartment out to a friend on a friend, he paid me!

Byrd:

That's funny that your kids call your place the "Pet Resort." I used to bring my pets to my Mom's house when I traveled . . . but that was back when I only had one dog and one cat. Now I have two dogs (one of them a 100+ pound Alaskan Malamute) and three cats, which is a little too overwhelming for her. Now they go to the official "Pet Resort" and really seem to like it (At least I think they do. They don't seem any worse for the wear anyway. All are still fat and happy upon pick-up!).

Jennie :)