Cat-sitter recommendations

[mermaidcafe.livejournal.com]

Hello!

I've seen plenty of pet-sitters advertised, but I'm very paranoid right now because I just had a house-cleaner (with good references) steal a lot of things from my apartment.

So, now that I'm looking for a cat-sitter, I'm hoping to get recommendations here where people are more likely to know each other. I'm going to be gone a few days, starting Christmas Day, and I'm hoping to find someone who can socialize with my cat (at my place) and do his health maintenance stuff. (No shots and nothing gross, just ear drops, mouth rinse, and food supplement.) I will, of course, be paying. If someone here can recommend someone (including him/her self), that'd be most excellent.

Comments

[ron_newman]

That's very bad. Do you want to warn us against this particular house-cleaner, so nobody else is victimized?

House-cleaner

[mermaidcafe.livejournal.com]

I thought about that but I wasn't sure if I should since we settled out of court and she never admitted to stealing the items.

She maintained that she might have accidentally thrown out the missing things (though it was over $250, so it would've been grand larceny, not to mention really hard to throw out all that stuff). Plus she apparently photographed my apartment before she cleaned it (she said she suspected something like this might happen and wanted to be able to prove that it was cluttered enough that confusion was likely, never might the whole right-to-privacy thing).

Anyway, I told her that I didn't care whether she had a felony on her record or not, but if she wanted to pay me the value of the missing items then I wouldn't press charges, and she did, so it ended there.

Her name is Luisa Sosa. If there's a problem with me naming names, then I'll edit it out, and I apologize.

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

I expect I could handle that. I had a cat of my own until recently, though he mainly needed lots of attention rather than medical care, but I've at least given pills to cats before and I've done visits for friends' cats while they've been away. Feel free to message me on lj if this is of interest to you.

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

J. Bryan at Critter Sitting has been my go-to catsitter for the last 4 years or so. I highly recommend her--she impressed me right away by asking some of the hard questions up front (in case of emergency type stuff). She's well experienced with medical issues and care. You can email her at critter.sitting@gmail.com.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you left it too late, or what, but Stinky's is the place I used, and they stopped taking holiday reservations in like October.

[mrboboto.livejournal.com]

I just made a holiday reservation with Stinky's three days ago. Maybe they had a cancellation or hired some new sitters?

[lissie930.livejournal.com]

I do not recommend Creature Comforts. STRONGLY do not.
I have heard good things about the St. Meow's folks but personally, I could never get a return phone call from them.

I had good experiences with these folks: http://www.happytailspetsvcs.com/

I would call ASAP.

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

what happened with creature comforts? I've used them a couple times....

[reverend-jim.livejournal.com]

I adopted a couple of cats from St. Meow's not too long ago. They are really decent people, but crazy high strung and overextended. I'm not sure if they even cat sit for people who haven't adopted from them, and even though I have I wouldn't rely on them. I would totally adopt from them again though.

[nanachic.livejournal.com]

if you need help, I have two cats and I will be around for Christmas.I wouldn't have a problem checking in our your cat.


In terms of references, I was a nanny and taught preschool so I am government approved to not be a psycho! :oD

We like Stinky's

[taranwan.livejournal.com]

That sucks about the theft. We've used Stinky's Kittens & Doggies Too (http://www.ms-stinky.com) in Ball Square for two occasions to cat sit our two cats. Once for a week and the second for three days. The 2nd time Ms. Stinky herself watched the cats. They're reasonably priced, bonded (very important to have that insurance), and very mindful of the pets. They come by a few weeks before to get instructions about food any medication, meet the pets, see the house, get keys. We would definitely use them again.

[noire.livejournal.com]

Peg Evans, Peg's Cat Care:

617-625-1897

I've used her for many years and she's GREAT--she came by before the first time to get instructions and meet the boys (and played with them in a way that impressed me with) AND she's a licensed vet tech. She is our regular sitter and we travel often, so I have used her services over ten, maybe closer to twenty times(?) and sometimes for as long as 2 weeks.

I cannot recommend her highly enough.

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

If you need a housekeeper I have an amazing one who I've worked with for years and has had ample opportunity to steal valuable things and never done so.

cost for cat sitters?

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

out of curiousity, what is the average cost for a cat sitter?

[genevra-mcneil.livejournal.com]

This is useless for you now -- I know that she's usually booked for the holidays before the end of October, but for future reference I can't say enough kind things about Cathy from Cat Happiness. (781) 322-6075.

She took care of my sweet old diabetic shots-twice-a-day cat whenever I went away. More importantly, she also took care of my one-woman, vicious, scratching, biting monster cat at the same time. (He loves me. And her. And hates everyone else.) She was kind, considerate, went above-and-beyond the call of duty. She got knots out of his fur when I couldn't, clipped his nails when even the vet wouldn't (all without me asking) and never so much and moved the remote, much less stole anything.

I used her service for about seven years, until my diabetic cat died. And if I ever went anywhere, I'd use her again today.

Like I said, she has a deeply loyal customer base and fills up very early for the holidays but -- in the future -- I'd suggest using her.

[mogwaikisses.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't mind helping, I will be here for the holidays with nothing to do. I have a dog, and love pets. For my job I have to be licensed with the state and my fingerprints have been run and are on file with the FBI, so you can look me up for free and see I have no criminal record (and would never do anything illegal!).

I would actually consider bartering instead of being paid -- my grandmother is about to die, and I need someone to take care of my dog when I am suddenly whisked away for a few days.