CatInAFlat and other catsitting chat

[muscovyduck]

So basically urban, I've spent the last few years thoroughly taking the piss with constantly asking my mates to pet sit while I go away one or two nights at a time. The problem is now I'm going away for four or five nights in a few weeks, and also I now only have one cat who is ridiculously social and I feel bad keeping him stuck in all day for thar amount of time on his own with only a visit in the morning and evening (and he's really vocal and I suspect he'll yell the house down when I'm gone and upset the neighbours).

All the local cat sitters seem to be booked up so I was tempted to try CatInAFlat, but I don't know anyone who's used that before and I feel like there's not much of a verification system on there? I was thinking I could ask my mates AND hire a cat sitter so he gets loads of visits? Maybe I should keep looking for local cat sitters? Help me figure out what to do

 

[muscovyduck]

Phone won't let me put an image in the post and I'm sat in the dark so I can't get a good photo but please accept my cat tax in the form of a drawing, attached

 

[Humberto]

Cattery?

 

[Epona]

I'd offer for small renumeration/expenses (I'm not working atm and freelance pet-care is something I quite fancy) but my own cat is elderly and has daily medication and is glued to me, so I can't really dedicate to a live in pet-sitting thing atm Or I'd offer.

 

[spitfire]

scifisam

 

[muscovyduck]

Cattery?

There's a couple around here but he'd get less attention there than he would at home by the sounds of it also it would be a lot more stressful for him

Idk whether I'm being over the top stressing this much about it really

 

[Epona]

There's a couple around here but he'd get less attention there than he would at home by the sounds of it also it would be a lot more stressful for him

Idk whether I'm being over the top stressing this much about it really

You know your cat, I wouldn't leave mine in a cattery unless it was a dire emergency ie. I was admitted to hospital and there was no-one else to care for him - because he's very clingy and a bit nervous and needs lots of human company.

It's really a situation whereby you know your cat better than anyone else so it's not necessarily being "over the top" to worry that he wouldn't cope well in certain circumstances.

 

[Humberto]

There's a couple around here but he'd get less attention there than he would at home by the sounds of it also it would be a lot more stressful for him

Idk whether I'm being over the top stressing this much about it really

I don't know much about them in terms of how it is for the cats, just occurred to me because there's one down the road from me. A possible option if there's good customer feedback? You would know better though if it's not for him.

 

[muscovyduck]

You know your cat, I wouldn't leave mine in a cattery unless it was a dire emergency ie. I was admitted to hospital and there was no-one else to care for him - because he's very clingy and a bit nervous and needs lots of human company.

It's really a situation whereby you know your cat better than anyone else so it's not necessarily being "over the top" to worry that he wouldn't cope well in certain circumstances.

Funnily enough I was just about to post a reply to you asking what you'd do!

 

[muscovyduck]

If the weather's shit he likes staying in doors napping anyway. But late September is such a fucking gamble with the weather

 

[muscovyduck]

I wish I could take him with me. Where is that thread about someone's chaotic holiday to Wales and then right in the middle of describing it they casually dropped they'd brought their cat with them?

 

[scifisam]

scifisam

TY!

My adult daughter does a lot of catsitting and has done it for spitfire. She's a lot more organised for her catsitting than she is for anyone else, and is great with cats. I'm not sure where you are, but message me if you're in E1/E2/E3 or not that far.

She gets some pocket-money work via catinaflat and I think it is a good site - they do require ID, at least, and you're insured via the site, and you have to have a photo up so that people can tell you are the person coming round, and the reviews are genuine. I think it's a good site if you don't have someone personal to ask to come in, though of course you pay fees on top. I have another friend who does tons of catsitting via catinaflat so if you're more in her area (Wandsworth) I could send you a link to her account.

I think that, if it's more than a day or two, it's better to have a paid arrangement for the main care with informal, unpaid arrangements as a back-up.

 

[spitfire]

She looked after Ziggy really well.

 

[muscovyduck]

TY!

My adult daughter does a lot of catsitting and has done it for spitfire. She's a lot more organised for her catsitting than she is for anyone else, and is great with cats. I'm not sure where you are, but message me if you're in E1/E2/E3 or not that far.

She gets some pocket-money work via catinaflat and I think it is a good site - they do require ID, at least, and you're insured via the site, and you have to have a photo up so that people can tell you are the person coming round, and the reviews are genuine. I think it's a good site if you don't have someone personal to ask to come in, though of course you pay fees on top. I have another friend who does tons of catsitting via catinaflat so if you're more in her area (Wandsworth) I could send you a link to her account.

I think that, if it's more than a day or two, it's better to have a paid arrangement for the main care with informal, unpaid arrangements as a back-up.

OK this is good to hear, I think I'm going to go ahead and try booking via catinaflat tomorrow!

It occurs to me I have access to safe storage for any easily nickable valuables so I can mitigate that risk well enough anyway.

I will let you all know how I get on

 

[story]

When I’m away for a while I offer my flat to friends who benefit from being there for one reason or another.
A couple who live in a small room in a shared house get to have a place of their own for a while.
A friend with a high maintenance partner gets a few days to themselves, with cat company as added bonus.
An actor friend organises auditions meetings jobs etc for the time they're at my place.

Is it a possibility for you to find pals who‘d like to stay at yours gratis etc in return for taking care of the cat, houseplants etc?

 

[Epona]

When I’m away for a while I offer my flat to friends who benefit from being there for one reason or another.
A couple who live in a small room in a shared house get to have a place of their own for a while.
A friend with a high maintenance partner gets a few days to themselves, with cat company as added bonus.
An actor friend organises auditions meetings jobs etc for the time they're at my place.

Is it a possibility for you to find pals who‘d like to stay at yours gratis etc in return for taking care of the cat, houseplants etc?

This is what I've arranged in the past - I mean not that I've been away in over a decade, but last time a friend came and had a week in London in exchange for looking after the cats Radar torturing him and hiding his specs.

 

[quimcunx]

If you have friends living in flatshares there's bound to be someone who would appreciate a stay at yours for a few days.

 

[muscovyduck]

For context I'm (relatively) out in the sticks.

I'd like to arrange a mate to stay over, the house itself is a bit of a goldfish bowl that gets a lot of attention from weirdos so it would be safer to keep it occupied.

But I'm wary of asking friends to stay over at the moment; I've just recently had to turf out two former friends who were crashing at mine and caused me living hell - including some weird shit when I asked them to cat sit while I was gone overnight. And the one year I had an arrangement set up with someone I can trust so he could come here as a holiday for himself but he bailed last minute because he was ill which meant I couldn't travel.

 

[muscovyduck]

The catinaflat overnight stays look affordable!!!!

 

[marty21]

We have used cat in the flat and had good experiences, a mate is now registered on there and is currently looking after our cat Not sure where you live , she is in Hackney & loves cats .

 

[LDC]

The cat in this house is a bit of nightmare as well, he gets ill reasonably regularly (allergies and skin itching) and if it isn't caught early with steroids gets worse and he gets really distressed. (Plus I'd worry about him if left too long.... ). So it's hard to leave him along for more than 24-36 hours. If away for longer than that we get a friend to stay, and it's worked out fine until now. But going away for a few weeks early next year and friend not available for that so had to come to a semi-formal arrangement for someone we know to house and cat sit. It does suit them as they're needing somewhere to stay then.

The cat would wish death on us if he went to a cattery, and he'd be really distressed.

 

[muscovyduck]

I'm having some luck with catinaflat but not 100%. Main problem is where I live is a wee bit remote - as in, I live in a large town but a large town very far away from other large towns. So with stuff like this the numbers are against you. Either way I'm a lot less stressed because I know I've got a plan even if it's not a great one.