Cat Sitting10 Days

Twenty visits across ten days, and she doesn't leave the house once — however you choose to use them.

Take the ten together for a holiday, or hold them as cover across the year for the weekends away and the trips you haven't booked yet. Either way she stays put, which for a cat is the whole argument. A stay of any real length is something a lot of cats carry home from a cattery: the ones who don't eat properly for a week afterwards, or who spend days re-establishing that the house is still theirs. None of that happens if she never goes. Her windows, her chair, her sun patch, her territory, all undisturbed.

Buying ten days at once also makes us much better at noticing things. Twenty visits in, we know her normal: what she eats, when she appears, how often the tray is used, whether she's vocal today because she always is or because something's different. That baseline builds across visits rather than across the calendar, so it holds just as well if the days are months apart — and it's exactly what a neighbour topping up a bowl can't give you. With cats, the early signs of trouble are almost always a small change in an ordinary habit.

Messages and pictures throughout, including the hiding-cat evidence shots.

Nobody sleeps over. For a healthy adult cat, a night alone in her own house is close to ideal, and a run of them is no hardship. Think properly about it for a kitten, a frail elderly cat, or one on medication that needs watching.

Ten days at R490 each, with 15% back, valid twelve months from purchase.

Before we come

We visit twice a day. We don't stay the night. It's worth being clear about that before you book, because "pet sitting" means different things at different companies. Your animal is at home in their own house, with someone coming morning and evening — not boarded, and not supervised around the clock. For most pets that's a better arrangement than a kennel or a cattery. For some it isn't, and we'd rather you knew which yours is now than find out while you're away. Write everything down for us. Feeding times, how much, which bowl, which cupboard, what they're not allowed, where the lead lives, which door sticks, what the alarm code is, and what "normal" looks like for your animal. You know all of it without thinking; we don't know any of it. The households where sitting goes best are the ones that leave a list on the fridge. Leave us your vet's details and a number you'll actually answer. Also a second contact — a neighbour, a family member — for the times you're on a plane or out of signal. We hope never to need any of it. Tell us about the animals we might not see. The nervous cat who hides under the bed all three days, the second dog who's fine with people but not with strangers arriving, the tortoise in the garden. Nothing is too small to mention. Tell us about medication, and be specific. What it is, when, how much, how it's given, and what happens if a dose is missed. Your days don't have to be consecutive. A package is a pot of days to draw on, not one fixed booking. Use ten in a row for a holiday, or one here and one there across the year as work and life demand. Either way, book as far ahead as you can — a single day at short notice we can often manage, but a run of days over December is worth locking in early. Enough food, litter and medication for the whole booking, plus a bit spare. We'd rather not be buying your cat an unfamiliar food on day two. If you're using days in a row, ten days of litter is more than people estimate. Leave enough, plus spare, and tell us where more lives. Tell us what "not eating" means for her. Across the package we'll learn her real pattern, but we need your baseline to compare against — and a clear instruction on when to call you and when to go straight to the vet. If she goes outside, be specific about the arrangement. Locked cat flap, open, or open only between visits — and tell us again if it changes between bookings. Book early for the busy stretches. Days spread across a year only work if the dates you want are free; December and the school holidays go first.