Who will care for my kitty?

November 16, 2006 11:37 AM

How do I arrange for the best possible care for our kitty while we're away from San Francisco for the holidays?

Mr. Mostly and I will be away from home visiting family from December 20-January 3. Our cat Imogene will be just seven months old. We thought about taking her with us, but because she is a sweet but slightly neurotic girl (a shelter cat who was very undersocialized when we got her in July), that seemed like a very bad idea.

We thought about asking friends to come by to feed and give attention to her, but frankly, I'm not sure they're responsible enough to care for our baby, particularly during the holiday rush.

So, we figure our options are to board her or hire someone to come by. Which is preferable? Any recommendations for either a good kennel (although I rather cringe at that word) or reputable sitter in San Francisco or ideas for how to find such a thing? Craigslist maybe? How much should we expect to pay?

posted by mostlymartha to pets & animals (16 comments total)

Contact your vet and ask if they have anyone they would recommend as a pet sitter or kennel, as a first step.
posted by wuzandfuzz at 11:40 AM on November 16, 2006

Generally having someone come to your house to take care of a cat is preferable to boarding a cat. They're pretty self-sufficient and don't need a terrific amount of attention (ymmv, but it's not like a dog that really needs to be walked once or twice a day). If I were you I'd seriously consider putting this up on MeFi jobs since I know there are a lot of SFO people who might relish the chance to spend the holidays in a somewhat peaceful manner. If you do have someone take care fo your cat, make sure you have

- a list of emergency contacts including local contact, your contact info, and vet and possibly an emergency vet
- a complete explanation of what to do in an emergency (i.e shoudl they pay and you'll reimburse them, have you left money for them, can they have you pay the vet) and possibly a letter of "it's okay, this is our catsitter" if your cat needs to go to the vet
- more food and litter than they should need
- specific calendar of what needs to be done when, mostly feeding and litter but also changing water and anything else [take in mail? water plants?] be stupidly specific, everyone's car care habits vary so make sure you've covered the basics.
- any key/alarm info they might need
- what is or is not okay to mess with or touch [i.e. "feel free to watch DVDs and eat chips, but don't touch the wine in the fridge"]
- a backup friend's number in case something happens to the main catsitter. I'd suggest having two keys out in the wild somewhere in case something weird happens to one of them.
- how to leave the place, if they're living-in, what to do with laundry, how to leave the place for you, where to put the key

I've been a catsitter in SFO and the good news is that the weather never gets crazy and you're not so rural that someone couldn't pitch in in a pinch. I haven't done ot for money in a long time, but when I did, I think the going rate was $15-20 a day, maybe more or less depending if they're living in.
posted by jessamyn at 11:47 AM on November 16, 2006

Call bernal beast in bernal heights (or your local pet shop) and ask for their recommended catsitters. I pay $25 a day. Ymmv. Remember to call the shop when you return and give them feedback, so they can adjust their list. A few people I've hired turned out to be complete slobs and I'm sure they are still being referred to others.
posted by Señor Pantalones at 12:17 PM on November 16, 2006

I have friends who just did this - I've emailed them to get details - but IIRC, they found one of the vet techs at their vet's (SFSPCA) was willing to do it for a medium amount of cash. Their cat has some health issues - she needs to be hydrated daily - so that was why they went with a tech, but your vet's office is a good place to start. I nth the do-not-board advice.
posted by rtha at 12:29 PM on November 16, 2006

petsit.com - I've found several very good petsitters for our kittens.
posted by jesirose at 12:30 PM on November 16, 2006 [1 favorite]

So for 15-25 dollars a day what all does that entail? Feeding, litterbox?

Also, I have some friends (probably) checking in on our two cats while we are out next week (for four days), and I have been trying to figure out how to repay them. I was thinking a nice dinner or a giftcard somewhere - money between friends seems tacky.

Anyone know of a catsitter in Sacramento?
posted by Big_B at 12:31 PM on November 16, 2006

Wow. Looks like jesirose's link answers 2/3 of my questions. Thanks!
posted by Big_B at 12:34 PM on November 16, 2006

Get someone bonded & insured.

You can expect this person to spend about half an hour just hanging out with the cat each visit. For me, this made the difference between coming home to crazy kitties and coming home to kitties who were rather annoyed that the nice lady who gave wet food every day stopped coming.

Any experienced sitter will have a form for you to fill out that will list all the information s/he needs to do the job. You can also expect the sitter to water plans and bring in mail.
posted by Sheppagus at 12:35 PM on November 16, 2006

For a kitten by herself, I would strongly suggest you have someone housesit, rather than just come by to play/feed, etc. My experience with kittens is that they're VERY social and would go nuts if left alone for long hours during the day and night.

Is there anyone you know of who you'd trust to housesit? My experience is that if you work with any trusty young adults who live with roomates, they're perfect for this kind of thing.
posted by jasper411 at 12:42 PM on November 16, 2006

We've used Pick of the Litter Petcare as a pet sitter consistently for the last year. Carie's bonded and incredibly sweet and reliable.

website

If she were a mouser, I'd pay you to borrow her for that week ;)
posted by Gucky at 1:54 PM on November 16, 2006

Metacraigslist? :) I have a close friend who is dogsitting for us over thanksgiving, even though she's a cat person. She might love the opportunity to earn a little extra and meet some new cats. My email is in profile if you're interested.
posted by wzcx at 2:02 PM on November 16, 2006

Wow. Looks like jesirose's link answers 2/3 of my questions. Thanks!

If the other third was the cost, I pay ours about $11-15 a per visit. She feeds them, scoops the litter, and spends about 30 minutes playing. We had one very good sitter who kept a cute kitty diary of what they did and what toys they played with. It was a very nice touch.

Sheppagus is right about the forms and getting someone bonded and insured.

Good luck!
posted by jesirose at 4:56 PM on November 16, 2006

I use a licensed and bonded pet sitter who charges $14/day for non-holidays, $19/day for holidays, to come to my house, get my mail, water my plants, clean the litter box, refill the water and food, and play laser-pointer with my cat.

A professional pet sitter will be better prepared for emergencies and be able to know when to rush to the vet and when everything's really OK and the cat is just trying to put one over on them...
posted by seymour.skinner at 5:16 PM on November 16, 2006

Beware just having a friend come to your house. After years of feeding my neighbor's animals when they were on vacation, the one time we asked them to do it for us, they forgot. Thank goodness we were only on a day trip and our dog was only alone about 8 hours. They didn't come over to take her out, feed her, or anything.
posted by IndigoRain at 5:21 PM on November 16, 2006

I'm gonna be away for 2 months this summer, and have a friend house/cat sitting for the whole time. We pay the bills, even the cleaning lady, he just lives there.
posted by signal at 7:05 AM on November 17, 2006

Nthing the petsitter especially considering your cat's background.
posted by deborah at 10:46 AM on November 17, 2006