Cat sitter fell down on the job (long)

GoldyCat

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I was out of town for 3-1/2 days at a convention, and had arranged with a neighbor to come in every day to feed and play with my kitties. I left extra litter boxes out so she wouldn't have to take care of that, and they have a watering system that holds enough for at least six days.

I gave the neighbor my cell phone number before I left. She's normally very reliable, so when I didn't hear from her I assumed there were no problems. I called her today as I was leaving the convention to let her know what time I would be home. It turns out she couldn't get to my house every day. She called and left a message on my home phone this morning (Saturday), but never tried my cell.

I left Wednesday morning. She checked on my babies Thursday morning, then went into the hospital to have a pacemaker put in. She thought it was going to be a 2-3 hour outpatient procedure, but they ended up keeping her overnight. When she went home Friday afternoon she was told to just rest and not go anywhere. So . . . my kitties hadn't had any care for 2-1/2 days.

I spent the entire 4-hour drive home worrying about them. I figured they had probably run out of food at least a day ago.
Shareena and Miss Patchwillow can do without food for a day or two, although they would probably be mad at me. I was more concerned about Goldy since she's nursing three kittens.

When I got home all three ladies were waiting by the door for me, but they didn't act like they were starving. Their food dishes were completely empty, and of course they pounced on the wet food I gave them, then begged for more. I also noticed that the neighbor had not given them any wet food on the one day she came in.

I do have very resourceful cats, however. They make a habit of chewing holes in the bags of dry food, so I always put it in 1-gallon glass jars with metal lids. The last time I got a bigger bag and there wasn't room for all of it in the jars, so I had put some in a plastic tub with a snap-on lid. My ladies had managed to get the lid off that one, so they actually had more than enough food available. Naturally, they still tried to make me feel guilty.


The babies gave me a bit of a scare at first. None of them were moving, not even twitching. It turned out they were all just sleeping. As soon as I touched them they were up and jumping around and squealing at me. They're two weeks old today and absolutely adorable.


I guess next time I have to be out of town I'll have two people lined up to check on my kitties, just in case.

I posted pictures on the Fur Pictures board. Didn't want to double up too much, but here's one pic just to tease you.
 

sarahp

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Oh man that is scary and irresponsible of her! Sure, she had something serious happen, but gee - let you know so you can try to make alternate arrangements!

My neighbours housesitter did the same thing recently - she didn't turn up for 4 days in a row!!! And she was supposed to be staying there! I noticed, and have a key, so I took care of her cat and gave her love where I could. Some people can be so irresponsible sometimes!

I'm glad the kitties are ok, particularly the babies
 

cc12

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That is horrible. I would have been beside myself too.
I am so glad the wee little babies were okay but geesh. I would never do that to someone. If she could not come she should have arranged for someone else to come and let you know about it.
 

clpeters23

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Thank goodness your babies are okay!
I used to own a pet sitting business, and because it was a one person operation, I had a reciprocal agreement with another sitter in my area to cover for me, which happened once, when my car broke down.
We all understand that things can happen, which is why it's vital to have a backup plan!
 

goldenkitty45

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We had a similar thing happen - but it involved our BIL who was staying with us. We had to go to my mom's and sister's in Maryland for a week. Our BIL was to be at our house and stay there to take care of the pets. Things were fine the first few days.

Thru other resources we found out that in the middle of the week, he convienced his mother to come and get him and take him in town to stay at his ex-wife's house the rest of the week! He was NOT supposed to be in there period and he was supposed to be taking care of our pets at our house.

We immediately contacted our neighbor who was at home and came right over to feed the cats/dog and let her out for the next 2 days till we returned!

It took a lot of control not to chew our BIL out for his actions and breaking the trust we had with him. Shortly after that was when Charlie came down with the UTI - whether or not any of that was part of the cause, we don't know.
 

pushylady

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Some people just seem to not get the fact that animals require care. Not only that, but to break the trust you have with someone like astounds me - especially when they're related to you.
I'm glad the kitties were so resourceful and they weren't too long alone!
 
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GoldyCat

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Originally Posted by clpeters23

Thank goodness your babies are okay!
I used to own a pet sitting business, and because it was a one person operation, I had a reciprocal agreement with another sitter in my area to cover for me, which happened once, when my car broke down.
We all understand that things can happen, which is why it's vital to have a backup plan!
I did have a backup plan. Two other people could have each gone in one day to check on the kitties. Unfortunately, the original person didn't let me know there was a problem, so the backup plan never kicked in.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

We had a similar thing happen - but it involved our BIL who was staying with us. We had to go to my mom's and sister's in Maryland for a week. Our BIL was to be at our house and stay there to take care of the pets. Things were fine the first few days.

Thru other resources we found out that in the middle of the week, he convienced his mother to come and get him and take him in town to stay at his ex-wife's house the rest of the week! He was NOT supposed to be in there period and he was supposed to be taking care of our pets at our house.

We immediately contacted our neighbor who was at home and came right over to feed the cats/dog and let her out for the next 2 days till we returned!

It took a lot of control not to chew our BIL out for his actions and breaking the trust we had with him. Shortly after that was when Charlie came down with the UTI - whether or not any of that was part of the cause, we don't know.
I have to say I'm lucky in my family, in-laws included. If any one of them says he/she will do something, you can guarantee it will get done. Too bad none of them live close enough any more to help out with the kitties.

Originally Posted by pushylady

Some people just seem to not get the fact that animals require care. Not only that, but to break the trust you have with someone like astounds me - especially when they're related to you.
I'm glad the kitties were so resourceful and they weren't too long alone!
This was a neighbor rather than a relative, but you're right. She didn't seem to think it was any big deal. She said when she went in Thursday morning that only one food bowl was empty (out of four small bowls). She filled that up and assumed it was enough for the next 2-1/2 days. What she didn't take into account was that I had fed them a can of wet food Wednesday morning, so of course they hadn't eaten much of the dry food. She didn't give them any wet food Thursday and still expected them to eat the same small amount of the dry food.

Normally I would be jumping up and down and scolding the girls for breaking into the extra food.
Right now I'm actually proud of the way they took care of themselves.


It all worked out okay in the end, but next time I will definitely have two different people taking turns coming in. That way I hope they would never miss more than one day if something happened to one of the caretakers.
 

goldenkitty45

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Our guys are used to dry and canned foods. But they are ok with all dry for a weekend when showing. As soon as we return on Sunday, they are given a canned meal and they are happy.
 
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