Cat Sitting in East Village

Steven

Our review is written by Steven (house owner, host + my father) + also by Kim (the daughter).

Written by Kim: This was our first house sit since the passing of my mother in late Dec 2023.  I was helping my father Steven (whose profile it is) manage all the emails + try + find a great house sitter + came along Gretchen’s profile! Not only is she a cool cat + someone you might want to get to know, I found myself quickly talking to her. I shortly found out her profile is just a glimpse of how interesting she is but talking to her was so much better!  She is a world traveler with many experiences + stories to share. We quickly became conversationalists who could talk forever + probably will continue to do so! Thank you TH! 

She is easy to communicate with + continued the consistent communication all along our journey of having her as our *first* guest after my mom’s passing. It was clearly a time filled with anxiety + sensitivity so there were some sensitive topics to go over + Gretchen got it right away.  A few of our rooms in the house were off-limits (as they housed my mom’s things) but we reassured her the house has ample space for her to enjoy + there are many lovely outdoor spaces to boot!  When she arrived she felt she was in paradise + really relished in the outdoor beauty + the indoor coziness. We were happy to share it with someone who appreciated it so much! 

She also was very understanding with the fact that both my dad + I would both be involved as we both handled different parts of the stay. Me, writing + setting up the Welcome Guide + would go over the situation but then upon her arrival my dad would take over + answer any questions mostly during her sit. The good part of having 2 people is she had accessibility to us both, in the case she needed it + sometimes it came up! She juggled all the communication oh so well.  My mom usually handled most of the logistics so this being our first time we were nervous something would come up we might not know but it didn’t!  It was new territory for us + we wanted to make sure she had everything. 

Gretchen handled it all with such ease, seamlessly, really respecting our wishes/desires + taking all the information into her hands + making it seem easy on her end to do so. 

She was easy to coordinate schedules with!  There was a gap in her 1st + 2nd sit but everything went seamlessly even when my flight had a day long delay. She was able to coordinate schedules with me arriving in between, then leaving, my dad arriving different days + us extending the trip too. It all worked out! We were all a good team!

She absolutely loved our older cat, Benny + he fast + furiously fell in love with her oh so easily. When I saw him, he looked oh so loved + after saying hi to me went over to ‘her’ bed + slept there waiting for her to come back. She sent many pictures, videos + even cute creations + toys she made for our Benny + it was obvious the house + our Benny were her first priority. 

She even asked us if she could help prune our flowers/shrubs, something my mom used to do + honestly it was an honor to hear her ask that. She was welcome to set up her art studio + play away. She was very communicative when our house cleaner, landscape gardener + house manager showered up for different reasons. When I arrived back for a short stint before she came back the 2nd time our mail was so well organized it was an assembly line! She also offered to take down our xmas tree (as we were a bit behind in taking down our xmas decorations) + she was sensitive to the fact that we were adjusting to a new normal. 
Thank you so much Gretchen! You made our first sit in a long time so seamless + such a relief that we are ready now to host again. We only wish we could have more Gretchen’s! (She’s also a super talented artist!)

Written by Steven: Overall, Gretchen has been an absolute treasure.  She has fulfilled our goals for a house sitter perfectly - she took good care of the house, great care of our treasured pet, Mr. Benny + took care of the grounds such as watering a few plants + trees.  She excelled in all the above + is welcome back anytime I will be out of town in the future.

Melina

There are not enough words in the English language to express my deepest gratitude to Teresa and all the amazing love and care she showed my sweet cat Milo.

From the moment she met Milo, I knew there was going to be a very special bond. 
He instantly relaxed when he first met and already looked so happy and at peace with her. The bond between the two of them only seemed to get stronger and stronger with every day that I was away.

This two-week trip was so important for me as it was the first real "vacation" I had taken in a few years. I was in desperate need of a mental and physical break and knew that in order to have a true "time off', I needed to feel completely at peace with Milo being well-taken care of.

Well my prayers were answered as Teresa was the "cat whisperer" I was hoping for.

I could not have asked for a better, more compassionate, self-reliant, and intuitive sitter ! 

Teresa was also so diligent in sending me her daily picture and video updates of my cat. With every picture and video I saw, I knew that Milo was so happy being with her and I never worried for one minute while I was away. What a gift !

Teresa was also a serious life-saver for me as literally an hour before I was leaving for my trip, I found out my cat's tracker app was not working and after a few emails and phone calls, we found out the tracker's server was down.

Teresa took the initiative to follow up with getting the tracker to work again which was a HUGE stress-relief for me . She is not only wonderfully savvy with animals but also with technology as well ! 

I feel so fortunate to have Teresa in my life now, not only as an amazing sitter for Milo but also as a wonderful friend for life! 

Thank you, Teresa for everything....

Milo and I so appreciate you .....

Regina

Hannah and Joseph housesat our three kitties for a week and a half while we were traveling for the holidays. They were very communicative and conscientious. We received daily updated on our cats with cute and funny pictures. When they noticed our 17yo cat, Amber, wasn’t eating very much, they let us know and we were able to resolve the problem quickly. They were also very resourceful and understanding when we ran out of some cat supplies. Hannah and Joseph took great care of the house. Everything was very clean and tidy when we arrived back, and we had a short time to get to know them on our arrival. We would be fortunate to find more house sitters like them, and would of course love to have them back in the future! We wish Hannah and Joseph luck in their travels!

Andrew

Cung is a diligent and communicative cat sitter and house guest, and we'd highly recommend him! We hope to have him back again soon

Tracie

Sharon and Milton are two of the nicest people I've met in my life. This is my first time having a sitter fly in from out of state and it was so simple, stress-free, and didn't affect any part of me getting ready for my trip, leaving for my trip or returning from my trip. Sharon was very communicative before, during and after I returned. It just couldn't have been more wonderful! If you're considering applicants stop looking  and  choose Sharon and Milton.  They are just delightfully wonderful wonderful people!! They go above and beyond just housesitting and pet sitting! Tidy, clean, respectful down to earth and the most kind and loving people.  I do believe Milton really is a cat whisper!! They slept with my sweet babies, and even  followed silly grooming instruction on one of my cats. Would have them sit for me absolutely anytime.

Nina

After seeing the numerous positive reviews, I knew Cung would be an easygoing and professional cat sitter and house guest, and he was :-) Easy communication, prompt updates and clear concern for Boz & Artie's wellbeing, and pictures of cozying up on the couch together all made our time away secure and stress free. Upon returning home, the cats were chill and the apt was left spotless, as though he hadn't even been there.

Andrew

Lindsey was super communicative, friendly, responsible, and an excellent sitter for our two cats. When we returned, our home was clean and our cats relaxed and happy as if we had never left !  She sent us photos and updates every day, as requested, and when a random mishap occurred in the apartment, she let us know right away and was proactive in handling issue. We felt like both our cats and our home were in very caring, capable and respectful hands. Excellent! Thank you Lindsey!

Patty

Nathalie and John were great! They were great house sitters to watch our two dogs, 2 geckos, our old cat and bull frog. Their two girls took good care of the animals as well. The house was exactly how we left it. We really appreciated their help!

Anne

Wow, what a find Justin is! I feel as though I won a lottery. As I was revelling in the communication we were having during his stay, I looked over his profile and realized either that he had updated it during his stay OR I never even read it. I was so impressed with his initial application that described multiple stays taking care of cats in Turkey that I knew he was going to be a great choice. So I'm not sure that I even read his profile or reviews. Turned out...he was more than I could have EVER hoped for.
Justin is VERY organized and clear with his communication. Just  as--or maybe more--important, he is a poster child for what zeewoi can be: more than just an economical way to get a pet sitter or a place to stay.
Justin embraces the barter economy and the opportunity it presents to get to know people. Although we only met the day that I turned the house and my 2 cats over to his care, we had delightful communication throughout his stay. He wanted to be sure he was providing the right care to all living and non-living elements of my home as well as just chat beyond what we'd had an opportunity to cover when we were face to face on the handoff day.
Bottom line: I'd have Justin back even if I wasn't going anywhere! I've met a friend. And my neighbors did as well!
Oh yes, and my two cats were well looked after, the house was in ship shape, and Justin was able to brief the next sitter in person (I'd had to extend my time away and Justin already had another commitment). To say I felt confident leaving my pets and home in Justin's care is an understatement.
Justin is a real adventurer and believer in the power of both human and animal connection. Without a doubt, I would recommend him as a sitter...and a friend!
Thank you, Justin for a great example of how to wrestle so much more meaning out of zeewoi.

Heather

Jose was a wonderful pet/house sitter for us recently. We highly recommend him. He was wonderfully reliable and responsible and took such good care of our two pets.  

On short notice Jose drove down from Grass Valley to the East Bay for a bit of a quiet get-away while working a really hard job teaching online.  We know how hard that is firsthand and partly why we needed our own get-away for a last-minute backpacking trip.

We have a recently rescued pit bull and a rescued cat that we're still introducing to each other to make sure the dog doesn't eat the cat (as he seems to want to), and the cat doesn't blind the dog (as she would if he tried to eat her). That might be more background than is needed in a review but Jose made us feel comfortable about everything because of how conscientious and responsible he clearly is. We could tell when we talked to him that he was genuinely kind and eminently trustworthy.

We are very grateful and hope Jose was happy with everything too because we know what a value his care was to us. Jose truly deserves any and all house-sitting gigs that strike his interest. Ours was not the easiest and he was amazing.  Get him if you can.