Cat Sitting in Oldham Farms

sandi

Florence and Robert were outstanding sitters.  We asked them to arrive a day early as our guests to learn the routine on our farm.  In getting to know them we found them to be good hearted, down to earth people with a love of animals and diligent in learning our routines to care for our poultry, cats and dog as well as our garden and orchard.  Not a typical or easy sit.  We travelled with ease knowing our critters were being well taken care of.

Arriving home, the house was very clean and looked well cared for.  The animals were healthy as were the garden and orchard.  Out pets missed them when they left – our dog stared down the driveway after them until their car was out of sight.

It is nice to find sitters we would like to hang out with and we look forward to having them sit for us again.

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.

Adrienne

Stefany helped me out big time by stepping in when I asked.  She's a local sitter and I wasnt' having any responses so I contacted her and she fit me into her schedule even during the holidays and right after another sit across the country.   She took great care of my two cats and home and I very much appreciate it!

Alexis

Elisabeth was an excellent sitter for our cat.  We were away for two weeks and received daily photos and notes from her about Catman's activities (i.e., sleeping and eating).  She is definitely a cat lover and that was evident from our cat's calm behavior when we returned.

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!

Carrie

Oh wow! Everyone should be so lucky to have Nicholas and Veerle watch their house and pets. These lovely people are pros! They communicated early and often, were super accommodating to some last minute changes (it was originally going to be only our cats to watch but we decided to keep the dog home as well so that added to the schedule and care needs) and they left the house spotless and all set up for another sitter who came in after them. 

We didn’t get the chance to meet because my departure and arrival times but I dearly hope I get to in the future because they were just great! I even heard how nice they were from My neighbors who say them out walking our dog. :-)

They also sent regular pictures of the pets which look like pro-photography! 

Cannot recommend this couple enough! Your pets and house will be in good hands!

Claire

If Macie and Roman ever apply to your post for a house or pet sit, I strongly encourage you to jump at the. offer. You will not be disappointed. They are among the top (if not the top) sitter I've ever had and I've been on this site for years. Primarily, they are very organized. In the weeks and days leading up to the sit, Macie and Roman kept me abreast of their plans and status. I felt very comfortable in the days leading up to the sit
because I knew the plan we made to exchange the keys and walk them through the instructions would work as planned.

Second, Macie and Roman really care. When they got to my apartment after a very long morning of traveling, I explained the care instructions and they were very attentive and cared about the details - asking very specific questions on how to care for my cat and apartment. I had some pretty specific rules about how to feed my cat and take care of him and Macie and Roman followed those exactly.

Third, Macie and Roman make you feel comfortable while you are away. I got daily or twice daily updates about my cat. I got pictures which made me feel like my cat was having a good time. My cat came out of hiding very quickly and was snuggling with them and letting them hold him. It was so nice to see the pictures of them all bonding! Macie and Roman have a calming energy towards animals for sure! Macie and Roman were also very responsive when I reached out
first - replying within 30 minutes. I really
appreciated that.

Fourth, Roman and Macie will take good care of your apartment/house. I came back to a SPOTLESS apartment. The towels were washed. The apartment had been vacuumed. The kitchen was clean. The dishwasher had been run. Everything was in its place when I returned. Honestly, cleaner than when I left it which is difficult since I am a very clean person. Macie and Roman
also respects your property. We had a room we asked them not to enter and they respected that. 

In short, Macie and Roman are amazing. I would have them back in a heartbeat. If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them. Ask Macie and Roman for my number.

kevin

Tracy was an ideal pet sitter when we left for 12 days. She was communicative, friendly, and most importantly took perfect care of our two cats and our house. I would highly recommend her for any sit!

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.

Francine

Steven was a great sitter for our black lab Souris and cat Pinot. They were well looked after and really liked Steven. Our house was in good order when we got back and Steven was kind enough to give us a lift to and from the airport. He was very flexible, arriving day early so we could show him around.