Cat Sitting in Shaker Park North

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.

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!

joby

Amanda is truly our trusted sitter "find"!  She comes back regularly, so much so that our kitties think she is their secondary owner!  Always reliable, clean, responsible and most of all loves our cats as much as we do!  Good communicator, self reliant - all in all a perfect "10"!

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!

Carol

Raquel was simply terrific! She and her husband, Miguel, had to fill in at the last minute for another sitter who had a death in her family. This meant that the length of the stay and sitting they had originally signed up for doubled. Completely undaunted, they did a GREAT job for us. Our cat and dog got lots of love and affection, and plenty of exercise, food, and rest. Our house and yard were cared for with equal conscientiousness. It was wonderful for us to be able to rely so completely on these super zeewoi. We recommend them 100 percent!

Thea

Hannah and Joseph were brilliant sitters - totally reliable and trustworthy. Quick to respond to queries and their past experience with dog/ housesitting was very apparent. Our 2 dogs and 1 cat were well looked after and the house was spotless on our return. We are totally happy to recommend them.

LEANNE

Laura came across the country to sit for us. She arrived a day early and from the moment my pets met her our Lokie was smitten. We have one shy cat Luna and she was out and about on the first night. Laura kept us updated and shared her Adventures as well. We do live in a small hideaway of a town so seeing that she was able to enjoy herself was nice. We returned to a clean home, laundry done also, and very content pets. Lokie was sad for a few days as he missed his friend. We would recommend Laura as a sitter to anyone and would have her back again. 5 plus stars. ⭐

Taiss

Hope and Julian were great sitters for our cat. They are easygoing and communicate in a timely manner. Our cat seemed very happy and our home was clean and in great shape upon our return. It was great having Julian and Hope here and we highly recommend them for any sit. Great people!

gretchen

Tonya was great and filled in after our other sitter had to cancel. She was very self sufficient and navigated acclimating herself to everything since she arrived after we left. She gave thoughtful updates on my cat and I could tell she really enjoyed her, so that means the world to me! She left the place immaculate and we will certainly have Tonya back!

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.