Anna was an excellent sitter - she took great care to understand all of the intricacies of taking care of the house and cats, asked lots of questions, and arrived on time and ready for the sit. During the trip, she checked in with updates, and upon returning home, left the space tidy and clean. The cats were happy and healthy, and seemed to have had a great time during the sit. Thanks Anna!
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.
strongly recommend Christine and Phil to housesit for your kitty. Our pets, Babbles and Cousin Eddy, and property, were in very good hands while we where away for two weeks. They had a fair amount entailed with two cats on different food and needs. Cousin Eddy, or Edoardo, is a barn cat we recently adopted. Eddy is very sweet and stays outside but hangs out the side door wanting to be petted and fed; Bubbles is an indoor cat. Both cats were spoiled by Christine and Phil! Christine and Phil were also very caring and attentive with the needs of our Airbnb guests. During the time we were away they kept us updated daily (including photos of the cats). When we came home, our house was perfect, with lovely fresh flowers, notes for us, and our cats had been well-cared-for. They are wonderful house sitters, and we highly recommend them. They were Five-star sitters of our house and cats!
Jenny was an absolute delight, lovely to speak to and patient with last minute changes. I have had bad experiences with trusting people with my cats before so was really anxious as Jenny is the first house sitter I have used from zeewoi. But, I felt at ease as soon as I spoke to her, she has a lovely manner and she came round the day before the sit to male sure she had every detail right. But I think the thing that helped the most was her regular updates about my cats. I could see from the videos she sent they were given lots of love and attention. My cats don't usually play with people but my little girl seemed to love her! My flat was immaculate when I got back as well, I am so grateful to Jenny for all her help and really hope to have her sit for me again!
Catherine was a wonderful sitter for our 17 year old cat Zabba. She sent us pictures twice a day and kept us informed about Zabba’s daily activities. We came home to a clean home and would definitely recommend her as a pet/ house sitter. My only concern was that she doesn’t drive and with an older cat, I just prayed that Zabba didn’t need to go to the vet…. And he didn’t 🥰. We will ask her again for sure.
We can not exaggerate the care and love Juliet and Laurent gave to our cat, Piero, during his the last few weeks of life. While we left for our trip thinking he merely had a bladder infection, his symptoms turned for the worse a weeks into their sit and later revealed he had cancer. No one would wish their sitter to need to hospice their cat but Juliet and Laurent showed such compassion for Piero and volunteered to be with him when we made the decision to put him down. It was an emotional time for all of us and we will be forever grateful to our two caring cat and house sitters. We have had many fantastic housesitters through zeewoi but Juliet and Laurent top the list. Their professionalism, constant communication and compassion were exceptional. Should you have the opportunity to have them in your home, do not hesitate to book them, you will have no regrets. We do, however, regret that they had such a short time with Piero and had to experience such a painful event.
If you are looking for someone to take care of your fur babies and your house while you're away, Daniel is your guy! I had discovered zeewoi just a couple of weeks before I was to leave on vacation and I was not only apprehensive if the website was too good to be true, but also under a real time crunch. I reached out to over 100 local sitters and several possibilities fell through. I was confident I would find the right sitter and when Daniel applied for the sit and I started to text and converse with him, I knew I had found the perfect sitter for my two cats! Daniel was upbeat and positive, articulate and personable, warm and caring, and he asked all the right questions about Lilly and Eli (I hadn't had the time to complete my Welcome Guide, yet!?!). I shared that I had an easy cat and problem cat -- Lilly, who is sweet, social and eats dry food, and Eli who is skittish, was periodically pooping outside the kitty litter box and was eating prescription canned food twice a day mixed with a probiotic and stool firmer. I asked if he thought he was up for the job and he happily said he was. Since he flew all the was from Chicago, I thought the least my husband and I could do was pick him up at the airport. When he arrived, he pulled out his notebook. He patiently walked with me as I reviewed kitty care, showed him around the house, and where he would be sleeping. He immediately picked up Lilly who was excited about meeting her new friend and Eli bugged out and down the stairs to the basement (his favorite hiding place!). We got Daniel connected to the internet, set him up at our dining room table and headed off to airport, leaving our house and kitties in the best of hands. Daniel wanted to make sure I felt comfortable and assured while we were away. He made sure to text with me every other day (he had asked my preference earlier), sent photos of Lilly being her cute self while Eli hid during the day although he gave me assurances that he was eating his food and using the litter box (there were a few accidents, but Daniel never complained about these additional duties). When we returned from our vacation, the house was also spotless and well cared for and Daniel had even washed the sheets for me! It is with utter happiness and complete confidence that I recommend Daniel as a fantastic Sitter. He is trustworthy, responsible, caring, and competent, and you can rest assured that both your house and sweet pets will be watched over and treated with TLC -- and will truly be in the best of hands while you are away!
Caroline is an amazing sitter ! We were far away, had never left our cat for such a long period of time and we felt really confident with her. She took great care of our cat Honey as well as she did for the house, pool and garden. She was even able to handle the end of the refection of the bathroom which was a last minute surprise… We felt Caroline was reliable and self sufficient. We had a great communication with her during our stay abroad. We even found many nice intentions when we came back from our vacations such as fresh fruits and bakeries for a nice and welcomed breakfast after a night in a plane ! We definitely recommend Caroline for your sittings and we will obviously call her back !
Greetings Pet People, I am a bit late leaving my review for Kristine who is local to us and has taken care of our kitties Max and Luis a few times this year. After COVID-19 was announced in March, our travel plans came to an abrupt halt. We had to cancel a lot of trips we had planned but decided that it was safe to go camping a couple of times this summer. We called on Kristine as one of our favorite sitters on this site. We discussed safety protocols and agreed to cleaning that we would do to leave the house safe for her to enter. She shared protocols that she had taken with other homeowners and had sound processes to make us feel safe leaving our cats and our home in her care. She even purchased batteries for our automatic cat feeder when it failed to let one of our confused kitties to eat. Kristine is a smart, humorous and a thoughtful person. I would not hesitate to recommend her for your sit. She truly loves animals and taking care of your home. Highly recommended! Thanks Kristine!
Rick and Sally are marvelous cat sitters and we would gladly have them back anytime. We highly recommend them to any and all pet owners. They arrived when they said they would and were ready to go when we returned, making sure our cats were present before departing. Our home was left spotless, undoubtedly better than we left it for them. We can't urge you enough to engage them if you can!
Is it better to board cats or leave at home?
Veterinarians advising to leave cats at home with a pet sitter who will stay overnight in your home, boarding is not recommended for cats as they are stressed in a new environment, you can find a sitter who will care for your cats and home for free at Zeewoi.
How much should you pay someone to watch your cat?
At least $20 per visit, $60 per overnight watching in your home or $40 for a cat boarding, otherwise you can find a free sitter at Zeewoi.
What do people do with their cats when they go on vacation?
Inviting a cat sitter to your home, boarding the cat with a local business, asking a friend, family or neighbour to feed and check the well-being. The most efficient way to leave your cat during your vacation is with Zeewoi cat sitters for free, in this way, you will save cat sitting costs and make vacation not only for you but also for your cat sitter!