Cat Sitting in Thorndike

Rachael

Sofia and Nicole were excellent sitters to our 2 playful cats (an adult tabby and a BIG Maine coon kitten). They gave us a couple updates daily with pictures, as we requested. They were easy to communicate with before and throughout the entire sit. When we came home, our apartment was tidy (probably neater than we left it!) and our cats were relaxed and happy. They were also kind enough to leave us with some sweet bandanas for our boys. We were super pleased with the quality of care, and would happily recommend Sofia and Nicole to anyone in need of a pet or house sitter!

Tracy

We were very lucky to have had Nia for our recent house sit. She communicated well before the sit and arrived as planned. We shared a meal before we left which gave us time to get to know her and tell her about the house and our pets.
After we left it soon became clear the cats loved Nia and the attention she gave them. We were kept informed throughout her stay with regular updates and video clips of what they were up to and how the garden was growing etc.
We highly recommend Nia as a pet/house sitter and we would certainly have her back should the opportunity arise.
Thanks again Nia

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.

Amneris

Ally was great! 
We got to meet for a few minutes before I headed out and I felt super reassured that both Goose and my home were in good hands. 
My cat is picky when it comes to strangers, but he was comfy in Ally’s lap right away the first night! 
She communicated well and sent cute pictures while I was away. My home was clean and Goose was happy when o got back. 
I highly recommend Ally as a sitter and she’s welcomed back anytime!

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!

Nancy

Kathy and Ron arrived at our home with a most fantastical toy for our cats and a giant apple pie. Need I say more? They are very experienced sitters and brought personal items that they prefer. We knew we were leaving out cats in good hands. 

A large part of their 'job' was hand watering our garden and Ron took that in stride. Everything is thriving. 

Our cats are usually distant with new people but we received photos of them keeping Kathy and Ron company in various situations which was reassuring. They clearly won our cats over. 

Although Ron and Kathy had a ferry to catch on their last day, they took time to wash  their linens and hang them on the clothesline. They also left us a gorgeous plant for our garden. 

We would very much like to have them back for a longer sit if possible.

Hannah & Dominic

Angel was absolutely the best house sitter we could have hoped for.   She is a very warm, open and diligent person  and our two cats adored her.  She looked after our house and garden with really conscientious care.

She won over our very timid cat, Billie, and sent regular photos of both cats looking supremely content which gave us perfect peace of mind.
The house was completely spotless on our return and the garden was fabulous... no mean feat since there was a heatwave while we were away and she kept everything watered and in great condition.

We would have Angel back at the drop of a hat and cannot recommend her highly enough.

Lorie

Amazing sitters - I feel so fortunate to have had them stay. Chapeau was treated to daily walks and belly rubs, and my cat Tica was overflowing with contentment from having been taken care of so well. The house was cleaner than I left it and I was treated to a nice note and a lovely candle upon my return. Also, they left a checklist of item that they had done while here. Truly above and beyond!

Jim

Heidi was an outstanding cat sitter for my Luna!  She was very communicable via calls or texts.  She followed all my guidelines for feeding and care of Luna.  Luna was very content when I arrived home thanks to Heidi!  My home was immaculate when I arrived and she did some snow shoveling.  She even pulled a large broken tree branch off my roof following a windstorm.  I hope Heidi is available for my next trip because she is awesome.
Jim

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.