Cat Sitting in Universal City

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 .....

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.

Laney

Quinn was an amazing sitter for my cat Moon! She regularly checked in with updates on moon while we were away on a two week vacation, and seemed to give her plenty of attention, play with her, etc. Communication was easy and she left our apartment spotless after departing. Highly recommend her as a pet sitter!

Alison

Anna was a wonderful sitter for our furry friends.  My dog, Luke, bonded with her and was sad when she left.  My cats would crawl under the covers and curl up with her at night.  She is a true animal magnet and lover.  I highly recommend Anna to anyone who wants their pets to recieve first class love while away.

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!

Julie

My husband and I reached out to Toby & Chloe after reading their profile and impressive reviews only a week before our trip, since our scheduled sitter had to cancel at the last moment.  They were very friendly and quick to respond to chat from the very beginning, and ended up exceeding our expectations during their two week stay.  It was evident they had thoroughly read our Welcome Guide beforehand, as they arrived knowledgeable and prepared to care for our home and pets.  They were very willing and happy to take the necessary time with us to walk through the house and meet our cats, as we got them acclimated with our daily routines and answered any questions.  Shortly after we left, our city had a heat wave come through, and after immediately notifying us, Toby went beyond the call of duty and inspected our struggling AC unit to pinpoint the issue.  As far as cat care is concerned, we have two seniors (who have more sensitive tummies) that can get irritated after a fur ball or swallowing anything out of the ordinary.  When this occurred, Toby & Chloe stepped in and took wonderful care of our cat duo; softening their food and even cradling while hand-feeding them for extra comfort.  We truly could not have asked for more affectionate and responsible sitters.  We returned to a spotlessly clean home, happy cats, and well maintained plants and pool.  (They even cleaned our dusty Kitchen pendant lighting, which requires a steady hand and is definitely a time-commitment …We felt like professional housecleaners had been there!)  On our way back, Toby & Chloe stayed in communication with us to monitor our arrival time, allowing them to care for our cats until just before we got home.  Overall, they are very reliable and trustworthy sitters whose genuine goal is to provide a top-quality sit, while maintaining your household and seamlessly transitioning to your pets daily schedule.

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.

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!

Ned

Pennee and Bill were the BEST pet sitters and guests ever! I really wanted them to stay forever ! Our cat, Miss Kitty bonded so  much to them, that she really wasn’t that happy to see me when I got home .Our cat is a finicky eater and they tried all different types of food and treats for her.  They sent me regular photos of miss kitty and I knew everything was great when most of the pics had miss kitty on their lap. Our cat doesn’t take to many people but she immediately fell in love with them. 
Pennee sent us our mail and prescription meds  on a regular basis , and went out of her way to take care of any issues .  They fell in love with the neighbors and community and just made our lives so easy . We experienced the Covid 19 virus outbreak  quarantine  during this time and Pennee and Bill agreed to stay a month longer at our home . They were extremely flexible with their travel plans so that everyone would be safe. 
Upon our arrival home, we were greeted with a bouquet of flowers , beautiful hanging basket of flowers for outdoors and a beautiful bottle of wine .  And our house had never been cleaner ! 
 Bill and Pennee are a pet owners dream couple !I felt extremely lucky to have found such a great petsitter and new friend . We will be visiting each other in the future .