The constant meowing must be very frustrating. I have only ever had one foster cat (out of 100) that did that, and it was really annoying. They may be meowing more than normal because the owner is away, or maybe that is normal.
If possible, don’t respond to the meowing. Cats meow to get attention from humans. If it works, they will keep meowing. It may be impossible to train them out of meowing for the short time of the sit, but it might reduce it.
Meanwhile, I agree with the other suggestions about taking videos, using noise canceling headphones, etc and please mention the meowing in your review
If you don’t already have noise cancelling headphones / white noise maker, to save yourself the expense and time delay, I’d first try whatever headphones you do have to hand and play white noise from Spotify/YouTube if thats a workable situation for you. Has saved me from being driven mad by very nearby building work before (and husband emoting loudly on work calls!)
And i second wax earplugs. I’m not sure of climate in Seattle apartments, but warm them up well in your hand first so they are as malleable as can be. Sometimes it can take a little while for them to develop a good fit, so don’t give up on them too quickly if they arent working.
wow, that sounds like a nightmare situation! i’ve never had cats meow constantly like that before. maybe they’re just stressed with the new person? have you tried playing with them or giving them treats? might help distract them… but yeah, i’d be going crazy too.
Hi @Soultreader
Sorry to hear of your situation. As a 40 year cat veteran and previous animal shelter volunteer cats being vocal constantly is one of a few things -
attention from a human (wanting pets, food or play),
a pain response
or in senior cats with things like dementia. One of my brothers cats (who’s 18) meows through the night at times. She never did but has dementia now.
You can often tire out a cat to get some sleep but it may involve you playing hard with the cats for 20 minutes, 5-10 minutes rest then 20 minutes play again. This will result in most cats giving up play to sleep.
Hope this helps? But it should have been disclosed.
I’m not sure how to update the forum. Or update my post, but I’ve decided to stay. I’m a hiker so I’ve set my tent up outside and I sleep outside at night. During the day is really difficult because I need to work and this is a small one bedroom department. Apparently she has never had problems before with housesitters however they have always been paid.
It’s fourth of July, impossible for her to find somebody else, impossible for me to go anywhere cheaply. All in all, I think I’ll stick to dogs from now on.
Thank you very much everyone for your awesome advice.
Hi, it’s not resolved but I’m sleeping in my tent outside. I don’t really have a choice. Because I can’t leave unless another sitter is found. And the homeowner is in Africa.
@Soultreader Is this the advice from the Urgent SupportLline ? Did THS say that you can’t leave and must stay and sleep outside in a tent ?
What about the owner’s emergency contact? Contact them directly or give the owner 24 hours notice for them to get their emergency contact to take over .
Are you sure about this - how did she get back so quickly when the first sitter left the sit at 5am ? I recall that you said
could this be because she has been enduring sleep deprivation herself after rescuing these cats and was after respite for herself ?
Regardless - wherever she is in the world she should be contactable or have provided an emergency contact - what would be the situation if the cats became serious ill and had to be taken to a vet - or there was an emergency at the home ( major water leak or other ) -what would be the arrangements then ? - you would need to be able to contact her in that instance-
THS have supported another sitter who had to leave because of sleep being interrupted by a sick pet .
You can also get a cat calming product from pet stores without a prescription.
It’s called Feliways, and comes as a spray or a plug-in diffuser. It’s not cheap, but sitter won’t use it all, and can take it with her afterwards.
If the cats were brought to the U.S. from Bali and were street cats then they were most likely feral rescues. That is just known for people who are involved in rescue. So did the HO/PP explain this? And did she tell you how long they had been with her? Feral cats can take a long time to adjust to living indoors, from months to years. And many things can cause a feral cat to regress, such as new people. It really sounds like the HO was aware and just chose not to explain the details so you could make an informed decision.
THS is an equitable exchange site and not sleeping, compromising work, and now camping in the back yard is not an equitable exchange. If the HO/PP wants you to stay, they should put you in a hotel to sleep/work with the understanding that you come by and feed the cats. Seattle is expensive, but there are some places like The Ace that are nice and reasonable.
Camping in the city in Seattle. Oof. Lovely city but crime is pretty high there. Please stay safe.
So the woman is in Africa I was told by THS that I can’t leave unless she has somebody else come in.
The first night I got here I realised what a complete disaster this was going to be. I called and spoke with THS at length and their advice was I needed to try and work it out with the homeowner. And I had to give the homeowner an opportunity to find somebody else. I called the homeowner and she literally got really upset because she said I’ve got no way of finding anybody else and So here I am.
When the other House Sitter left after the first night, the homeowner brought in another couple that had Housesit before (paid service) However, they were leaving the country in a couple of days.
It is seriously one of the worst sits that anyone could possibly imagine. The one bedroom unit is tiny. I’m supposed to have the cats locked up inside. I’m not supposed to have the windows open more than a few inches because they scratch the fly screen. I’m severely, sleep deprived and not coping very well.
I’m supposed to be going on a 10 day hike in Greenland in a week and I am not in a fit state right now.
That’s what I was hoping, but they’re literally street cats that this woman has got from Bali, and brought them to Seattle and they’re in a one bedroom apartment. They’re not nervous they just freaking crazy.
