Well, I was beginning to soften a bit, as the stay is going pretty OK, but… I’m angry. I’m trying to maintain the flat in good condition but I don’t have the proper tools (the vaccum is really tiny and doesn’t work well, for example) so I’m doing the bare minimum. I hate doing that, I’m used to leave things really clean.
On top of this, I feel a bit betrayed about the cats. I mean, they mostly are really nice and never agressive, but one of them is the worst glutton and jealous cat I’ve ever seen. She is CONSTANTLY begging for food, meowing and searching everywhere (she has enough to eat and she’s never been a stray or anything) and she steals the other cat’s food if I’m not staying close to them while they eat (which I mostly do, but I cannot be there for every single meal) ! They have 2 automatic feeders, but as the other cat is never in a hurry and comes quietly for his bowl, she wolfs down her food and goes to the other immediately if I’m not around. Tonight I missed it and she got both, the other cat was sadly meowing from afar while she was licking her lips in front of both empty bowls !!! (I took him with me in another room and gave him food, of course). I cannot move the feeders (at this point, they shouldn’t eat close to each other !), as I would have to unplug them and cannot set them up again after (and if I cannot use the feeders, I would have to feed them 4 times a day at inconvenient hours, and I dont’ know the exact quantities they have to eat). It drives me furious that nothing was done to prevent this, and that I have not been told thoroughly about it (I was told to be careful not to leave my food out, which is a basic precaution with all pets, but what I’m experiencing goes far beyond that). Both of the cats are coping with a situation that make them unhappy and could have been prevented, I’m seriously fed up to be constantly keeping watch and saying “no” all the time to the glutton cat… (she deserves kindness too, and I’m still trying to be as soft as possible in my attitude, while behind firm with the boundaries, as she’s not responsible for that mess).
I cannot do much about it, neither do you, but I needed to vent this out… I still wish to be brief in my incoming review, mostly to be over with all this, and I’m feeling ungrateful for wanting to tell things, I don’t know if I’m just not skilled enough to handle this… Well, I don’t know. I still have a few weeks to think about it
Thanks for reading me and thanks for you support so far
It’s not that I don’t want to do it, but if I go wrong I’ll be in a HUGE mess…
(Let alone that I had to do that for ALL the appliances in the house, the days for garbage collection, etc.). They promised to leave instructions and I got NOTHING xD
re: writing a review, it doesn’t need to be detailed or go into personal elements. a sentence or two seems like it would suffice, for example:
Note that CAT1 is *always * asking for food (even though she’s well fed) and will swipe CAT2’s food if you don’t stop her.
this should be enough to convey what’s going on. A sitter reading your review should understand from this that it means constant meowing / begging behavior and that it requires active vigilance to prevent food stealing. (Presumably there’s info about the automatic feeder schedule in the main listing – a prospective sitter will then have a pretty complete picture of what’s going on.)
If nothing was said beforehand about how actively you would need to monitor the cats during feeding, then maybe dock a star under ‘pet behavior’ or ‘accuracy of listing’.
There are lots of different types of sits out there and lots of different types of sitters. Some won’t be bothered by this behavior to the same degree that you are. Stating the situation will help prevent not-the-right-fit sitters from applying.
Furmom to glutton cats here… the owners might not be aware of a developing health issue. Diabetes, thyroid issues, ibs, etc can all cause the cat behaviour you’re describing-from hunger to loud meowing.
Please leave a review about the conditions and be factual vs emotional def including how they didn’t leave you the proper cleaning tools as for the cats, there might be an unknown health issue involved that might be new…
Thanks again for all your helpful answers and for your support I will definitely have to mentions the issues and dock some stars, and stay factual (people here offered several great wording).
@Ckone2541 I didn’t think about it, but I will inform the owners so they can check with the vet when they get back. Maybe it’s just stress (which is still a behavioural issue that can be adressed) but better safe than sorry ! Thank you for bringing this to my attention
One last message to thank you all again, every answer I got here was supportive and really useful, and I’ll use some of your proposals in my final review. The support I got here helped me to calm down and enjoy my stay
I’ve decided that I’ll be on the nice side in my review because, now that the sit is about to end, I’ve had enough time to confirm that the HO is reliable and responsible : I’m safe in their house (which is most important !) and they always took into account my feeling of safety as a female solo sitter (they made sure I was OK with the choice of cleaners before confirming them and offered me different options) ; they also changed their plans a few days ago (they are staying abroad longer) but as they knew I wouldn’t be able to stay, they already had a solution ready when they announced things to me, so no stress on my side and no changes for my departure, things are going smoothly for the keys handover, they offered possibilities and I chose what was best for me. They also managed to order litter and cat food (I know some sitters prefers to have enough at the beginning of the stay, I don’t care as long as I don’t have to pay for it) on a regular basis and never expected me to pay (I know, I’m not supposed to but we all know that some HO don’t care…). Honestly, I think it never even occurred to them to ask me to pay for such things. The communication has been excellent all along despite them being several time zones away.
I think that the cleaning issue was definitely a beginners mistake : they didn’t anticipate enough for their first sitter, and I didn’t raise the subject when I could. I was so focused on safety, I forgot to broach many subjects… It turned out well, but I’ll definitely got more precise when I’ll prepare for my future sits I also wondered, if the opportunity were to arise, would I go to that sit again ? I was pretty adamant, at the beginning, that I would not, but now I think that would be possible (for a shorter stay though, and with the promise of a professional cleaning before I come or upon arrival. Now that I know the HO better, I would be fully comfortable talking about it). Oh, and in private, I will beg for them to change their vacuum, if they can ! No wonder they have difficulties to keep the home clean with that tiny exhausted thing.
All in all, if this ended to be my worst stay ever, I would consider myself lucky… !
this should be enough to convey what’s going on. A sitter reading your review should understand from this that it means constant meowing / begging behavior and that it requires active vigilance to prevent food stealing. (Presumably there’s info about the automatic feeder schedule in the main listing – a prospective sitter will then have a pretty complete picture of what’s going on.)