New to the group Brussels , Belgium

Hi good afternoon, i’m looking for a solution for my cats . I’ve just retired and would like to start travelling. do i look for a cat sitter to stay in my home or do people look after my cats in their own homes. As a cat parent, how soon would i have to advertise that i am going away? do I provide food and for the person (s) coming to stay as well as food for the cats? what would happen in the dates didn’t match exactly could i arrange for someone to collect my keys from the cat sitter when they leave? or if i came home earlier could i stay a night in my own home together with the cat sitter(s) . I know this is a lot of questions, but really happy to have found this site and curious to see how it works as I love my little kitties and dont feel happy just having people coming in once a day to feed them while i’m away. Many thanks in advance for your replies.

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Hello @JulieNeville and welcome to the Community Forum. The sitters would stay in your home and take care of your cats. With regards to advertising your sit, you can advertise well in advance because some sitters prefer to get dates in their diaries and plan ahead whereas other sitters prefer to apply for sits nearer the date of travel so this really is up to you. Homeowners would need to provide the food for their pets so yes you would need enough food for your cat but you do not need to feed sitters, you are more than welcome to leave some food or to use up food so it does not go to waste but this is not a requirement and purely up to you. You would need to discuss dates with a potential sitter but you can have a fallback where if needed the sitter can leave the keys with a neighbour if necessary although not ideal but this would need to be discussed before the sit. I am not exactly sure what you meant when you said for someone to collect your keys from the cat sitter when they leave, if you could clarify this to better understand the circumstances? Again if you are possibly arriving home early and would stay this night together with the cat sitter you would need to discuss this prior. We have had sits where the owner has arrived home late and we have been invited to stay that night and ended up having a great evening but these things need to be ironed out before the sit. Hope this helps. :slightly_smiling_face:

@JulieNeville Please feel free to chek out this link with a video explaining how it works as a new pet owner:

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Thanks so much for your reply , the system sounds amazing and perfect for my little kitties. What I meant with someone else picking up the keys was if the sitter had to leave the day before I returned that I could arrange for someone else to pick up the keys :blush: I’m not quite sure which membership to take either… thanks so much for your reply
Regards
Julie

@JulieNeville as @Samox24 is currently not online I am more than happy to answer.

You will post the dates that you need the sitter to start the sit and then leave, so they should ideally leave on the day that you return and either do a handover in person with you or depending on your return times and their plans, you could arrange for someone to collect the keys or for them to leave the keys in a safe place like with a neighbour.
This can really all be arranged directly with the sitter depending on your departure and arrival times.

When you join you will need to choose a pet parent membership and then you can choose your membership tier. You can find out details about the different membership tiers here: Find the Perfect Pet Sitter! Home & Pet Sitting Made Easy | TrustedHousesitters.com

You choose the one that suits you best. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to let me know or you can also reach out to Membership Services at support@trustedhousesitters.com

Where are you based and what are your kitty’s names?

Best wishes Carla

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@JulieNeville you are very welcome. I have attached a link to show you the different membership tiers. Hope this helps. :blush:

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Many thanks for your swift reply. I live in the suburb of Brussels, Belgium. I have two female cats, Snowy 8 who is a deaf Turkish Van cat and Beastie 6 who is a Tabby.

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Apologies I missed your title with your location, however, that is a great location.
That is so sweet, we looked after a deaf cat for the first time on a sit and she was the sweetest little thing ever and judging by your cat’s name she was white too. And who does not love a tabby cat!
Sounds like you will be able to find some great sitters on the site.

When you have joined the website let me know and you can post your TrustedHousesitters home listing link to your forum profile. That way other members can view it and give you feedback and tip on your listing.

https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/how-to-add-a-listing-or-profile-link-to-your-forum-profile

If you need help just let us know.
Best wishes Carla

@JulieNeville @Carla how lovely :cat:
I had a rescued deaf Ragdoll cat (also white), called Morse, quite a few years ago now, she was absolutely adorable and was like my little shadow and she adored my German Shepherd dog & Labrador that I had at the time :dog::blush:

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@JulieNeville we have looked after deaf cats on 2 occasions. One of them was also blind. They were both absolutely lovely. Our friends dog who we cared for over many years (and whose passing led us to join TrustedHousesitters) also became deaf in her later years. I’m now very much drawn to sits with deaf pets.

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Hi @JulieNeville - welcome to the group.

When you join Trusted housesitters the sitters come to look after your cats in your home - it is a fair exchange, you get free pet care, and they get free accommodation. No more cash changes hands.

It is not necessary for you to provide food for your sitters although some home hosts do leave a small gift, for example, a bottle of wine/box of chocolates

It is highly unlikely that dates would not match as sitters will only apply for pet sits when the dates are good for them.

There is a ‘rule’ that owners are not allowed to stay in the home whilst the sitter is there but many sitters are very flexible and would have no problem with this for an odd day.

Brussels is a popular city and you will definitely get a good response when you add your listing - I would advise advertising about 3 months before your travel date to give yourself plenty of time to speak to one or two of your applicants and to make the decision on which sitter you think is a good fit for you. In reality, you could advertise just a few days before you travel but of course, this makes things very rushed and more stressful.

Good Luck and be sure to let us know once you have joined THS and created a listing - we are always looking for sitting opportunities in Brussels so would definitely be looking out for your listing - we may even get to meet one day!

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Thanks for all the positive feedback , i’ll be getting some trips booked and posted soon .




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@JulieNeville Beautiful photos :cat::heart:

Hi Carla , ive joined the website

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@JulieNeville - welcome to the wonderful world of Trustedhousesitters!

Now, if you link your profile name to this group to your listing all trusted house sitters on this forum will be able to see your listing

This is how you do it -

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Welcome to TH, @JulieNeville/Julie!

Thank you for adding your PP link. Normally, other members would give feedback on your listing, but I see you’re already “Reviewing applications”! So you hit 5 applicants already? =)

One summer month in Brussels with two cats; sounds popular! :grin: You should have room to find a great match!

If you have any more questions, just write back!

–Geoff

Hello, I’m Dave and we are home owners, looking for sitters.
Any thoughts on advantages/benefits of the different membership tiers?

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Hello @Weekswynne and welcome to the Community Forum :wave:t2::slightly_smiling_face:

Hope this thread will give you a lot of information regarding your question and I have attached a link to show you the different membership tiers, hopefully this will help.

If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. We are more than happy to help. :blush:

Advertise as soon as possible, so SITTERS can plan their SIT … and similarly you can feel confident about your chosen sitter. Big weight/worry off your shoulder!

Thanks to all for your advice and tips. Looking forward to having the first sitters coming next week. Communication with every one for all the sits for the dates needed has been great. Really looking forward to going away knowing that all will be well.

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