Do any cat sitters have experience with taking cats for walks without a lead?
I have accepted a sit where the pet owner says that the cat loves her walks and will need walking a minimum of once a day. The owner usually takes her along a Public Path in the evening. The cat walks freely without a lead and apparently it will follow me willingly but does get scared if you walk too fast or if she spots a dog (normally she just hisses at them)!
As the sit is only 4 days, I wonder if the cat can do without its walks while I am there. I would feel absolutely terrible if she ran away and disappeared when I take her for a walk.
I felt okay about it when I accepted the sit but the more I think about it, the more nervous I feel. I mentioned it to a non-cat sitter friend and perhaps she made me feel worried about it.
Most cats love their routines even more than dogs, and can get very stressed, if it is disturbed. A new person, sitter, can already be stressful, so I wouldn’t skip the walks.
I have never done a sit where we walked the cat. I can understand being nervous about that.
If it is concerning you this much, it is probably a good idea to talk to the host.
Being that the sit is so short, she may say it is okay to skip the walks, but I wouldn’t just make that decision on my own without consulting her. I don’t think sitters should alter major parts of a pet’s routine for their own comfort or convenience unless the host has said it is okay.
It could potentially have a negative impact on the cat she could notice when she gets back and then you run the risk of negative feedback.
What was her vibe like in general? In my experience, most hosts who let their cats go outdoors are pretty relaxed about it and understand the risk.
There are times I have passed on applying for sits because I could tell by what they said in the listing that even though they did this, they weren’t so relaxed about it.
And I didn’t want to stress about the situation and potentially end up being blamed for something completely out of my control.
You did initially agree to it so it isn’t the ideal situation to come back to the host and say you no longer feel comfortable. But if it is how you feel it is how you feel and if upon speaking with the host, skipping the walks is not an option, you could choose to cancel if you really felt that strongly about it. If it came to that, hopefully the sit isn’t coming up too soon and she would have the opportunity to find someone else.
I would discuss with the PP that after much thought you are uncomfortable with this. You are concerned the cat may run off. She may say if she does she will probably just run home. That’s what my cat did when I walked my cat outside and something scared her. I started to bring her carrier with me. If something scared her I just put the carrier down and she ran into it as she felt safe in it. Maybe if you go with the PP on this walk it will look differently to you and you will become comfortable. My concern was my cat running up a tree. Cats are designed to run up trees but not necessarily down them. That’s why fire departments are called to rescue cats high in trees. I assume she knows anything can happen in nature and you would not be blamed if something bad happens as long as you are watching the cat and surroundings and not occupied on your phone.
Definitely don’t make an arbitrary decision to not walk the cat after confirming the sit and promising that you would follow the owner’s requests (which include walking the cat).
If the owner is fine with it and the cat is used to the routine, then I would not overthink it. As others have pointed out, she should certainly know her way home. Since it would be new for me, I might feel a little uncomfortable at the beginning, but once you see the cat do it once or twice, you’ll probably feel much more comfortable about it.
If you’d like, mention to the owner that you’re nervous about the cat running away and see what they say. Very likely, she’ll be able to give reassurances like those described by others here.
Thanks for the advice. Tbh I am not super nervous, just wanted/needed to hear some input from fellow sitters. I feel more relaxed now after reading these replies.
I looked after a cat who tagged along when I walked the dog. He knew his territory and was very cautious. You won’t have to worry about traffic, which was my concern. Follow through on your commitment. The cat will know what it’s doing.
@Minou we also had a long term sit (3+ months at a time, did a total of 3 times for 9 months) and the indoor/outdoor cat would tag along when we walked the dog. She knew her way home, but would always follow us back as well.
We have also had another sit where the cat we walked got walked on a lead…which we loved.
If it was only a 4 day sit, we would be hesitant, but agree with most that the cat will eventually make its way back home if that is what it is used to. If it was a longer sit, we wouldn’t have any hesitancy.
We walked a half feral cat alongside a very refined French Visla in Çeşme, Türkiye on a THS sit. Twice daily & for several different sits without any issues. Neither wore leads & both did the full walks with us. (30 mins++) Pamuk (the cat) was more dog like than Pippo (the dog) and both were adorable and well behaved. We came across other cats & dogs and neither were interested. We lost Pamuk once in a bush and found her after some searching on the beach a bit spooked up a tree. It was eventful but one of our favourite animal pairings! #leadlesscatsrule
