Following COVID-19 social distancing measures, our ‘Meet & Greet’ visits will now be held by Zoom Video Call where possible, or by telephone. We hold these short meetings a few weeks before the booking begins so that you can meet us and we can meet your cats (if they’re feeling sociable!).

You can tell us about their food, where they eat, portion sizes, litter changing etc and ask us any questions. Ideally these visits would take place in person but during the restricted period we must do them remotely to avoid person-to-person contact. We will ask you to show us feeding places and food storage cupboards, litter changing procedures and any other areas that you feel are important.

We also collect your vet details. In the event that urgent care is needed, we will take them to your vet or an emergency vet if it's out of hours.

On arrival we make sure doors are safely closed before entering the house. Cats can sometimes be waiting on the other side of the door so it’s important that we check carefully before opening the door to avoid escapees!

At each visit we will bring hand soap and wash our hands straight away and use our own hand sanitiser.

Some of our cats rush to meet us, others run and hide. All are different and our experienced cat-sitters know the best ways to greet their cats. For those that like a fuss we spend some time stroking, cuddling and chatting with them. They are likely to have been alone for several hours and may be in need of some human contact straight away.

For those that are more shy or timid, we take their lead and let them do whatever makes them feel safe. Some spend our whole visit under (or in!) the bed, and that’s fine. Many cats are too nervous to approach a stranger at all and for these cats we simply put out everything they need, clean their trays and quietly leave to minimise the time that they feel stress. They can then come out of hiding and enjoy a peaceful dinner in their own time.

We also take this opportunity to give your cat a quick check over to make sure they are well and healthy, particularly for cats that go outdoors. Occasionally they may have picked up a scratch or bump so we give them a quick once-over to check.

For many cats, we are strongly associated with ‘food’ so after greetings are over we move straight on to feeding. We wash their bowls and put out a fresh portion of their usual food as per your instructions.

During each visit we keep a check on how much they have eaten and report back to you so you can tell if they are eating less or more than usual. In multi-cat households we keep an eye on them while they eat to make sure there isn’t any squabbling or food-stealing!

Most of our customers have a litter tray for their cats, even if they go outdoors. We follow your instructions on how often to change litter, where to put the contents (poop bags, outdoor bins etc) and we check the trays at every visit. We also carry our own Litter Kits so we are always armed with scoops, bin bags, wipes and cloths in case of any excess mess. We always clean up any accidents that may occur outside the tray or elsewhere in the house.

Some cats like to visit their litter trays straight after eating so we may do a second ‘scoop’ so that the tray is still clean for them when we leave.

The best part! Now is the time we can sit and have a play with your cats if they want. We give them lots of attention and strokes, talk to them and let them play with their favourite toys. Laser pointers are a favourite for many, and this gives them some exercise as they rush around chasing the red dot!

We groom if needed, and finally take some photos (if they stay still) to send in our daily updates. Sometimes photos aren’t possible for cats who are shy, so we don’t disturb them and simply send you message updates instead.

As well as visiting your cats we can also do some basic Home Security tasks, such as closing curtains, switching lamps and lights on, watering plants and putting bins out. If you would like us to do this please let us know during our Meet and Greet call. We don’t display brand advertising on our vehicles so it won’t draw any attention to the fact that your house is empty. We can ensure that your home looks ‘lived in’ for you thereby reducing the risk of burglary or other anti-social behaviour.

We are also on hand for any emergencies such as leaks, faulty alarms etc and can inform you as soon as we notice anything unusual.

For outdoor cats, we check cat-flaps are working and ensure timers are set where necessary.

Before leaving we will wash all utensils and wipe down door handles, work surfaces, litter scoop handles etc with anti-bacterial cleaning wipes.

Finally we check all external windows and doors are secure, before saying our goodbyes and leaving your cats for a well-earned snooze.

We won’t return your keys until we have confirmed that you are safely home from your trip. If you find yourself delayed or have to extend your trip please let us know and we can continue to care for your cat until you return.

When you are back home please drop us a message to confirm and we will then return keys at a convenient time. If you would prefer us to hold on to your keys for future visits they will be kept at a central location in a locked key box for security.