Guest Post: Keeping Kitty Kontent: Finding Mew a Cat-sitter

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Today Nat Smith is joining us from www.rover.com to talk about...

Keeping Kitty Kontent: Finding Mew a Cat-sitter

You’re leaving? YOU’RE LEAVING? Without me? Where are you going???

Well...don’t worry about me.

I can take care of mewself, I swear! I’ll be purrfectly good while you’re away - don’t worry about hiring someone to help out. I’ll claw into my bag of dinner, and I SWEAR I won’t rip up all the toilet paper. Probably just one roll. Or five.

There’s a chance that you don’t 100% trust me, which is completely unfair, but I’ll roll with it. And, if I’m being pawnest, I don’t like cleaning my own litterbox, so if you absolutely must get a pet-sitter, I guess I will understand.

Even though I’m a grown-up.

So, where do you find this magical person who will transform my days into a wonderland of awe and joy?

You could always ask your friends, right? They tolerate mew well enough. They might even remember to clean the litterbox!

Try again. This is mew we’re talking about. Shouldn’t you look for someone who likes, nay, loves creatures of the feline persuasion? Someone who lives to look after pawple like me? If you’re going to abandon me, you might as well make an effort to find me a legitimew friend.

As a smart, well-educatted being, I know all about where you can find experienced pet-sitters: ON THE INTERNET. The Internet is full of humans who love cats; I am 90% sure it was created by and for them (this blog is living proof!). There are websites bursting to their seams with cat lovers.

The one I’m familiar with has a slightly deceiving name: Rover.com. The good thing about Rover is that the website runs background checks to keep out the Internet riff-raff, so you can really trust the people on the site. They even protect mew with insurance and 24/7 sitter support.

I guess you could say “BUT THERE ARE DOGS ALL OVER THE FRONT PAGE!”

And you would be right. Very observant of you.

You may not have noticed, but it is a LOT more work to take care of a dog than a low-maintenance, easy-going kitty like me. They go outside all the time! Multiple times a day! And get muddy! And they bark!

I’m just saying. The people who love animals enough to go out of their way to take care of other people’s dogs might have something going for them. And a lot of them really love cats too. You wouldn’t make them pick a favorite, would you? Just like you don’t choose favorites between your kids Bobby and Suzy, because that wouldn’t be fair or nice? (I’m not saying that you ARE fair or nice, but you don’t want Bobby and Suzy to know too much about that, do you?)

So back to my point. You sign up on Rover, put up some photos of me, tell everyone how wonderful I am, then look around for the people who will keep me safe, cared-for, and happily catnipped while you go off on your cat-less adventure (which I am certain will be terrible, since I will not be around to make it cat-tastic).

My backup human will definitely give great scratches. I can feel it.

Paw-lease spend some time digging around for a person with paw-mazing reviews. I want the purrfect sitter! Their profiles will have lots of helpful info, and you can get in touch with my new best friend by sending a message.

That’s when the real fun begins.

You see, we’ll do what’s called a “Meet & Greet.” I will be on my best behavior when the human arrives to meet me. (And you, I guess, but who’s the important one here?) I may even rustle up a dead gift just for this very special occasion! And you know what incredible heights of feline favor that implies.

They will do their very best to impress mew. They may even relentlessly tease mew with a feather on a string, or other adorable nonsense I will pretend to fall for (so as not to hurt their feelings). Then you will talk some human talk and no doubt reassure them about how brilliant, purrfect, and paw-nomenal I am. I suppose you may have questions, to make sure they know what they’re doing, which is probably a good idea! I guess you’ll want to get to know them.

And don’t worry. No matter how cat-tacular they are, they will never replace you as my very favorite Homo Sapiens.

After they go, we will have a serious discussion. Over tea and crumpets, we’ll discuss what we think of this pet-sitting applicant.

I will consider your opinion carefully, and make my final mewcision.

You will be in no doubt as to my pawfessional opinion. In no uncertain terms, I will issue my decree, and you may use your Internet-capable fingers to inform the pet-sitter of my wishes. If I sense a cat-lamitous problem, we will return to the source and continue our search. But if this person matches my expawtations, then voilà! It has all come to an end. You can book your plane ticket and truly commit to leaving mew behind. I will deign to forgive you.

So, off you go! I’m not at all concerned anymore, now that we’ve utilized appropriate channels to secure my temporarily you-less future. Do not worry. You will not be replaced by the backup human. They will, in fact, send you lots of photos and tell you stories of my kittylicious charm, so you will almost feel as if you’re here all along!

We will play games; we will get to know each other; I may even grace them with my cuddles if all goes well. I’m actually looking forward to the change of pace! Here, let mew help you pack that suitcase….

Ta-ta for now! While you’re away, I’ll enjoy my customary sun naps with a clean litterbox nearby, and the option of healthy exercise and snacks when I need them. I’ll also tell the pet-sitter lots of fun stories about what you and I ordinarily get up to! Nothing too embarrassing, I pawmise.

I’ll be very happy when you get home and things get back to normal. But you know what? I mewt be a little sad too. I’ll give the sitter a very special gift, and invite them to come back next time you fly the coop. After all, shouldn’t we have a trusty person to call up time after time if you’re going to make a habit of this so-called “travel” thing?

You know what’s weird? I was so determined that I could take care of myself, and so ready to spite you for leaving mew behind even though I KNOW you could have fit mew in your suitcase. After all that, I’m feeling a little pawstalgic. We had such a great time. Now I really like making mew friends! Let me find you a travel brochure. I’m sure there’s somewhere else you’re dying to go…

Written by Nat Smith, Rover.com community member.

Rover is the nation's largest network of 5-star pet sitters and dog walkers.

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Thank mew furry much fur such a fun and entertaining article Nat, with some really great tips on finding a pet sitter.

Don't furget to join us again tomorrow fur Amber's top book pick fur the week, until then...

Bestest purrs

Basil & Co xox

*All photo's supplied by Rover.com