Pet Sitting, Dog Walking, Scottsdale, AZ

The following is a recap of an actual cat sitting visit from our awesome pet sitter Amy. Who ever said that cats are “easy” doesn’t know cats. Do you agree?

I am visiting five cats, once a day this week.  I love cats! I really, really do!

I have two of my own who are my furry kid’s…so I’m excited to really have some kitty time this week!

Cat sitting responsibilities…

Let me mention here that one of my most important responsibilities when pet sitting with a cat is making sure that I have “laid eyes” on the cat before I leave for the day. I need to make sure that (a) they are breathing, (b) they don’t look sick and (c) that they can see my face and know that I am a safe person who would love to pet them if they would like me to.

Setting the scene…

English: Three cats (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So….it’s my first visit with this family of cats. There is Emilio, Luke, Julio, Isabella, and Miranda. Luke is the greeter! Every person who has more than one cat knows that they will have a cat greeter. You know? The cat that sits’s at the door when new people come in, say’s hello, smells the new person and is just, well… a really friendly cat. Emilio is the high wire artist with a goofy personality. He is perched on top of the kitchen cabinets, looking at me upside down. He doesn’t particularly want me to pet him, but he sure wants to see what I’m up to! Isabella is shy but so sweet. She is usually in a cozy crate right by the front door. She doesn’t really want contact with her feline brother’s and sister, but she loves to have her head rubbed. Julio is a feral cat that is slowly being adopted into the family. He is still too shy to actually come close, but when I look out the window into the backyard,  he is about 6 feet away from his bowls, waiting for his food and water bowl to be filled. So…where is Miranda? “Miranda, Miranda where are you?” I call. I have absolutely no idea why I’m doing this….in my 41 years of caring for cats, they have yet to come when I call if they don’t want to, but what the heck! No luck!  Miranda is nowhere to be found! I look under every bed (it’s a huge house! There are a lot of bed’s to look under!) I look in closet’s, behind couches, under couches, behind couch cushions. I pull up every curtain and blind to see if she might be behind one of those…nope. I open every single kitchen cabinet (remember when I mentioned this was a huge house?)…no sign of her!

It is now an hour and fifteen minutes later.  I have been actively looking for Miranda for 67 minutes! I have basically gone through every single cabinet, looked in every closet, looked in bathtubs, looked behind the washer and dryer, looked in rooms that I never even went into in the first place, because at this point, I am beginning to believe that she is a magic cat and can magically go through closed doors. I have looked under every single piece of furniture in this house…my God! Where is Miranda? I start to obsess over the doors that I’ve gone through…(Uh, it was one! The front door! You looked around you like a person with OCD before you opened and closed that door!)

The secrete weapon…

Wait…I have an idea! My husband put this handy dandy flashlight app on my smart phone for me so when I trip over things in the middle of the night (Apparently, I

do this a lot!) he can ask me “Why didn’t you use the handy dandy flashlight app that I installed on your phone for you?” (He really likes asking me this question!) I whip out my phone, turn on the flashlight, and…..the “Mission:Impossible” theme start’s playing in my head! I’ve become just like my favorite characters on CSI! I have a flashlight and I’m going to use it! So, I then repeat the same steps that I’ve just done, in full, natural daylight, with all of the lights on, for 67 minutes, with my flashlight! I’m pretty sure I am now humming the “Mission:Impossible theme out loud. Luke is looking at me like “Oh great! Mom and Dad got the crazy one at Bella’s…someone else is going to have to be the greeter this week! I’m clocking out until they get back!” Emilio is still looking at me upside down from the top of the kitchen cabinets, except now he has a very quizzical, upside down look on his face, Isabella has retreated into the back of her crate, thinking that if she can’t see me, I can’t see her, Julio is rethinking this whole “joining a family of cat lovers, getting free food, and lot’s of love” thing because that bobcat family is starting to look a whole lot saner than this nut of a person with a bright shiny light! And guess what?  Still no Miranda!

I sit down in the living room to think. The client did say that she had five cat’s right? I’m not just making this up in my head, am I? What should I do? I have to see this cat before I leave! Not just because it’s one of the most important aspects of my job, but because I will also drive myself (and let’s not forget the husband!) crazy, stressing out about not seeing this cat!

The Conclusion…

So…I am sitting there, pondering the whole thing over, when I look over to the TV. It’s a movie theater size screen TV. But wait…it’s not actually on the wall! It’s about 6 inches away from the wall! There is a space there…a space the size of my index finger, but still…a space! Nahhhh.. I think. No way! There is no way anything bigger than a mouse could fit behind that thing! But….I do have the handy dandy flashlight app…I might as well just look…and……

Yup!  There is Miranda!  A very elongated, squishy looking Miranda, but a breathing, looking well, Miranda! I stare at her…she stares at me….we have a “stare” contest! I decide to let her win!  “Can you imagine what she put herself through to make sure that I didn’t have contact with her?” I ask myself.  And then…..

I turn off the flashlight, do my duties as the pet sitter and quietly leave the house.

However, I do go home and thank my husband for the handy dandy flashlight app!

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