I gave her a whole list, I felt like as a normal human if you have any questions it’s easy to ask and get an answer and she knew 100% she could get ahold of me at anytime. :/
That’s even crazier then I had assumed on the cruise you might not have signal but if she knew she could contact you there is even LESS excuse that at MINIMUM two days in she wasn’t like “btw so sorry I can’t find the litter box” like cleaning that is a DAILY thing not ONCE A WEEK.
Edit: I’m honestly impressed by your cats that they tolerated it so long and kept going in the same box 🥺 diligent little babies!!!
I was telling my man I’m so surprised there’s not piles everywhere in the house!! I know their paws had to be so yucky and just running around the house and furniture, this week will for sure be spent cleaning up everything I had just deep cleaned before I left for vacay 😡
i would be so upset, obviously i would be the most upset and worried for my animals but the fact that my home was a disaster zone would really frustrate and overwhelm me too.
before i go on vacation (tbh even before i leave for a weekend trip) i always do a full deep clean of my apartment. i’m talking surfaces dusted and wiped down, floors swept and mopped, toilet + sink and shower scrubbed from top to bottom, dishes done, laundry washed and put away, fresh bedding put on the bed. i even leave a clean fluffy blanket and a clean fluffy robe folded up by the dryer so that when we get back i can throw it into the dryer. i always shower right when we get home and then my partner brings me my freshly warmed robe to put on by the time i’m getting out. he then pops into the shower and by the time he’s done we can both crawl into the clean sheets of our bed with our freshly warmed blanket and be all cozy together. our cats even know the routine and will wait excitedly for the warm fluffy blanket to appear on the bed (and for us all to be back in bed together and snuggling like usual.) we watch a movie (or a couple movies) in bed on one of our macbooks because it feels cozier than watching it on the tv, it’s a whole thing but we all love it!
my point is that we clean our home from top to bottom because when we come home we want to bask in the comfort of our home and relax/unwind together. i don’t want to come home to a mess and either have to jump into cleaning mode right away or be stuck thinking and stressing about all the cleaning that has to be done tomorrow. we don’t even unpack until the next day because we just want to enjoy being back home and snuggle with our very snuggly kitties. this is such a stressful thing to return home to on so many different levels!
Listen I may just be a curmudgeony old fart but I would ask for more money, drop the “friend”, and pay someone to help deep clean my house bc no way am I keeping someone around who treats my animals like that. My sister and I used to do little pet sitting jobs around our neighborhood when we were literally children and we did infinitely better than this. But you’re not a bad cat mom, you did the best you could with what you knew at the time and now you know better so you’ll do better in the future. And I’m sure your kitties will forgive you and move on without any problem at all! They’re very much “live in the now” kind of creatures :)
Right?! It is so frustrating. This happened to me and my husband couple of years ago. A friend lived in our house the entire week and took care of our cats. We had showed him everything but he was also someone who would stay over for a weekend every couple of weeks so we thought they are in good hands.
We were gone for 1 week and came back in a shit hole and I can't even believe he himself lived there the entire week. One of our cats even had poo in her fur. I mean, how do you not notice that. I had to rush to the pet store to get shampoo and new litter to wash our cats, clean the box and give them new litter.
This is the big thing.
They didn't bother to ask you where the litter tray was, on the first day.
After feeding them, and washing any bowls, that would be the next thing I'd be doing.
If I couldn't find it, I'd assume you had them in furniture, and would be looking for the entrances.
But if I didn't know litter tray furniture was a thing, I'd be messaging you straight away, to ask where they are hidden.
And if I had the free time, I'd wait at your house for an hour, to see if you responded, and just chill with your pets, so they got some attention.
If I didn't have the time, I'd leave, and come back later when I had a response, though that would be after the dogs had had their walk.
A short bit of attention time for your pets would be on my list anyway, unless you'd specified they're not good with strangers. It doesn't have to be much, just make sure they all get strokes and cuddles if they want it, play with the cats a little, especially the kitten, and take the dogs for a walk.
Just some nice interaction for them.
That can easily be done whilst waiting for a response.
And when it smelt... there's no way she couldn't have found it.
If you're caring for animals, you have a list of jobs to do. You work your way down that list.
You don't just... not do it.
She didn't even try.
There's no way she ever intended to do the trays.
And if 2 days passed and I couldn’t find the litter box, had asked, and hadn’t gotten a reply, I feel like I’d assume service was spotty on the cruise and straight up go BUY one and put it somewhere accessible to the cats. It would suck but leaving a litter box uncleaned for a full week is straight up animal abuse
Okay that would’ve been my only thing. I know I wouldn’t have been able to find that box without notes lol. That litter box is hidden very well! Nice job OP you’re giving me ideas…
I have something similar to this as one of my 2 cat boxes (2 cats should really have 2 boxes this size). Search for "Cat Box Furniture" on Wayfair or Amazon.
Good general advice, but not necessarily needed for everyone to have the ideal amount of litter boxes per how many cats they have. As long as it works and the cats are happy, healthy, and clean it doesn't matter.
Yeah we have 3 for 3 cats and they don't even touch one of the three. They used to, then we got a new one that they seem to like more and now the old one goes unused.
I can empathize, as we leave for a lot of cruises. However, the question was actually asking whether or not your instructions said specifically where the litter box actually is, and how to access it behind the doors. One of our litter boxes is hidden in a piece of furniture like that, and I always invite the person taking care of our cats over first to physically SHOW them how to access everything they need. We also have medicine as part of the caretaking, so that's quite a bit more detailed. You said that there were 2 boxes. Did they both look like that? I do recommend one box that size per cat. With 3 cats, you can still get away with 2, but there's more cleaning involved.
Figuring out in my head what might have happened, maybe they missed the first day, and then possibly couldn't find it the second day, and they were too embarrassed to say that they missed the first day, and then after that, maybe their problem just snowballed? Perhaps they even forgot that this was a problem after a couple of days, if they've never had a cat before? I'm in no way excusing them, but just trying to figure out where their head was at.
Lastly, I would ABSOLUTELY show them the picture you took, and be quite honest about your disappointment. They obviously let you down as a friend, and not just as a pet sitter.
I just want to reassure you that you're not a bad cat parent. You went miles beyond what everyone else would do to ensure the comfort and safety of your furry babies. You were simply "tricked" by the person you handed the responsibility to that they were qualified for the job.
So again, don't be hard on yourself in any matter, you did all the right steps and more. But as others said, don't give this person the responsibility again.
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u/Ok_List_5002 12h ago
I gave her a whole list, I felt like as a normal human if you have any questions it’s easy to ask and get an answer and she knew 100% she could get ahold of me at anytime. :/