12 Points Why We Refuse to do Every Other Day Cat Visits

Think your cats are OK being left alone for a few days with a huge bowl of kibble for them to eat but no one to check in on them? Think again… Contrary to popular belief, cats are NOT as self sufficient as people might think. We’ll prove our points down below. As the owner of Fur Paws Sake I’m very committed to proper pet care, and I do not ever believe a cat or other small animal will be OK on their own for a long period of time. People in general may think we’re trying to make an extra buck by coming over every single day. Hopefully you will understand that our passion, driving force, and our unwavering love of all animals has nothing to do about the money, but has everything to do about the well-being of the pets in our care. Here are just a handful of reasons why we refuse to do every other day (EOD) visits for cats or other small indoor only animals (with the exception of certain reptiles). 

  1. Cats’ health can deteriorate within hours if left unchecked. The most common ailments are urinary tract infections. Struvite crystals, kidney stones, and cystitis are painful for humans, so imagine how painful they are for cats. Gone unnoticed longer than 24 hours can actually put them at a huge health risk. Urinary blockage is extremely painful and can be life threatening, especially for male cats. If we find a cat in distress we will immediately notify our clients and take them to the vet to be treated. Read more here.
  2. We’ve all seen humorous memes of cats getting stuck in blinds. Putting the humor aside, and if left alone without any means of getting him or herself unstuck in the strings of those blinds, cats can and have asphyxiated themselves leading to death.
  3. Some owners think cats can become vindictive urinating or defecating outside of their litterboxes. That’s far from the truth. Cats going to the bathroom outside of their box is usually a sign of physical distress: diabetes, hyperthyroidism, UTIs (as mentioned above), kidney disease/renal failure, inflammatory bowel disease, etc. It’s always important to check your cat’s litterbox and clean it out daily to ensure your cat is safely and easily going to the bathroom without traces of blood, diarrhea, or hard stools. Any of those can be a clear sign that your cat isn’t feeling well and should be taken to your local veterinarian to be treated.
  4. With the weather warming up insects like cockroaches and ants are looking for food. Yup, you’ve guessed it. We’ve found ants covering food bowls, even when doing daily visits. If you think your cats will eat when something is crawling all over their food, you’re sadly mistaken. Think about it, would you want to eat your food when creepy crawlies are parading all over your dinner?
  5. As humans we want to follow the prescribed medication that our doctors give us so that we get better, right? Why then would we want to skip a dosage when it comes to our pets’ health? We go to the vet to make Fluffy feel better, therefore we never want to skip a dosage because you think Fluffy will be OK without a daily visit. Professional pet sitters are there to keep your kitties’ health in check. Please do not ask us to skip a visit! We’ll refuse.
  6. We understand that you want your house kept clean even when you go on a long vacation. It’s never a surprise when we find one of our clients’ cats locked up in a closet because the house-keeper has accidentally closed the door not realizing the cat snuck inside. That’s why we do everyday visits to get our eyes on them and make sure they always have access to food, fresh water, and their litterboxes!
  7. There are times when clients in apartments need maintenance assistance. Cats are curious, and they may get frightened easily. We’ve found cats hiding in the back of washing machines, dryers, inside sofas, box springs, and even stuck behind the water heater because a stranger was in the house. You’ve all seen the brave firefighters being called upon to get the kitty out of the tree. Think of us as those firefighters coming to the rescue of kitties stuck in the most unusual spots inside your home.
  8. We live in tornado alley and Texas is infamous for them. We’ve seen cats punch through screened in windows that clients have left open probably frightened with the cracks of thunder overhead. Clients have given various reasons leaving their windows open such as “our cats love hearing the sounds of the birds outside”. You’ve guessed it. We have had to look for Fluffy around the neighborhood after the storms have settled. Keep your windows closed and locked when you’re not home, so we won’t go berserk trying to find them. It kinda puts a damper on our crazy schedules.
  9. Even with everyday visits, we’ve come in to find cats have locked themselves in rooms by pushing against doors when playing with their toys. Not having access to food, water, or their litterboxes can pose a problem. Did you know that a cat that doesn’t eat at least once every 12-24 hours can run the risk of developing Hepatic lipidosis aka fatty liver disease? This is a very serious matter! Cats also need access to clean water at all times to keep themselves hydrated. Aside from that, who wants a cat to start learning it’s OK to do their potty business outside of his/her litterbox?
  10. Client unbeknownst to him accidentally locked one of two of the cats outside on the second story patio the day he left for a trip, and we weren’t schedule to visit until the following day. When we first entered the apartment we heard a painfully sad and muffled meow coming from the outside, and discovered she was sitting by the sliding door desperate to come back inside. It’s a good thing the weather was nice and she didn’t decide to try to jump off the balcony. The poor baby had no access to food, water, or her litterbox and her sister was vocally upset that she wasn’t inside the apartment. We were told the hubby got a bit of a scolding too by the wifey after we sent our status report. LOL
  11. Sometimes house appliances just break. On day two of an everyday scheduled visit, we walked into one of our clients’ apartments that happened to be on the 7th floor only to find water all over the kitchen floor. Turned out that the dishwasher was severely leaking. We called the apartment maintenance to have them do an emergency fix. The clients were in Puerto Rico and it was only day 2 of a 7 day vacation. It all turned out well, but can you imagine the damage if left unchecked had we been scheduled for EOD visits? We could only imagine how scared the 2 cats would have been had they been forced to walk all over an apartment with consistently wet floors? We’re talking a good 1.5”-2” of water.
  12. Last but not least, this being our absolute #1 reason why we require every single day visits. We were scheduled to come the same day that the client left for a week long trip. We found one of her two cats had somehow entangled herself in the handle of a plastic grocery bag completely wrapped around her waistline. We immediately cut it away from her body, but not without first snapping a picture to send to the client along with a detailed report of what we found after it was safely removed from her body. The cat was fine, and thankfully it didn’t cause any damage, but just imagine if it was wrapped around her neck or covering her face and we were scheduled to visit two days after the client left her house. The thought of it still sends chills down my spine.

Most cats we take care of are quite social, very affectionate, and crave attention. They aren’t used to their pet owners being gone for so long, so we want to keep to their normal routine as much as possible. Giving kitty love is what we do best, so we don’t ever want to short change them by skipping a visit. 

Fur Paws Sake Pet Sitting Services is an insured member of Pet Sitters Associates (PSA), To learn more about PSA, visit www.petsitllc.com.

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