I first engaged Little Friends to watch my two cats over a long weekend. Terry, the owner, was very professional and put me at ease immediately. Not only did she do a stellar job with my cats, but she watered my plants and cleaned up any litter or food mess so when I returned home I didn't have a mess to welcome me. During the weekend a pipe began to leak and not only did Terry call me to let me know about flooding in the bedroom/bathroom area, she volunteered to call maintenance and she talked to them and kept me more informed about their progress than they did. I was exceptionally happy with Terry and Little Friends and had every confidence in using them again.
Unfortunately, this is where the trouble started. Terry was unavailable so another sitter was sent to meet with me to discuss a six-day pet sit. This sitter assured me that she knew a lot about cats as she had nine of her own. This actually made me a bit uneasy, but since I had called on short notice and trusted Little Friends I decided to go with it. I introduced this new sitter to my two cats and let her know that one of them was older, shy and prone to hiding from depression whenever I was not home. I told her to just leave her be and not try to force her out.
Three days later I get a phone call that the sitter was trying to ""make friends"" by reaching for my cat under the bed and was bitten. The bite was now infected and animal control was notified. My cat has never even hissed at a person in the 14 years that I've had her and she is very submissive and docile. A person experienced with cats especially should know two things: never corner and reach out to a scared and defensive cat and if you are bitten or scratched wash immediately with hot soapy water. Animal control came to my house at 7am on a Saturday following my return demanding the mandatory quarantine of my cat for 10 days. This incident was not my cat's fault and I gave the sitter explicit instructions not to try to engage my cat if she were too afraid to come out of hiding. With nine cats of her own I expected more. Then again, it may be that nine cats doesn't make you knowledgeable, it just makes you crazy.
Cons: some staff inexperienced
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