I’m always learning, and even after just a year in business, I’ve picked up some great tips  from my clients to solve some simple cat problems when they go away:

1. Leave out extra water. One of my cats loves to paw her water, and sometimes she flips over the dish even right after I’ve filled it. This is not something you want to have happen when a pet sitter is only visiting once or twice each day. The best water bowl I’ve seen has been a simple large glass casserole dish. It’s shallow, heavy, and large, so the cat cannot upend it. Some people also leave their extra water bowls in the bath tub, so the cat can do what they will and there’s no clean up needed. Water fountains are good, too, as they tend to hold more water than the average water bowl.
2. Another water and food tip is to put the dishes on a tray to contain any messes. A boot tray works very well for this.
3. Cut a hole into the door leading to the litter box. This won’t be possible for all of us, but I love this idea, because it means that even if the door gets closed, the cat will always have access to the litter box.
4. Mix a little bit of water into canned food if the cat isn’t going to eat it right away. It looks a little soupy, but the extra water will help to keep the cat hydrated, and keep the food from drying out into hard, inedible cement.
5. Keep your cat’s paperwork in the cat carrier. Proof of rabies vaccination, microchip locator information, medical history, etc.. This way, if your cat needs to be rushed to the veterinarian for medical care, if they go missing, or you need to travel with your cat or board them for whatever reason, this information can be easily found.
6. Stock extra paper towels, even if you don’t normally use them yourself. Cats often shed when stressed, they may groom more when stressed, and then they vomit more and have more litter box accidents when stressed. Let me tell you – the pet sitter then gets stressed if there are no paper towels available to clean up said messes. There’s also the normal daily wiping around the food areas and sink. One client had a brand new package of 8 paper towel rolls waiting for me on the table, and I could have cried in gratitude.