Cats and Covid - How to Prepare for Your Next Cat Sitting

Cat Sitting UpdatesServicesCats and Covid

16 Jun

Written By Nita

Cats and Covid - How to prepare for your next cat sititng:

Before we start with preparation its important to mention 2 things:

1. For the safety of everyone, we strongly advise you abide by the current guidelines and government regulations regarding travel, contact and social distancing.

2. As this is an evolving situation we abide by the flexible cancellation fee policy as set out by Cat in a Flat (where your booking is paid for) Please see the Cancellation Fees page for further details.

Cats and Covid - How to Prepare for Your Next Cat Sitting with Love Cats Croydon

Communication is key as always with Love Cats Croydon. We should discuss personal isolation strategies, the health and wellbeing of you and your cat and we will investigate slightly further than normal, your family and friends that you have been in contact with, as well as any visitors to the house. Of course, you are welcome to ask your cat sitter the same questions! Each party needs to be comfortable the other is doing enough to minimise risk.
As we restart, Love cats Croydon will only be visiting homes withing walking distance – therefore avoiding the use of public transport – again minimising risk.

We are currently covering all of CROYDON (East, West, South), PARK HILL, SANDILANDS, ADDISCOMBE, WOODSIDE, SOUTH NORWOOD, ELMERS END and parts of BECKENHAM, SHIRLEY and WEST WICKHAM. If you live somewhere else, please let us know – you may still be in walking distance and we hope we can get to you (this is great exercise too by the way!)

We ask that we keep initial meet and greets virtual. We are happy to do initial consultations via video chat. You can take us through the house and show us where the cats are allowed, not allowed, where the litter tray is, where the food is kept and most importantly – where’s that cat treat box! Also any lights, keys, locks, bins etc can be pointed out so we can make sure we know exactly what to expect on arrival.
Leaving all the cats bits out in one place to minimise movement through the house will be ideal in the current circumstances. I know most of our clients do this already – but pop the food, treats, forks, bowls etc all in one place and the litter, poop bags, poop scoop somewhere together/convenient too. Please make sure you leave all these things clean and we will clean everything before your return too.
We will still collect your keys, or you can drop them to us. Key collection will be contactless. If we come to you, please just leave in a front garden as we arrive. We can of course have a door step chat then too – keeping at least 2 meters distance. If its easier, you are welcome to pop the keys in and envelope and drop into us. You can post them through our letter box and we will confirm we have them when we pick them up. (We have a locked porch here, and any keys posted into the porch if we are not home, will be secure until we return and can pick them up) Please DO NOT post keys via royal mail or any other delivery service.
Key return will work in the same way – we wont return keys until we know you are home with your cat, or are happy you collect them from us on your way back. Again this can be contactless in both cases. We can discuss this once the sitting is booked and of course adjust arrangements at any time.
We will wear gloves and mask on all cat sittings and while carrying out duties in your house. This is one pair of gloves per visit, one mask per household, which we will take with us when we leave and dispose of safely. We will wash hands, wipe down door handles and surfaces with disposable wipes every time we visit too. And when we have more than one cat sit per day, we will change PPE between visits.
If you live in a shared household, we may not be able to visit at this time. We ask you have your housemates take care of the cat as much as possible while you are away. If this is impossible, or if your flat mates are away too then this can be discussed. We would ask full transparency upfront so we can ensure we are entering a home safely and not putting ourselves or other cat sitters homes at risk.
Lastly, please make sure your emergency contact is up to date. We will ask you to complete the forms prior to our visit – you can complete them online here, or we can of course send you them to print at home. Most importantly please ensure you update an emergency contact while you are away. And let your emergency contact know your cat sitters details too. Again communication is key and this works both ways.