18 April, 2024
Benefits of using a regular homesitter
Posted on 19 August, 2019
Using a homesitter to look after your pet when you go away is a popular choice for many people. Benefits include having your pet cared for in its home environment, which most dogs and cats prefer, and improving home security as your home is occupied, helping to prevent an opportunistic burglar.
Many of our clients have been using our services for years and often end up using the same homesitter. Using a regular homesitter brings additional benefits. One of these is your dog or cat gets to know them and forms a strong bond.
For dogs especially they are excited to see a familiar person and often greet them just like a family friend. Cats also like to see a familiar face and although may not show the same excitement they will be secretly happy to see someone they know.
For clients this is really reassuring too and means they can head off on holiday with peace of mind that their pet is going to be happy to be looked after by someone familiar.
Another benefit is the homesitter also knows their way around the home and clients don’t have to keep briefing different homesitters every time they go away.
How Uncle Bill became a ‘substitute parent’ for one cat
One client and her partner, who have been using our services for over a year and have a regular homesitter, are teachers Lyndsey Weekes and her partner Ian, who live on the outskirts of Liverpool.
They first approached Homesitters Ltd not long after moving house when they didn’t have anyone to look after their cat, Tilly. In their previous home, neighbours would look after Tilly while they were away. Their new home had no close neighbours and they didn’t have anyone nearby who could help. They were keen to avoid putting Tilly in a cattery,
Lyndsey explains, “I wanted to minimise the stress for Tilly, she’s an elderly cat we adopted a couple of years ago when her owner moved into a care home. Tilly likes her home comforts and routine. Like most cats she is territorial and doesn’t like change, so I didn’t consider putting her in a cattery.”
Their first homesitter, Bill came to the house to meet Lyndsey, Ian and Tilly before the scheduled home sit and the couple felt reassured leaving their pet and their home in Bill’s hands, in fact he has home sat for them several times since that first assignment.
Lyndsey comments, “Bill is very calm and capable as well as flexible and understanding.He really seems to care about Tilly which is very important to us, and knowing she is in such safe hands has taken away all the anxiety I used to feel when packing for a holiday and preparing everything for Tilly.
“Tilly no longer sulks when we get home from a holiday and this is a real bonus. When our neighbours used to feed her whilst we were away, she used to sulk when we got home. Now her routine carries on as normal and the homesitter becomes her ‘substitute parent’ – in fact we’ve taken to calling Bill, ‘Uncle Bill’!She sleeps on his bed and enjoys sitting on the arm of the sofa so he can scratch her under the chin and she is perfectly happy when we come home.”
If you would like to find your own ‘Uncle Bill’ to take care of your pets when you go away please get in touch on 01296 630 730 to discuss your requirements.
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