A weekend cat-sitting guide: what to agree before you leave

Before a short trip, it is easy to leave a cat sitter with little more than “the food is in the cupboard and this key opens both locks”. The person visiting your home needs other information too: where the cat hides, what normal behaviour looks like and whom to call if you cannot be reached.

Prepare a short written guide and arrange a practice visit together before leaving. The guide should help someone care for your particular cat using its familiar routine, rather than replace that routine with general advice found online.

Agree on visits before handing over keys

Cats Protection recommends at least two visits a day for a cat cared for at home. Very young, older cats and those with health needs may require more frequent attention. Agree on an individual arrangement with your vet beforehand, especially if treatment is involved.

Record the dates, agreed visiting windows and a backup person. A full food bowl is not a care arrangement on its own. A visit provides an opportunity to see the cat and check food, water, the litter tray and the home. If the sitter cannot come, they need to know whom to notify and who will take over.

Check access in advance. Let the sitter open the building and flat doors themselves while you are present. Establish whether another key, entry card or code is needed. Share access details privately and do not attach your home address to the spare key.

Demonstrate an ordinary day

During the practice visit, walk through the complete routine: where food is kept, how portions are measured, where water goes, how to clean the litter tray and where to dispose of used litter. Write down the cat’s usual quantities. “A little” or “half a bowl” is ambiguous when bowls differ in size.

Label packages if you use several foods. Do not leave the sitter to choose a new diet or treats. Prescribed medication needs separate written veterinary instructions and someone able to follow them. Do not expect to teach a complicated procedure through a message after you have left.

Explain how your cat usually interacts. One cat comes to the door; another stays under the bed. Show familiar hiding places and how to establish safely that the cat is home. There is no need to pull a hiding cat out forcibly just to obtain a photograph for an update.

Put the essentials on one page

Start with the cat’s name and your contact details. Then arrange actions in visiting order so the sitter does not have to search through messages. For example:

• Locate the cat and notice how it is behaving.
• Provide its usual food in the written amounts and refresh the water.
• Clean the litter tray and note anything unusual.
• Offer familiar attention if the cat wants to interact.
• Check the agreed doors and windows, then lock up.

Add exact storage locations: the carrier on the bottom shelf, spare litter in a particular cupboard. For an autumn trip, show which windows must stay closed and which areas the cat must not enter. The sitter should not have to guess your ventilation arrangements.

Prepare for an unexpected situation

Leave the usual veterinary practice’s number and check in advance where to get help outside its opening hours. Name another adult who can attend or help make decisions. If the cat behaves differently, refuses its usual food or shows another concerning change, the sitter needs a clear way to seek veterinary advice rather than an instruction to wait until Monday.

Show the carrier and discuss how a trip to the practice would be organised. Settle practical and payment arrangements before leaving: who calls the practice and how costs are agreed. Your instructions should not authorise the sitter to change doses independently or give human medicines.

Choose a short update after each visit

Agree on a message such as “Saw the cat, ate as usual, water and litter tray checked, door locked.” Any change should be described separately. A photograph can supplement the message, but it does not replace checking the cat and completing the care routine.

When you return, ask which instructions were unclear and revise the guide for next time. Retrieve the spare key or agree on safe storage. The preparation has served its purpose when the sitter understands the sequence and knows when to contact you or a vet.