Jonathan I.
Jonathan I.
Highlights
Pet care experience
Saving all my love for pets
I have always wanted a pet since I was a child but never had the chance to until my first year in graduate school in Toronto when I borrowed my colleague's 6-year-old cat Roxy to test drive whether I could handle having a pet. Unknown to me, Roxy suffered from years of abuse and neglect. My colleague preferred if he did not have to take Roxy back due to her feral level of aggression. This is the beginning of a very beautiful 11 year journey between Roxy and I. I learned to use different methods to build trust on her end, allowing her to decide to make contact only when she believed it was safe. It took several years to curb completely her aggression against me - and several more against other people. The outcome was worth every ounce of effort. I consider my relationship with Roxy one of my greatest achievements. While Roxy was under my care, I also fostered 2 adult male cats. Roxy passed in the fall of 2020. Since then, I have opted not to have pets because of my partner's allergies. Instead, I find company with pets through housesitting for my friends when they are away to care for their pets. In 2022, I housesat and cared for my friend Rodrigue's cat while he was away for work for 7 weeks and in 2023, I took care of my friend Erin's 2 Maine coons with dietary restrictions for about 2 weeks at her home while she travelled with family. After that I got on rover. I enjoy catsitting/housesitting very much because I get to take my time to bond with cats. When housesitting, I also take out the garbage, grab the mail and do other miscellaneous minor tasks you may need done.
Qualifications
Safety, trust & environment
At the first arrival to the client's home, I will sit around where the cats hang out - reading or on my laptop/phone for several hours. The goal is for the cat to be able to observe that I am not a threat. Then I will feed them. This is a crucial step to build the trust needed and make them understand I take care of their dietary schedule. If they are willing, they will get a lot of brushing and petting. If not, that's absolutely normal - I respect boundaries and will always be around to keep an eye out on them.
Ratings and reviews
We had a great experience booking with Jonathan. He was super communicative, sent lots of updates, and made sure our senior cat was well cared for. We look forward to having him come stay again in the future!
Jonathan is great. Keys handoff and return is always very smooth. He obviously takes great care of our cat, making sure that she has human interactions while we are away. Jonathan also takes care of all of our kitty's needs (water, food, litter, etc.) Before his stay, Jonathan is extremely responsive and understands all instructions without much explaining. During his stay, he follows his pre-decided schedule to the T and sends us ample amount of updates. We always appreciate him coming by and taking care of our cat. Thanks!
Absolutely lovely cat sitter. Took extra good care of my social kitty to make sure she didn't get too lonely. I loved the videos he sent! Thanks :)
Jonathan was very responsible in housesitting and caring for our cats. He gave daily updates and was very communicative and responsive. He’s great with following detailed instructions. I had peace of mind knowing that Jonathan was housesitting and taking care of our cats.
Jonathan is fantastic - reliable and great communication. This was a drop in visit and Jonathan was punctual, followed instructions and provided photos of our cat. Would absolutely rebook for house sitting in the future.
We are so very lucky to have Jonathan taking care of our little one. Jonathan was very present everyday and took into consideration everything we told him during the three weeks we were away. We definitely enjoyed seeing our cat everyday via pictures and videos, and it gave us a great peace of mind to know that Jonathan was there everyday. Thanks!
Calendar and availability
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Schedule
My work is flexible and remote. When I'm cat sitting, I almost exclusively prefer to housesit at the client's home so that I don't have to go back and forth, and also so that I get to hang out with the cat(s) as much as possible. I may be in and out during the weekday or weekends to work out or meet friends but I prefer to spend most of the day at your home with your cats.
Prices include all fees.