4.9

Very friendly very thorough. I felt safe and assured with her checking in on my cat while I was away!

Karen did a wonderful job visiting my two dogs. I cannot thank her enough.

I was so lucky to find Karen! She took amazing care of my two senior cats. Providing regular status updates and information about the cats. I felt completely at ease with her watching my kitties. Home was just as I’d left it. Would absolutely work with Karen again.

Karen took great care of our dog and cat! She communicated with us really well and treated the pets really well

Karen took care of our two cats while we were away for two days. (4 visits, 1 hour each) They loved her! She sent us photos or videos at each visit, and she was attentive to their eating and tried different food flavors when they ignored one. We appreciated her care, and we would definitely hire her again.

I've delayed writing this review because I found Karen pleasant to deal with and if nothing else diligent, as she did show up for all contracted visits. However, it's possible my particular situation was not a good fit for her services or capacity. At the time of the booking I had 8 cats, 3 of them fosters. I also have a geriatric dog but decided to board her. Karen came over for the meet 'n greet about three weeks prior and shadowed me through the feeding and scooping boxes routine. I've had sitters here before, when there were even more cats and medication responsibilities, so I'm used to labeling literally everything, having crystal clear, detailed instructions and even maps of the rooms in the house and studio. Unfortunately, I don't think Karen retained much of our meet 'n greet, nor was there any indication she ever looked my instructions, which had been emailed to her and a printout left on the counter. I've been a cat foster mom for almost 20 years, and Rover catsitter/boarder for the past three, so I have a pretty good perspective of what to look for and expect. The routine I've developed for the cats (excepting geriatric and sick care) is thorough, efficient and replicable. Here are the issues I had: 1. Food and feeding schedule and protocol weren't followed well. In my conversations with her, Karen seemed to have a problem figuring out who was who, even though pictures of each cat are in my Rover profile, printed on the instructions and maps, photo stickered on the food serving tray, and foster cages labeled. All canned food on the counter and containers in the fridge were labeled and organized by day. Two of the cats get prescription food; all the others are on the same diet. On the second visit, after a couple confusing messages about identities were straightened out, she told me she had already decided on her own to break protocol and put my pet cats in the cages for feeding and leave the fosters out - basically the opposite of what I asked for. There was a discrepancy with the food quantity dispensed and my instructions if they'd been followed properly (too much left over, including a whole can of prescription). She must've decided to hand wash all the dishes and containers, because the dishwasher wasn't used at all - not an efficient choice with this many individuals. Fortunately all the cans were rinsed and put in the kitchen recycle bin. 2. I asked for the litter boxes to be scooped once a day. At the time there were 8 litter boxes and three Litter-Robots. At most she scooped four. The boxes in the house were never scooped. The Litter-Robots were stuck in error mode because the drawers were completely full; they'd never been emptied and also not had any litter replenishment. Dirty litter was left in a collection bucket in the studio, not put out in the trash bin. 3. No vacuuming or litter cleanup was performed. Karen messaged me on the first day that she'd had wrist surgery recently, said she didn't want to deal with the vacuum and asked where a broom was. She didn't report being incapacitated in any way, though I did recollect her needing to sit down during our meet 'n greet. Maybe she tried to use the dustpan but when I got back there was litter everywhere and the broom was exactly where I'd left it. 4. None of the water fountains weren't refilled and the motors were making loud noises because the water had gotten so low. 5. I did not receive any completed Rover visit cards (wondering how she managed to do this) or photos, though I'd requested them. My booking was only for 2.5 days (5 visits). I shudder to think what if I'd been gone longer or if I'd had cats who needed medication. To say I was disappointed after I arrived back home after my long flight is an understatement. It took hours to clean up and put things right. If I'm being generous, Karen may have tried to do whatever could be done in half an hour (feeding being the priority), despite me saying it'd likely take someone unfamiliar much longer and I'd be happy to pay for the extra time. If I'm being realistic, I think Karen was overwhelmed or preoccupied for whatever reason and went on autopilot. As a petsitter I realize mistakes can happen, but common sense and integrity should always rule the day, including whether to accept a job in the first place. My recommendation is, if you have even a slightly complex situation with multiple animals like I do, then Karen might not be the right sitter for you.