Unfortunately we had a very poor experience with Melody and cannot recommend her for cat-sitting. It is possible there were extenuating circumstances - she mentioned personal issues that came up (but only mentioned this _after_ we had already returned from our trip). I'm sure she tried but we were not happy with the results. I share the details here for other pet owners to make their own decisions. Melody was attentive during the walk through and spoke well of sending twice a day updates, etc. The first signal we had that things were not going well was that we actually only got updates a couple times in the week or so we were out, and they included a literally duplicate photo and the first time required us to proactively ask how our cats were doing. The second indication we had that things were not going well was, as we were on our way home from the airport a note that she'd had a rough time and had drunk some of our wine (this turned out to be two bottles) and had also forgotten to clean one of the litter boxes for one day. Once we arrived home, things seemed much worse than communication had indicated: 1. She had been smoking pot upstairs in our frail elderly cat’s room, leaving a strong pot and smoke smell in the house. This was not something we had discussed or oked prior. 2. The upstairs litter box she said hadn't been cleaned once looked like it hadn't been cleaned the entire week, or at least far more than one missed cleaning. Most of the pan was pee clumps/poop, with nowhere to step. 3. Conversely the other litter pan had clearly been cleaned regularly but had almost no litter left in it as if it had never been refilled/topped back up, despite their being a full tub of litter to refill right next to it. 4. We added an automated feeder for one of our cats after the walk through so didn't get a chance to walk her through how to use it. We left instructions and the manual and noted it was ok to revert to just feeding manually if she couldn't figure it out. The instructions we left said to dispense one meal at a time. When we got back, it was obvious she couldn't figure it out (which is fine) but the feeder had multiple days worth of food in it, including food that had been placed in the feeder without a bowl which means the food just leaked into the lower compartment where the ice packs were. The ice packs themselves were warm which means she also never changed them out either. When asked she said she didn't have a chance to clean it out the last day before leaving - this doesn't explain why there were multiple meals worth of food and warm ice packs, or why food had gone in without a dish, or why she had been trying to use it on the last day if she hadn't been able to figure it out for a week if she was feeding manually. We got no questions about the feeder while we were out, and generally finding it like that made us really concerned about her judgement and common sense that left us concerned about what other non-sensical things might have happened when taking care of our cats. 5. She said she was careful about keeping our cats separated for meals (one of our strong and clearly shared requirements as the younger cat always steals food from the older cat) however based on both weight and behavior when we returned, it's unambiguous that the younger cat was in fact stealing the older cat's food, which was particularly concerning as that food is medicated, so very bad in both directions. 6. She left the house messier than she found it - with food stains and used dishes and various detritus, in addition to the smoke smell. The house wasn't trashed but it definitely was not pleasant to come home to. We hope she deals with whatever is going on in her life but this was not an acceptable experience.

Our boys (2 Italian greyhounds)felt right at home with Melody. She took great care of them while we were out for the evening. Will definitely call on Melody the next time we are in Seattle. THANKS SO MUCH