I just returned home from two weeks away, pet-sitting,…
and this is the look I get.
Dogs, cats, chickens, turkeys, birds, skunks, raccoons,.. an animal zoo was not exactly what I signed up for. But I loved pet sitting for my friend.
Is she still my friend? Will she ever let me visit again?
What about the boys?
When I did stop by my house, the cats acted as if I didn’t exist! I wondered if they missed me at all or were too busy enjoying their house free of everyone, but themselves!
I’m sure they loved having the dog gone! He came with us and he usually sleeps on our bed. When I returned, my bedspread was covered in cat hair!
Yes, they made themselves thoroughly comfortable!
We had to leave them to take care of a friends animals while they were away.
And an excellent job we did, I must say! The kids were very helpful as you can see.
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| Foxy getting the royal nap time treatment |
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| Blackie loved getting pet by a three year old, can’t you tell? |
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| Yes, I told her to stop poking her fingers through, but they were very friendly chickens. We loved collecting eggs and especially eating them! |
Max made a best friend
He’s been sulking in my sons bed ever since we got back and I hope he still loves his own home.
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| Max and best buddy, Foxy |
He loved being able to run free in the forest, chasing squirrels and other animals through the woods.
So what’s so bad about that? All looks well.
Well, of course I would only take pictures of the perfect moments! But there were some other moments in there…
Max got sprayed by a skunk! Thankfully he was far enough away that it wasn’t too bad and wore off before night. Foxy wouldn’t go near him the rest of that day!
The roosters kept us awake all night because of the skunk and a crafty raccoon who could open doors and continued to let that skunk in the chicken coop! He also enjoyed removing the bungees from the garbage cans and causing just enough noise to get the dogs barking. My husband ended up leaving to stay home the second week because he had to work each day and was so exhausted!
There were four roosters and they were constantly fighting! And one big red one would jump on the backs of the hens, especially when I threw scraps in for them, and peck and pull our their feathers! I was trying to remember if they had all looked beautiful when we got there because by the end of our two weeks, most of the chickens looked plucked and I was relieved the baby turkeys were still alive as the roosters especially liked to pick on them!
We also had finches and canaries to look after in a beautiful aviary. I filled up the hanging feeder, but the next day it was empty and all the seed was all over the ground! I found the little plastic grates that cover the openings and pushed them back in. I filled it back up, only to return the next day to find them out and on the ground again along with all the seed in a pile below the feeder! So now I’m wasting all the seed! At least they could still eat it off of the ground.
Could I be any worse at this? Apparently yes.
Much worse was to come. One morning I found one of the little white finches dead! Just laying there lifeless on the floor of the aviary. I was horrified! Did I do something to kill him? Did one of the kids? I had to call my friend, asking if she wanted someone more capable to come up, but she assured me he was old and a few others had gone recently. Phew! Still…
The last thing you want when pet sitting is for an animal to die!!
The cats are outdoor cats and I didn’t see much of them. Pumpkin is an orange tabby and I only saw him a few times. I didn’t see him at all the last few days and I was secretly praying he was still alive! One dead animal while pet-sitting is quite enough!
Blackie, I saw a bit more of and he even came in once, which I wasn’t sure he was allowed to do, but couldn’t resist when he asked for some love! I was surprised he was so affectionate, he has a vicious history! Full story coming soon!
We fell in love with Foxy and wanted to keep him. He
looked so sad with his big brown puppy dog eyes when we drove away and
left him all alone! And poor Max! I hope he snaps out of it! Maybe we
can visit sometime.
Or maybe I just lost a friend and she will never let me near her home again!
Homecoming with Rascal and Rocco
More details of our house/pet-sitting adventure on my personal blog: Natural Parent Guide
What’s the worst thing that ever happened while you were pet sitting?
Wow Leah that was an adventure… A house full of animals always sounded so lovely until now, now I'm re-thinking. Glad Foxy had fun though 🙂
Nothing like coming home to the love of your cat or cats 🙂 Before a great friend of mine moved we would watch each other cats while we went out of town. Well I went down the one day & could not find her one cat Anywhere! My heart was beating out of my chest I searched EVERYWHERE I thought he snuck out some how I called her in a panic & she said open the dresser drawer sure enough there was that little stinker cuddled up sleeping apparently he crept up from underneath & that was a "spot of his" never had I been so scared!!
~Candice @http://mylittlecircusandme.blogspot.com/
I would have panicked, too! He knew what he doing to you.
Ummm… I think you might need to draw up a schedule for your bed. Now that the dog has competition and all.
Purrs,
Nissy
Yes, lately Rocco & Max have both been on the bed, so long as each stays on opposites sides of me, there's no trouble. And so long as I can't move!
oh my!!! You DID have your hands er, PAWS full!!! To me the skunk spraying thing would be enough to send me running! lol!
Seriously, Rocco and Rascal, you have to get your human back into "how to be staff to cats" 101 immediately! She LEFT YOU!!! FOR OTHER CATS???…pads off shaking head…sheesshhhh…paw pats, Savannah
LOL! They know their human is not the brightest light bulb in the box.
I pet sit for a living and had the horrible experience of a friend's bird dying on my watch. It was an older, special-needs bird with hardly any feathers. Its cage was placed so high I could barely see the bird, which was staying on the bottom of its cage. At the time I didn't realize the two red flags. 1) I need to be able to clearly see a bird I'm pet sitting and 2) a bird that stays on the bottom of its cage is not feeling well. When cleaning his cage I accidently spilled his water on him. When I tried to dry him he bit me. I dried the cage floor and came back an hour later. He lay prostrate on the floor. Panicked, I called the owner, who suggested I wrap him in a washcloth and dunk another washcloth in water and drop water in his mouth. He rallied, and even bit me as I put him back in the cage, which I considered a good sign. But when I checked on him an hour later he was gone. His owner was exceptionally understanding, for which I was grateful. I didn't charge for the pet sit. I lost $120 but it was the right thing to do.
I would have freaked out and never pet sat a bird again! It wasn't your fault, but yes, it is horrible to have anything go wrong on your watch!
Let is get this straight. You. Left your cats. To look after some other cats. How do you sleep at night?
Sounds like everyone had a great time.
not very well. There are two cats sitting on me!!