Okay, so for those who don’t know it, in the pet sitting world there is this thing called “every other day cats” and that means that the pet sitter is willing to take on clients who only want their cats visited every other day while they are out of town.  Many people feel that due to the self sufficient nature of a cat, they don’t need human supervision on a daily basis.  However, it is my opinion that due to this very unique personality trait, cats must be seen every single day while owners are on vacation.

Cats have the ability to go just about anywhere they please, because they can jump high, climb, and squeeze into many places they shouldn’t be.  They have the ability to get themselves into the strangest of predicaments that can be life threatening at times.  Take a look at this picture: This is Ralph about to suffocate himself with a plastic bag that he burrowed into.  As you can see their independent and curious nature can be a detrement at times.  Of course Ralph sticking his head into this plastic bag wasn’t life threatening, because he knew very well how to get out of the bag, but just the very fact that he did this at all just shows you the kinds of things these inquisitive creatures are attracted to, and will get themselves into.

Something happened this morning while I was at a pet sit that was a PRIME example of why “every other day cats” is a bad idea.  I’m watching 6 cats in one home.  3 are kittens and 3 area adults.  The house has 2 floors, the second floor is  a little strange, because you have to go up a spiral staircase, and then there is a high up window overlooking the living room.  The window has a curtain in it, and its a VERY high drop. 

Well…..this morning I was washing my hands in the kitchen sink, finished with feeding, scooping litter boxes, feeding the strays outside, etc.  when suddenly I look up to see Tasha pictured here:

 Walking around on the window ledge upstairs, and then I notice that one of her paws is stuck in the curtain, and she is struggling to get it out.  I immediately had flashbacks of my own cats Percy and Ralphie’s falls from our loft that overlooks our living room.  Right when I took a step to come to her rescue she slipped and plumeted to the ground, ripping the curtain down with her.  She hit the floor so hard that her break-away collar popped off and flew across the floor.  Tasha immediately jumped up, looked at the curtain as though it were alive, hissed at it, and ran away and hid.  Now she seemed to be fine when she finally did emerge from her hiding place, but what if she hadn’t been?  If I was doing “every other day cats” and she had really been hurt then it would’ve been the next day (tomorrow) when I would’ve found her.

I remember once when we had a friend watching our cats while we were in NY, and the day we came home, he had decided not to come by that morning.  We got back that evening and low and behold somehow the door to the closet which houses their food and litter box had gotten shut, and we were greeted with a torn apart bedroom and poop all over the floor.

So yes, it is wise to visit any animal that one is watching on a daily basis, preferrably every 24 hours to make sure they are alright.  Afterall, they are no different than children.