After searching for days, a couple of weeks ago, trying to find a cat-sitter for my two Siamese cats while Jay and I are on vacation for a week, making several calls, I finally found what looks to be a great service.

Some services would do more than others, some charged more. This one who calls herself a real expert with cats, a “Cat Whisperer” charged the most–$24.00 for a 30 minute, once-a-day visit!

Most places charge under $20.00 for a 30 minute visit. I found two places that charged only $18.00. After reading their website, I chose the one that said they are insured and provides a little more service than the other one.

The company is licensed and bonded. For 30 minutes, they provide on a daily basis: playing with the cats, giving them fresh food and water, cleaning the litter boxes (though eventually I want to train my cats to use the toilet–more on that later), cleaning up any pet messes, watering plants, taking in mail, newspapers and packages, alternating blinds, curtains and lights, and taking out the trash/recycling.

That’s quite a lot for just 18 bucks a day.

So I called them again and made an appointment for a consultation meeting. The guy that came was really the main worker, because his assistant now has a “real” job and doesn’t cat or dog sit much anymore for the company (they are also a dog-sitting service. The guy told me he will be the one coming over for the entire week.

Surprisingly, our cats took to him soon. He only stayed for about an hour and in that time, both cats were coming up to him, allowing him to rub them. The only people that our cats have come in contact with since we had them are just Jay and I. I guess they were starving for someone different to be around!

It’s weird because unlike baby sitting kids, we can’t call home to speak to our cats  or when we get back, asking the cats how were they treated. We don’t even know if he will stay for the required 30 minutes.  We have to put a lot of faith in this stranger cat-sitter. He did have plenty of references, including the Oregon Humane Society, so that was comforting to know.

He seems like a very nice guy. I’m a good judge of people and I have a feeling our cats will be treated very well.

Our cats were born about a month apart: one born in March, the other in April. One looks like the classic Siamese, although his head is not long. The other is a lot lighter in color and doesn’t look like a Siamese at all, but then again, I don’t know much about breeds.

They are totally opposite in personalities, but get along great! They have never fought seriously–they have even shared the same food bowl, and when going to their litter box, have both went in together, peeing/crapping together, and each covering up the other’s wastes! It’s so cute.

The older one is a lot more emotional and needy. He seems to be very insecure, while the younger one is full of spunk and very secure with himself. He walks around as if he’s saying: ‘It’s so wonderful being me!’ He is a more curious and aggressive than the older cat. I’m glad the introverted cat is older because if he wasn’t, the younger, extroverted cat would probably bully him!

At night, the older cat always jumps on the bed and snuggles between Jay and I, while the younger one happily plays by himself until late, then comes to join us three. I like to think of them as humans sometimes; the older one being a homebody, while the younger one spends many nights out on the town before coming home late at night.