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I just got back from a 4 day trip to Atlanta,GA to be with my recently found out terminally ill Mother, and my step-son said he would take care of my 4 cats.
He was to come Saturday, Sunday, and that was it to change litter and make sure had food and water which was in a large bowl and a self watering bowl.
NOTTTT!!!! Got home Monday late afternoon excited like a kid to see my babies and walked in on 3 unchanged litter boxes, poop and pee on floor that was dried hard over several days and absolutely no water.
I was LIVID and ready to strangle him. Wife called her mother where he stays for free and no responsibilities at age 22, and she says he was at our place every day which is not true and he is to call back later and try and weasel out of this.
We do anything for him and his 2 daughters and he does nothing for us and I should have known better but got dumb and thought he would help us this one time. NEVER again he is on his own from us. Is everyones family helpful with pets or is this a lot to ask for.
Sorry for the long rant but I'm still Pi33ed and its been 4 hrs. now.
I totally understand your anger. Lesson learned. Never, ever again trust him with your babies. Sounds like he can't take care of himself let alone watch your furry babies. You might check to see if there is a neighbor or a kiddo in your neighborhood that can check on your cats that is trust worthy. We had a 16 y/o girl in our neighborhood we paid $5-10 a day to come check on our cats. Now we have a neighbor that we trade off pet sitting when the other is out of town. Again, lesson learned now you can move forward.
Once, a local teenager was supposed to help me with some work in my basement. He never showed up. I called his home and he was sleeping. Later, he offered to cat sit. I told him no.
He had already demonstrated irresponsibility, and also an irresponsible attitude, in a low risk situation. There was no way I was going to trust him with something important, where his irresponsibility could cause real harm.
I have used some reliable cat sitters, including vet techs and vet clinic employees, but I prefer to leave the cats alone with lots of food, water and litter. Any cat on medication gets boarded with the vet, especially if the cat has a chronic illness, e.g. diabetes, and needs monitoring. I'm sure the boarded cat(s) would prefer to be home, but I am not willing to entrust a cat with health issues to anyone but the cat's vet. Of course, these measures are only good for short trips, no more than 3 days or so. Longer trips require a pet sitter or boarding.
That is so awful! I am lucky my mom lives about 10 minutes away, so if she goes out of town I can take care of her 14 yr. old cat, Ollie. He has a heart condition which requires a pill 2x/day, plus he is a very MEAN cat to anyone but me and mom, so kitty sitters are not an option...one time a friend of hers offered to help out, (before she moved here) but Ollie attacked, (and drew blood!) and that was the last time she trusted anyone but me to do it. Hopefully your babies are more even-tempered and you wont have trouble finding someone responsible to watch them next time! Sounds like your stepson is still too flakey to be trusted, but most guys I know didnt really wise up til at least 25, some not til in their 30s...so never fear! He may turn around yet! Just dont trust him with the cats again...!
I just got back from a 4 day trip to Atlanta,GA to be with my recently found out terminally ill Mother, and my step-son said he would take care of my 4 cats.
He was to come Saturday, Sunday, and that was it to change litter and make sure had food and water which was in a large bowl and a self watering bowl.
NOTTTT!!!! Got home Monday late afternoon excited like a kid to see my babies and walked in on 3 unchanged litter boxes, poop and pee on floor that was dried hard over several days and absolutely no water.
I was LIVID and ready to strangle him. Wife called her mother where he stays for free and no responsibilities at age 22, and she says he was at our place every day which is not true and he is to call back later and try and weasel out of this.
We do anything for him and his 2 daughters and he does nothing for us and I should have known better but got dumb and thought he would help us this one time. NEVER again he is on his own from us. Is everyones family helpful with pets or is this a lot to ask for.
Sorry for the long rant but I'm still Pi33ed and its been 4 hrs. now.
Good. I think you should be mad. I've had similar experiences in the past and should have gotten more angry. Some people don't have a clue. That is absolutely shameless. It made me sick to read this post. I hope you give him a piece of your mind !!!!
What a terrible thing to happen. Thank God you were only gone 4 days. That would cause me to be very angry with a person as well. I trust very few people to kitty sit. I'm sure you have a friend or other family member that will be much more trust worthy.
When my neighbor asks me to take care of her babies while she is away I treat them as if they are my own.
What an awful thing! So sorry that happened.
It's a big expense to hire a professional sitter but well worth the peace of mind when you're away. We found ours through the Chamber of Commerce and she's been great but since reading this thread I'd inquire with our vet's office too, to hire a vet tech in case she can't sit for us.
She answered emails when we were able to get to a computer which made us feel quite happy to know all was well at home.
My mother has offered to sit for our cats but she's not an animal person at all and I'd worry the whole time that something went wrong, she forgot, got distracted or sick. (She's 74.) It's nice to get offers from friends and family but unless I was 100% sure of their reliability I'd have to pass.
I hope your kitties are ok after their misadventure. I don't blame you for being angry. I'd be too.
Thanks for everyones concern so far, this feedback makes me feel better and has given me ideas for the future. Such as the vet techs and chamber of commerce comments. I never knew there were options like this out there.
My babies are doing fine and Little Bit and Baby Kitty are tagging along where ever I go and snuggled up close when I went to bed. Candy and Smudge, the older cats are doing great and catching up on sleep.lol Little Bits eye problems is doing real good since I started meds again and I have an appointment Wed. morn for Baby Kitty to see vet and get a complete checkup.
Also next time we go out of town we might take little ones with us cause we stay inpet friendly motel (Comfort Inn & Suites) and 2 adults have stayed by themselves real good in past for up to 5 days max.
Thanks again for everyones kindness and I will post later on Baby's vet visit.
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Thank God you were only gone 4 days. That would cause me to be very angry with a person as well. I trust very few people to kitty sit. I'm sure you have a friend or other family member that will be much more trust worthy.
