COVID-19: Vet, self isolation and key worker visit information

With uncertain times upon us, we want to help people with their beloved pets as far as we can, so we have opened up the following services.  Please note we will be adhering to the government advice of self isolation, so will discuss with you when you contact us how to handover your pets so that we are a safe distance, and rest assured there is lots of hand washing and anti-bac!

PET TO VET TAXI SERVICE - STARTING FROM £10, DEPENDING ON POSTCODE

We can take your cats to the vet for essential vet trips, adhering to your individual vet practices preferences, collecting them from your home, waiting while they are seen and then returning them home to you.  We would keep in contact with you at the appointment and discuss with the vets through you anything that needs sorting out.  This stands for routine or emergency appointments, vaccinations and neutering, although this will depend on what you Vet is offering at this time.  Please fill out the form below for Pet to Vet services, with your preferred date and we will get back to you ASAP to discuss arrangements.  Please don't make an appointments before we have looked at our availability for you.

SELF ISOLATION VISITS - STARTING FROM £8 PER VISIT, DEPENDING ON POSTCODE

If you are self isolating or social distancing, but are worried about coming into contact with your pets and want them to have a similar routine to normal or some human contact, we can visit to feed and fuss.  Please note that we would need to ensure we do not come into contact with you, whether you have symptoms or not, but we can discuss a plan after we have recieved your enquiry.  Remember that it has been said that pets cannot contract the virus, or spread it, but we realise some people may worry about coming into contact with their fur at this time.  

KEY WORKERS - DISCOUNTED POP-IN RATES

If you are one of our wonderful key workers and are likely to be out of home for extended periods of time, we can visit your pets to break up their day, or if you're working nights we can visit to give them their normal feeding routine morning or evening.  Again, this would have to be when you are at work, or at a distance to eliminate contact, but we can discuss this after enquiring.  We are offering this at a discounted rate to our normal visit charges, but will depend on your postcode.

We are opening up all the above services to include dog pop ins and small animals as well.  We are both fully insured and DBS checked, with business insurance on our vehicles, so you can rest assured your pets are in safe hands with us.

Please click here to fill out the contact form and we will get back to you ASAP.

How Much Does It Cost?

Our standard rates for local areas of Norwich are as follows:

NR1/NR2/NR3/NR4: £8-8.50 PER VISIT

NR5: £8.50-£9 PER VISIT - NR6/NR7: £8.50 PER VISIT - NR8: £9 PER VISIT

Trowse: £9 PER VISIT - Rackheath/Salhouse/Spixworth/Little Plumstead/Thorpe End: £8.50 PER VISIT - Horsford: £9 per visit

Please click here if you live outside these postcodes to view our full price list. Please note prices may vary slightly depending on your full postcode.

How Long Are Your Visits?

We tailor each visit to suit the needs of every individual cat, as we understand that all cats are very different and like to be around people in different ways. We take a great deal of time really getting to know each cat that we look after to ensure they have the best possible care. This includes taking all the notes we need on our initial meeting, and taking our first few visits with your cat slowly so they get to know us and us them.

There is no set visit time because as we mentioned above, every cat is different and we judge the visits on each cat's personality, so durations can vary depending on this. If your cat is particularly playful, we can have fun with toys and games! Some cats just love to be brushed and stroked so if this is your cat – leave out the brush! Or if your cat is more of the independent type and simply wants to be fed and let out or left alone to snooze, then that’s fine too! For very nervous cats and cats that find visits from strangers particularly stressful, our approach would be to ensure they have everything they need to be safe, well, fed and watered on a daily basis and leave them to relax quietly in their 'safe place' without any further disruption or anxiety. Despite being anxious, these types of cats are still much better off with a sitter in their own home, with their own smells and routine, than in a cattery.

We can discuss what type of visit you think your cat will want at the time of booking, and will use this information on our first few visits to really tailor our service to the needs of your cat!

What Do You Do On A Visit?

As well as plenty of fuss and play for cats who love company, and the obvious feeding and watering, we offer the following as standard on each visit:

- Clean feeding areas, wash food bowls on every visit and clean up any mess made throughout the booking.
- Clean, change and empty litter trays as directed and change bedding of small animals when instructed.
- Small household chores such as watering of plants, gathering mail, turning on lights, radios and opening/closing of curtains. (Please note for big gardens we may add an extra charge)
- Making sure we have seen your cat when possible, especially if they prefer the less-is-more approach and tend to be out and about watching the day go by when we visit!

How Many Visits Does My Cat Need?

Ultimately it's up to you, but when you're choosing how many visits to book in, have a think about your cats normal routine. Do they tend to just graze on a dry food diet? Do they go in and out as they please and possibly may not be around when we visit? Are they on a second meal which could be set in a timer bowl? Are they more aloof with strangers than with you? If so, your cat will likely be fine with a once daily visit.

If your cat craves human attention, has twice daily medications, needs their cat flap locked overnight, or you have multiple cats free-feeding on wet food meals then you may need twice daily visits. We would also suggest twice daily visits as standard for kittens and elderly cats, and we can cater to three visits a day for them too depending on availability.

If you are wanting twice daily visits, please take into consideration our visit time slots (listed on the contact form) when booking our starting and finishing visits, depending on the time you are leaving and arriving back home.  There may also be selected days where we offer a limited service of once daily visits (unless for medication), due to working 7 days a week.  We will always mention this on booking and can loan out food timers for those days if needed.

What Time Will You Visit?

Our time slots are generally the following, but can extend either side depending on volume of bookings: 

AM/Mornings: 830AM - 12 NOON

Lunch: 11.30AM-330PM

PM/Evenings: 3.30pm - 730pm

We work to a route depending on our schedules for each day so due to that reason unfortunately we cannot offer specific times for visits, but will guarantee the visit will fall into the time of day you have requested. For once daily visits, please specify a slot on the contact form if your cat isn't OK with a flexible time. If you choose a flexible timed visit, it will usually be sometime between 9am-6pm depending on when we are in the area.

For cats on time-specific medications (e.g. Insulin injections) please let us know on the initial booking so we can plan our routes accordingly to space out the doses as much as possible.

Can You Administer Medication?

Yes!

We have plenty of experience with most forms of medicine; tablets, injections, liquids, inhalers and creams. Please state in your first message if your cat will need medication and if they are time-specific and we will do our best to accommodate this.

Will You Send Me Updates?

If you would like us to, we will keep you updated throughout the booking with messages, pictures and videos so you can feel confident that your lovely cat is OK while you are away from home. Please note it isn't always possible for us to take photos/videos at every visit, but rest assured we will send them when we get them! Updates can be sent by text, WhatsApp or email either daily or sporadically throughout your booking, or if you prefer the no-news-is-good-news approach, then you can opt for us to only contact you in an emergency. The frequency of updates can be discussed in our initial meeting. Please note that photos and videos can only be sent via WhatsApp or Email.

What Happens If My Cat Becomes Ill While I'm Away?

If your cat becomes unwell or is injured while you are away, with your permission we will take them to a vet and bring them home again when they have been assessed. We will give any aftercare advised by the vet while you're still away. If we can't contact you or your emergency contact given on our meeting, we will use our own judgement before making a decision as a duty of care. Before going away, please check with your vet on their procedure for cat sitters in case the need arises!

It's handy for us to have an emergency contact number, someone local, in case anything happens to you while you're away, or we need help with vet visits, so please think ahead about who this could be and give it to us on meeting, or leave it out for our first visit.

How Do I Make A Booking & What Happens Next?

Simply fill out our contact form below! Click here to scroll down to it. After you have made your booking and we have confirmed it, we will be in touch closer to the time to arrange coming to meet you all and collect a key.  Once we've made contact, you can then text or email us personally for future bookings going forward as well.

When Do We Meet?

Once you have made your booking and had it confirmed, we will contact you in the month run up to your start date to arrange a suitable time to come over and meet you and your cat/s. This meeting will usually be in the few weeks before your starting date, so that the information is fresh for us, and your cats remember us!

Please note that we both cover separate areas of the city, so the sitter for your area will reply to your query personally. We have assistants helping us in our local areas, who are also fully insured and DBS checked and will use all the same information we collect on our initial meeting.  We will always tell you if one of our assistants is working any of your dates.

We will also need to collect a spare key, so please make sure you have one ready for us when we come. During the meeting, we will spend some time getting to know your cat/s and taking notes on all the important information including vet registration, general daily routine and feeding instructions, medication requirements, all their quirky likes and dislikes and much more!

What Happens To My Keys When You Have Collected Them & How Do You Return Them?

Your keys are stored in a locked safe at our homes and only used when on a booking with your cat. None of your personal information is given to any other party other than the sitter on your booking, unless we are told to by you. Key return will vary depending on who your sitter is, your preference and whether you have any other key holders, and will be discussed with you on meeting.

Do You Hold Keys For Future Bookings?

Yes! Holding your key can save a lot of time out of your busy life to drop us a key, or be at home for a key collection, and it helps to ensure our availability for your bookings.  We still need notice for bookings from key holders, especially at peak times, but it definitely helps to streamline things.

All keys held are all marked with a clear identity tag (with no address or surname!) in a securely locked location at each of our homes and can be returned to you if needed at your request, when we are next able.

Some benefits of this free-of-charge extra are as follows:
- Flexibility for short notice requests, emergency visits and if you go away a lot throughout peak times.
- Avoids the need for arranging keys at an anti-social or inconvenient time in the run up to your booking.
- Ensures we still have a key after the last visit is completed just in case any delays occur or you decide to extend your trip last minute.
- There will be someone within city centre reach with a key to your property should it be needed. Please note that as we work long hours we would need notice for returning keys, as we do not carry them unless we are on a booking with your cat and may not be in your area. Therefore, if you lock yourself out please be prepared for us to not be available and be ready to call a locksmith just incase.

Please mention if you would like us to hold a key when booking, and have a spare key available on the date we arrange. There is also the option of leaving a key in a safe place, or we are well versed in all types of key safe so are happy to use one of these if you have one.

Do You Have A Cancellation Policy?

Yes, we do have a cancellation policy, which will vary depending on your sitter, and outlined by them on their invoice or terms and conditons. This is generally 50% within 72 hours of your booking start date (this varies over the festive period), and then in a full charge if cancelled during your booking. Please click here to view our terms and conditions.

Do You Work Over Christmas & New Year?

We do!

However, there is a limited service, and visits tend to be shorter than normal periods due to volume (especially Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day). We work very long hours over the festive season, and book up extremely quickly as it is our busiest time of year, so its best to book in advance (we fill up as far in advance as October).  The service for the festive season is as follows;

Christmas Day & Boxing Day - Once a day visits only, unless for medication.  Please take into consideration that the visit can be anytime from 8am to 6pm, so have a think about when you're leaving or getting home on those days if necessary, as we can always leave extra food out the visit before.  These days are also a double visit charge (so £15-£16 per visit if you are our local areas).

New Years Day - we offer twice on this day depending on availability, but is a visit and a half charge per visit (so £11-12 per visit if you are our local areas)

Please note that our cancellation policies are extended for bookings in the festive period, with 50% of your invoice being due if cancelled 7 working days before your booking start date.  This is because we turn away even more work over these periods, alot earlier in the year, and its harder for us to fill the spaces up the closer it gets to Christmas and New Year due to the amount of holiday days which take away days for us to fit in meetings.  If you think a friend may end up being able to do any of your visits please firm these up before booking, to minimize risk of cancellation fees.

In the same way, we also work all bank holidays, which also incur a slightly higher fee per visit (A visit charge, and a half, so £11-12 a visit for local areas for example).

What If I Don't Have Pets? Do You House Sit?

Yes.  We run a sister company called Check On My House, offering pop-in visits to houses without pets to water plants, take in mail and create a lived-in feel while you're away.  To visit the website please click here.