Pet Sitters in Altoona, IA

Kara King

Kara communicated in a friendly & responsive way. She even said we could help ourselves to whatever we needed in the home. She provided detailed and easy-to-follow instructions. Winston is a lovely older cat who enjoys sunning next to you on the balcony, head scratches, and a warm lap. Despite being pretty heavy, he’s agile on countertops & can squeeze his way between your laptop and you. :) Occasionally he hisses if you try to move him and when you first return home but his hair is never raised/eyes never dilated. His nature is mellow and curious. He kept to himself at night and never bothered us in the early morning. He’s a breeze to care for with a routine of wet&dry food, probiotics, a vitamin (which he didn’t eat from our hands the same way he does for his parents but did eventually eat from his bowl), water fountain, pine litter + a litter genie. Located on H st in a secure building with rooftop gardens, gym, pool, washer+dryer in-unit, garage parking. The secure reserved parking space was especially appreciated because we had backpacking gear in our car for our next trip and didn’t need to worry about street parking/theft or lugging it all inside. We felt safe staying here and enjoyed walking to some of our longtime favorite restaurants like Fancy Radish & Maketto. Fast wifi for remote work with many desks around the building available for use. While I would recommend this sit, future sitters may want to request a video tour before confirming. All of our previous sits on TH have been cleaned to “we have company coming” or Airbnb rental standards. This unit was very lived-in. The good: sheets on our bed and towels provided were freshly cleaned, dishes were overall clean, apartment was cutely decorated with nice appliances and a well-stocked kitchen, it was clearly the space of a young professional couple, looked like the photos in the listing, had very hot showers and a robot vacuum at the ready. Surprising things based on the listing: trash cans were full, furniture embedded with hair to the point of ruining clothes with no handheld vacuum or vacuum attachment available, kitchen covered in both cooking residue and cat hair including on the face of all the cabinets, dust on all surfaces, dirt and hair under all furniture and corners where the robot vacuum can’t reach, both the chair and the desk in the bedroom where sitters stay were unusable due to hair and dirt, bathrooms appeared long overdue for cleaning with scum and toilet residue, and bathroom rugs needed washing due to marks. I found an additional vacuum aside from the robot vac but the canister was too dirty to want to use and it didn’t have a furniture attachment. Because of the great communication with Kara, her newness to TH, and the fact that we confirmed dates very last minute, I felt comfortable cleaning the apartment close to the typical standards of a TH sit. It took about two hours of cleaning to feel comfortable prepping food or sitting on the couch to watch tv. Having owned a longhair cat and a golden retriever in an apartment with floor-to-ceiling windows, I know how much effort regular maintenance cleaning requires (we had to use a rubber brush on our couch and rubber broom on our floors almost daily). This was not just one skipped clean in a hurry. This may be a personal difference in standards of cleanliness. I decided not to say anything to the hosts because they were already on their way to their trip when we arrived. Some people are messier than others which is totally okay. This is not meant to be judgmental or embarrassing. TH hosts and TH sitters are strangers to each other so the transparency and accuracy of reviews is what makes the site feel safe. Future sitters would need to feel comfortable in very lived-in spaces. The hosts could add a disclaimer about relaxed cleanliness/the lived-in aspect of their home to their listing to set accurate expectations. Future sitters with higher expectations for cleanliness could request to see the unit before agreeing to sit. The hosts could ensure that their unit is deep cleaned prior to listing future dates. Aside from this one issue, I highly recommend the location, Kara, and Winston.