Pet Sitters in Bolton By Bowland

Kristine

We house sat for Kristine and Josh over a long weekend and had a wonderful time looking after their lovely pets, and exploring the town.

Max and Strike are affectionate and friendly, and easy to care for.  We already miss them!  The cats do their own thing for the most part, and come and go as they please.

The house is very comfortable and in a great location, just a short walk into town or to the beach.  We really appreciated having use of the bikes, and enjoyed riding around and exploring.

We would absolutely recommend them, without reserve.

Hillary

This was my ninth house sit and my new husband's first. It was an excellent introduction for him to the wonderful world of house sitting - a beautiful home in a fantastic location with two easy, affectionate cats. We thoroughly enjoyed the neighborhood with its many shops, restaurants and pubs plus easy access to London Central on the Underground. No car needed. The homeowner's written instructions were helpful and clear. She was also very responsive by text message to minor questions that came up during our 2-week stay. Best of all, the cats are very cuddly and lovable. A pleasure to care for.

Evelyn & Jeff

We had a wonderful time at Evelyn and Jeff's apartment! It's really nice, and it's in a beautiful area close to a subway stop. You can walk to a lot of great restaurants and grocery stores. Luna and Cal are such adorable pets! Taking care of them was really easy and fun. Thank you!

Aurore

Lovely home and location. Aurore is very responsive and easy to communicate with. 

Chaplin is very chill and easy going to take care of. Gives plenty of cuddles once he has some time to warm up to you (doesn’t take long). 

Would highly recommend this sit and would love to do it again.

Susana

At first, Susana was very welcoming and made sure that I had everything I needed and wanted to make sure I had a comfortable stay with the kitties. She was very responsive during the sit as well. The cats are lovely and the sit was nice.  She really did try hard and I can commend her for that. I felt very supported the whole time.

However, Susana's behavior the day she returned and following days was quite suspicious and unreasonable. 

the day I arrived to her house, Susana showed me some things around the house including some already pre-existing problems with the front door. She explained that I could not close the door without slamming it hard. I must go out in the hall, insert the key in the keyhole and turn it, and then fully close the door. I did this every time. A very easy process. easy peasy.

During the sit, Susana messaged me that she has a handyman coming to fix a screen window and wanted to schedule a time where I would be home to let him in the apartment. Of course, I accommodated and let the handyman in, he fixed the screen window. I asked the handyman to show me how the screen window works in case there are problems in the future or anything happens, or if he needs to come back and fix it again. He showed me how the screen window works, and that was that, finished. He was in a hurry and rushed out the door and ended up slamming the door. I was very nervous because I was already informed NOT to do this. However, the handyman moved too quickly and I could not stop him. Immediately, I checked the door, and it was fine, no problems, no issues. Everything was well and I was very relieved.

Susana returned in the early morning on Sunday, July 23rd at 9:00am (also, Spanish voting day) at 9:00am. I told her my bus leaving Valencia was at 10:00am, so I would have to leave at 9:30am. Susana arrived and spent a few minutes with the cats and immediately told me that the cats were very calm and seemed like they were well taken care of and cuddled with and very happy. She examined the house and did not mention any criticisms about the cleanliness of the house. We walked over to the window and just briefly talked about the window, I just reiterated that the process was easy with the handyman, that he came and fixed the screen window and then showed me how to open and close the screen window, (NOT the sash/pully system with the metal shutters - ONLY THE SCREEN WINDOW)....I wanted to confirm that the handyman ACTUALLY fixed the screen window and did his job. Then he left. that was all. 

As I was about to leave to catch my bus from the Valencia bus station, Susana opened the front door, then started moving it back and forth very fast, multiple times. She then exclaimed, "what is that noise!?, what is that noise!?". I heard a creaking noise from the hinge. I said, "Oh, Maybe that's the hinge, it sounds like it's squeaking, I didn't notice it before, but maybe it just need a spray of oil perhaps?". She then began to move the door back and forth again and again, many times, very fast. The door eventually started to rub against the floor. And she mentioned that, "oh, this is new, what is going on with the door?!". 

I was in shock as it was quite obvious that she kept messing with the door until it started creating problems. I have also never experienced someone who was so shocked to hear a door hinge creak. This is quite common all around the world, because....time passes...obviously....and things naturally need to be attended to at random times. It was quite uncomfortable, as it would appear rude to tell her that she just messed with her own door so much right now, that now it is having issues. It appeared, and I am only assuming, that she wanted to make it seem like I damaged the door while I was in her house. But this is only an assumption based on her actions and words.

I could not engage with this, because I had to catch my bus and there was nothing I could do about a squeaky hinge from normal wear and tear. She gave me a weird look as I left and I didn't know what to tell her, except the truth. So I just left to catch my bus.

The next day Susana messaged me and told me that the screen window is broken, along with the sash/pully mechanism to open and close the metal shutters. I told her that this is shocking because the handyman came to fix the screen door or whatever else he needed to. I was not a part of the discussion between Susana and the handyman, it was not my place to know all of the details. I did not touch the shutters that day, nor any day for that matter. I left the windows open the entire time that I was in the house because we were experiencing a heatwave and I wanted air in the house at all times. She then sent me very aggressive messages telling me "That doesn't make sense!!!" (verbatim) and  attempted to try and explain mechanisms of physics and wind in a condescending way, as if I were a child. She insinuated that I was lying, it was really quite shocking and offensive.

Because I was surprised from all of this, I had questions for her to try and understand what could have went wrong, where things could have went wrong, or where things are exactly broken. However, Instead of directly, and calmly explaining  things clearly to me, she sent aggressive messages, blaming me for everything, while I was just trying to get information and understand what truly happened. I question Susana's motives because of this exact behavior.

I told her the truth, and that's all I have to go on. I have never experienced this kind of behavior from a pet owner before.

I do not know where or when the handyman's responsibility was "magically" shifted to me. This was totally unheard of in all my time as a petsitter. I have never experienced this type of blame when a handyman did all the work in the first place. She refused to discuss the handyman and just kept telling me that I broke it. When I asked her HOW the screen window and sash/pully apparatus are broken, she did not explain and only sent me a picture of the pully system/sash apparatus and then just kept repeating to me that "it is broken". But with only a picture with no visible damage - nor did she send a video to me showing me HOW it is broken.

Susana also went on to tell me that one of the vacuum cleaner was not working. She has two vacuum cleaners. One very NEW vacuum cleaner that is red-colored that hangs on the wall of the kitchen. It is very clean and very new. Susana also has a small hand-held blue and gray-colored vacuum cleaner for vacuuming small places. This vacuum cleaner was very old as the color was faded and there were small cobwebs all over the handle and inside the suction part of the vacuum. It was very obvious that the it very old. I do not know, but I would guess it is about 10 years old at least, but this is just speculation. I used both vacuum cleaners the night before Susana returned. In her text messages she told me the small vacuum cleaner isn't working. I told here that I used it the night before in order to vacuum the apartment before she returned. So, hearing that one of her things...a very old thing.... suddenly broke......yet again...was another surprise to me. She kept sending aggressive and accusatory messages and just accusing me of breaking things and not telling her, all the while, I just continued to ask her questions to better understand what could have went wrong.  

I had no choice but to diffuse the tension and just say OK, if I was the last person to use the vacuum, and today it doesn't work, allegedly, suddenly, then I guess it doesn't work and I guess I have to take responsibility. 

Susana already knows that if something broke, that I would tell her. For example, I accidentally dropped a glass carafe and it broke. I told her immediately, and that I went to the store and bought a new one right after. I explained this to her, because when she returns, she will see a brand new water carafe  "out of thin air", and this is the reason. 

Susana demanded that I pay her money for the window that the handyman allegedly fixed, or didn't fix, also money for the vacuum, that "magically" broke, suddenly, now that I left the apartment AND the dishwashing liquid that I forgot to replace as I finished washing the dishes very late, when all the supermarkets were closed, at 1am before she arrived Sunday morning at 9:00am. I accept that I could have been more organized to foresee this timing issue, along with it being Sunday, and a national voting day, but I did not have time to go to the store and get more dish washing liquid and I didn't think that I would run out right before arrived. I apologized again.

She kept insinuating that I was lying, and telling me that I broke the vacuum and many things in the house that "just so happened" to already have pre-existing issues, or were things that were already very old. 

I just decided to go ahead with it, even though I did not feel that it was just or fair. I decided to take the high road and give her money since I had no way of really proving anything, it was her word against mine. I just apologized for the things that I thought should be apologized for and I gave her information and context about the dishwashing liquid and the old hand-held vacuum cleaner so she knows that I did not mean any disrespect to her if things weren't working. 

However, from her behavior, and the way that she ignored the fact that the screen window was the handyman's responsibility, and not mine, and purposefully messed with the front door RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. I have no choice but to ASSUME that I was taken advantage of in order to pay for the repairs that were already needed in her apartment. Susana's aggressive messages, condescending attitude and unwillingness to discuss, or consider the handyman in this situation at all, made it all too strange. Her bullying behavior did not make sense. I cannot accept this kind of behavior and will not be belittled like this for anyone when I know I do good work and truly care well for animals and take care of people's homes exceptionally.

I know that this was Susana's first house sitting experience. However, I think her actions and demands after the petsit were very unreasonable. I have full videos of the house before I left and our full conversation afterwards in my phone, including pictures of the carafe that I broke and replaced. I have nothing to hide as the house was spotless when she arrived. I sent her money when she demanded it, although everything that she accused me of breaking, already had pre-existing conditions, or needed repairs.... which made it quite suspicious.

this left a very sour taste in my mouth and it ended up being a really bad and unreasonable experience. Because of this, I would be hesitant to house sit for Susana because who knows what amount of money she will demand from future sitters for for needed repairs in her home. From people who are known to be trusted and great house/pet sitters.

Karen

Tenzing is a wonderful cat and we thoroughly enjoyed cat sitting for Karen. The house is lovely and comfortable, with a beautiful garden and pool. Three bakeries in walking distance and a beautiful river at the bottom of the garden. 
For those of you who love cats, there is now a cat cafe in Limoges, which isn’t too far from the house.