Dog Sitters in Lyons, IL

Jeremy

As always Trish was just lovely in all respects. Ivy, our spaniel, adores her and we know that if we go away leaving Trish in charge all will be well. Can't really say anymore, Trish will be welcome anytime!

Victoria Anne

Mandy and Zeke are the perfect house-guests and pet-sitters. They are very self-sufficient, tidy, and communicative. Their reliability allowed us to really enjoy our vacation away from our home and dogs. I appreciated the daily pictures and updates about anything out of the ordinary that happened. They also made the transition of care seamless.  Our dogs normally are very anxious when we travel/ with changes in their routine. When we came home, it was like no time had passed and they were incredibly calm.  They were in great care while we were away. In sum, they are very responsible and trustworthy people.

Nicole & Kyle

Natalie was great!! Very communicative and clean! This was my first time using a sitter and leaving our puppy with a sitter. All of it was very nerve racking but she kept us updated and took such great care of all animals! She was very flexible with timing of us getting home and the stay which made everything even easier! Thank you Natalie for taking such great care of our pets!!

Jenn

So there’s a lot to unpack in this Sit. First of all I 100 % percent do not recommend this sit to any house sitter. 

In Brief:

* I was the 3rd sitter in the duration of this sit.  The previous THS sitter had left after one night
* I slept outside in a tent every night as it was impossible to sleep inside
* You are not allowed the windows of the small one bedroom apartment open more than a couple of inches so the apartment is extremely stuffy with no air flow.
* The cats are two feral street cats from Asia and are not used to being caged up inside every day.
* I averaged 3 hours sleep each night and my physical and mental state was compromised during the duration of this 12 day sit



I was called in an emergency, as the previous sitter had left after one night after the homeowner had left for overseas. The reason being was at the cats were too  noisy. This was a complete understatement.

Essentially, Gladys and Pippi are two feral cats that the homeowner has brought over from the streets in Asia and they now live in a cramped one bedroom apartment in the city. 

The cats are sweet, we all love cats. However, these cats do not love being caged up inside. 

The meowing was incessant to the point it was almost 24 hours. I could not work, and I could not sleep. Some earplugs were
 left for me but those did not help. I ended up sleeping outside in my tent. Even being outside in the tent I could still hear the meowing and fighting inside the apartment. 

Jenn’s apartment is on the ground floor and so there is a concrete patio where I was able to set up the tent.  
I lasted the entire sit on  approximately three hours of sleep per night. During the day the cats are still meowing and my work suffered. At one stage I was doing a zoom meeting and had to actually stop the meeting and reschedule it. 

The other thing is that you are not allowed the windows open to let fresh air in while the cats are inside. You are only allowed to open them a couple of inches. Which meant the inside of the apartment was extremely stuffy. Bear in mind this is a very small one bedroom apartment.  The patio is not fenced in a way which would contain the cats.  

I was able to eventually let the cats out once they got used to me. They would go out for approximately two or three hours and then I would bring them in again. The little one especially hated being locked inside. 

This was a huge inconvenience for me, as I had specifically put those two weeks aside to get some serious work done. At one stage it took me three hours to find the smaller cat walking around the streets with the tracker   

I found her and she ran away. I then found that it was easier just to stay in the apartment and the cats would eventually return. Which they did, but it was always within four hours. The other thing the cats would fight at night and one morning the smaller cat had a scratch on her eye from the larger cat.

I am a qualified wilderness first aider (I’ve actually just written a book open Health and Safety in the Wilderness) and applied some antibiotic cream from the medicine cabinet it was healing nicely, and I could see no point in taking it further. It was a scratch. Furthermore, the homeowner was not contactable and it made it quite clear that she was not online for the next few days.  I was hoping to discuss this on her return.  I did not let the little cat outside again in case the scratch got infected.

Now we will talk about the homeowner. I have never dealt with someone who made me feel so disrespected as Jenn. At one stage I asked her not to speak to me that way, and she replied that it was just in her nature. But I’m sorry this is no excuse.  

I was sitting in the apartment waiting for Pippi to come home on the last day, and she texted me from the airport and tells me that she does not want me there when she returns. 

Wow. I’ve just spent 10 days in her house looking after her cats and she doesn’t even want to say hello. I advised her Pippi was not yet at home, and then it was my duty to stay in the apartment until she came home. Jenn replied that she was getting an Uber and she was fine with me leaving because she did not want me there when she returned.  

I waited until exactly five minutes before the Uber was to arrive and then I left.  

When Jenn got back, she reported that I had left the house wide open which was incorrect. I had locked the door and the key was under the planter as requested. She had also rung up TrustedHousesitters to complain that Pippi was missing when she arrived home, even though I had told her I was staying to wait for Pippi to  return - and she had requested I leave, and keep the gate propped open.

She also sent me a barrage of text messages complaining of anything she could think of.  She also reported that Pippi’s collar was no longer on her neck. Pippi’a collar was around her neck that morning as I had set the tracker.  As I mentioned before, these are two street cats. 

The bottom line is with my experience with TrustedHousesitters with 15 five stars under my belt. I think I’m qualified to say that these cats and this homeowner are not suited to TrustedHousesitters. This is a win-win situation for both the homeowners and the housesitters and at all times I felt treated with total rudeness and disrespect.