Confessions of a cat sitter

Confessions of a cat sitter

I have a new career.

I am now a Professional House Sitter/Professional Cat Sitter/Professional Animal Sitter.

(Also, look at that goddamned cat. That cat is a BADASS cat and he’s sick of your crap.)

On moving back to St. John’s, I decided I wasn’t ready to start renting again. And by that I mean I was too broke after living in Europe for a year to even pay rent, and the only other option was to move in with my parents in rural Newfoundland and eat tinned Vienna sausages for the rest of my life.

(Nothing against tinned Vienna sausage, actually. It’s just excessive.)

I’ve done the housesitting gig in the past, but this time around I’m doing it for three months straight for two different people. Altogether that’s two dogs and five cats. It’s a good thing I love snuggles.

If you wonder what your house or pet sitter is up to while you’re away, this is it.

I’ve secretly thought about abducting your animals

I get attached to creatures and places really easily, which not only makes an awful travel writer but also an awful animal sitter.

Right now I’m taking care of a polydactyl ginger cat and a long-haired old man cat. The long-haired old man cat is obsessed with me and follows me around the apartment and gently tries to knead my bosom whenever I’m sitting down reading a book. Pervy bastard. The polydactyl ginger likes to lick everything and then he turns his back on me like he doesn’t care that I’m in the same room with him but he TOTALLY wants my attention.

I love them. I want to keep them.

I worry that you’ll judge me over my Netflix preferences

Previous home owners have set up my own personal account on their Netflix while I’m taking over. I read a metric shit ton of books all the time, and my Feedly is stuffed with publications, but when it comes to movies and television…I literally only watch trash. The trashiest trash. Stuff so trashy, I lose five IQ points every time I watch.

I don’t know. At the end of the day, my brainpower is limited. I wanna turn off my thoughts and watch some horrible romantic comedies featuring J-Lo or Sandra Bullock. And oh my god, Matilda is now on Netflix. And also, I’m afraid of someone breaking into the apartment and strangling me in my sleep, so I tend to keep trashy movies on low volume while I sleep…because if someone DOES break into the apartment, I don’t want to know about it until they’re right up in my face. Obviously.

My own apartment would never be this clean

I also worry obsessively over keeping things in order. I vacuum and clean daily. I keep a pristine bathroom.

It’s all an illusion. Your floors are so clean, you could eat your dinner off them. But if you were to ever walk into my bedroom at my own place, you’d fall into a pit of stray clothes and it would take you YEARS to claw your way back out.

I once found a pair of MOULDY SHOES under some clothes. I wish I were joking.

(Having said that, I’m still obsessive over clean dishes and bathrooms. And kitty litter boxes. Recently I bought some scented plug-ins for the first time in my life, thus propelling me at an astonishing speed into adulthood. I even contemplated buying a $150 diffuser, for one hot second.)

I sneakily add my own personal touches

My sense of style wavers somewhere between bubblegum pop and indie pretentious hippie girl. I love colour; LOVE colour. My house one day will be a gay pride rainbow. I collect pretty images and postcards, usually with floral patterns and turquoise backgrounds. I travel with a couple of these images, and even a few photographs from photographer friends.

Then I scatter these things around your apartment, because I like looking at them. They give me comfort. Sometimes I’ll even move your furniture around slightly. I like lots of light when I’m working. For someone with no fixed address, I am inherently obsessed with making a home wherever I go.

It’s like I’m nesting, except I’m not pregnant and I have no mate prospects so I guess it’s just freakishness.

I surreptitiously drop little pieces of me wherever I go — an earring here, a stray make-up palette there. You’ll find them and think of me, and say, gee! She was a great house sitter. And then one day when I’m a broke beggar living on the street you’ll at least occasionally invite me in for a meal. Because that is indeed how my brain works.

 

 

  • August 05 2016
    LC

    Speaking of trashy TV, there’s this new British “dating” show called “Naked Attraction” where 5 contests stand in the nuddy in coloured boxes and have themselves revealed bits by bits (boom, boom) to a member of the opposite sex. That person then has to rate them based on how attractive they find their bottom/breasts/full-frontal privates, before picking someone to go on a date with, when their faces are revealed. I watched it in its entirety last night and then felt dirty with both myself and in general. It was a low point.
    LC recently posted…12,300 Steps Around Uluru

    • August 11 2016
      Candice

      HAHAHA WHAT?! I MUST find this.

    • August 11 2016
      Candice

      Wait, can you see the nudity as a viewer too?

  • August 07 2016

    Congrats on the new title! You sound like a great pet sitter to me. I wish you lived closer (I don’t live in the US, so it’s a safe bet to assume you don’t ;) ). A good cat sitter is invaluable and honestly, I couldn’t care less what he or she watch on Netflix (besides, I like watching trash tv too!)
    Anne recently posted…How to keep a cat off the couch or any other surface

    • August 11 2016
      Candice

      Hahaha hey, if I’m ever in the area, I’ll let you know!

  • August 08 2016
    Shy

    Pickles, cheese, and wieners (or weenbags as I affectionately call them) for life!!

    • August 11 2016
      Candice

      Hahahahaha yes!

  • August 09 2016

    MATILDA IS NOW ON NETFLIX?! I swear I was paying attention until I read that. I’m glad that I’m not the only one who watches crap on Netflix. Although, Matilda is a gem.

    Also, I recently bought an e-book about housesitting and would love to try it when I’m in the UK next year.
    Lauren Meshkin @BonVoyageLauren recently posted…The Library Hotel Collection – My Favorite NYC Hotels!

    • August 11 2016
      Candice

      IT IS! I’ve watched it twice :-/

  • August 23 2016

    I love this. My boyfriend loves vienna sausages. This is a win/win post for us.
    Mel Hattie recently posted…How We Celebrated the Tragically Hip

  • September 12 2016

    hahahaha yes! I did some housesitting earlier this year and I nearly put someone’s cat in my luggage when I left. Also – I’m so much cleaner in someone else’s house. I feel like the animals are judging me.

    • September 13 2016
      Candice

      Hahaha I know! I’m so aware of the mess I make!

  • July 15 2019

    Ha-ha! Insightful! Love this article. It’s well-written!
    BCP Veterinary Pharmacy recently posted…REFILL THE EASY WAY!

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