Ziggy, Springer Spaniel, comes to Stay - Pet Sitter Shortlands

On Wednesday 12th August, I picked Ziggy up from Greenwich and brought him home. Ziggy had only been in a car a few times, so my husband sat in the back with him incase he got a bit upset.

Ziggy stayed with us from Wednesday to Sunday afternoon. We had a lovely time with him, taking him for walks over Beckenham Place Park with my friend and her Spaniels. It just so happened that that week my friend was also looking after a Bassett Hound for a friend of hers, so Ziggy had 3 new friends.

Ziggy didnt have a garden at home so it was a new experience for him to be able to run in and out whenever he wanted and he really enjoyed that.

I was told by his owner that he loved playing fetch with his ball and that's what we did most of the time. I noticed though that Ziggy wasnt used to the competition when the other dogs ran after the ball and he gave up as soon as he could see he wasnt going to get there first.



Thats Ziggy over the park with Cooper and Dudley and my two daughters..... and in our garden.










And here's Ziggy with Rigsby, a labrador that I walk twice a week.

We were very sorry to say goodbye to Ziggy and we are all hoping he becomes a regular boarder with us.

Cat Sitter - Dog Walker - Shortlands, Bromley

This is the Purr-fect Kitty Hall of Fame for July . (See below for more pictures)

The little daschund is called Harley and I've been looking after him for a few months now. At first he wasn't fully innoculated so had to be kept in but I'm now able to take him for a short walk and he tells me exactly when he's had enough by going on strike and sitting down refusing to walk anymore. On the first walk he walked happily by my side for about 10 minutes and then had to be carried home. As soon as he got home he was full of energy again.

Lenny the labradoodle gets an hour walk over Beckenham Place Park and loves every minute of it. He could go on forever!

Noah and Marley are the two cats having their lunch. I've looked after them quite a few times now and they are gorgeous. They are very happy, contented cats and always a pleasure to sit.

A new one for me is the white cat called Louis and her companion Elly (the black one below). They are oldies at 12 years old. They both love a good brush and Louis moults like mad. I come away covered in fur. I'll never learn - why do I always wear dark colours when I'm sitting a white cat?









The Siamese cat is called Bobbie and the tabby and white cat is called Israel. Ive looked after them twice now and I always mix up their names because to me the Siamese looks like Israel and the tabby looks like Bobbie. So I apologise to their owners. Bobbie is very reserved and regal and allows me the pleasure of stroking her and Israel just hates it if he doesnt get all the attention.

The cat laying on the red rug is a very posh cat who lives in Holland Park. Her name is Mish Mish. I looked after her as a favour to my sister who was called out of the country at short notice. My sister is a pet sitter in Notting Hill. Mish Mish was a bit jumpy but soon got used to me and we got on like a house on fire. I enjoyed my evening visit to Mish Mish and combined it with walks in Holland Park and visits to Portobello market.











I had the great pleasure in July to look after two sets of kittens. In the first picture we have Betty and Geoffrey and in the second picture we have Dexter and Coco. The goldfish lived with Dexter and Coco. Betty and Geoffrey lived with two older cats whose noses had been put right out of joint and I hardly ever saw them unfortunately. There names were Muffin and Doughnut :) The kittens were adorable and loved attention, which was great for me but it was very difficult to leave them. I managed to fit in a few extra visits to Dexter and Coco because they lived down my road, just so they didn't feel too lonely.

So all in all I really enjoyed myself in July. This really is a great job and Im looking forward in August to a new dog who is going to join the Purr-fect Kitty family. His name is Rigsby (I love that name) and he's a huge black labrador. Look out for pics of Rigsby and all the other lovely pets I have booked in.

Enjoy the rest of the summer :)

Pet Sitting in June

I hope you're all enjoying this lovely weather and have time to enjoy the sunshine. I've finally got a day off, so I thought I'd post some pictures of my most recent pet sits.

I've just finished a magnificent pet sit. I was looking after three cats, Tigger, Misty and Loulou and 5 geckos - 3 Leopard, 2 Cresties and one Chinese cave gecko. The Leopard geckos were very active every morning and eager to eat their live crickets. The Cresties didnt seem to move and I was very pleased every time I saw an eye blink. The crickets were disappearing so I knew there was no need for concern. I never saw the Chinese cave gecko, but I had been warned about that. The cats were lovely. Tigger had no teeth and I had to make sure she had some food everyday and that it wasn't all scoffed by Loulou, her massive housemate. Misty was a little nervous and didn't really come out of her shell.

Below you can see a picture of lovely Lenny, a Labradoodle puppy I have been looking after for the past 4 weeks.
When I started visiting Lenny he hadn't had all of his injections and so could only go out into the communal gardens on a lead. Now, fully innoculated I can take him out on short walks and let him off the lead in the communal garden. That is a bit nervewracking but I'm gradually getting used to it. He is a lovely dog and growing rapidly. I actually notice a difference in him from week to week.
I will regularly post a picture of Lenny so you can track his progress.


Llittle Fudge is a lovely tortoishell who likes to charge around in a frenzy. She loves jumping on my lap for a little tlc as soon as I arrive. Thats usually followed by a mad spell and as you can see in the picture she likes drinking from the tap, but can't quite work out how to stop getting her ears wet.


Bookings recently have gone mad and Im looking forward to a very busy summer. I've just taken a booking for another puppy called Harley, so expect to see some pictures of him towards the middle of the summer.

I'm very lucky that a friend of mine, a retired pet sitter, is helping me out during the busy periods for the rest of this year and I, in return, will be boarding his cat for three months while he takes a cruise. Luckily he doesn't go until after Christmas, so bad luck Mike it looks like you'll be very busy on Christmas Day. I'm such a slave driver!!

Recent Pet Sits

This is a lovely picture of Harley and Marley. The two cats I mentioned in my first post. Harley's the stripey one. He was so nervous he wouldn't come near me. I was told not to approach him in the garden and I was quite apprehensive when I started the cat sit. After a few days Harley changed completely and really took to me. I cat sat again a few weeks ago and Harley was like a different cat. He was confident and approached me immediately, rubbing his head around my feet and was totally at ease. I couldn't believe my eyes. And we musn't forget Marley. Friendly from the start and loved jumping up on my lap for some attention. On my second visit of the day they would alway jump in their favourite chair and curl up like this. Adorable!
Another adorable cat, Seibei. Seibei lives with two other moggies, Nero, a long legged black cat and Yuki, a small tortoiseshell. I finish cat sitting for them tomorrow and I'm really going to miss them. Seibei loved being groomed, which was lucky, because it had to be done every day and took quite a long time. Nero didnt like all the attention Seibei got during grooming and would try and nuzzle her out of the way. The cat equivalent of sibling rivalry. Yuki would just go about her own thing and leave the boys to it!


And then there was George and Monty. Two gorgeous Bengals. I looked after George and Monty for two weeks and visited them twice a day. They were the most vocal cats I've ever looked after and we had long conversations. They really missed their mummy and I'm sure she got a great welcome when she came home from her holiday, although she secretely confessed she had almost adopted some cats while she was away. Your secrets safe with me :)

Bromley Pet Sitter - Purr-fect Kitty

Well the Easter weekend is now behind us and I'm busy taking bookings for the May Bank Holiday.

I've had some very enjoyable bookings lately and a very challenging one as well. Winston, the half Bengal cat, absolutely adorable and full of energy, is very bored being a house cat and the last time I looked after him I was shocked at how much pent up frustration he had. As I approached the front door I could hear him charging from one room to the other. I described him as a runaway train. On the last day of the cat sit he was stalking me from one room to the other nipping at my ankles. I discussed his behaviour with his owner and she has decided to let Winston out while she is at work and hopefully things will improve with him. I'll let you know after Ive sat him again.

I was very sad to say goodbye to two lovely cats in Crystal Palace. One was a Siamese with the most beautiful blue eyes, Bobbie and the other, her little mate, Israel. They were so cute and one of the nicest moments was when Israel spotted a squirrel in the garden and went all hunter like. Im sure if the back door had been open she would have chased that squirrel all over the garden.

I've also been looking after two cats in Bromley Common called Harley and Marley. Ive looked after them for two weeks now and Ive grown very attached to them. Ive been visiting them twice a day and they really look forward to me coming. What was really nice was that Harley was very nervous of me in the beginning but now he has really come round and loves nothing more than jumping on my lap and being stroked.

Another nervous moggie I won round was a cat called Colin in Penge. Luckily this time it only took a couple of visits and he was allowing me to stroke him.

Its so nice when a nervous cat takes to you and very rewarding.

Come back often to view my blog, I usually update after every holiday, to get a glimpse into the life of a pet sitter.

xx