Pet sitting and home visits in Penarth, Sully and Dinas Powys since 2015, run by a former veterinary nurse. Fed at their times in their own house, the litter and the hutches done, the post off the mat, and a photo and a note after every visit. Prices on the website.
Visits
01
Fed at their usual times, water changed, litter tray scooped, a brush and a lap if they want one, the post picked up and the curtains moved. £14 a visit, £26 for two in a day, up to three cats from the same home.
£14 a visit, £26 for two visits in a day.
02
A thirty-minute visit with a walk round the block and a feed, or an hour with a proper walk along the seafront or up to the Dingle, for a dog who copes with a day on its own but needs company and a lead in the middle of it. £16 or £24.
£16 for thirty minutes with a short walk, £24 for an hour with a proper one.
03
Rabbits and guinea pigs fed and their hutches cleaned, chickens let out and shut in, fish and reptiles fed and tanks checked, hamsters and birds seen to. £12 a visit, and Elin, who keeps most of these herself, does the round.
£12 a visit for one hutch, run, coop or tank, £16 for a menagerie.
04
For the dog that cannot be alone at night, the cat that needs tablets at bedtime, or the house you would rather was not empty: one of us arrives at seven, does the evening routine, sleeps in the spare room and leaves at eight after the morning one. £55 a night, a daytime visit on top if the dog needs it.
£55 a night, 7pm to 8am, evening and morning routines included.
05
Visits for the pets that need more than a bowl: tablets hidden or given by hand, eye and ear drops, insulin by injection, prescription diets weighed out, a sling walk for the arthritic dog, and a note that records every dose. The visit price, plus £4 for an injection.
The normal visit price.
06
Every pet visit looks after the house as well, at no charge. For a house with no animals, a check visit does the post, the plants, the bins, the heating, a walk through every room and a photo to say all is well. £10, and we hold the key for the plumber if the worst happens.
Included in every pet visit.
Prices
£14 a visit
Fed, tray scooped, company, the house checked. Two in a day £26.
£16 a visit
A walk round the block, a feed, water, the garden checked.
£24 a visit
A proper walk: the seafront, the Dingle, Cosmeston by van.
£12 a visit
Rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, fish, reptiles, birds. A menagerie £16.
£55 a night
A sitter sleeps in, evening and morning routines included.
£10 a visit
Post, plants, bins, lights and a walk through every room.
Up to 3 pets from the same home on one visit price. Injections £4 a visit, bank holidays +£8. VAT included; the first visit and key holding are free.
How we work
Food, times, the window they sit in, the word you use for the garden. We write it down at the first visit and follow it, and the note tells you we did.
A visit is half an hour in the house, not five minutes and a bowl on the floor. Feeding, cleaning, company and a check round before we go.
Post off the mat, bins out on the day, plants watered, curtains moved, lights on a different pattern. Included in every visit; we do not charge extra for being sensible.
Tablets, drops, insulin by injection, special diets, a cat who hides for two days. We have done all of it, and we ring you rather than guess.
Overnight stays
A dog that howls, a puppy, a cat on bedtime insulin, a very old dog who needs letting out at two: one of us arrives at seven, does the evening routine, sleeps in the spare room and leaves at eight after the morning one. The lights go on, the car sits on the drive, and the note is on the kitchen table.
A visit
ArrivalCarys
Keys live in your safe or ours, labelled with a number. The card on the step is the note we leave on the table at the end: what was eaten, what the tray held, how they seemed.
FeedingCarys
Wet and dry as you leave it, measured as you measure it. The chart on the fridge is yours; we photograph it at the first visit so nothing is remembered wrongly.
Dog visitsMark
Round the block on a thirty-minute visit, the seafront or the Dingle on the hour. Alone or with the housemate, never in a group.
Reviews
Two cats, one of whom hides from everyone. Carys sat on the kitchen floor on day one and by day three he was on her lap in the photo. Two weeks away and we came home to clean trays, a tidy pile of post and a note that made us laugh.
Fourteen-year-old springer, back legs going, on four tablets. Mark did the hour visit every day for ten days with a sling for the garden steps, and the note recorded every dose. He rang us once because she had not eaten, which is exactly what we wanted.
Three rabbits and six chickens for a week in August. Elin found flystrike starting on one of the rabbits on day two, caught it early, took him to the vet and sent us the photos and the bill. He is fine. I do not want to think about the alternative.
Areas
The base is Carys's house on Plymouth Road, not an office, so the first visit happens at yours. Penarth itself is walked or cycled; Cogan, Llandough, Sully and Dinas Powys are on the car rounds. We stop at Barry and the Bay because a visit is thirty minutes in the house and the drive would come out of it.
A free first visit at your house, up to forty-five minutes: we meet the animals, go through the feeding, the medication and the house, photograph the charts and the labels, fill in the registration form and take a key. Then book the dates. Repeat bookings are a message.
A cat visit is £14, two in a day £26, a dog visit £16 or £24 for the hour, small animals £12, an overnight £55, an empty-house check £10. Up to three pets from the same home on one price. Injections £4, bank holidays £8. The visit planner on the prices page works out your trip.
One of three people, who you meet first: Carys, Mark or Elin, matched to the animal. The same sitter does the whole booking. All three are DBS checked, insured and pet first-aid trained, and the certificates are on the table at the first visit.
A photo and a note after every visit, sent before we have locked the door: eaten, drunk, tray, mood, anything odd. On a longer booking you get a message if anything changes, and a call, not a note, if something is wrong.
Held in a coded safe at Plymouth Road, labelled with a number and never an address, covered by our insurance, and returned within two days of the booking ending unless you ask us to keep them for next time, which most people do.
Up to forty-five minutes at your house: we meet the animals, go through the feeding, the medication and the house, photograph the charts and take a key. Message or ring, or use the form, and Carys replies within the day.
