The sitters
Carys was a veterinary nurse for twelve years before she started this from her kitchen table. Mark delivered Penarth's post for twenty and knows every gate that sticks. Elin keeps the animals nobody else will look after. The same one does your whole booking.
Owner. Cats, medication, overnights, the first visits
Veterinary nurse for twelve years at a practice in Cardiff before starting Home and Hound from her kitchen table in 2015. Does every first visit herself, most of the cat round and the medication visits, and half the overnights. Lives on Plymouth Road with two cats and a lurcher, and still gets a tablet into a cat first time.
Dog visits and walks, overnights, the house checks
Joined in 2018 after twenty years as a postman in Penarth, which means he knows every street, every gate that sticks and most of the dogs by name already. Does the dog round, the hour walks to the seafront and the Dingle, the overnights Carys does not, and the house checks. The one who found the burst pipe.
Rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, fish and reptiles
Has kept rabbits, guinea pigs and chickens since she was ten and did animal care at Pencoed College. Joined in 2022 and took the small-animal round, which nobody else would touch: hutches, coops, tanks, vivariums and the flystrike checks. Keeps four guinea pigs and a bearded dragon called Gethin. Does not do overnights.
Checks
Renewed every three years, because we hold house keys and let ourselves into empty homes. The certificate comes to the first visit.
A certified course renewed every three years, and Carys's twelve years of nursing behind all of it. Every car carries a kit and the number of every vet in the Vale.
Public liability, care custody and control, and key and lock cover with a specialist pet-business insurer. The certificate is yours to see.
A new sitter does a month on someone else's round before a key of their own, and the owners are told who is coming.
Cover
The three of us visit each other's homes once a month on purpose, so that if Mark is off with flu, Carys at your door is not a stranger. You are told who is covering, by name, before the visit, and the note still comes. Elin does not do overnights, so an overnight booking is always Carys or Mark.
Book a first visitUp 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.