FAQs

Although we’re a small team, we manage to cover most of South London.
See areas and postcodes below as well as the map that shows where each pet sitter lives.

AREAS POSTCODES

• Balham SW12
• Streatham SW16
• Clapham SW4
• Tooting SW17
• Furzedown SW17
• Wandsworth SW18
• Tulse Hill SW2
• Herne Hill SE24
• Gipsy Hill SE19
• East Dulwich SE22
• West Dulwich SE21
• Brixton SW9
• Norbury SW16
• Earlsfield SW18
• Southfields SW18
• Wimbledon Village SW19
• Wimbledon SW19
• South Wimbledon SW19
• Putney SW15
• Merton Park SW19
• Colliers Wood SW19
• Dog Kennel Hill SE22
• Nunhead SE15
• Peckham SE15
• Camberwell SE5
• Forest Hill SE23
• Brockley SE4
• West Norwood SE27
• Paxton Green SE21
• South Norwood SE25
• Upper Norwood SE19
• Mitcham CR4
• Selsden CR2
• Addington CR0
• Shirley CR0
• Sanderstead CR0
• South Croydon CR2
• West Wickham BR4
• South Croydon CR2
• Purley CR8
• Selhurst SE25

Yes. Every member of the Love Cats team has their own public liability insurance and have an up-to-date DBS check.

There are no formal qualifications for pet sitting but besides a love for cats (and other animals) plus a desire to spend lots of time with them, several members of the Love Cats team have spent years volunteering at large animal rescue centres (including Battersea cats home), caring for and socialising cats as well as learning to recognise unusual behaviour or unwell animals.

In addition, we count amongst our lovely team, a veterinary nursing assistant and someone with an MSc in Clinical Animal Behaviour.

Absolutely! We enjoy letting you know how your pet’s getting on without you.
We will send regular updates and photos of your beloved pet (every day, if that’s what you want) via whatever method you’ve agreed with your sitter. This can be by text, by email, Whatsapp or via our super shiny new app (run by ‘Time to Pet’).

This Time to Pet app can be downloaded for free from the App Store (Apple) or Google Play (Android) – as well as being able to keep in touch with your pet sitter (and/or Love Cats HQ) when you’re away, the app allows you to update your account, make/change bookings and even pay by card.

You’ll be introduced to this system and app when you register. Here’s some more information about its benefits… Time To Pet – Pet Sitting Software

Visits last 20-30 minutes (and often longer) – this depends on the needs and personality of your cat. One of the great things about cat sitting is that all cats are different and want different things from us – some want to sit on laps and purr and be cuddled, some want to eat-and-run, some are strictly indoor cats and others love the outside.

We’ll get to know your cat and build up a relationship with them wherever possible – we have seen intensely shy cats who, over time, have ended up as lap cats – it’s all about understanding their needs and letting them decide.

We will agree whether you require a morning visit, an afternoon or evening visit (or both).
The visits will be between 9.00 a.m. and 7.00 p.m. – if you require specific times before or after these times, it will incur a 50% surcharge.

We regularly see cats who need to receive medicine, either orally (via food or otherwise) or need injections. All Love Cats pet sitters are comfortable administering medicine and full notes will be taken at the time of registration as well as updated prior to visits.

We’re pleased to say that this very rarely happens but we always look for signs that your pet looks or is behaving differently to the norm.
Firstly, we would contact you and describe the problem or symptoms. If you were concerned, we would transport your pet to the vet, using the carry case that we will have asked you to leave out for emergencies.

If we were completely unable to contact you, we would use our judgement as to the seriousness of the situation and take them to your vet (or the emergency vet, if out of hours) if we felt it necessary. We would also call in other members of the team to ask their opinion. Essentially, we would treat your pet as we would our own.

The charge for transporting pets to the vet is £25 plus £20 for each subsequent hour of emergency care.

We want to make sure that your pet is as happy as possible while you’re away. We have made thousands of visits to cats and other creatures over the years and have devised this list of things that will help give you peace of mind and ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible.

Check out the Top 10 Tips when leaving your pet at home

Unlike many other pet sitters, we don’t charge for the initial registration (when the initial booking is for 3 days or more – see below).

The registration usually takes 30-40 mins and allows us to complete paperwork/set up your account with Time to Pet, understand what you need us to do for your cat and, importantly, allow your cat to get to know us a little. Unfortunately, if the initial booking is for less than three days, we must charge a registration fee (of £10) … but this will be refunded, following a subsequent booking that takes the total number of visits to three or more.

There is no cancellation charge if the booking is cancelled more than 24 hours prior to the first visit. Within 24 hours of the first visit, we will charge for the cost of that first visit.

Cancellation charges at Christmas differ, as we are always very busy at that time (and book up well in advance of the holidays) – we may have had to turn people away if we are full. We therefore charge 50% of the total booking if the booking is cancelled within two weeks of Christmas Day.

You can pay via BACS (you’ll be given the account details at the time of registration) or by debit card via the secure Time To Pet app that uses the secure card payment service, WePay.

(We have accepted cash and cheques in the past but we’d much prefer to avoid them, if possible).

We ask that payment is made in advance of the first visit. You will receive an invoice for the full amount when the booking is made.

This is completely up to you. There are three options :

1. We’re very happy to keep hold of your keys between bookings – they are held securely, labelled with codes and kept separately from your address details. We therefore have them whenever you request a booking.
2. If you require your keys back between bookings, you can collect them from Love Cats HQ or from your pet sitter when you return.
3. We can return them to you (once you have arrived home) and collect them again the next time. There is a charge for collection (£5) and return (£5) of keys each time.

Please note that we will not post the keys through your door, following the last visit in case your return is delayed and we are then unable to get back in –
find out why