Cat sitting: a home visit or boarding
Most cats cope badly with a new territory. The safest cat sitting is a home visit: the sitter comes to you for the bowl, the litter, a little play, and checks windows and plants. Boarding at the sitter’s home makes sense if the flat will be empty for a long time, if there is building work, or if the cat already travels.
On EuroPetSitter the service is called a home visit. The profile should say the sitter takes cats, not only dogs. Cat sitting in Brussels, Ghent or Antwerp also depends on the journey: someone on the other side of the country cannot realistically come twice a day.
What the profile should show
Read the description. It should talk about cats: litter, hiding places, nervous cats, several cats in one home. A text that only mentions dog walking is not cat sitting. Look at the city written in full, the photos, the reviews when there are some, and a price per visit. Without a municipality you cannot judge the trip.
Ask three things before you book: what happens if the cat will not eat, where cleaning products are kept, and how you will be told if something is wrong. Booking is done on the profile, with a signed-in owner account. The sitter accepts or declines. Until they accept, the sitting is not confirmed.
The first visit, with you there
Let the sitter come in once while you are there. Show the tray, the usual hiding place, the bowl and where the food is kept. A cat that vanishes under the bed is not a failure. That is how it handles a stranger. The sitter should not force it out.
If you are away more than two days, two visits a day beat one long visit. A cat eats, drinks and needs a clean tray morning and evening. Put that rhythm in the booking message, not after you have left.
Several cats, outdoor cats, medication
Two cats are not automatically twice the work if the sitter already knows them, but it is not “the same job” either. Say whether they eat separately, whether they fight, and which one hides. An outdoor cat should not “just try the balcony” while you are away if that is not its habit.
Medication, the vet and a second phone number are part of the sitting. Say whether an emergency cost is allowed, with a ceiling. A careful cat sitter asks for this before accepting, especially in Brussels where the Sunday clinic is not always your usual one.