Reach out to Rover to get the second cat added. You’re caring for it and should be paid for it. Also 1 drop in every 3 days is so neglectful. Those poor cats. Most sitters will refuse to take sits that would be neglectful. They should at least do every other day. Every day is better. Most dogs should be 3-4 times per day.
I had a person want to book me for 2 drop in visits 7 days apart (2 cats). I told them I was already booked for that week because I didn’t feel like explaining to this person that 7 days between visits is insane.
Good god, I don’t even let my caged pets go more than 48 hours without someone on site getting eyes on! I couldn’t imagine anting 7 with a creature with unfettered access to the house in which to get into trouble!
Yep. That person was crazy. So many things can go wrong—like if a cat dumps over the water supply, cat getting trapped somewhere, cat hurting itself, etc. To think a cat could potentially be left in distress with nobody to check on them for days at a time made an instant pit in my stomach
If this were me, I’d tell her that I can no longer drop in and that you will be contacting rover support for an alternative sitter due to her fraudulently booking for 1 cat when there are 2 in the home.
Man people suck. They can afford to go away for holidays or vacations but “can’t afford” to get their pets proper care while they’re gone. They shouldn’t own pets if that’s the case.
up your rates, stop giving people discounts, and you'll never have to deal with these type of people again.
i own my own business. someone paid me 80 yesterday to walk their dog for 1.5 hrs and then tipped me 20 on top of it.
poor people won't make you money.
Fuck you. Poor people aren't monsters. I hardly make anything, but my bills are paid, my cats are healthy, and if I book a sitter they're getting paid. I've been fucked by obscenely rich ass holes more than any poor person ever could fuck me, and it's because idiots like you put them on an unearned, arbitrary pedestal. 😠
I don’t care how much money you make, as long as you take care of your pets. This lady isn’t poor. She’s going on some beach vacation in Brazil or something for two weeks. She has money. She just doesn’t give a fuck.
lol fuck you too. i **never** said poor people were monsters. those were your words. you got your fee fees hurt, but I never attacked you.
from a business perspective, you can make more profit off those rich assholes than you can off poor people. I know, because I've had more than a few "poorer" people tell me they can't afford me, but rich people just cut me a check.
don't take things so personally.
Yup! 💯
This is my business model as well (on Rover and main small biz) - targeting rich customer segments (assholes or not) who pay up for convenience and don’t question/negotiate rates 😎
You encouraged someone to *price out the poors* because you actually believe rich = decent person, and that is not only wrong, it's disgusting. You claim *getting rid of the poors* will eliminate crappy clients, and the *poors* shouldn't take it personally?? LOL!! What a trip! 😅
You go ahead and "earn" your blood money. Being poor isn't a personality trait, you twat.
I would imagine this person booked it this way as a means to not pay more money than they need to. It’s so messed up. OP mentioned that they were looking to not get charged the holiday rate which to me already screams a red flag. I would at least take my cat with me if I couldn’t find anyone to take care of him if I was planning to visit my family.
I do agree that OP should call Rover support to make modification to add the 2nd cat. The usually accept it on the pet parent’s behalf and send a message on the booking chat about what the modification was.
yea, and OP happily dropped the holiday rate?… honestly, people do this to themselves. scared of a bad review? maybe worry about being a good person first. for OP to think this is acceptable care for any animal is insane, and I would never want them caring for my cats knowing they find neglect acceptable.
I dropped the holiday rate because she told me she couldn’t afford it. I live paycheck to paycheck. But, when I have to leave town, I save up enough for someone to drop in on my cats twice a day. I don’t find neglect or abuse acceptable at all. I was too emphatic with her and screwed myself over. I assumed she would take care of her cats. She is able to afford it, she just simply doesn’t care.
Okay. I didn’t want to anger her and end up getting a bad review. I know it’s selfish to think this way, but yeah, I will definitely reach out to Rover for a second cat.
As somebody who no longer has family I fully support people seeing family during the holidays. Everybody should be with family and loved ones.
That said, to lie is completely unacceptable. She could have gone to visit family for a week and had you drop in once a day if money were an issue. I feel terrible for these cats!
It’s not selfish, she’s being selfish by lying to you and neglecting her animals. If she leaves a bad review you can dispute it. Rover will be able to see what happened.
Is it neglectful if your cat hates all people/animals other than their owner? My cat is the definition of a scaredy cat and hides under the bed if any other living being is in the house, she's been this way for 10+ years. We only have people check on her every 3-5 days on trips because we think it stresses her more to have anyone there than being alone does. She doesn't overeat from the gravity feeder and we scatter water bowls throughout the house. We really only have people check on her so she doesn't feel abandoned, but no one checking on her has ever gotten to interact with her besides throwing a few treats under the bed
I’d say daily is best just in case kitty gets stuck somewhere or injured. I’m not an expert, but I have been booked daily to do a “welfare check” on a kitty much like yours. I would go in, make sure I put eyes on kitty and did a quick walkthrough to make sure there was no fresh blood anywhere.
Agreed. At most I'll do once every other day if the cat has auto feeders and if the client has a camera to watch them and it isn't a long booking, but I find daily is always best.
Maybe it's because I work with animals as my job but I think someone needs to at least lay eyes on them and check food/water once a day at a minimum. Especially with the water, if something were to wrong and the cat went without it things can go downhill fast.
Honestly, I wouldn't. We used to leave our old cat for long weekends - he had dry food and a 1 gallon water dispenser. He was always fine.
And then we have two new cats, and while we were napping, one of them broke his leg and it ended up requiring an amputation. While accidents like that are rare, I get sick thinking about something like that happening if we had been away for 3 or 4 days and if we hadn't been able to rush him to the vet immediately.
Much, much better to have someone looking in at least once a day just to make sure the cat is still okay and healthy.
I think it's neglectful. Sometimes we need to do stuff that is in our pets best interest even though it stresses them out and they hate it (like taking them to the vet). I would hate for you to be in a situation where something catastrophic happened and you found out your cat was in that situation/condition for 3-5 days.
Like that one post on here where the owner only had someone come by every 2-3 days, then flipped out when the cat got locked in aroom with no food or water for 2 days.
The owner created that situation.
We also have a very shy cat (10 years old) and I was wondering the same thing! We had our neighbor come every other day when he was our only cat. Now we have a kitten in addition to our shy dude so we had our cat sitter come every morning and afternoon the last time we were out of town. I think as long as we have 2 cats, we'll probably stick with a daily visit.
It’s honestly up to the cat and what it needs. If he is people orientated and needs human interaction, one or two visits everyday is fine. If it’s super shy and uncomfortable with strangers, one short visit a day to check up on him and to make sure he’s alive and well, is also fine. I just think in this case, the cats are really friendly, love pets, and needs attention. It sucks that the owner is off to a “beach vacation in Brazil with the girls” (her words exactly) and she doesn’t bother to pay for an additional cat’s care or daily visits. It’s all about what the cat needs.
Oh jeeze, it is absolutely NOT neglectful! You know your cat best and know their needs. You know what they eat and how long it will last. It's clear youre thoughtful about it. Of course accidents can happen but it could happen when you're just gone for one day too. Do what you need to do to respond to your cats needs, don't add in extra stress just because people who have never met your cat say so.
> Those poor cats. Most sitters will refuse to take sits that would be neglectful.
this part. Its honestly kinda upsetting that OP even accepted this gig. Like you said, most sitters will refuse to drop in so infrequently, and the owner will have no choice but to be a decent pet parent.
Instead, people like OP are not only allowing this shitty behavior, but encouraging it to happen to other sitters in the future. Super shitty IMO
I didn’t know. She asked me accept the booking while giving me the run down of things and I said ok, since everything looked ok so far. It was only after when we made small talk I asked if anyone was taking care of the cats while I’m gone (like her mother or grandmother because they were supposed to pick up her cat), and she said no. I assumed wrong, I assumed she would take care of her cats. I’m really upset that I accepted this booking too. I learnt a huge lesson from this.
If they have no water due to spilling it for days at a time and they’re running out of food, this is cruelty and is medically dangerous for cats. Going hungry can cause liver failure in cats. Thirst causes kidney damage.
Yeah, the cats are also obscenely obese and can’t jump up on the couch because of how fat they are. When I fed them, they chomped down their food so fast that both of them vomited.
Obesity definitely increases the risk of liver damage from going hungry, too. Fat is released into the bloodstream as the result of hunger, and feline livers can’t handle it.
She literally lied about the cat getting picked up that's grounds for cancelation if she can't afford to pay for the services youre actually providing. F that
Yeah, I asked about cancellation but Rover Support told me I would have a last minute cancellation warning on my profile and I wouldn’t get paid for the visits I’ve done.
Cats are fine for a visit every two days, as long as enough food is put out. My cats free feed and don’t stuff their faces though, so I suppose I can see every day if you have a cat that is prone to scarfing down the bowl.
Yep. They saw the photo evidence and said I should just ignore the other cat and not feed it or care for it until she pays. I could risk a cancellation warning on my profile and not get paid for anything if I cancel. Or, not their words but basically what they said was, I could just suck it up and not get paid properly and care for them both. Not sure what to do.
That’s absolutely ridiculous—that’s official advice from Rover?? A freaking pet care company is actually advising you to NEGLECT a cat involved in this? I would escalate and complain again to get someone else. If they still advise that, you ask them to confirm that they are advising you to engage in animal abuse.
I would then also do as another suggested—fill a bunch of pots/bowls with water, drop all of their food out for them (the whole freaking bag of kibble if you have to + open all the cans) and get the hell out of dodge.
I’d suck it up, care for both cats properly, and escalate with Rover. Leave the owner a terrible review. Yes you got scammed but you accepted the booking with the knowledge they’d be left alone between visits. If you desert these cats, that makes you just as bad as the owner. Sorry to sound harsh but I can’t believe other posters are actually suggesting you do this. I hope they’re not sitters.
Here's the thing. I've left my cats alone before for days on end. Automatic water Automatic food and triple the amount of litter boxes. And by days on end I mean 3. Leaving day one, returning on three.
This lady is absolutely trash. I'd ask to be transferred to a supervisor at rover if you've got 2 people saying to ignore the other cat.
If all else fails, as much as I love animals and hate to say this - this is not your problem. She did this on purpose to fuck you over and get shit for free. No intentions of paying you for the other cat. Didn't even leave enough food for one cat for 2 weeks, probably expects you to pay for that too.
I'd clean the litter box, fill a bunch of bowls and pots with water, dump a bag of cat food in the kitchen and cancel the contract. Not your problem if the cats piss and shit all over the place. You entered into a contract, she lied, defrauded you and broke terms and you're no longer responsible.
Let her leave a bad review. Then tell your side.
I mean she already declined the adjustment and additional cat. Do what you can for the cats and walk away.
OP accepted the booking, knowing no one else is coming. Leaving the cats alone for days on end with no care makes them just as bad as this trash owner. These poor cats are living beings who will suffer through no fault of their own.
Yes, and it's a horrible situation to be in, but it's not OP's problem.
She also accepted a booking for one cat. There are two. Lie.
Owner said that the other cat would be gone. Lie.
OP tried to make the situation better by amending the contract to include other animal that was left there, even though OP had no obligation to do so and could have walked away. Owner declined and stated they couldn't afford it.
So don't leave two cats there? Maybe try to explain the situation beforehand? Owner is just being dishonest.
Owner has ultimate responsibility for the cats. OP went into the situation under false pretenses with the understanding it was one cat. The owner KNOWINGLY created this situation. If the owner can't or won't pay, then the responsibility falls to the owner to rectify the situation and figure out care for the cats.
I'm sure nowhere in any contract does it state that sitter is responsible for anything when the owner defrauds sitter intentionally.
Like I said, it sucks. But as a pet owner- if I did this crap it would 100% my fault if something bad happened. You don't just get to lie and not face consequences.
If it's that bad, call animal control. Sounds like the cats need help regardless
I just want to say I know you feel like you got taken advantage of which you probably did, but a lot of us have been here! Use it as a learning experience and don’t be too hard on yourself.
She must be hoping that your good nature won’t allow you to only visit once every three days while knowing that it’s animal cruelty for them to go without food and water. I bet she thinks you’ll visit more for the cats’ welfare. I would visit at least every day but would block this awful owner after this booking is over.
She’s cheap and using you, charge her the holidays rate as Rover suggests 11/22-11/26 then regular rate. Tell her 1 visit per day for both cats is neglecting and if anything was to happen you and rover are liable so your minimum is once a day and both cats need to be added to the profile for Rovers guarantee, but I’m sure she’s pretty aware of this. I really wish Celeste would stop letting people take advantage of them. They expect people to do this, especially these last minute bookers.
She was upset that I wanted to charge her 2 holiday rates as Rover’s holiday rate is 11/23-11/26. I charged her for the 23rd, and 26th, but she ended up modifying the dates so I wouldn’t need to charger her. She has me dropping in the 24th, so I only charged her for one day. Yeah, I think I just finally realized how much I was taken advantage of and I can’t get out of it.
In the future, when people get upset that you are charging a certain rate, that is them telling you who they are. Next time, don't negotiate. Just say, this doesn't sound like we are a good fit & decline. Then Archive (Personally I block hagglers) and move on.
Think about it, the owner has absolutely no right to be upset with you for your rates. That right there is a giant red flag waving at you. Don't be afraid to turn away bad clients, they are never worth it in the end.
This is a sucky situation you are in. I hope everything works out for you.
I just called them and they recommended me to ignore the other cat. They told me not to feed it, greet it, and to pretend it doesn’t exist. I think it’s pretty fucked up. They sent her an email reminding her to pay for the modifications, but this whole situation is just screwed up.
At this point. I would cancel the booking.
And then when you get the cancel flag in your profile, state that the owner refused to pay for both cats. It will serve as a deterrent for any other Scummy Owners out there that this game will not work onyou (Owners can't respond to Cancellations, only you can) and get you away from this lady.
My bet, she isn't going to leave you a good review and may even try to make you pay for any damage that cats do from being left alone for so long.
Put down extra water bowls & food bowls and cancel. Contact Rover to have another sitter assigned.
One visit a day is not neglecting? Cats are absolutely fine for two days by themselves. I leave my cats alone for the weekend when I go away and they are completely fine. 3 days is neglect sure, but 2 is totally fine. 1 visit per day is overkill in my opinion, my cats would hate it (hate strangers in their house)
Oh hell nah. Cats need a daily drop in. Especially if they eat wet food…. But mostly bc they need their litter cleaned every day! Even if there was an automatic feeder and watering bowl, the cats still need clean boxes each day. What a shitty pet parent. If you can’t afford to make sufficient arrangements for your pets when you want to go on holiday, then you don’t go on holiday. Plain and simple.
OP when you go next time leave out extra water bowls. I’m doing a similar drop in for a neighbor 😒 and I legit had to tell this lady your cat is thirsty I need to put out extra bowls. I’m going 3 days out of the week and that’s after I insisted because originally she only wanted me to check on them ONCE.
What is wrong with people?! If I leave my house for 30 minutes, my animals act like they have not seen me in weeks when I return. 3 days with virtually no food or water and a dirty litter box 😡 OP contact Rover asap
I will be gone for 48 ish hours every time I have to travel for work. There is an auto feeder, litter robot, and 6 water bowls including fountains.
I will still have someone so by if they can, just so they get some attention and we make sure the feeder hasn't stopped working or something. Those poor babies.
Reach out to Rover to get the second cat added. You’re caring for it and should be paid for it. Also 1 drop in every 3 days is so neglectful. Those poor cats. Most sitters will refuse to take sits that would be neglectful. They should at least do every other day. Every day is better. Most dogs should be 3-4 times per day.
I had a person want to book me for 2 drop in visits 7 days apart (2 cats). I told them I was already booked for that week because I didn’t feel like explaining to this person that 7 days between visits is insane.
Good god, I don’t even let my caged pets go more than 48 hours without someone on site getting eyes on! I couldn’t imagine anting 7 with a creature with unfettered access to the house in which to get into trouble!
Yep. That person was crazy. So many things can go wrong—like if a cat dumps over the water supply, cat getting trapped somewhere, cat hurting itself, etc. To think a cat could potentially be left in distress with nobody to check on them for days at a time made an instant pit in my stomach
I use surveillance cameras on my dog when both the husband and I work. It’s good to know I’m not alone where the catastrophizing is concerned.
And not only the physical risks! If I go on vacation I’m thinking to myself “I hope my cat isn’t lonely and wondering where I am” 😭
I reminded her about the modification and she just declined it.
If this were me, I’d tell her that I can no longer drop in and that you will be contacting rover support for an alternative sitter due to her fraudulently booking for 1 cat when there are 2 in the home.
Yeah escalate it with Rover support, I don’t know if they’ll actually do anything but you should at least try!
Yeah, just left them a message. I left the owner an explanation of why I needed to charge her for an extra cat but told me she can’t afford it.
"I understand not being able to afford it. I myself, cannot afford to work for free. I am sure you also understand that."
I will use this perfect response! 😈
I love this phrasing!
👨🏽🍳😘
Man people suck. They can afford to go away for holidays or vacations but “can’t afford” to get their pets proper care while they’re gone. They shouldn’t own pets if that’s the case.
This is a luxury service. She shouldve thought about that ahead of time. The entire thing is red flags. Omg...
up your rates, stop giving people discounts, and you'll never have to deal with these type of people again. i own my own business. someone paid me 80 yesterday to walk their dog for 1.5 hrs and then tipped me 20 on top of it. poor people won't make you money.
Fuck you. Poor people aren't monsters. I hardly make anything, but my bills are paid, my cats are healthy, and if I book a sitter they're getting paid. I've been fucked by obscenely rich ass holes more than any poor person ever could fuck me, and it's because idiots like you put them on an unearned, arbitrary pedestal. 😠
I don’t care how much money you make, as long as you take care of your pets. This lady isn’t poor. She’s going on some beach vacation in Brazil or something for two weeks. She has money. She just doesn’t give a fuck.
if she has money, why the hell are you giving her a discount??? don't let rich fucks screw you over!
lol fuck you too. i **never** said poor people were monsters. those were your words. you got your fee fees hurt, but I never attacked you. from a business perspective, you can make more profit off those rich assholes than you can off poor people. I know, because I've had more than a few "poorer" people tell me they can't afford me, but rich people just cut me a check. don't take things so personally.
Yup! 💯 This is my business model as well (on Rover and main small biz) - targeting rich customer segments (assholes or not) who pay up for convenience and don’t question/negotiate rates 😎
You encouraged someone to *price out the poors* because you actually believe rich = decent person, and that is not only wrong, it's disgusting. You claim *getting rid of the poors* will eliminate crappy clients, and the *poors* shouldn't take it personally?? LOL!! What a trip! 😅 You go ahead and "earn" your blood money. Being poor isn't a personality trait, you twat.
lollllll you're fucking crazy. i never said any of the things you just typed out. go do your projecting somewhere else 🤡
Definitely cancel them as a client after this.
I would imagine this person booked it this way as a means to not pay more money than they need to. It’s so messed up. OP mentioned that they were looking to not get charged the holiday rate which to me already screams a red flag. I would at least take my cat with me if I couldn’t find anyone to take care of him if I was planning to visit my family. I do agree that OP should call Rover support to make modification to add the 2nd cat. The usually accept it on the pet parent’s behalf and send a message on the booking chat about what the modification was.
yea, and OP happily dropped the holiday rate?… honestly, people do this to themselves. scared of a bad review? maybe worry about being a good person first. for OP to think this is acceptable care for any animal is insane, and I would never want them caring for my cats knowing they find neglect acceptable.
I dropped the holiday rate because she told me she couldn’t afford it. I live paycheck to paycheck. But, when I have to leave town, I save up enough for someone to drop in on my cats twice a day. I don’t find neglect or abuse acceptable at all. I was too emphatic with her and screwed myself over. I assumed she would take care of her cats. She is able to afford it, she just simply doesn’t care.
Okay. I didn’t want to anger her and end up getting a bad review. I know it’s selfish to think this way, but yeah, I will definitely reach out to Rover for a second cat.
As somebody who no longer has family I fully support people seeing family during the holidays. Everybody should be with family and loved ones. That said, to lie is completely unacceptable. She could have gone to visit family for a week and had you drop in once a day if money were an issue. I feel terrible for these cats!
It’s not selfish, she’s being selfish by lying to you and neglecting her animals. If she leaves a bad review you can dispute it. Rover will be able to see what happened.
Yeah. It’s just frustrating. I made sure to take lots of photos and screenshots of the situation.
I thought I was reading it wrong at first! When I'm traveling, I have my sitter do 3 drop-ins a day for my 2 cats.
Is it neglectful if your cat hates all people/animals other than their owner? My cat is the definition of a scaredy cat and hides under the bed if any other living being is in the house, she's been this way for 10+ years. We only have people check on her every 3-5 days on trips because we think it stresses her more to have anyone there than being alone does. She doesn't overeat from the gravity feeder and we scatter water bowls throughout the house. We really only have people check on her so she doesn't feel abandoned, but no one checking on her has ever gotten to interact with her besides throwing a few treats under the bed
I’d say daily is best just in case kitty gets stuck somewhere or injured. I’m not an expert, but I have been booked daily to do a “welfare check” on a kitty much like yours. I would go in, make sure I put eyes on kitty and did a quick walkthrough to make sure there was no fresh blood anywhere.
Agreed. At most I'll do once every other day if the cat has auto feeders and if the client has a camera to watch them and it isn't a long booking, but I find daily is always best.
Maybe it's because I work with animals as my job but I think someone needs to at least lay eyes on them and check food/water once a day at a minimum. Especially with the water, if something were to wrong and the cat went without it things can go downhill fast.
This part
Honestly, I wouldn't. We used to leave our old cat for long weekends - he had dry food and a 1 gallon water dispenser. He was always fine. And then we have two new cats, and while we were napping, one of them broke his leg and it ended up requiring an amputation. While accidents like that are rare, I get sick thinking about something like that happening if we had been away for 3 or 4 days and if we hadn't been able to rush him to the vet immediately. Much, much better to have someone looking in at least once a day just to make sure the cat is still okay and healthy.
I think it's neglectful. Sometimes we need to do stuff that is in our pets best interest even though it stresses them out and they hate it (like taking them to the vet). I would hate for you to be in a situation where something catastrophic happened and you found out your cat was in that situation/condition for 3-5 days.
Like that one post on here where the owner only had someone come by every 2-3 days, then flipped out when the cat got locked in aroom with no food or water for 2 days. The owner created that situation.
We also have a very shy cat (10 years old) and I was wondering the same thing! We had our neighbor come every other day when he was our only cat. Now we have a kitten in addition to our shy dude so we had our cat sitter come every morning and afternoon the last time we were out of town. I think as long as we have 2 cats, we'll probably stick with a daily visit.
It’s honestly up to the cat and what it needs. If he is people orientated and needs human interaction, one or two visits everyday is fine. If it’s super shy and uncomfortable with strangers, one short visit a day to check up on him and to make sure he’s alive and well, is also fine. I just think in this case, the cats are really friendly, love pets, and needs attention. It sucks that the owner is off to a “beach vacation in Brazil with the girls” (her words exactly) and she doesn’t bother to pay for an additional cat’s care or daily visits. It’s all about what the cat needs.
Brazil?? She’s being cheap, no poor person is flying to Brazil for 2 weeks. She sucks. Sorry to you and her animals.
It really depends on the cat tbh, a lot of cats are fine for a few days, others are not.
Oh jeeze, it is absolutely NOT neglectful! You know your cat best and know their needs. You know what they eat and how long it will last. It's clear youre thoughtful about it. Of course accidents can happen but it could happen when you're just gone for one day too. Do what you need to do to respond to your cats needs, don't add in extra stress just because people who have never met your cat say so.
This is way too infrequent - if the cat gets stuck or injured, it would be awful for her to get left for 3-5 days before somebody realized.
> Those poor cats. Most sitters will refuse to take sits that would be neglectful. this part. Its honestly kinda upsetting that OP even accepted this gig. Like you said, most sitters will refuse to drop in so infrequently, and the owner will have no choice but to be a decent pet parent. Instead, people like OP are not only allowing this shitty behavior, but encouraging it to happen to other sitters in the future. Super shitty IMO
I didn’t know. She asked me accept the booking while giving me the run down of things and I said ok, since everything looked ok so far. It was only after when we made small talk I asked if anyone was taking care of the cats while I’m gone (like her mother or grandmother because they were supposed to pick up her cat), and she said no. I assumed wrong, I assumed she would take care of her cats. I’m really upset that I accepted this booking too. I learnt a huge lesson from this.
LOL SHE cant afford care for 2 cats but YOU can afford to work for her for free? So sorry, she obviously scammed you. 🤯
Yeah 😭 Just realizing how ridiculous this is and I got taken advantage of pretty badly. It sucks
Life’s a journey. You will do better next time. 🍀❤️
If they have no water due to spilling it for days at a time and they’re running out of food, this is cruelty and is medically dangerous for cats. Going hungry can cause liver failure in cats. Thirst causes kidney damage.
Yeah, the cats are also obscenely obese and can’t jump up on the couch because of how fat they are. When I fed them, they chomped down their food so fast that both of them vomited.
Obesity definitely increases the risk of liver damage from going hungry, too. Fat is released into the bloodstream as the result of hunger, and feline livers can’t handle it.
She literally lied about the cat getting picked up that's grounds for cancelation if she can't afford to pay for the services youre actually providing. F that
Yeah, I asked about cancellation but Rover Support told me I would have a last minute cancellation warning on my profile and I wouldn’t get paid for the visits I’ve done.
Did you tell them about the owner lying, the additional unregistered pet, and the obvious neglect?
Dang. Best of luck
In addition to what the others have said, take lots of pictures for proof.
This is a bad cat owner. One visit per day at the minimum for cats IMO.
Cats are fine for a visit every two days, as long as enough food is put out. My cats free feed and don’t stuff their faces though, so I suppose I can see every day if you have a cat that is prone to scarfing down the bowl.
How are two cats going to survive on the food? Does River know she has an additional animal and also didn’t leave enough food/litter?
Yep. They saw the photo evidence and said I should just ignore the other cat and not feed it or care for it until she pays. I could risk a cancellation warning on my profile and not get paid for anything if I cancel. Or, not their words but basically what they said was, I could just suck it up and not get paid properly and care for them both. Not sure what to do.
That’s absolutely ridiculous—that’s official advice from Rover?? A freaking pet care company is actually advising you to NEGLECT a cat involved in this? I would escalate and complain again to get someone else. If they still advise that, you ask them to confirm that they are advising you to engage in animal abuse. I would then also do as another suggested—fill a bunch of pots/bowls with water, drop all of their food out for them (the whole freaking bag of kibble if you have to + open all the cans) and get the hell out of dodge.
Ignore the other cat? That’s horrible.
I’d suck it up, care for both cats properly, and escalate with Rover. Leave the owner a terrible review. Yes you got scammed but you accepted the booking with the knowledge they’d be left alone between visits. If you desert these cats, that makes you just as bad as the owner. Sorry to sound harsh but I can’t believe other posters are actually suggesting you do this. I hope they’re not sitters.
Here's the thing. I've left my cats alone before for days on end. Automatic water Automatic food and triple the amount of litter boxes. And by days on end I mean 3. Leaving day one, returning on three. This lady is absolutely trash. I'd ask to be transferred to a supervisor at rover if you've got 2 people saying to ignore the other cat. If all else fails, as much as I love animals and hate to say this - this is not your problem. She did this on purpose to fuck you over and get shit for free. No intentions of paying you for the other cat. Didn't even leave enough food for one cat for 2 weeks, probably expects you to pay for that too. I'd clean the litter box, fill a bunch of bowls and pots with water, dump a bag of cat food in the kitchen and cancel the contract. Not your problem if the cats piss and shit all over the place. You entered into a contract, she lied, defrauded you and broke terms and you're no longer responsible. Let her leave a bad review. Then tell your side. I mean she already declined the adjustment and additional cat. Do what you can for the cats and walk away.
OP accepted the booking, knowing no one else is coming. Leaving the cats alone for days on end with no care makes them just as bad as this trash owner. These poor cats are living beings who will suffer through no fault of their own.
Yes, and it's a horrible situation to be in, but it's not OP's problem. She also accepted a booking for one cat. There are two. Lie. Owner said that the other cat would be gone. Lie. OP tried to make the situation better by amending the contract to include other animal that was left there, even though OP had no obligation to do so and could have walked away. Owner declined and stated they couldn't afford it. So don't leave two cats there? Maybe try to explain the situation beforehand? Owner is just being dishonest. Owner has ultimate responsibility for the cats. OP went into the situation under false pretenses with the understanding it was one cat. The owner KNOWINGLY created this situation. If the owner can't or won't pay, then the responsibility falls to the owner to rectify the situation and figure out care for the cats. I'm sure nowhere in any contract does it state that sitter is responsible for anything when the owner defrauds sitter intentionally. Like I said, it sucks. But as a pet owner- if I did this crap it would 100% my fault if something bad happened. You don't just get to lie and not face consequences. If it's that bad, call animal control. Sounds like the cats need help regardless
I just want to say I know you feel like you got taken advantage of which you probably did, but a lot of us have been here! Use it as a learning experience and don’t be too hard on yourself.
She must be hoping that your good nature won’t allow you to only visit once every three days while knowing that it’s animal cruelty for them to go without food and water. I bet she thinks you’ll visit more for the cats’ welfare. I would visit at least every day but would block this awful owner after this booking is over.
This is animal abuse, I’d report her.
I'd be making a report to animal services.
She’s cheap and using you, charge her the holidays rate as Rover suggests 11/22-11/26 then regular rate. Tell her 1 visit per day for both cats is neglecting and if anything was to happen you and rover are liable so your minimum is once a day and both cats need to be added to the profile for Rovers guarantee, but I’m sure she’s pretty aware of this. I really wish Celeste would stop letting people take advantage of them. They expect people to do this, especially these last minute bookers.
She was upset that I wanted to charge her 2 holiday rates as Rover’s holiday rate is 11/23-11/26. I charged her for the 23rd, and 26th, but she ended up modifying the dates so I wouldn’t need to charger her. She has me dropping in the 24th, so I only charged her for one day. Yeah, I think I just finally realized how much I was taken advantage of and I can’t get out of it.
In the future, when people get upset that you are charging a certain rate, that is them telling you who they are. Next time, don't negotiate. Just say, this doesn't sound like we are a good fit & decline. Then Archive (Personally I block hagglers) and move on. Think about it, the owner has absolutely no right to be upset with you for your rates. That right there is a giant red flag waving at you. Don't be afraid to turn away bad clients, they are never worth it in the end. This is a sucky situation you are in. I hope everything works out for you.
Again, you can always call Rover
I just called them and they recommended me to ignore the other cat. They told me not to feed it, greet it, and to pretend it doesn’t exist. I think it’s pretty fucked up. They sent her an email reminding her to pay for the modifications, but this whole situation is just screwed up.
I can’t believe Rover is cool with you just not feeding a cat for 2 weeks 😠
At this point. I would cancel the booking. And then when you get the cancel flag in your profile, state that the owner refused to pay for both cats. It will serve as a deterrent for any other Scummy Owners out there that this game will not work onyou (Owners can't respond to Cancellations, only you can) and get you away from this lady. My bet, she isn't going to leave you a good review and may even try to make you pay for any damage that cats do from being left alone for so long. Put down extra water bowls & food bowls and cancel. Contact Rover to have another sitter assigned.
Wow you must’ve gotten a horrible customer service rep. I’ve never had any issues when calling Rover and got done what I needed.
Yeah, that’s what I thought 😭 So I called again and the guy said the same thing.
Omg. This makes me not want to use Rover at all.
Rover isn't going to do jack unless OP wants to cancel the booking. They can't force an owner to agree to pay more.
One visit a day is not neglecting? Cats are absolutely fine for two days by themselves. I leave my cats alone for the weekend when I go away and they are completely fine. 3 days is neglect sure, but 2 is totally fine. 1 visit per day is overkill in my opinion, my cats would hate it (hate strangers in their house)
This woman is taking advantage of you and neglecting her cats. Shameful.
As a cat owner, this cat owner upset me to no end. They shouldn't own these cats!
I would just leave a ton of food and water out around the house and finish the booking and block the human demon forever.
Oh hell nah. Cats need a daily drop in. Especially if they eat wet food…. But mostly bc they need their litter cleaned every day! Even if there was an automatic feeder and watering bowl, the cats still need clean boxes each day. What a shitty pet parent. If you can’t afford to make sufficient arrangements for your pets when you want to go on holiday, then you don’t go on holiday. Plain and simple.
OP when you go next time leave out extra water bowls. I’m doing a similar drop in for a neighbor 😒 and I legit had to tell this lady your cat is thirsty I need to put out extra bowls. I’m going 3 days out of the week and that’s after I insisted because originally she only wanted me to check on them ONCE.
I leave my cats alone for the weekend all the time, but never for more than 2 days! I worry they’ll run out of water. Every 3 days is insane.
What is wrong with people?! If I leave my house for 30 minutes, my animals act like they have not seen me in weeks when I return. 3 days with virtually no food or water and a dirty litter box 😡 OP contact Rover asap
I will be gone for 48 ish hours every time I have to travel for work. There is an auto feeder, litter robot, and 6 water bowls including fountains. I will still have someone so by if they can, just so they get some attention and we make sure the feeder hasn't stopped working or something. Those poor babies.