If you would like your pets not to get sick, and your home to be respected and left in a clean and tidy manner, DO NOT hire this Pet Sitting Service.

About two weeks prior to the arranged job, a 'meet and greet' session was held in my home, where the Pet Sitter apparently took notes about the details relating to my animals' care. This person was also orientated around my home. When they returned to Pet/House sit, I thought I would help out by consolidating everything previously discussed and left some very detailed and clearly written notes about the requirements of each pet, and where everything could be found. I also left a contact number where I could be reached if necessary. (As I was not going to have internet connection or mobile coverage)

After leaving my detailed notes, and having been reassured that she had lots of experience, and everything would be taken care of, including my home, I left for my vacation with every confidence that all would be fine. So you can imagine my utter and complete disappointment upon my return, to discover that things were far from fine, and that I had one big mess to clean up! So much for her promises!

The first thing that struck me was the most disgusting smell as soon as I opened my front door. The uneaten portions of cat food had been put back in the fridge (this was good) but the bits of fish which the cats had dropped on the floor whilst eating had not been cleaned up, causing some of the unpleasant odor. (Imagine sardines left out in 30 degree heat!!) Furthermore, the food had attracted ants...they were everywhere!!

As ants can be a problem, to stop them crawling into the cats' food, their food is placed in a small porcelain bowl, which is then sat inside a larger dish which has a moat around the edge which is then filled with water. Unfortunately, food does fall into this moat whilst the cats eat, which requires it to be cleaned as necessary. Well, this had not been done for the entire week my poor animals were in this person's care. The moat was dry and filled with rotting food, which further added to the stench of hot sardines! It was also apparent, that one of the ceramic bowls had not been cleaned and that fresh meat had been added to left-over dried-up meat; a sure way to give them food poisoning! The cat that eats the meat has Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and consequently, has a very sensitive gut, and prone to vomiting and diarrhoea, so this unhygienic practice was putting him at greater risk of becoming very ill. Then I discovered that my dog had been fed that cat's meat (beef) for the week, instead of his specially formulated dog meat/veg patties, which are commercially packaged and clearly labelled, and of course, my notes clearly explained where they were located, and how much he was to have and when. As a consequence, my dog, who has a sensitivity to beef, developed diarrhoea, which took about 5 days to settle post this incompetent Pet Sitter's departure. The day prior to my return, the Pet Sitter sent me a message informing me that my dog had been vomiting in the laundry (I only received this message about 30 mins prior to my return home, once my phone was back in range). Once home, I found the remains of this "vomit" left in the grout between the tiles. It was not vomit, it was clearly faeces!! For someone to claim they are experienced in pet sitting, I find it quite disconcerting that she doesn't know the difference between vomit and faeces!!! Speaking of which, I then discovered dried up diarrhoea on the floor of my lounge room and another lot on the patio. As it was so dry, it had to have been sitting there for at least 24 hours, and according to the Pet Sitter, she had only vacated my home 2 hours prior to my return!!!! So there is absolutely no doubt that this mess had been sitting there, long before her departure. How she could not see it, is beyond me. It was another lovely smell to add to the fish in 30 degree heat, and the rotting food in the moat of the cats' bowls!!! The other alarming fact, is this person was unaware of my pet having more episodes of fluid loss, and that they could have been dehydrated, especially considering the warm weather! Whilst cleaning up all this mess, (what a lovely way to end a holiday!!) I then discover the Pet Sitter had gone rummaging through my laundry cupboards, and pulled out scrubbing brushes etc: and just left them scattered all over the bench top ; hadn't even bothered to put things back as she had found them. Curiously, amongst these items was a can of oven cleaner! When I questioned (per phone) my dissatisfactions, I also asked why the oven cleaner was left on the laundry bench, only to be informed that she couldn't find anything to clean up the "vomit", so she decided it would be a good idea to spray corrosive oven cleaner on my porcelain tiles!!!! (FYI. There were a selection of cleaning products in the laundry cupboard, all clearly labelled, and there was even a container of antiseptic cleaning clothes sitting in clear view on top of the laundry bench!!!)

I had also requested to have the mail brought in as required; this was also listed in my notes, and guess what...no mail had been collected, and a parcel had been delivered, and was just left sitting on the ground in the wet, as it had rained the day before my return on the Sunday, so this parcel had been sitting outside since at least Friday.

Taking great pride in my home, I like the glass shower screen to be hosed down and then squeegeed after each shower, in order to keep the glass looking nice and clean. Once again, I had requested politely for this to be done, and of course, I came home to discover the shower screen splattered in soap scum. When questioned why this had not been done, she informed me that she was so tired, she forgot!!! (Well, she certainly wasn't weary from taking good care of my pets. Perhaps, it was exhaustion from Facebooking and surfing the net, compliments of my Internet Service which she was provided access to!)

Just to add to my list of cleaning, she had also spilt sticky fruit juice, which had leaked throughout the fridge!

Then there was the mending! She had confiscated my dogs toys, because he was chewing them, which he does, if he is bored...another sign that he was not being paid the attention he deserves, and that I was paying for! As a result, my poor little guy, started chewing on his recently purchased in-door mattress, ripping holes in it. Hence, the mending!!

Prior to her departure, at least she had the decency to strip the bed linen she had used, and to wash the extra three towels that she had helped herself to, as apparently the bath towel, hand towel and face washer I provided her with wasn't enough. But in her efforts to be helpful, she unloaded my clean towels from the clothes drier, and stacked them with the dog's towel that he had been sleeping on for the past week, which meant I had to rewash all those towels again!!!

To summarise my experience, this Pet Sitter is dirty, untidy, unreliable and totally incompetent, especially when it comes to following both verbal and written instructions. Do your "Fur-Kids" a favour...employ a Pet Sitter who can actually do their job, and save yourself a truck-load of damage-control upon your return!