FAQs

• SE19 Crystal Palace / Upper Norwood 

• SE20 Anerley / Penge 

• SE21 Dulwich Village 

• SE22 East Dulwich 

• SE23 Forest Hill 

• SE26 Sydenham 

• SE27 West Norwood / West Dulwich 

• Some parts of SE15 Bellenden 

• Some parts of BR3 Clockhouse Beckenham 

If you live on a road with permit parking you will need to provide us with a permit for each call. 

If you live in South West London, we recommend the team at Sitting Kitty www.sittingkitty.co.uk who are highly professional and extremely experienced. 

If you live in other areas, please contact your local vet, who will be able to advise you about known and recommended cat sitters in your locality.

Please see next section ( Long Answer )  for the explanation of “Regular” “Short Notice” and “Super-Short-Notice”

Regular Bookings: Most days of the year including most weekends.

Regular bookings: £22.50 per visit

Short notice Regular  bookings: £27 per visit

Super-Short-Notice regular bookings £30 per visit

Bank Holiday bookings: Friday – Monday of Easter Weekend; Sat – Monday of both the May Bank Holiday weekends and August Bank Holiday weekend.

£27 per visit

Short notice Bank Holiday bookings: £30 per visit, if available. 

Super-Short-Notice Bank Holiday bookings £40 per visit if available.

Festive season bookings:

£30 per visit. Booking before November recommended. 

Short-Notice Festive Season Bookings.

£50 per visit if available.

Due to the effect Covid-19  had on the viability of our business, full payment is due  30 days before the first visit ( or on  booking if booked with less than 30 days’ notice). This is not refundable, but most clients have been understanding and happy to comply with this.

Cat Care Visits

Registration

A registration fee  of £25 applies for new or returning clients.

This covers the time we spend coming to meet you and your cats, and to learn everything we need to know about them and their care, including medical history etc. 

The notes we take are recorded on an extremely comprehensive contract, that has been honed through years of practice. You will be given a copy.

At this time, we will test and take away a set of your keys.

The  Registration fee includes free storage of your keys for 18 months. All clients who rebook within each 12 month period are automatically reregistered. Clients returning after 18 months or more will need to reregister and have their details updated.

99% of our clients choose to leave their keys with us for future bookings. Should you want your keys returned at the end of a booking, please note that we do make a charge for key collection for further bookings.

Prices per visit include up to four cats per household. Small caged pets such as house rabbits, hamsters, fish, exotics etc are also included in this rate, up to two cages/tanks per house.

If you have more than four cats, more than two sets of small pets, or outside animals such as fish, chickens or rabbits, please contact us for a quote tailored to your needs.

During quieter months, for existing clients who have horses stabled nearby, Jane is sometimes able to offer hacking (Western) whilst clients are away.

Payment

Full payment is due 30 days before the first visit. This is not refundable.

Please pay by bank transfer: our account details are on your contract.

Please use your cats name and your surname and postcode as the banking reference, eg Mousey Smith. SE19.

Please drop us an email to confirm the payment has been made.

Rates: Regular, Short Notice; Super- Short- notice.

Regular bookings, ie those made with 14 days or more notice, are charged at £22.50 per visit.

A premium rate of £27 per call is charged on short notice bookings, (ie those with less than 14 days notice) and on Bank Holiday weekends.

Short notice bookings for Bank Holiday weekends will be charged at £30, if they are available.

Super-short-notice bookings ie those booked with less than 2 working days’ notice are charged as below:

Regular times £30 per visit

Bank Holiday weekends £40 per visit

Festive Season: Regular visits booked with 14 or more days’ notice, to be made during the peak period of Christmas and New Year ( usually 12 or 14 days depending on when Christmas Day itself  falls within the week) are charged at £30 per visit. Please note the festive season is usually fully booked months in advance:

Super Short-Notice Festive Season Bookings ie those booked with less than 2 working days’ notice are charged at £50 per visit if any are available.

If you would like to join us as a new client during Festive Season, we have a 5-day minimum policy for your first booking: this enables us to get to know your cats properly.

Cat Care Visits

Registration

A registration fee  of £25 applies for new or returning clients.

This covers the time we spend coming to meet you and your cats, and to learn everything we need to know about them and their care, including medical history etc. 

The notes we take are recorded on an extremely comprehensive contract, that has been honed through years of practice. You will be given a copy.

At this time, we will test and take away a set of your keys.

The  Registration fee includes free storage of your keys for 18 months. All clients who rebook within each 12 month period are automatically reregistered. Clients returning after 18 months or more will need to reregister and have their details updated.

99% of our clients choose to leave their keys with us, for future bookings. Should you want your keys returned at the end of a booking, please note that we do make a charge for key collection for further bookings.

Prices per visit include up to four cats per household. Small caged pets such as house rabbits, hamsters, fish, exotics etc are also included in this rate, up to two cages/tanks per house.

If you have more than four cats, more than two sets of small pets, or outside animals such as fish, chickens or rabbits, please contact us for a quote tailored to your needs.

During quieter months, for existing clients who have horses stabled nearby, Jane is sometimes able to offer hacking (Western) whilst clients are away.

Payment

Due to Covid-19, full payment is due 30 days before the first visit. This is not refundable.

Please pay by bank transfer: our account details are on your contract.

Please use your cats name and your surname and postcode as the banking reference, eg Mousey Smith. SE19.

Please drop us an email to confirm the payment has been made.

Rates: Regular, Short Notice; Super- Short- notice.

Regular bookings, ie those made with 14 days or more notice, are charged at £22.50 per visit.

A premium rate of £27 per call is charged on short notice bookings, (ie those with less than 14 days notice) and on Bank Holiday weekends.

Short notice bookings for Bank Holiday weekends will be charged at £30, if they are available.

Super-short-notice bookings ie those booked with less than 2 working days’ notice are charged as below:

Regular times £30 per visit

Bank Holiday weekends £40 per visit

Festive Season: Regular visits booked with 14 or more days’ notice, to be made during the ’12 days of Christmas’ are charged at £30 per visit. Please note the festive season is usually fully booked months months in advance:

Super Short-Notice Festive Season Bookings ie those booked with less than 2 working days’ notice are charged at £50 per visit if any are available.

If you would like to join us as a new client during Festive Season, we have a 5-day minimum policy for your first booking: this enables us to get to know your cats properly.

Additional daily visits £30 per call

Out of hours visits (before 11am or after 6pm): £40 per visit. We are not able to make early/late visits over the festive period.

Purchase of additional litter/food etc: £30 per hour, plus the cost of the materials.

Emergency vet visits: £30 per hour or part thereof, plus vet charges.

This may be reclaimable on your pet insurance.

Lock emergencies: £30 per hour when dealing with locksmiths etc on your behalf, such as in the case of a burglary or a broken or faulty lock.

This may  be reclaimable on your home insurance.

Key collection: £30.

Unavoidable parking charges: £30 admin charge, plus the charge made by the parking authority

Outdoor plant watering: Click here.

As much as possible! Usually between 4 weeks and 3 months, depending on the time of year. The majority of our clients book months in advance.

We are particularly busy during Bank Holiday weekends, plus all of June, July, August, September and the festive season of 22 December – 2 January.

During these dates we give priority to clients who use us regularly throughout the year.

Clients whose work takes them away at very little notice are asked to let us know their situation beforehand – we are happy to help when forewarned.

Please make sure you have read and understood our cancellation policy before booking.

We’re not monsters! Clients suffering bereavement or other sudden emergencies who need to leave home urgently are only charged at the standard (lowest) rate.

This depends  entirely on your cat. Some shy cats prefer a shorter visit whilst they assess whether they would like to be friends or not. Bolder cats or kittens will want a cuddle on the sofa. Other cats reserves their affection for their mum or dad, and see us as merely the ‘hired help’, only there to service their immediate needs!

It’s down to the individual cats and we respect this. After all, it’s their home, not ours!

Due to the effect that Covid 19 had on the viability of offering a cat-sitting service, all bookings must be paid for in full 30 days before they start.  This is not refundable, but our clients have all been extremely sympathetic to this, and happy to comply.

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Usually, but not exclusively, between the hours of 11am  and 5pm.
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Yes, of course! Please make sure you leave plenty of litter, a proper litter scoop, bags for disposal, cleaning equipment and a dustpan and brush. ( not a vacuum…. too noisy! )

If your cat normally goes out and you’ve decided to keep them in while you’re away, please leave lots of litter. It’s easy to underestimate the amount of litter required. If we do have to buy extra litter, proper litter scoops or poop disposal bags on your behalf, we do make a charge for this.

Please do! Just drop us an email asking for an update and we will reply so that you can get back to the important business of enjoying your trip away

If you don’t want to use email when away, we can send you updates via WhatsApp if you have it. 

Make sure that you have told us how frequently you want us to update you, as everyone has different requirements.

Our WhatsApp Protocol:

WhatsApp pics, vids or messages
come from staff members’ personal numbers.

Please be
mindful of this and do not send queries or replies at
inappropriate UK hours.

Most team  members do not have access to our emails or booking system. So please don’t try to contact anyone via WhatsApp for bookings or queries.

All bookings must be
made via email. Our email address is monitored 7 days a
week for emergencies, queries and bookings

As secure as you leave it. We are very thorough at engaging all locks and security systems. We will alternate curtains, lights, radios etc if you so request.

We bring in your mail, organic box deliveries or milk bottles, plus move wheely bins as requested. This helps to give your home the appearance of being occupied.

We do not use sign written vehicles, and we make our calls as discreetly as possible. We do not want to advertise to the casual observer that you are not home.

The keys you give us should be a spare set – not in use by another family member.

If you prefer, we can hold your keys in our secure facilities. We offer this service free of charge to regular clients and 99% of our clients choose to leave their keys with us, for our mutual convenience. We safely dispose of keys if a client has not made a booking after 18 months.

We never EVER drop keys through your letterbox on the last call. If you were delayed in returning we would not be able to access your house to care for your cat.

If you would like your keys returned to you when your booking ends, please email us to let us know you have returned safely. We will drop your keys to you when we are next in your area. If you would then like to make further bookings, you will need to personally drop the keys to us, or arrange a courier at your own expense.

Please note, we are not a key holding service!  We’re not contactable 24/7. If you are locked out on an evening or weekend you will not be able to contact us. We recommend you leave a spare set with a neighbour or in your desk at work, if your office has 24 hour security.

We will take your cat to their own vet, or to the nearest vet in an emergency.  We all carry secure baskets in our vehicles. We will contact you immediately by phone using the number you have provided.

As we know all  the local vet practices, we will arrange for the vet to invoice you directly. 

Please note we charge £30 per hour for this service.

Thats entirely up to you and your cat. Your cat will be safer when not allowed to roam at will, but may also be anxious and destructive if confined. Its something you need to test for yourself. Please also bear in mind that cat-cams and smart-flaps are notorious for going offline at random times.

Yes, we do water plants, but please see the info below: in a very hot spell It can be a struggle to keep outdoor plants alive, so we ask you to give us all the help you can.

House Plants

Group all plants together and leave full written instructions regarding their care. There is no extra charge for this, however, you will need to leave a note to remind us with each new booking.

Garden Plants: English weather being unpredictable,  this is the only time we ask for payment in cash, for the reasons below. Please help us to keep your plants happy by reading on:

If you have an outside hose, we charge £5 per 15 minutes or part thereof.

If we have to carry a watering can, we charge £10 per 15 minutes of part thereof as this is time consuming and hard on our backs!

As you know, we work as a team, so it wouldn’t necessarily  be the same person watering the pots if the pots need daily watering over a 7 day period.

As the English summer is so unpredictable, please leave cash to cover watering every day. The Team member doing the actual watering will collect payment  only on whichever days watering is required. We will, of course, make a note of the days we have watered.

If payment is not left, we will invoice you for our time upon your return, but this will include an extra charge to cover admin.

If you don’t want us to water your plants, just say in the note. We don’t like to leave them to die!

Please take hanging baskets down, and group them with outside pots, preferably in a shady spot. This gives them the best chance of survival, should we have a very hot spell.

Your instructions

Leave a clear, up to date note for each booking, as often food or medication needs change over time. Please leave this in the kitchen, next to the cat food so that it can be read by us when we visit.

We are happy to measure out food by the gram, if required. Please leave out your scales, and a note saying how many grams for each cat over a 24 hour period.

Timings

We visit once per day, usually but not exclusively between the hours of 11am and 5pm.

We have many clients whose cats have special requirements – these cats always take priority.

For this reason,  it is not possible to book specifically timed visits unless a cat needs specifically timed medication.

Please do not ask for calls to be made alternate days, even if you have a relative or neighbour calling. This invalidates our insurance and prevents us providing professional care for your cat.

Feeders

We prefer not to use auto feeders, however if you must, these are to be used for dry diets only. A feeder is not a substitute for a call from us – but they can be used for supplementary snacks during the day. The only feeder we use ourselves and find to be totally reliable is to CatMate C20. We do not recommend any of the circular feeders.

Please ensure the timers are switched on, and have fresh batteries.

If you chose to use a feeder other than the CatMate C20, please leave full instructions.

We cannot be held responsible for malfunctioning auto feeders.

Finally

Working with animals often means unforeseen circumstances, which can cause delays. For example unexpected vet visits, unanticipated clean ups, elderly cats with upset tummies, various creatures your cats have hunted and brought into the house, problems with locks or alarms, and all manner of other unforeseeable situations. All of these (and more, we’ve seen it all!) may mean we can run late. It doesn’t happen every day, but it can happen at any time, so please bear this in mind.

We have some great feedback. See our testimonials here.

Email us at hello@mycatpeople.co.uk. We only take bookings via email.

Please put your surname, postcode and requested dates in the subject box for quick reference, using days as well as dates.

eg: Re: Jones SE22: Tues 1st – Mon 7 November: 8 visits ( its helpful for you to indicate how many visits you actually need, as lots of folks see to struggle with this part! )

In the main body of the email, tell us who you are, when you’ll be away, and if you have any specific queries not covered in this website.

Please bear in mind that  emails are only checked during normal working hours Monday – Friday, and just once a day at weekends for emergencies.

We can’t be on call 24/7 but we do our utmost to help our clients if they do need us at short notice.

Weekend staff make visits to the cats at weekends, but they do not monitor emails.

If you are registered with us, and you do have a genuine emergency, just email putting the word “URGENT ” at the start of the subject line, and your current phone numbers in the body of the email, along with your request. This is a system that works well for us and our clients.

Please email all enquiries or bookings to hello@mycatpeople.co.uk

Why no “Contact” button? We found that too many “contacts” went straight into the Spam Folder.

If you are registered with us, and have an emergency please email with ‘URGENT’ in the subject title and your contact number in the main body of the email, along with the nature of the emergency. (missed flight / bereavement etc)

We’re not an emergency service, so we can’t be on call or on standby 24/7.

This is why we don’t advertise our personal mobile numbers. Sadly we found that this led to  phone calls at all hours of the day and night, 7 days a week.

You can leave a message on our answerphone if you want to:

020 8771 4299.  Although messages are checked infrequently, so its always best to email.

THANK YOU: AND WELL DONE FOR READING THIS FAR! 

J XXXXX