5 Star Housesitters

Tag: CA housesit petsit

A Thanksgiving full house with a King Charles spaniel and 3 cats!

(Part 1 of 2)

It was wonderful having the opportunity to help out a family planning a Thanksgiving trek to ski country, and the Santa Monica area was not a bad place for us to spend the holidays!

Did I mention it was a packed house? The “normal” household included little Chelsea, a beautiful and sweet King Charles spaniel, and Sylvester, an independent-natured longhair cat. However, the homeowners had accepted temporary care of two cats from a niece for an extended period, and, as is sometimes said, “…that’s when the fight broke out!” (Read more about the cats in Part 2).

As for Chelsea girl, well, she’s a very sweet-natured, well-behaved, low maintenance girl — a little walk in the morning, some ball tossing in the hallway, a little couch-snuggling before bed equals a happy girl!
As well-behaved as little Chelsea was, she still had quite a bit of spunk, particularly when it came to the visiting (male) cats, and standing her ground when there were “territory” issues.

We certainly loved the short time we were able to spend with this good-hearted, loving soul!

November 29, 2013
A Thanksgiving full house with a King Charles spaniel and 3 cats, continued!
We did! We did! We did see a puddy tat, and it looked just like…Sylvester!

Sylvester is a long hair, and the “original” family cat. Unfortunately for him, two other male cats — Lovey and Lionel — were very poor guests, and tormented him relentlessly, flushing him out of every solitary place he could find, looking to mix it up!

Now, don’t misunderstand, on their own, Lovey and Lionel were a lot of fun! Lovey was very loving, in fact, he’d surprise the heck out of us by literally attempting to jump into our arms if we were passing by! Lionel was skittish and shy, but once you gained his confidence, he was very sweet and enjoyed being loved on.

The dynamics of cat behavior are mysterious, particularly so when:
- There are three
- They are all male
- Two of them are new to the ‘hood
We would have loved to be able to able to connect with them more on and individual level, (particularly poor Sylvester)!, but, at least we were successful keeping the peace!
November 28, 2013
Cody and Barbie — what a contrast!

Our travels took us to “Gold Country,” California, to care for a year and a half old Golden Retriever, Cody, and his “sister,” a 5 year old Pomeranian, Barbie.

Cody is a high energy, rambunctious boy, very curious, clever, determined, affectionate — all those wonderful golden traits to enjoy! Cody loved going for walks, swimming laps, and fetching his toys, with all the exuberance you’d expect of a boy his age.

In contrast, little Barbie…such a dear! Barbie had a near fatal dog attack which injured her trachea, making everything extra-strenuous for her little 5 pound body. But she did have lots of energy for putting Cody in his place when he was infringing upon her territory, (like the bed!)

In addition to caring for the dogs, there were also 3 pygmy goats and six chickens to feed and water, morning and evening. They were all very well behaved, and it was fun interacting with them!

September 7, 2013