Who will take care of our kids?

 There is no end to the travel temptations that The Scout finds. 

The question though isn't 'Where will we go next?' but more. . .

Island of Kos - another travel temptation

'Who will take care of our kids while we are gone?' Our 'fur kids', that is.

Our Greek family consists of two felines. There's our 12-year-old 'Princess' who reigns supreme and our part-time roustabout 'Nermal' who's been a regular at our house for five years. Their care while we are gone is as much a consideration as the trip itself. 

Princess watching for jackals and wild boar in the grove

Gone are the days of having someone stop by for morning and evening feedings with the cats fending for themselves in between. As the numbers of jackals and wild boar in our rural slice of the Peloponnese continues to rise, so does the need to have 24/7 cat care. Jackals have killed five cats in our area within the last year.

Nermal making sure it is safe to step outside

It was a fortunate happenstance when over coffee in the village a few years ago that an acquaintance mentioned how happy she'd been with a recent house and pet sit; her dogs had been well cared for and she returned to a clean house as well.

A chance conversation - a life changer

That chance conversation was our introduction to Trusted Housesitters,(THS), an online community marketplace where pet parents and pet sitters meet.   We are now among the 230,000+ members of THS, a 10-year-old pet sitting resource that encompasses 100 countries. 

The only cost for this pet sitting is in the annual membership fee paid by both sitter and pet owner.  No money changes hands between sitter and pet owner. The sitter pays their travel expenses, and daily expenses during their stay. The homeowner provides the accommodation and pays all utilities. 

Details of our home are part of the profile

As a pet owner I've created an on-line THS profile about us, the cats and our home. When we need a sitter, we post the dates and wait for applications. We review applicants, often video chatting with them before making a selection. The sitters also have on-line profiles, and recommendations.  Reviews of both the sitter and the homeowner appear on the respective profiles after the sits begin.  

Nermal isn't sure about the pet sitter in the computer

Even with all the checks and balances provided by THS, I have to admit that I was skeptical at first.  Our cats are very particular about who they like and who they don't. I wasn't sure that either of them would be comfortable with 'a stranger' caring for them, no matter how comfortable we humans were with the individuals we'd selected. It could be compared to on-line dating, but the pets have no say in with whom they'll be spending time.

A Game Changer

THS Merri and Ivana are among village friends at this gathering 

I am here to tell you, that we've been blown away by the way 'the kids' took to their new caregivers! It is humbling - yet comforting - to realize that you can be replaced. 

One of the unexpected benefits of the pet sit program, has been the friendships made. Each person that has arrived here as a sitter, has left as a friend. We stay in touch on social media and see each other when the opportunities arise.  

So, with their permission to tell you a bit about them and show you some of the candid photos they us sent while we were away, let me introduce you to our new friends:  

 Ivana from the Czech Republic.

Ivana saying goodbye to Princess

We met Ivana a few summers ago when she sat for our friend, Chuck, in the village. Two summers ago, when she returned for another sit at his house she agreed to care for our two cats as well. As a remote worker (one who can work from anywhere there is internet access), Ivana divided her time between our two homes.  Our cats were contented and well cared for as were his two dogs and cats. 

Ivana, Princess and Maggie

This sit was our introduction to the wonders of getting daily reports, photos, like the one above, and videos. Getting these reports and seeing 'the kids' is most reassuring - we were sold on the program. Our cats back then, Maggie (who's since crossed the Rainbow Bridge) and Princess didn't seem to miss us at all.  They no longer roamed the neighborhood looking for human interaction and love in between feedings.

Mouthwatering homemade Czech dessert awaited

And if coming home to happy cats, and a clean house wasn't the icing on the cake, the plate of fresh-baked Czech dessert we found waiting for us on our return was!  

Ivana continues to watch Chuck's 'kids', so we get to see her socially while she's here. We stay in touch the rest of the year on FB.

Merri from New Mexico, now Mani

We met THS Merri when she cared for the feline family of our friends Mic and Jean in November 2023. We met up a couple times during that stay. We had her over to meet Princess who made it clear she liked her within minutes of her arrival. We stayed in touch after she returned to the States and were delighted when she said she'd come back to watch our kids for a month last summer.

'Wake up, Merri! Time to play with me,' said Princess

Merri was unruffled by the Mani storms that struck during her November stay not to mention the heatwave and drought that struck last summer while at our place. Even that pesky rat, I've written about, who struck our car's electrical system, did so while Merri was here. While she insisted that she had enjoyed our area, we worried she might not consider another sit here. . .

Who needs sunset when you have Merri scratching your head?

The THS website explains that these sits can be life changing and Merri can attest to that.  She really did like the area, but she won't be sitting here any longer. Merri, with a digital nomad residency permit in hand, has moved here! We'are sad to have lost a great THS but now have a new friend just down the road. (Within her first two months she was adopted by three stray cats!)

Gabrielle and Steve from England

This twosome arrived on a glum, gray January day for a three-week stay to care for our feline family.  They were the first sitters we'd not met in real life prior to the sit although we'd done a WhatsApp video call with them. We were delighted that they'd traveled here from England, but I fretted about whether Princess would like them or not.  

We hadn't been gone 48 hours when we received the photo below. . .and I quit fretting.

Princess seemed to think Steve was a perfect fit

There is nothing better for a fretting fur kid parent than to get daily reports with photos of how the kids are doing. It is listed as a condition of a sit for our fur kids. Gabrielle and Steve notched up those reports as I had pointed out to them the street cats I feed when in the village, but assured them, that wasn't expected of them.  Imagine the joy when they sent photos of the cats in the village they had fed as well!  

'Nermal, our 'part-time' cat,' I had forewarned them, 'is a 'cat of the hill' - he might show up, he might not.' He might be too afraid to come in and eat if he sees strangers in the house. He is afraid of humans. If he didn't show, they were not to worry. 

Gabrielle cuddling Nermal!

Need I say we were gobsmacked when this photo popped up in our messages?  Gabrielle had achieved a trust with our scaredy cat we'd never would have thought possible!

Jeanne from Switzerland

An island-hopping ferry trip in March would be determined by whether we could get a THS on rather short notice.  No sitter, no trip, we'd decided. We were hoping to leave in two weeks. 

We posted our travel dates and to our surprise had seven applicants within the first hour.  The one who stood out among them was Jeanne from Switzerland. And luck was with us - she was already traveling in the Peloponnese and was but a few hours' drive away.

I took this photo- Princess preferred Jeanne!

Because she had a flexible travel schedule, we were able to leave sooner than we'd hoped and stay longer than we'd originally planned.  We had a face-to-face video chat and then a few days later we met for coffee and a home tour as she continued her travels in the area.  A few days later she returned for the sit, and we left confident that our cats were in good hands (and feet as evidenced by Nermal below).

Nermal wrapped around Jeanne's leg

Despite rather unseasonably wet weather she was able to get out and explore our immediate area and do some hiking while taking care of the wee ones.  Like Gabrielle, she won the heart of Nermal and had Princess never far from her side.  

We returned home a day early due to bad weather so overlapped with Jeanne. The next morning when we said goodbye, it felt like a longtime friend was leaving.

Not for Everyone

THS was a game changer for us

We found al our sitters to be extremely focused on the care of our fur kids and our home.  They enjoy the benefits of the accommodation and the area, but don't approach the stay with the idea of it being a vacation. Not everyone would want to take on that responsibility. Just as not every homeowner would want to have someone they don't know well, come into their homes and care for their pets. 

For us, it has worked extremely well. We recommend it highly.  This summer we have another THS couple coming from America to watch the kids and water plants while we are back in the States. They have not only been to the Mani but have been pet sitting in the neighborhood!  

If any of you are interested in joining Trusted Housesitters, (either as pet sitter or pet owner) you can get 25% off your membership if referred by a current THS member. The referring member, if you join, gets their membership extended by two months.  (Send us an email and I will make sure to divide the referral opportunities between the sitters I've introduced you to.)  

That's it for this week. We'll be back with more travel tales soon ~ thanks for the time you've spent with us!