Acacia

Acacia has once again proven to be a great choice of cat sitter. She is personable, reliable and clearly cares for the kitties. We received updates daily and came home to three happy cats.

SITTER'S RESPONSE TO REVIEW: "This review is so unfair. I give updates every 2 days to all of my customers and all I did was tell what was actually happening and asked for advice. The dog was clearly untrained. I spent hours every day cleaning after the dog. I actually used 3 full bottles of cleaning products. I did take him out for a walk every day plus regularly to the garden to do his thing but once inside the house he would do it again. I had the windows open all day plus brought incense as it started to smell. The dog would attack the mop as I was cleaning his mess. I couldn't walk around the house as he would bite my shoes. Etc, etc. I tried my best and tried to be patient before complaining but it was very difficult. I have never had any problems with any pets in the past and this has been extremely frustrating. Mike says the house was in a disgusting state which is not true, I left everything as clean as it was when I arrived. After talking with him he says it's because I didn't hoover two of the rooms but I am a pet sitter not a cleaner and it is a very big house. The dog destroyed a small sofa on the first day, plus two plants days later (everything he could get to) and I did put it away so he wouldn't do more damage. He destroyed 2 of his teddy bears and the entire house was covered in cotton several times, which I hoovered. He also says I wasn't in the house, and that is completely untrue. I was there most of the time and I did take care of their pets. He mentions that I had a problem with the cat having diarrhea but that's not what happened. I messaged him worried about the cat letting him know, in case something needed to be done to help the cat. I have never worked so hard as with this booking, spending a minimum of 5 hours per day taking care of the pets and cleaning. At the beginning of this booking he sent me a 6 page document with the instructions of all I had to do to take care of the pets so I realised it would be more work than usual but it was really not worth it for me. I did tell him the pay was not enough at some point yes, as the pay was less than minimum wage. Overall, I understand it was not an ideal situation and that he is dissappointed. But there is no need to lie. I have peace of mind that I've done my job well and I've done my best."

We booked Acacia to look after our two cats and one dog for a little over two weeks, when we went on holiday. When I noticed that her profile said she normally only looks after cats, I asked her about this, and she said that "I don't usually do, but I'm happy to this time :)". When I followed up to ask if she had done it before, she said "Yes I used to live with 6 dogs and took care of them, took them for walks and played with them. Also my parents have always had dogs."

Within days of our departure, Acacia began complaining that our dog, Sunny, was urinating and defecating indoors. He is completely toilet trained and so this is completely out of character. We made a series of suggestions, including ensuring he was getting enough exercise and attention. She assured us that he was getting enough exercise, but continued complaining that he was disobedient (also out of character) and continued to urinate and defecate in the house. When I say this is out of character, this is evidenced not only by his good behaviour in our own care in the past, but also perfect behaviour whenever our friends and family have looked after him, as well as his return to perfectly normal behaviour after we returned home from this trip.

When we returned home, our house was in a disgusting state. Vomit, urine and faeces were stained across multiple floor and table top surfaces. It was also clear that she had spent very little time actually staying in our house as agreed. It is clear to us that Sunny, as well as our two cats, have been seriously neglected while in Acacia's care. At best, Sunny has been completely ignored and given next to no attention or affection. At worst, we suspect he's been closed away from human contact almost entirely, either within our house (doors closed) or that the "house sitter" has simply done very little house sitting, and left a dog and two cats to largely fend for themselves while she's stayed in her own home with her own pets, when dogs of course require a lot of care and attention.

Acacia continued to complain about HER experience throughout all of this, complaining that she was "losing her mind" and implied we ought to be extorted for more money, stating, "I feel like the pay is not enough for the amount of work." She also complained that the house was stinking of urine and faeces due to the problems with not only the dog but the cats. One of the cats had diarrhoea, and we are absolutely certain that this was due to the stress caused by the dog's distress, as the two have a close bond. Seemingly, Acacia had a difficult time cleaning up all the mess, but this was of course no excuse for the constant complaints (that ruined our holiday), and the neglect of our pets. Perhaps the biggest frustration of all was that her own difficulty would have been completely avoided had she done what she was paid to do and simply cared properly for our pets.

The complaints got so bad and frequent that our concern for our pets grew so great that we felt we had no choice but to call in a huge favour with a friend and ask her to collect Sunny and take him to her house to look after him instead, for the remaining 5 or so days of our trip. Needless to say, our friend reported that Sunny behaved perfectly, and was happy, and having plenty of fun for the remainder of our time away. This favour was the last thing we wanted to request, and of course completely defeated the purpose of spending a fortune on a house sitter, who seemed to think she was being paid to have a holiday in an Airbnb.

When you agree to receive payment to care for someone's pets, you take on the responsibility for yourself. If they get sick for any reason (whether caused by your own neglect or not) you should act professionally and care for the animals (and the property!) as if they were your own. Acacia utterly failed to do this, and it is our strong belief that she be banned from the Pawshake app and that no further pet parents consider letting her anywhere near their pets or home ever again.