Idle Cats and Little Paws

15/05/2024

Been asked by a few customers recently about dog walking and boarding. Any recommendations? Dogs aren’t my thing 😹

13/05/2024

Anyone fancy a FREE cat tunnel? Fun to play with and also folds up neatly when not in use. Collection from Ashton BS32LY or I may be able to deliver to BS3. Priority to regular catsitting customers

24/01/2024

Price increase from 6th April 2024

I wanted to let you know that I have made the tricky decision to increase the price slightly for one visit a day for the next financial year.

1 x visit a day will increase from £9 to £10

2 x visits a day will stay at £18

I haven’t increased the price of one visit a day for a good few years and I want to be fair for my associate who work with me and account for the increased cost of living.

Any bookings already made after this date will be honoured at £9 a visit.

Bank holidays will remain as double time as apart from Easter where it’s just the Easter Sunday which is double time.

Thanks for all your continued support.

07/01/2024

Want to get paid to cuddle cats?

I’m looking for another associate catsitter to work with me, visiting some adorable cats like this little dude.

The role involves lots of cat cuddles and play time, alongside feeding them, cleaning out litter trays and updating customers about how their cat is getting along.

I’m especially looking for someone to cover the Victoria Park/ Windmill Hill area.

You’ll preferably have access to your own transport and be available for school holidays and bank holidays.

You need be registered self employed.

If you’d like to know more about the role or think you know someone who would suit it perfectly, drop me a message on here or 07854526403 and I’ll email you some more information.

18/11/2023

Just to let you know that I’m working this Christmas with limited availability. Double time charge 24, 25, 26, 31 Dec and 1st Jan. Just existing customers.

25/08/2023

One of my customers has 4 kittens available mid-September. I want to help her make sure they go to a good home so please only message me if you’re interested AND you’re one of my current or previous customers.

23/06/2023

Update - now taken - FREE cat tin

This beautiful tin has been sat on my side in the kitchen for ages and wondered if anyone can make use of it before I chuck it out.

I can leave in my porch to pick up at a flexible time if I have any takers.

Chocolates long gone from it I’m afraid 😹

31/03/2023

FREE cat scratching post and litter

Donated to me from a friend. Scratching post basically unused and mostly full bag of litter.

Free to collect from my house in Ashton.

Oat milk carton for size perspective.

Message me if you’re interested. Priority goes to my current customers.

21/02/2023

Following feedback, I’ll just be charging bank holiday fee for Easter Sunday this year, to help with cost of living pressure. Drop me a message if you need cat care.

24/12/2022

A very merry Christmas to all my amazing customers!

I’ll be busy visiting some of my furry friends over the next few days and giving them lots of festive cuddles, along with my amazing associates Sophie, Lou and Izzy!

Thanks for all your support and for bearing with me over a busy summer of cat cover, whilst we welcomed our second child.

And thanks to Sophie, Lou and Izzy who have been amazing at stepping up to cover me and take some of the pressure off!

I’m happy to have a much more sustainable and less frazzling business going into 2023 ❤️!

09/11/2022

Christmas bookings are open and, as in previous years, I’ll be charging double time for 24, 25, 26 and 31 Dec and 1st Jan. I’ll likely be fully booked by the end of November.

26/08/2022

FREE cat scratching post

We’ve had this for 5 years and it is essentially a piece of furniture which our cat has barely touched ( in favour of our carpets 🤦🏻‍♀️!).

Message me if you’d like it and I can pop it in my porch for you to pick up

01/08/2022

Introducing my future catsitting associate 😻

Our little lady arrived by planned c section last Wednesday.

We’re all doing well and adjusting to our expanded family.

The cat 🐈‍⬛ sniffed her and decided she isn’t very interesting 😹…..pretty similar to little boy’s reaction 😂!

Thanks for all the well wishes from customers and support from my lovely associates holding the fort over the summer.

17/07/2022

Just in case you’ve missed my news, I’m off now for a couple of months to welcome this little one into our family.

I’ve very thankful that I have 3 amazing associates who have been helping me over recent months and will hold the fort as much as possible for the summer. I’m especially grateful of the cover over this heatwave 🥵🙏🏻

Feel free to still contact me over the summer and I’ll try and get your cat care covered as much as possible.

Sorry, no new customers for a couple of months while I focus on existing customers.

I’m planning on being back in action mid-September but am holding off until baby number two arrive to make September commitments.

Thanks for all the support and well wishes!

01/07/2022

Lovely feedback about my super associate Lou who has worked really hard this month helping me when I’ve been away and to ease the workload for me 🤰!

I’ll be taking a couple of months off from mid-July for baby number two and so happy to know I’m leaving cat visits in very safe hands with my associates 🥰.

16/06/2022

Edit: Alex is now safe and sound back home. Thanks for everyone who looked out for him.

Missing cat - Smyth Road

Lovely Alex has gone wandering around Smyth Road, down the Ashton end.

He’s a beautiful light ginger, quite large but slender boy. Super friendly and sweet.

Hopefully he’s just out sunbathing but please do keep an eye out for him.

If you catch sight of him over the next few days, please contact his owner Sarah - +44 7989 571428

06/06/2022

Say hello to Sophie (and Pickle!)

Sophie is joining my team as my third Petsitting Associate, along with Izzy and Lou.

I’ve known Sophie a long time, having looked after her cheeky family cat, Pickle, for 5 years or so.

Sophie is just finishing her A levels and spending the summer and her gap year helping me with catsitting cover before hopefully going to university to study Psychology.

Sophie has plenty of experience of catsitting and babysitting in the local area and recent feedback from customers she has covered for me includes:

“All very good. House exactly as we’d left it. Walter seems happy and lots of updates and pics. Really pleased. Thanks!”

“Thanks to both you and Sophie for this week. Monty was very happy upon our return 😊”

And a reminder that I’ll be out of action from mid-July to mid-September, expecting baby number 2 (or 3 if you count Tom 🐈‍⬛!).

If you need cat care over the summer, I recommend you get in touch soon so I can help to arrange cover.

And please join me in welcoming Sophie! 😁

04/05/2022

FYI very limited Petsitting availability over Glastonbury weekend 😬

02/05/2022

Say hello to Lou! 👋🏻

Lou has been helping me as my new Petsitting Associate for the past few weeks and having a great time getting to know your furry friends in the Windmill Hill and Victoria Park area.

Lou has grown up with her rescue cat Ruby, who lived to a very healthy 14 years old.

She is also a student studying fashion, living in the Totterdown area.

Recent feedback from clients includes:

“Lou was amazing sending me photos and keeping me up to date with news of the cats”

“The cats clearly adore her!”

Please join me in warmly welcoming Lou to the team! 🥰

23/04/2022

22/04/2022

Ester will be taking a step back from catsitting at the end of this month because of other work commitments.

She has been helping me since September, using her fantastic experience of fostering cats and love of animals.

I’m particularly grateful for her flexibility and attentive care with some of the particularly nervous and unpredictable cats that she covered over the past few months.

Wishing her well with her next ventures and I’ll see you around BS3!

I have a couple of other people helping me out over the summer, more news coming soon…..😻

18/03/2022

I'm not available next week from 21st-27th March.
If you'd like cat care please let me know asap so I could arrange some cover

11/03/2022

It’s finally caught up with me. Very thankful of my amazing associates for stepping in last minute this week 🥰!

06/03/2022

A reminder that from 1st April I’ll be charging a flat rate of £9 per visit (£18 for two) and double time for bank holidays. Thanks for your support 😻

27/02/2022

Would you like to get paid for looking after some absolute dudes like Zebling? 😻

Zeb is the first cat I ever looked after (and still do some 8 years later! 🙀).

When I moved to Bristol I had time on my hands and we’d just bought our first house so needed some extra money! I put out a couple of ads and did some babysitting around BS3.

Then one of the families got a kitten and asked if I could look after him too.

A bit of word of mouth and a couple of casual Facebook posts and suddenly I had a booming business, which paid for my honeymoon a couple of years later and massively helped us buy our next home 5 years ago.

Now I’m juggling a toddler, and expecting another bundle of trouble in the summer 👶 😅, I’d love to invite someone else to join my team of associates.

I handle all the admin and cover your insurance and you just need to cuddle cats and send adorable photos to their owners.

I’m particularly keen for someone who can work over the summer, is in BS3 and has access to transport. The role is flexible and you can set when you do and don’t work.

If you’d like to know more, drop me a message and I’ll send you information.

Feel free to share with other cat enthusiasts in your life.

16/02/2022

😹 is this you? 🤫

07/02/2022

Say hi to lovely Izzy (and Smudge!) 👋🏻

Izzy has recently started as a new Petsitting Associate, alongside Ester.

She is owner to Smudge, the gorgeous and extremely cuddly three-legged rescue cat.

She grew up with 6 cats (when her parents moved house and the previous owner left 16 cats behind 😳!) so has of experience with all kinds of cats.

Alongside Petsitting, she runs a catering business specialising in Mac n cheese (check out the website, it will make you very hungry - www.alpmac.co.uk) and other self employed work.

Izzy lives in Bedminster and will mostly be covering the Bedminster/Southville/Ashton area.

I look forward to introducing you to her over the coming months.

(P.S. if you know anyone else who would like to get paid to cuddle cats, especially over the busy summer period, drop me a message. I’m particularly looking for someone around the Victoria Park area and/or someone who can drive)

17/01/2022

***Pricing changes for April onwards***
(and a photo of a kitten to soften the blow!🙈)

I've made a difficult decision to slightly increase prices from 1st April and wanted to give you lots of notice.

The price of one visit a day will remain the same at £9 per visit.

But I have decided to keep a flat rate of £9 for all visits so that two visits will be £18 per day.

I've been thinking about it for a while, as I want to pay a fair wage to the lovely Associates who help me (more exciting news coming on this soon...!).

And, like many of you, my costs of living have increased significantly, with a particular impact felt from the increase of the cost of petrol.

From April I will also be charging double time for ALL bank holidays.

You're welcome to drop from two visits a day to one if you'd like to and please do also talk to me if you've been significantly impacted by Covid or other financial hardships.

22/11/2021

We're HIRING!

Would you like to do a job where you get to cuddle cats and get paid for it?!

It is with great sadness that the amazing Silvia will be moving back to Italy to be close to family in January.

Whilst I've still got fabulous Ester helping provide cover for me, it would be great to get someone else to help in the new year too.

I’m looking for a reliable, trustworthy and non-judgemental person who cares about cats (and other small animals) and also cares about providing an excellent service.

You’d be covered under my insurance and I’d do all the admin with bookings and invoices. I’d also be on hand to offer lots of support and guidance from my 8 years of experience of pet sitting.

Work is seasonable and I’m looking to work with someone who is registered self-employed (as work is likely to fluctuate).

In return for support, insurance and lots of lovely cat cuddles, you could expect to earn in the region of £200-400 a month, with potential to earn much more in busy periods.

I think this would be a great opportunity for someone to top up their income, perhaps alongside another job or setting up another business, as part of a gap year or someone recently retired and looking for something to keep them busy.

You can work around your availability but you need to be available to work for the majority of school holidays, bank holidays and evenings and weekends. You also need to be able to travel throughout BS3 so access to transport (preferably a car) is essential.

If you’re interested then I’m really keen to hear your questions and talk through the role. Check out the job description below and drop me a message on here.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fm95q7qzljitxwc3lz2fe/Job-description-Petsitting-Associate.docx?dl=0&rlkey=2f4tuuj3x0mtfl9xbzocxhmgk

11/11/2021

A reminder that I’m not working Christmas this year from the evening of 24th to the morning of 27th.