Healing Holistix

This time, after the trip to Lithuania, the lady who looks after Lulu has charged me double what she usually does! She used to charge me £5 a day as 'Lulu was no trouble at all & sleeps most of the time'. Now she wants £10 per day. She could have told me that before I went away! She also wants me to pay her 'in cash' this time.

I have to say I was a bit dubious when I brought Lulu home after this last trip. I was told she 'ate really well' and 'trotted at full speed' while on walks - faster than the other dogs! Didn't sound like her at all - she's a trundler!! Since getting home again, she's been completely off her food...and I've certainly not experienced her trotting at high speed! Also her water dish (ceramic) had been replaced by another one, as 'the other dogs' had broken it (how many 'other dogs' did she look after, I wonder??) and I subsequently discovered her plastic food dish was cracked all down one side too - the first time I dropped it, it broke into pieces! It sounds as if there was mayhem where she was being kept!

Considering I'm always overwhelmed with guilt every time I go away & leave her, I thought long & hard about all this, and had almost decided that any further trips would be postponed for quite a while until I found an alternative solution. The cost has been the crunch factor!!

Fortunately in our case, daughter and family move in, and house sit. Our house is bigger than theirs, has more mod cons and is very convenient to shops etc, so to them it's a bit like staying in a flash motel! Very convenient! They don't live far away so they can always pop home for things if needed.

We are very fortunate. There is a 'handy man' who lives near us and, for a fiver a day, he visits our house while we are away and feeds and waters the cat.

He cleans up any mess that the cat might make and leaves the place secure.

The cat is not disturbed by being carted off to a cattery and we get the bonus of someone visiting the house every day while we are away.

I dog swop with a friend who has a farm and Penny loves going there and also loves her friend coming here to stay.

Thais, of course the sitter should have told you beforehand that the price was going up. My old cat will have to be put down before I go away in September She used to go to a wonderful cat hotel, but the last time she was despondent and depressed when I picked her up. She's got arthritis and probably thyroid disease and has developed atrocious litterbox habits, so it's time to go. Not looking forward to it and feeling guilty. She will be my last pet.

That's a nice offer, Laura!

By email, she has just apologised for not letting me know beforehand that she would charge this. But hasn't changed her mind. She says she now charges peeps £12.50 a day for doggy sitting. That's OK of course, but she's not a 'registered' minder - I don't know if anyone else does, but I certainly never had to fill in a form giving all her details & vaccinations etc. That's why I chose her to sit for me, as I don't have these things.

My friend Paula has since said that if I really need to go away for a few days, she will come & live in the house while I'm away. (She only lives a couple of streets away, but she says it would be a blessed relief!! ) I'm not sure about it though, she's so scatty.

Blimey! That's about $37-50! I'd be inclined to ask for a receipt to show the tax department, as an expense! Bet she's not declaring it!
I can nearly get a motel for that!

I think she'll have to - I paid with a debit card!

Those kind of prices are normal here, Michael.

The cat hotel, which I said was lovely, charges $11 day which would be about £5.40 and it's a legit business. The rate goes down if you have more than one animal.