Cat Care Planning
What to Tell Your Cat Sitter Before Travel
Clear notes help your cat sitter keep your cat's routine familiar, notice changes sooner, and provide care that fits your cat's personality. Food, water, litter boxes, medications, hiding spots, behavior, and emergency details all matter.
Quick Answer
Before travel, tell your cat sitter about your cat's feeding routine, water preferences, litter box habits, medications, medical conditions, hiding spots, behavior, favorite toys, stress signs, emergency contacts, vet information, carrier location, home access details, and anything that would be unusual for your cat. The more clearly your sitter understands your cat's normal routine, the easier it is to provide calm, consistent care.
Cat sitting is not just about putting food in a bowl and scooping a litter box. Good care depends on understanding the individual cat. Some cats are social. Some hide. Some eat immediately. Some wait until the sitter leaves. Some drink from a fountain, sink, tub, or specific bowl.
When your sitter knows what is normal, they can better recognize what has changed. That matters for comfort, routine, safety, and health.
This article is for general educational purposes only. If your cat has medical needs, behavior concerns, medication routines, or a history of stress-related illness, ask your veterinarian what details should be included in your sitter instructions.
Daily Routine
Explain Your Cat's Normal Routine
Start with the basics of your cat's normal day. Include when they usually eat, where they spend time, where they sleep, when they are most active, and what parts of their routine seem important to them.
Cats often feel more secure when daily life is predictable. A sitter who understands your cat's usual routine can help keep the visit familiar and calm.
It also helps to mention what your cat does when you are home. For example, if your cat usually greets you at breakfast, naps in a closet, watches birds in the afternoon, or hides from visitors, that context matters.
Food
Share Detailed Feeding Instructions
Feeding notes should include the food brand, flavor, amount, timing, bowl location, treat rules, and whether food should be refrigerated, warmed, mixed, measured, or served in a certain way.
If your cat uses a timed feeder, microchip feeder, slow feeder, puzzle feeder, raised bowl, special plate, or separate feeding area, include those details too.
Tell your sitter what normal eating looks like. Some cats finish meals immediately. Some graze. Some only eat after the sitter leaves. That difference can help your sitter avoid unnecessary worry or notice a true appetite change.
Water
Describe Water Bowls, Fountains, and Drinking Habits
Water habits can vary a lot from cat to cat. Some cats use one bowl. Some prefer water away from food. Some drink from fountains, sinks, tubs, cups, or multiple water stations.
Tell your sitter where every water source is located, how often water should be refreshed, whether bowls should be washed, and whether a fountain needs to be checked or cleaned.
If your cat has an unusual water routine, write it down clearly. A sitter should know if your cat waits by the sink, drinks from a specific bowl, ignores certain water stations, or needs backup water available.
Litter Boxes
List Every Litter Box Location
Litter box instructions should include every box location, even if one is tucked away in a closet, bathroom, basement, laundry room, or spare room.
Include the litter type, scoop location, trash instructions, litter genie instructions, cleaning supplies, and anything unusual about your cat's box habits.
Tell your sitter what is normal. If your cat usually urinates daily, has large clumps, has small clumps, sometimes misses the box, or has a history of constipation, diarrhea, or urinary issues, those details can help with monitoring.
Medication and Health
Include Medical Conditions and Medication Notes
If your cat takes medication, write down the medication name, dose, timing, route, storage instructions, and what to do if a dose is refused or missed.
Keep medication supplies easy to find. This may include pill pockets, syringes, gloves, inhalers, insulin, sharps containers, treats, towels, or special tools.
Also list medical conditions, allergies, prescription diets, recent symptoms, mobility concerns, dental issues, asthma, kidney disease, diabetes, thyroid disease, urinary problems, seizures, or anything your sitter should watch closely.
Behavior
Tell Your Sitter What Is Normal for Your Cat
Behavior notes are one of the most helpful parts of cat sitting instructions. Tell your sitter whether your cat usually greets people, hides, watches from a distance, follows visitors, vocalizes, swats, or avoids touch.
Include favorite hiding spots, favorite rooms, preferred resting areas, and places your cat may go if they are nervous.
Also include stress signs and boundary signals. For example, tail flicking, hiding, growling, flattened ears, skin twitching, moving away, or refusing treats may mean your cat needs space.
Checklist
What to Tell Your Cat Sitter Before Travel
These are the main details that help a sitter provide consistent, thoughtful care.
Food and water
Meal amounts, feeding times, bowl locations, treats, diet restrictions, water stations, and fountain notes.
Litter boxes
Box locations, litter type, scooping routine, disposal instructions, cleaning supplies, and normal habits.
Health and medication
Medical conditions, medications, allergies, prescription diets, mobility needs, and warning signs.
Comfort and behavior
Hiding spots, play preferences, stress signs, favorite toys, brushing notes, and visitor behavior.
Enrichment
Share Favorite Toys, Games, and Comfort Activities
If your cat enjoys play or enrichment, tell your sitter what they like. This may include wand toys, laser play with a safe ending, treat games, food puzzles, brushing, cat TV, window time, or quiet companionship.
Also mention what should be avoided. Some cats dislike brushing, become overstimulated quickly, swallow string toys, guard food, or become frustrated by laser play.
Clear enrichment notes help the sitter offer interaction that fits your cat instead of assuming every cat wants the same kind of visit.
Home Access
Make Home Access Instructions Simple
Your sitter should know how to enter, secure, and leave your home safely. Include keys, door codes, alarm details, parking instructions, building access, elevator notes, gate codes, and any doors that need special attention.
If your cat is likely to approach the door, hide near the entrance, or try to slip into a hallway, mention that clearly.
Access instructions should be direct and easy to follow so the sitter is not guessing during the visit.
Emergency Planning
Leave Emergency Information Before You Travel
Emergency information should be easy to find. Include your regular veterinarian, preferred emergency clinic, carrier location, medication list, medical conditions, emergency contact, and how to reach you while you are away.
It also helps to write down authorization preferences for urgent care. Your sitter should know who to call, where to go, and what to do if you are temporarily unavailable.
A printed emergency information sheet near the cat supplies, carrier, or refrigerator can be helpful in case quick decisions are needed.
Safety
Mention Household Hazards and Cat-Specific Risks
If your cat chews plastic, eats hair ties, swallows string, opens cabinets, steals food, climbs screens, or gets into trash, tell your sitter directly.
Before travel, put away risky items such as string, ribbon, rubber bands, hair ties, medications, toxic plants, plastic, fragile objects, unsafe foods, and small objects.
A sitter can provide better safety observation when they know your cat's habits and the household risks that matter most.
Updates
Tell Your Sitter What Updates You Want
Updates are more useful when the sitter knows what you care about most. You may want to know about food, water, litter box use, medication, behavior, play, hiding, or whether your cat seemed relaxed.
Photos and videos can also be reassuring, especially when your cat is shy, senior, medically sensitive, or new to pet sitting visits.
If there is something specific you want included, say so before travel. Clear update preferences help the sitter send the kind of information that actually helps you feel informed.
Supplies
Show Where Supplies Are Kept
Make it easy for your sitter to find food, bowls, treats, litter, scoop, trash bags, cleaning supplies, paper towels, medications, toys, brushes, towels, and the carrier.
If supplies are stored in multiple places, leave a simple written list. For example, wet food in the pantry, dry food in the closet, litter in the laundry room, and cleaning supplies under the sink.
This saves time and helps the sitter handle normal care tasks or unexpected messes without searching through your home.
Charlottesville Cat Sitting
In-Home Cat Sitting in Charlottesville
Megan's Pet Sitting provides in-home cat sitting in Charlottesville, VA, with thoughtful drop-in visits designed around each cat's routine, safety needs, comfort level, and personality.
Visits may include food, fresh water, bowl cleaning, litter box care, play, enrichment when approved, companionship when wanted, observation, photos, videos, and detailed updates.
Planning Cat Care?
Need Cat Sitting in Charlottesville?
If your cat needs familiar routines, detailed care notes, thoughtful observation, and updates that help you feel informed, Megan's Pet Sitting can help you explore whether drop-in cat sitting is the right fit.
Contact Megan's Pet Sitting