Leave your cat sitter a dated care note covering each cat’s identity, agreed visits, food and water instructions, litter care, medication, usual behaviour, home access and emergency contacts. Add the carrier’s location and a clear plan for reaching veterinary help when you cannot answer. Walk through the note together before departure so the sitter can test the practical details.
The most useful handover answers three questions: what should happen at this visit, how will the sitter know something has changed, and what should they do next? Keep urgent contacts and essential actions on the first page. Put detailed equipment instructions and records behind it, where they can be found without obscuring the everyday care.
Name the cats and define the booking
Start with a recent photograph and identifying features for each cat. Similar-looking animals need more than names: a white chin, different markings or a recognisable tail can help the sitter distinguish them. Connect every individual diet, medicine and handling instruction to the correct photograph. Do not assume the friend who recognises one cat will automatically recognise its companion.
Write the first and final visits using dates and local times. Explain which care you will complete before leaving and what remains for the sitter. A departure-day note saying you have already given breakfast is more useful than a general instruction to feed in the morning. Confirm who resumes responsibility when you return.
Agree on visit frequency and duration before making the handover. Cats Protection’s holiday guidance recommends at least twice-daily visits, with more frequent attention potentially needed for very young, older or unwell cats. Discuss individual needs with the sitter and veterinary team; an automatic feeder does not replace checking the animal.
Put emergency arrangements where they are easy to find
Give your phone number, a second way to reach you and the details of a local backup person who has agreed to help. Note periods when you expect to be unreachable. Include the usual clinic’s name, telephone number and address, plus the out-of-hours service. Confirm these details before travelling rather than relying on an old appointment card.
The PDSA cat-sitter checklist also includes the microchip number and carrier location. Keep relevant identification and medical records accessible. Show the sitter how the carrier closes and decide how transport to the clinic would happen; owning a carrier does not solve an unavailable-car problem.
Ask your clinic what arrangements it needs for another person to bring your cat for care. Discuss consent, contact attempts and payment directly with the clinic and sitter. Written preferences should help them act, without requiring the sitter to delay an emergency call until you respond. Do not assume a note guarantees that a particular treatment or billing arrangement will be accepted.
Translate the established feeding plan into usable instructions
Identify the exact food, recipe and package size. Write quantities in the units you actually measure and distinguish the whole day’s allowance from each meal. Show the scale, measuring container or prepared portions. A direction to give one packet is ambiguous if you have stocked two sizes, and a photograph of the correct package can prevent that mistake.
Explain where each cat eats and how to keep meals separate when required. Describe what to do with leftovers and where opened food belongs, following the product’s storage instructions. Record permitted treats and any dietary restrictions. Leave enough of the established food for the booking and a reasonable travel-delay margin, rather than expecting the sitter to choose a substitute.
Demonstrate feeders and water fountains, including how to check that they actually work. Provide ordinary bowls and agreed fallback instructions if equipment fails. Describe all water locations and the cleaning routine. The sitter needs a working method for maintaining supplies even if an app disconnects or a battery warning appears.
Keep feeding changes outside the handover unless your veterinary team has directed them. If separate diets are already part of daily life, the guide to feeding cats with different dietary needs can help you explain the existing arrangement. A holiday should not become an unplanned experiment with portions or products.
Make medication a separate, precise record
Leave medicines in their labelled packaging, with the prescribing instructions and storage requirements. For each cat, record the medicine’s name, strength, dose, route and timing exactly as prescribed. Include the last dose you gave and space for the sitter to record each administered dose. Keep this record separate from casual updates so two caregivers do not accidentally repeat a dose.
Demonstrate the agreed technique before the booking and confirm that the sitter is comfortable carrying it out. A person who can put a tablet in a bowl may not be able to ensure your cat takes it. If the required care exceeds their experience, arrange suitable help before leaving.
Ask the veterinary team for instructions covering a missed, refused or uncertain dose, including how food intake affects the plan where relevant. The sitter should contact the clinic when those instructions do not cover the situation, instead of guessing or repeating a dose. Do not leave permission to improvise with human medicines or another animal’s prescription.
Explain litter care and what observations matter
Show every tray, the scoop, spare litter, cleaning materials and waste-disposal location. Specify the familiar litter and the normal cleaning routine. Explain any automatic-box controls in person and leave its manual nearby. An unfamiliar device should not hide a problem simply because a status light appears normal.
Describe your cat’s usual toileting pattern in ordinary language, without asking the sitter to diagnose changes. They can record what they saw, when they saw it and which cat was involved. In a shared household, acknowledge when a deposit cannot confidently be assigned to one individual.
Give clear escalation instructions. Repeated straining with little or no urine requires immediate veterinary contact; Cats Protection’s urinary guidance identifies a blocked bladder as an emergency. The sitter should not assume that apparent difficulty in the tray is constipation or wait for the next scheduled visit to see whether it resolves.
Describe the cat they are likely to meet
Explain favourite resting places, acceptable hiding spots and how the cat usually responds to visitors. Describe preferred play, whether touch is welcome and any handling the cat dislikes. Practical language helps: saying the cat usually watches from the chair before approaching is clearer than simply calling it friendly or nervous.
Agree on how the sitter will confirm each cat is present and observe its condition without chasing it for a photograph. A familiar hiding habit can guide a quiet search, but it should not become an explanation for repeatedly failing to locate the animal. Establish whom to call if a cat cannot be found or is behaving differently.
Separate supervised toys from those safe to leave available. Show where interactive string toys belong after play. Ask for observations of appetite, movement and behaviour as well as a picture. A cheerful photograph of one cat does not confirm that its companion ate or that both animals were checked.
Make entering and leaving part of the care instructions
Test the actual keys with the sitter and demonstrate locks, alarms and any shared-building entry system. Show the entry routine that prevents a cat slipping past. Explain which internal doors must stay open for resource access and which rooms remain closed. Give access details privately and arrange a reachable backup key holder.
State indoor and outdoor rules explicitly, including any existing cat-flap settings. Do not leave the sitter to infer permission from the cat waiting by a door. Identify windows or balcony doors that must remain secured, and explain what to do if the cat escapes. Keep a current photograph and identification details available for that possibility.
Add only the household instructions that affect the visit: where supplies are stored, where waste goes and whom to contact about a failed lock or loss of power. For a kitten household, the new kitten checklist generator can prompt a review of equipment and hazards before the booking. It generates preparation reminders, so keep the sitter’s contacts, doses and visit record in your separate handover.
Agree on updates, missed visits and the return home
Choose one ordinary update channel and a different way to raise an urgent concern, such as a phone call. Specify the information you want after each visit: cats seen, food offered and eaten, litter observations, medication given and anything unusual. A short consistent report is easier to interpret than a stream of unrelated messages.
Tell the sitter to seek immediate veterinary help for breathing difficulty or collapse; PDSA’s breathing guidance treats these signs as urgent. For other concerning changes, including reduced eating or unusual inactivity, arrange prompt veterinary advice and follow the individual care plan. Do not use a reassuring message exchange as a substitute for professional assessment.
Agree who takes over if the sitter becomes unavailable. That person needs access, the current instructions and a clear handoff, not merely a name in your phone. Arrange continued care if your return is delayed. Finally, tell the sitter when you are actually home and have resumed care, and review the last meal and medication record before doing anything again.
Questions about sitter instructions
Is a written note needed for a regular sitter?
Yes. Familiarity does not capture a changed prescription, new food package or different return time. Date the current version, point out changes and remove obsolete copies. This gives both of you one reliable reference.
Should I leave a printed or digital copy?
Use both when practical. A printed first page works without a signal or charged phone; a digital copy is easy to update. Keep them consistent, and share sensitive access information only with the people who need it.
How can I check whether the instructions make sense?
Ask the sitter to carry out a practice visit while you are present. Let them find supplies, measure the established portion and secure the door using your note. Revise whatever required an extra explanation before you leave.