Adventures in Cat-sitting

While we say this about everything, Gothamist thinks there's a movie in the NY Times real estate story about a Clinton Hill resident Nicole Davis trying to find a cat-sitter for her travel-phobic pet, Boris, while the owner was in Montauk learning to surf. After much searching (Were people scared of the G train? Are people too suspicious of a too-good-to-be-true deal of cat-sitting in exchange of living in an apartment?), Davis found fresh-faced college graduate, Andy Hart (a Hoosier), who was crashing at friends' apartment while looking for work, through Freecyle.org. Of course, in the movie, there'd be international intrigue, a kegger, an antique ring that Boris swallows, or attempting to walk Boris outside with a catleash, using him to meet the ladies. Gothamist found this happy tale rather heartwarming in that utterly New York looking-out-for-number-one way with Davis' assessment of the situation, "I hope Andy becomes my cat-sitter for the summer...I want him to find a job and be able to afford a place, but I don't want him to stop cat-sitting."

The photograph above is from Marilynn K. Yee's photos in the Times - there's an awesome slideshow of Davis and Hart describing Boris, finding a cat-sitter, and living in NY. And indeed, Boris looks "big-boned." When Gothamist catsits, we tend to call the owner and then put the phone up to the cat's ears, waiting for the cat's confused look. There is the option of cat kennels but they can get expensive. What are your tips for cat-sitting?

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in Arts and Events on June 28, 2004 12:01 PM

Comments [rss]

seattlite

I had the same thought while reading this story with a slight variation: I thought this is either a non-story by a boring cat-obsessed fact checker come surfer wannabe, or it would be a great little independent movie like When the Cat's Away.

devlyn

i'm leaving my cat sitter a case of beer and my DVD collection, as well as a laser-pointer. not for the cat's eyes, but for her to play with, because she's all up on that sh*t.

joe s

It is a cute story, and I sensed a Nicole-Andy romance in the making, but why oh why was this newsworthy enough to be in the Times? I wonder if she has seen "When the Cat's Away"?

roving chelsea girl

Jake & Jen -

Nice LAist logo. Looking forward to it.

Yojimbot

cats are much more able to handle the separation than we are. i think the guilt that this person feels about leaving her kitty in a stifling apt while she's at the beach writing about god knows what is the real issue.

ps caught the pic of you chowing on a rib in amNY!

Jen

That's a good point, kowgurl - making sure you have friends with less desirable living situations so they'll want to catsit. Also, yojimbot, I had that reaction, too, at first, but I do think that the woman did hope her friends would be around. But some people like their cats to have more constant attention, so they are less schizo when they come back.

Yojimbot

I leave a giant mound of dry cat food, tons of water and some toys and they are good for up to 5 days. They are always a little schizo when I come back but a few love and play sessions makes it all right. That lady is being dumb. She should get her cat a companion and get her ass on train every 3 or 4 days to attend to them. Why make this someone else's responsibility and then bitch about it? This NYT article annoyed the hell outta me. Also, make friends with you neighbors/super. They can quickly check on an situation if need be.

kowgurl

The ideal cat-sitter is a friend,who likes cats and has an apartment that is in some way vastly inferior to yours. If by being at your place, the sitter is in a more convenient location, has better cable, has a better playstation/xbox set up, has a roof garden, has access to your great underwear selection for which to don on his/her head and dance around, then you've found yourself a good cat sitter.