LONDON - I look after animals when their owners go away. Nowadays, it’s easier to call in people like me than to rely on a neighbour to begrudgingly feed the cat or walk the dog.
People like to know their pets are properly walked and fed. Though they generally leave instructions that are more complicated than a Nasa spacecraft manual.
I often look after a pair of Persian cats, Tilly and Toby, who belong to an upper- middle-class couple. They leave a stack of notes ensuring I know Tilly likes her food cut up, but Toby wants his in chunks; how often they can go in the garden; and where they’re allowed to sleep.
The owners are childless and they treat those cats like adored babies — they even have little outfits for them. I find it a bit sad, but they pay well — £75 a day. My main worry isn’t the pets, they’re easy to deal with — it’s abiding by someone else’s weird rules. One owner was annoyed I’d made a cup of tea and put the milk back on the wrong fridge shelf.
Another complained the rug in the hall was askew, despite having three collies who dash across it.
One couple told me their poodle ‘might widdle behind the sofa, but he’s just marking his territory, so don’t clean it up’. Their expensively decorated living room smelled like a urinal. They also demanded I feed him poached chicken for his ‘delicate stomach’. It didn’t seem that delicate when he snaffled up a discarded takeaway pizza.
I sometimes wonder if being well-off means you want to control everything, right down to your hamster’s daily routine.
Daily Mail