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Catsitting Kittens and Crazy Cats Top Tip
Maria Vano, a recent newcomer to full time catsitting kittens, loves crazy cats, all cats — infact she used to run a cat rescue. Cats she finds fascinating and no wonder, the antics perform around her. Read on to learn about a few of her favourite experiences when catsitting for the young and not so young felines she has encountered while housesitting.
Catsitting Kittens and Crazy Cats That Think They’re Kittens
When someone asks me, “tell me about a fun pet you’ve sat for”, they all come flying into my head! How do I choose just one? It’s like someone asking me which is my favorite city or country I’ve lived in. Impossible to say, I’ve lived as an expat for decades. Yet in the short time I have been housesitting a few stand out in my mind.
Odie the Odieorable Maine Coon
The first that comes into my mind is Odie, aka Odieorable, the Maine Coon mix I just sat for, just about a year old. Jet black with the Maine Coon signature pointed tufts of hair on his ears. Such a solid boy! He will be an absolute handful as he grows older. Being a toddler-age basically, watching him with the zoomie/zoomie/zoomzooms I-want-everything is an absolute lesson in patience!
Photo credit – Maria Vano
“Stop it! No! Put it down. What did I just say?”
“Gimme that. No. Stop. NO. Get back here with that. The cord is not a toy.”
“I said NO. QUIT IT!! ”
The sounds of those solid Maine Coon feet zooming along the floor made me think about how many times I’ve looked up at a flat’s ceiling and thought “is there a horse up there?!” If a blog had sound!
I felt a little bad about it this time.
Really I did.
A little bit.
Photo credit – Maria Vano
But he was so hysterically funny chasing this small-medium sized piece of plastic bow and throwing it up into the air and catching it and football-star kicking it to the other side of the flat. Jumping up onto the bed became a game of is-this-a-trampoline? How high can I jump bounce on here?
During play-fights, he never used teeth and never once produced claws. Considerate or just a crazy kitten still unaware of his own talents?
On the trampoline – I mean bed – the kittenesque activity was to grab the hand, let go and run to the edge of the bed and lay down, glancing backwards with a side-eye to see what you were doing. *zoom* flip around and run back to grab the hand and put it on his head to let you know it was your turn. Oh, if you could bottle all that that kitten energy!
I’m sure the downstairs neighbors were used to it 😊
🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾 🐾
Punkin-Peanut and King Arthur – Kitten Knights of Some Repute
Video Credit – Maria Vano
🐾 Moments like this are why so many people fall in love with housesitting.
You can explore available sits and see what’s possible with HouseSit Match.
Next up in my mind are Punkin-Peanut and King Arthur. Punkin is a youngish white and orange, slightly Calico-marked stray that became the prince of the castle and lets the world know it. Half-outdoor cat, a simple whistle or shake of the treat bag (or anything that remotely sounds like food) brings the prince flying across the back yard and practically crashing into the door, all while the King watches him like he’s bonkers.
“Why are you looking at him like that, Arthur? “
“The pet parents told me that you used to do that – and more! – when you were young.”
Well, he is, really, bonkers. Punkin’s favorite toys are two crinkly-crunchy ones – a fish-shaped bag that held toys and a fishing-pole thing with a crunchy on the end. This was a three-story house and it was no surprise he has no extra weight on him at all……up and down those stairs chasing the whale and doing acrobatics to get the crunchy fishing pole! An orange lightning bolt 😊I’d sit on the middle landing stair holding the fishing pole as he would race by, smack it a few times, and do it again.
Photo courtesy of Maria Vano
The crinkly fish bag was the one to hide in, grab the toy inside and throw it out, then stick the head and half the body inside and start making it crinkle loudly by walking/running in a small area (with a guardian tracking and moving anything in the way!).
Arthur King Among Cats – More Mature And Yet…
King Arthur is 15 and, though much slower now, still was great fun to watch his few minutes of play with a small star-ball. While he no longer did acrobatics, he’d just wait until the star he tossed in the air came back to him, rather than jumping up for it. I could easily tell that he has been a full-on orange ball of energy when he was young.
Photo credit – Maria Vano
Lessons Learned from Catsitting Kittens and Crazy Cats
Really…what is it about watching animals play that just brings an absolute world of fun, joy, and simply peace? You can’t stop smiling…
But of course you must be armed. Armed with toys and be ready for the unexpected and a display of energy that will beguile you, fascinate you and even pin you to the ground until the performance is finished. Catsitting kittens is never dull, and always entertaining.
I can think of so many more crazy cats…and all the ones to come!
By Maria Vano
👉 Curious what it’s really like to housesit (minus the kitten chaos… or maybe with it)?
Take a look at how it works and see if it’s for you.
Bio
Maria Vano is a self-confessed dreamer who believes that the world is there for all of us to see, to taste all the wines and foods, to interact with as many cultures as you can because it’s the only way to truly experience the world. She now fulfils her love of travel and of animals by house and petsitting her way around the world. Her first book is about her life as a solo traveller ‘When every road whispers my name‘.
Further Reading
At Housesit Match we like to share useful blogs and practical advice about housesitting and petsitters, such as this one on catsitting kittens. We hope you find this small selection of our blogs on house sitters and house sitting useful.
