Pet Sitting
Jan. 4th, 2025 04:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ryanreacts I've been wanting to jot down some of my memories of our pet sitting adventures for a while, and today seems like a good time to finally actually do that.
So!
Frankie was a solo pet sitter for about a year from 2022 until 2023. She still has lots of photos & videos of the pets she sat for, and is still in contact with many of her clients - Scott & Suzanne actually let us stay in one of their houses for six weeks after I first left El Cajon.
Our first sit was supposed to last two months. A cute dog named Zeus in a very nice house in Tennessee. I was somewhat nervous about going to Tennessee, which is where our mom is from (Frankie was also born there, even though we lived in Kentucky at the time). We visited a few times in childhood, and I always found it to be rather depressing.
But we were desperate to get out of Montana, so I ignored all of my little doubts and went along with it.
Unfortunately, on the third day of our four-day road trip from Montana to Tennessee, Frankie lost control of the car and flipped it over and we both sustained pretty serious injuries. I hurt my back, Frankie cut her arm so bad she needed two surgeries --- and, oh yeah, we were supposed to be in Tennessee tomorrow, so we were now homeless! I also lost my glasses in the crash. And I had to spend one full week being moved from one hospital to another to another. And I fucking hate hospitals, they have terrified me since the day Dad died.
I really don't know how we survived all of that bullshit, but this post is about pet sitting.
Obviously we couldn't go to Tennessee anymore, so we spent some time in Nebraska and made plans to come to Colorado.
Our first sit was with Ann. October 20th to November 10th. Two cats, Amber & Etok. Amber is a black cat with (probably) the softest fur in the whole world. Etok is a Savannah and the most affectionate cat I have ever met in my entire life. I thought it would take a while for them to warm up to us, but Etok walked over and sat in my lap like half an hour after we arrived, before Ann had even left. From that moment on we were bonded and he was my best buddy.
They're both rather old cats who have endured many health problems, so their teeth have been removed and all they're allowed to eat is raw turkey. They also need several medications every day. Four in their food, plus a dropper in the mouth and a cream rubbed into one ear every morning. I turned out to be much better at giving them their meds, and both times Frankie made food for them they both had zero interest, so I can take full responsibility for the fact that they both gained a little much-needed weight during our first sit!
Like I said, Etok was my best buddy. If he had his way, I would be able to cuddle with him pretty much all day every day. If he ever felt like he wasn't getting enough attention, he would meow and touch us with one or both front paws to ask for more. Amber was a bit more aloof, but she would ask to be picked up and held like a baby a few times a day. (Despite being so cuddly, Etok HATES being picked up.)
When we arrived at Ann's house we were still very much healing from our injuries. I was wearing my back brace pretty much any time I wasn't lying down or using the bathroom AND didn't have new glasses yet (fortunately they were delivered less than a week after we arrived), and Frankie's arm needed to be dressed every night.
The house was absolutely great because Ann is a pagan whose taste in art reflects it. I am particularly fond of a small Hestia statue she keeps, yes, over the hearth. My favorite thing about the house was the huge bathtub. The only thing I didn't like about the house was that I slept in Ann's room, whose door had to remain open at all times so the cats could get in and out as they pleased, and Frankie barged in whenever she felt like it.
After our first sit for Ann, we spent about a week at Laura & Ryan's house. If such a thing is possible, they had Too Many Animals. Three cats, three big dogs, several chickens, several fish, and one rabbit. (I still feel bad for the rabbit, which apparently spends its entire life in a cage.) Fortunately they were pretty easy to take care of. We mostly just had to feed and walk the dogs twice a day.
Unfortunately they only had one guest room, which meant that Frankie slept on the couch, which meant that the dogs woke her up with whining every morning. Even more unfortunately, the dogs acted like they had never received any training, and Frankie got very frustrated very quickly. And on top of that, it turned out that the pet parents were actually returning one day sooner than expected! Basically, the only things I liked about this sit were having a room with a door I could close and using their Disney Plus to finally watch Agatha All Along (which is easily the best MCU thing I've seen in I don't even know how long).
Then it was back to Amber & Etok for another ten days!
After that, we sat for a couple named Bryan & Betsy. They had one cat, one dog, and a huge house with one of the nicest kitchens I have ever seen. Unfortunately, Frankie was in the kitchen when she started screaming so loudly and so scarily that I locked my door, put a box of stuff in front of it just in case, hid in the closet, and almost called 911. Extra unfortunately, this was not the only time she screamed like a crazy person during this week-long sit. If I had any money, I probably would have abandoned her in the middle of the night. I love my sister very much, but she literally has the emotional regulation skills of a literal toddler. Any fucking thing can set her off at any fucking moment, and she just does not fucking care that it's scary for me to be around her when she's like this EVEN THOUGH she should understand it better than anyone else on the planet, since she also grew up with David.
Anyway, after that it was back to Amber & Etok for six more days! She had at least two more crazy screaming fits during this sit. The second one really pissed me off, because after the first one I told her that she was scaring the cats. You'd think that might wake her up enough to go to the basement and scream into a pillow or take a walk or something, but no. Every little thing is the end of the world.
After that we sat for Cyndi. She had two dogs, Maggie & Sam, and one of the nicest houses I have ever stayed in. Well, I mean, the house itself really was very nice, but I was mostly blown away by the massage chair and hot tub. Both of which I used a lot because my shoulder was bugging me for the second time since the crash. It's like I move it the wrong way and then it hurts like hell for several days.
Shortly after arriving at Cyndi's, we spoke with Frances and made arrangements for me to sit for her cats WITHOUT FRANKIE from December 16th until January 7th. She has two cats, Rose & Keito, who are siblings. They're both black & white in different ways: Keito is a tuxedo cat with extra floofy fur (I love his floofy tail), while Rose is a cow cat with normal-length fur. They're less than a year old, so they have much more energy than Amber & Etok. Sometimes I get their string-on-a-stick toy (I'm not sure what the official name for them is), and they will literally play with it for an hour without losing interest.
They were friendly right away, but both of them took a few days to warm up to me. Now that they have warmed up, they fucking love me. Both of them like to cuddle in bed. Whenever I'm on the toilet, one of them will slide a paw under the door, and when I open the door both of them are usually sitting there waiting for me. In general Keito is more needy for attention, but Rose is more likely to walk over and sit on my lap whenever I'm on the couch. (She actually tried to sit in my lap while I type this.)
I will be very sad to say goodbye to them in a few days . . . even though as soon as I leave here I get to spend another two days with Amber & Etok! And then I am going to spend a few days taking care of Bella.
And then I am going to Death Valley! Where I will save a bunch of money, move back into my old apartment, work any fucking job so I can pay my bills, and possibly never see Frankie again.
In short, pretty much everything has sucked out loud since the day we left CMR, but spending so much time with so many animals has been fucking great.
So!
Frankie was a solo pet sitter for about a year from 2022 until 2023. She still has lots of photos & videos of the pets she sat for, and is still in contact with many of her clients - Scott & Suzanne actually let us stay in one of their houses for six weeks after I first left El Cajon.
Our first sit was supposed to last two months. A cute dog named Zeus in a very nice house in Tennessee. I was somewhat nervous about going to Tennessee, which is where our mom is from (Frankie was also born there, even though we lived in Kentucky at the time). We visited a few times in childhood, and I always found it to be rather depressing.
But we were desperate to get out of Montana, so I ignored all of my little doubts and went along with it.
Unfortunately, on the third day of our four-day road trip from Montana to Tennessee, Frankie lost control of the car and flipped it over and we both sustained pretty serious injuries. I hurt my back, Frankie cut her arm so bad she needed two surgeries --- and, oh yeah, we were supposed to be in Tennessee tomorrow, so we were now homeless! I also lost my glasses in the crash. And I had to spend one full week being moved from one hospital to another to another. And I fucking hate hospitals, they have terrified me since the day Dad died.
I really don't know how we survived all of that bullshit, but this post is about pet sitting.
Obviously we couldn't go to Tennessee anymore, so we spent some time in Nebraska and made plans to come to Colorado.
Our first sit was with Ann. October 20th to November 10th. Two cats, Amber & Etok. Amber is a black cat with (probably) the softest fur in the whole world. Etok is a Savannah and the most affectionate cat I have ever met in my entire life. I thought it would take a while for them to warm up to us, but Etok walked over and sat in my lap like half an hour after we arrived, before Ann had even left. From that moment on we were bonded and he was my best buddy.
They're both rather old cats who have endured many health problems, so their teeth have been removed and all they're allowed to eat is raw turkey. They also need several medications every day. Four in their food, plus a dropper in the mouth and a cream rubbed into one ear every morning. I turned out to be much better at giving them their meds, and both times Frankie made food for them they both had zero interest, so I can take full responsibility for the fact that they both gained a little much-needed weight during our first sit!
Like I said, Etok was my best buddy. If he had his way, I would be able to cuddle with him pretty much all day every day. If he ever felt like he wasn't getting enough attention, he would meow and touch us with one or both front paws to ask for more. Amber was a bit more aloof, but she would ask to be picked up and held like a baby a few times a day. (Despite being so cuddly, Etok HATES being picked up.)
When we arrived at Ann's house we were still very much healing from our injuries. I was wearing my back brace pretty much any time I wasn't lying down or using the bathroom AND didn't have new glasses yet (fortunately they were delivered less than a week after we arrived), and Frankie's arm needed to be dressed every night.
The house was absolutely great because Ann is a pagan whose taste in art reflects it. I am particularly fond of a small Hestia statue she keeps, yes, over the hearth. My favorite thing about the house was the huge bathtub. The only thing I didn't like about the house was that I slept in Ann's room, whose door had to remain open at all times so the cats could get in and out as they pleased, and Frankie barged in whenever she felt like it.
After our first sit for Ann, we spent about a week at Laura & Ryan's house. If such a thing is possible, they had Too Many Animals. Three cats, three big dogs, several chickens, several fish, and one rabbit. (I still feel bad for the rabbit, which apparently spends its entire life in a cage.) Fortunately they were pretty easy to take care of. We mostly just had to feed and walk the dogs twice a day.
Unfortunately they only had one guest room, which meant that Frankie slept on the couch, which meant that the dogs woke her up with whining every morning. Even more unfortunately, the dogs acted like they had never received any training, and Frankie got very frustrated very quickly. And on top of that, it turned out that the pet parents were actually returning one day sooner than expected! Basically, the only things I liked about this sit were having a room with a door I could close and using their Disney Plus to finally watch Agatha All Along (which is easily the best MCU thing I've seen in I don't even know how long).
Then it was back to Amber & Etok for another ten days!
After that, we sat for a couple named Bryan & Betsy. They had one cat, one dog, and a huge house with one of the nicest kitchens I have ever seen. Unfortunately, Frankie was in the kitchen when she started screaming so loudly and so scarily that I locked my door, put a box of stuff in front of it just in case, hid in the closet, and almost called 911. Extra unfortunately, this was not the only time she screamed like a crazy person during this week-long sit. If I had any money, I probably would have abandoned her in the middle of the night. I love my sister very much, but she literally has the emotional regulation skills of a literal toddler. Any fucking thing can set her off at any fucking moment, and she just does not fucking care that it's scary for me to be around her when she's like this EVEN THOUGH she should understand it better than anyone else on the planet, since she also grew up with David.
Anyway, after that it was back to Amber & Etok for six more days! She had at least two more crazy screaming fits during this sit. The second one really pissed me off, because after the first one I told her that she was scaring the cats. You'd think that might wake her up enough to go to the basement and scream into a pillow or take a walk or something, but no. Every little thing is the end of the world.
After that we sat for Cyndi. She had two dogs, Maggie & Sam, and one of the nicest houses I have ever stayed in. Well, I mean, the house itself really was very nice, but I was mostly blown away by the massage chair and hot tub. Both of which I used a lot because my shoulder was bugging me for the second time since the crash. It's like I move it the wrong way and then it hurts like hell for several days.
Shortly after arriving at Cyndi's, we spoke with Frances and made arrangements for me to sit for her cats WITHOUT FRANKIE from December 16th until January 7th. She has two cats, Rose & Keito, who are siblings. They're both black & white in different ways: Keito is a tuxedo cat with extra floofy fur (I love his floofy tail), while Rose is a cow cat with normal-length fur. They're less than a year old, so they have much more energy than Amber & Etok. Sometimes I get their string-on-a-stick toy (I'm not sure what the official name for them is), and they will literally play with it for an hour without losing interest.
They were friendly right away, but both of them took a few days to warm up to me. Now that they have warmed up, they fucking love me. Both of them like to cuddle in bed. Whenever I'm on the toilet, one of them will slide a paw under the door, and when I open the door both of them are usually sitting there waiting for me. In general Keito is more needy for attention, but Rose is more likely to walk over and sit on my lap whenever I'm on the couch. (She actually tried to sit in my lap while I type this.)
I will be very sad to say goodbye to them in a few days . . . even though as soon as I leave here I get to spend another two days with Amber & Etok! And then I am going to spend a few days taking care of Bella.
And then I am going to Death Valley! Where I will save a bunch of money, move back into my old apartment, work any fucking job so I can pay my bills, and possibly never see Frankie again.
In short, pretty much everything has sucked out loud since the day we left CMR, but spending so much time with so many animals has been fucking great.
