I'm not a crazy cat lady, I have a single cat that I rescued from a very bad situation in a feral…read morecolony. She is very high strung and easily prone to stress. She also suffers from separation anxiety. It's important to me that when I have to leave her in someone else's care, that I won't be stressed out while I'm gone worrying about the care of my cat. When I lived in Raleigh, I had a WONDERFUL pet sitter. She had a sort of magic with my cat where I felt comfortable with the few times I had to be out of state & leave my furbaby. When I moved to Burlington, I asked for some references from the place that had watched my cat. I figured that they could steer me towards another great company. She gave me two referrals; the one only walked dogs, the other is Fetch!. When I reached out to Fetch! I was a little concerned with the time it took them to get back to me. As I needed to schedule a holiday visit, I know that this time fills quickly. It was over a week before I was contacted. I was asked to sign on to their website for the ease of record keeping. I admit this impressed me because there would be a functioning record of everything. I was then told that a sitter would reach out to me in order to make an appointment for a consultation. This again took a week to happen. The week before I was to leave for the holiday in fact. Still, I figured it at least was happening before I had to leave. The sitter chosen for me apparently didn't live near me so I was informed that on top of the daily charge, I would have to pay a surcharge. Add to that a holiday surcharge. I'm not a Scrooge. I'm completely ok with these companies charging a holiday surcharge. After all, the sitters are leaving their family festivities to work. What I didn't understand was why they didn't have someone that lived closer to me take this contract. The sitter showed up for the consultation and we hit it off. I was very confident that my baby would be well taken care of. Now, before I go forward, I want to emphasize that I DO understand this was a holiday. I DO understand that things can happen. I had agreed that while I was gone, the sitter would send me a daily text instead of her entering the visits in the diary on their website (like they are technically supposed to do.) The internet where I was headed was iffy at best and I wanted to make sure I got the daily check in to put my mind at ease. The very first day my sitter was asked to come in the afternoon as I had fed my girl her breakfast. This went off without a hitch. I received not only a text, but some adorable candids of my cat. The next day however, it was HOURS after the agreed on timing before I received anything from the sitter, putting me in a bit of anxiety. She finally texted apologizing for being late but that a cat she took care of before mine had to be taken to the vet. I TOTALLY get this. I know that right now vet visits can take forever....so I was forgiving. The next day however, on the actual holiday, the entire day passed without receiving any notification. I texted the sitter to see if she had fed my cat that day. Nothing. I waited a bit before finally calling her to find out if she remembered my cat. She claims she was there earlier but forgot to send me a text and then sent me pictures. The problem is, the pictures are of a darkened kitchen area which means it was night time. She forgot my cat. The same thing happened the following day. At this point, my stress over the well being of my cat was pretty high. I couldn't wait to get home to make sure she was ok instead of enjoying the precious time with my family. The entire trip home all I could do was worry because of the lack of professionalism. Now comes to the billing. I waited a full week for the invoice and when I get it, it has a due date of THAT DAY. To me, it just smacks of confusion, disarray & messy business dealings. I have to be honest and say that I am very disappointed that it didn't work out with Fetch!. I will think long & hard if I have to go away on whether I will use them again. The prices are expensive and the surcharges are ridiculous. If you tell a client that you service the area, don't charge them extra because your employee may live 4 miles further than your circle. When I used the prior service, I came home to a relaxed cat that looked at me like 'Oh, you're back'. This time I came home to a manic cat who still won't leave my side for fear I won't come back. She now camps out at the door when I go for a walk which is heartbreaking and stressful. I'm not ok with this.

With fall bringing colder weather and earlier nights, it was difficult to get home in time to walk…read moreour dogs. Anyone with dogs know that if they miss their walk, they don't make good housemates. My SIL recommended this company so I went to their website to see the cost. (I wish I didn't have to worry about such things, but unfortunately the money tree hasn't bloomed in our backyard yet.) I think their prices are reasonable, and they give a discount to UNC employees! We've used them for a month so far, and we've had no complaints. We are only doing one walk a week, but that day is so much less stressful knowing we don't have to rush home to walk them. Their communication is excellent, their customer service is super, and the dog walker is great with my dogs. We have two large dogs and she handles them with ease!