Will My Cat Actually Like the Cat Sitter? An Honest Answer

“She’s lovely with us, but she hates everyone else.” If we had a pound for every time a new client said some version of this at a meet and greet, we could retire to a cottage full of rescue cats. So let’s answer the real question honestly: will your cat like their sitter? Eventually, usually yes. Immediately? Maybe not — and that’s completely fine.

Cats don’t do first impressions. They do fifth impressions.

Dogs decide about a new person in thirty seconds. Cats run a longer background check. A cat meeting a new person in their territory will typically observe from a distance, gather intelligence (mostly by smell), and make a decision on their own schedule — hours for the confident ones, days for the cautious, a week or two for the true sceptics. This isn’t the cat disliking the sitter; it’s the cat doing due diligence. Frankly, we respect it.

What matters is that the sitter knows this and works with it rather than against it. The fastest way to lose a cat’s trust is to chase it, corner it, or drag it out from under a bed to prove a point. The fastest way to earn it is the opposite: turn up reliably, keep the routine, sit quietly, and let the cat close the distance.

Why the meet and greet does half the work

Before any first booking we do a free meet and greet at your home — and it quietly stacks the deck in the sitter’s favour. Your cat watches you welcome this new person calmly, which tells them a lot (cats read their humans far more than they let on). The sitter’s scent enters the territory drama-free. And we learn your cat’s particulars: where they hide, what game they can’t resist, whether they’re a food-motivated pushover or a dignified professional who requires courting. Here’s the full rundown of how it works.

”My cat hid the entire first visit” — good, that’s normal

With shy cats, early visits often mean a tail visible under the bed and a bowl emptied the moment we leave the room. We don’t force it. We do the practical care, sit on the floor nearby, talk a bit of nonsense, maybe trail a wand toy invitingly, and leave. Then we come back the next day, and the next — same person, same time, same calm. Cats are pattern-recognition machines: this human arrives, nothing bad happens, food appears, they don’t grab me. The maths adds up quickly.

Some of our proudest wins started exactly this way. Maple, one of our long-term clients, spent her early visits hidden in a wardrobe — and now comes straight out for a fuss the moment Wendy arrives. Her owners’ version of the story is on our reviews, but the pattern repeats constantly: patience plus consistency beats charm every time.

The photo updates tell you the truth

You won’t need to take our word for how it’s going — the photo update after every visit shows you. Early on with a shy cat that might honestly be “two eyes under the bed” (we’ll say so; we don’t stage happy photos). Watch the sequence over a week: under the bed becomes doorway, doorway becomes same room, same room becomes belly-up on the rug demanding tribute. Owners tell us watching that progression from a sun lounger is weirdly moving. We agree.

And if your cat truly is a one-person cat?

A few cats never become the sitter’s best friend — usually seniors and long-time single-human cats. That’s okay too. They don’t need to adore us; they need to be fed, clean, healthy, safe, and unstressed in their own home, with someone who respects their boundaries. “Politely tolerated by a comfortable cat” is a perfectly good outcome — and it’s still miles better than that same cat in a cattery cage. (The comparison in full.)

Put us to the test

The meet and greet is free precisely so your cat can size us up before you commit to anything. If you’re in Didsbury, Chorlton, Withington or nearby, send an enquiry — and don’t worry if the first meeting is conducted entirely from under the sofa. We’ve been vetted from worse positions.