Drop-in pet visits in York
Pet visits in York, half an hour or a full hour.
I come to your house, do everything your animals need, and leave. No overnight stay, no car journey for them, and no handing them to anybody else.
This is not a dog walking service and it is not daycare. If you want somebody in the house through the night, that is an overnight sit instead.
What a visit costs
£1530 minutes
£2260 minutes
The same price whatever day of the week it is, bank holidays aside. Beyond about five miles of York, ask anyway. There’s no travel surcharge — it depends on what else is in the round that day.
Thirty minutes is thirty minutes
Booked from when I arrive, not from when I set off.
A half-hour visit is a real half hour and it is a busy one. It covers a cat properly. It covers a dog who is having a break in a day he can otherwise manage. What it will not do is stretch: if the tray needs scrubbing, the tablet gets spat out twice and somebody has been sick behind the sofa, something in that list gets the short end of it. So book the hour when the list is long, and I will tell you at the meet and greet if I think you have booked the wrong one.
In half an hour, honestly
- Let myself in and say hello properly, rather than at speed
- Food down, water changed, bowls washed
- Litter tray emptied and topped up, or a toilet break in the garden
- Medication as prescribed and written down
- Around ten minutes of attention — a brush, a game, a lap to sit on
- Post picked up, doors and windows checked, lights and curtains as you left them
- Photos and messages while you are away
An hour buys room for
- All of the above, without one eye on the clock
- A walk for a dog, at his pace rather than mine
- A cat who takes twenty minutes to decide the sofa is safe again
- Two or three animals who have to be fed in separate rooms
- Medication that needs patience — a tablet refused twice before it goes down
- An accident cleared up properly instead of quickly
- A young animal who needs wearing out before being left again
What a visit never includes: taking your animal out of the house except for a walk we have agreed, bringing another client’s animal with me, letting anyone else in, or doing anything that isn’t written down before you go.
How many visits a day you actually need
More on cats specifically-
One visit a day
Enough for a confident adult cat with a clean tray, a full water bowl and no medication, over a short trip. It is not enough for a dog, and it is not what I would suggest if you are away for a fortnight.
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Two visits a day
Morning and evening, which is what suits most cats. It splits the day properly: food is fresh twice, the tray never gets left, and if something is wrong in the morning I know about it before the evening rather than a day later.
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Three visits a day
Worth it when medication has to be given at intervals, or for a young animal who cannot go the length of a day. Do the arithmetic first, though — three half-hour visits a day is £45, and a night in your house is £50 with somebody actually in it.
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A dog on his own all day
Drop-ins are not the answer, and I will say so rather than take the booking. If your dog should not be on his own all day, an overnight sit is the honest recommendation, even though it is the more expensive one.
A window, not a time on the clock.
When I turn up
Two visits a day means two agreed windows, a morning one and an evening one, not two times. The round runs in the same order every day, so your animals land in roughly the same part of the window each time and the gap between morning and evening stays wide enough to be worth having.
Traffic in York does not respect a diary. If I am going to fall outside a window I’ll message you before it happens rather than explain it afterwards.
If medication has to be given at a set time rather than inside a window, say so at the meet and greet. It changes the shape of the round, and occasionally it means I am not the right person for the fortnight you are asking about.
Keys, updates, and if something is wrong when I arrive
Written down before the first visit, not improvised on the day.
Keys and getting in
How I get in, and how that access comes back to you afterwards, is agreed at the meet and greet rather than left to the day. Tell me about the door that needs a shove and the neighbour who will come out to look.
If something is wrong
Your vet’s details, your emergency contact and who can authorise treatment, and up to what cost, are agreed in writing before you leave, so the decision is already made when it is needed.
Keeping you posted
Regular photos and messages at a frequency we agree, not a summary at the end of the week. If your cat spent the whole half hour under the bed, the message says that rather than showing you an empty sofa.
How far I come for a visit
Drop-in visits stay within about five miles of York, and the reason is arithmetic rather than preference: two visits a day only works if I can get between the houses on the round twice. Overnight sits reach about fifteen miles out, because I am not driving between anything.
Visits in and around York
York, Acomb, Clifton, Fulford, Heslington, Bishopthorpe, Huntington, Rawcliffe, Poppleton, Haxby, Copmanthorpe, Dunnington
Just outside that? Ask. Some streets are quicker to reach than others and I would rather check the map than turn you away on a postcode.
How a run of visits gets booked
Five steps, in this order. Nothing is held until step five, and there is no online booking — I won’t take on a house I haven’t been to.
You send me your dates
Dates, postcode, and what animals you have.
We talk it through
Routines, access, and whether I’m the right fit for your animals.
I come to your home
A free meet and greet in the house I’d be staying in, before anything is booked.
We write the care down
Feeding, walks, medication, your vet, and who to contact if something happens.
Square invoice, dates held
I send a Square invoice; the agreed deposit secures the booking.
Four questions about visits
All questions and answersIs this dog walking?
No. I don’t run a walking round and I don’t sell walking on its own. A walk can happen inside an hour-long visit, as part of that visit, and walks are part of an overnight sit. That is as close as I get to it.
Half an hour or an hour — which should I book?
One cat, a clean tray and no medication: half an hour does the job honestly. A dog, several animals in separate rooms, or medication that needs coaxing: book the hour. If you are not sure, tell me what you have when you send your dates and I’ll tell you which I would book.
Can you come at the same time every day while I’m at work?
Ask me before you assume it. A repeating weekday slot depends on what else is in the round, and I would rather say no than say yes and hold it for the first week only.
Do I need to be there for the first visit?
You need to be there for the meet and greet, which happens at your house before any booking. Access is arranged then, in whatever way suits the house. After that, no.
Tell me your dates and I’ll tell you which visit to book.
Dates, your postcode, what animals you have and whether anything needs medication. If half an hour is enough I’ll say so rather than sell you the hour.
What happens next
I reply to say whether the dates are free.
We talk, then I come to your house to meet you and your animals.
Nothing is confirmed until after that.