We are travelling to the US for the holidays and are looking for a house sitter / cat sitter while we are gone. Our dates are roughly December 20, 2024 - January 2nd. This is perfect if you want a relaxing, home-away-from-home, a place of respite from your holiday gatherings. Our cats are very self-sufficient and do not need daily check-ins, however they'd certainly appreciate it.
About Us:
My husband is a game designer and I am a SAHM to our two young children.
We moved from California to Vancouver, Canada in 2017 when my husband took a job at Electronic Arts. We've welcomed two beautiful children here and have set down roots.
We're nerds at heart, my husband loves video games and I love TV, movies, and books. We have a large collection of things to play, watch, and memorabilia all throughout our home.
Who We Are Looking For:
We are looking for a kind, clean, polite sitter. Prefer single person, however willing to consider other applicants with good references and/or reviews. When applying, please provide references and links to any social media presence. Ideally, you are somewhat local and can meet and see our townhome and pets in real life before our trip. If not, we can zoom/facetime.
Flexibility on the dates is a plus. We're driving and expect to be leaving Friday, Dec 20, returning Jan 2. However we may leave and/or come home a day or so earlier. If necessary, you are welcome to continue to stay in the guest room if we return early. Again, flexibility is a plus.
We'd appreciate regular updates throughout your stay (photos and texts).
Responsibilities:
Our cats, Bits and Nibble, are easy and are generally self-sufficient. We keep their food bowls filled up and need to be topped off once a day or so. We clean their litter box once a day as well. They share a circulating water dish that needs to be topped off every few days. Besides that, when the cats demand attention, it's hard to ignore. They may want to sleep with you as well.
The cats may have an occasional vomit mess. Usually it's weeks between a mess, but can be days. If that happens, we have all the right cleaning stuff you might need.
Our animals are all in good health and don't need any meds.
About Our Home:
We live in a 3-story townhome in the Sullivan/Woodward Hill area of Surrey. We're at a great location, anywhere from 15-30 min drive to Burbank, New West, Richmond, Langley and the USA border and an hour away from downtown Vancouver. We're a five minute walk to a major bus route that can get you to the Skytrain in 30 minutes.
We're in a quiet, family-friendly area with great neighbors. We have a full kitchen, an entertainment/family room, a workout room, and a washer/dryer. Our kitchen has all the modern amenities, including stove, microwave, coffee maker, hot tea kettle, and you are free to use all the tools and appliances, like our Kitchenaid mixer, cuisinart blender, instant pot, ninja air fryer, George foreman grill, and blender. We'll make sure to give you space in the fridge and pantry for your visit.
Our entertainment room has a 120" projection screen with a home theater PC. You can access our guest account on our home media server, and you are welcome to watch anything else through the web on your own accounts. We also several video game consoles with lots of games.
Our workout room has a plenty of weights, a treadmill, balance ball, yoga mats and blocks, and a Peloton bike+, which you can link your own account or use our guest account on and use during your time here.
You will stay in the guest bedroom upstairs, which has a queen bed and is next to the guest bathroom with a sink and shower/tub.
We have tried to make our home 'smart'. We have a keypad entrance on our front door and we have some smart plugs and light bulbs. We have Google Homes and Minis throughout our home, and we have Netgear Orbi Mesh system that covers the whole house with high speed internet. We do have an exterior camera on our front door and in our garage.
We have a large backyard with a swing and hammock.
We have visitor parking in front of our unit and you can park in our garage during your stay as well.
Our neighbourhood is a quiet, family-friendly area. Our neighbours are friendly, with young kids. There are several parks within walking distance, including a park a block away. Unfortunately there aren't many other amenities within walking distance, but you can basically find anything within a 5-15 min drive. We are also a short 5 minute walk to King George road and major bus routes.
This was very, very comfortable and positive experience! My husband and I had all we needed to enjoy our time in the extremely cozy house in the company of super sweet and well-bred pets. Luna, the cutest dog, amazed us by her ability to ring the bell when she wanted to go out, she is really very clever, she is also so sincere and kind! The cats are charming and affectionate! Meagan and Mario, the house owners, were very attentive during the whole stay, were always in touch with us, asking us ... MORE
