Feeding Instructions a Sitter Can Follow Exactly
A cat sitter's written feeding instructions should remove every guess from mealtimes. State the food by description, the exact amount per meal measured the way you measure it, the times meals happen, and which cat gets what in a multi-cat home, including who must be separated so a confident cat does not eat a shy cat's portion. Say plainly whether dry food is left out for grazing or served only at meals, how wet food leftovers are handled and how long they may sit, and where the food, spare cans, and measuring scoop are stored. Add treat rules with a daily limit, anything strictly off-limits, and where the water bowls are, how often they are refreshed, and whether a fountain needs topping up or unplugging instructions.
Litter Instructions With Locations and Schedules
Written litter instructions for a cat sitter should start with a map in words: how many boxes there are and exactly where each one stands, including the one in the room a visitor might not enter. Name the litter type and where the spare bag lives, because a sitter who cannot find the right litter may substitute one the cat refuses. Set the scooping schedule — once or twice daily — and say where waste bags go and which bin they end up in. State when a full litter change falls due during a longer stay, where clean supplies are kept, and what to do about accidents outside the box, including which cleaning products are safe to use and where they are stored.
What Counts as a Change Worth Reporting
Good sitter instructions define the threshold for a phone call in advance, so the sitter is not deciding alone at midnight. Ask to be contacted the same day if the cat refuses two meals in a row, if the litter box shows no urine across a day, if there is diarrhoea or vomiting more than once, or if the cat is hiding somewhere entirely new and cannot be coaxed out. Note the cat's normal habits beside those warnings — a cat who always leaves half the wet food should not trigger an alarm — and write the vet practice's number, the emergency clinic's address, and your own contact order on the same page. A sitter who knows what normal looks like reports real changes early instead of sending either silence or panic.
Format the Page So It Survives the Stay
Cat sitter instructions work best as one dated page, written from the cat's routine rather than your intentions, and taped where the food is stored as well as handed over digitally. Read it once through the sitter's eyes and delete anything that assumes knowledge of your home, then walk the sitter through the boxes and food storage in person if you can. Update the page before every trip, because portions, foods, and box locations drift over time and last year's sheet is a quiet source of errors. Close the page by telling the sitter to follow what is written over what seems sensible, and to message with a photo if anything is unclear. Sharing that page through KinsLe's Care Pass gives the sitter temporary, clear access to the routine exactly as you wrote it.