Give numbers for treats, not impressions
A sitter told treats are fine in moderation will guess, kindly and wrongly, especially with a cat who begs convincingly. Write the actual allowance: how many treats a day, what size, and when — after play, at bedtime, or as a reward for coming in. Leave the treats in one labelled container holding roughly the right amount for the whole sitting, so the container itself enforces the limit even if the instructions are misread.
Say what treats are not for. If your cat is on a weight-watching feeding plan, or treats must stop if meals are being left unfinished, write that connection down. A sitter who sees an untouched breakfast and compensates with treats is solving the wrong problem and hiding a signal — a cat off her food — that you need reported.
List off-limits foods the way a kitchen actually presents them
Do not write only toxic foods in the abstract. Walk your own kitchen and list what is actually there that this cat must not have: milk and cream despite the saucer stereotype, raw dough rising on the counter, cooked bones from a roast, onion and garlic in leftovers, grapes and raisins in a fruit bowl, chocolate, and any human food if your vet has put this cat on a strict single diet. Kitchen-specific lists protect against real offers, not theoretical ones.
Include the non-food hazards too if your cat goes for them, and state where bins live and whether lids must stay closed. Many sitter emergencies begin with a cat in a bin after chicken packaging, not with food deliberately offered.
Script the begging moments
Your cat will test the sitter at the times she tests you: while food is prepared, at the table, and late in the evening. Tell the sitter what usually happens and what to do — ignore, redirect to a toy, or give the scheduled treat and nothing more — and give explicit permission not to feel cruel. First-time sitter guilt is the main reason treat rules collapse, and a written line saying the cat is fed properly and will survive being refused does real work.
If there are household members or neighbours who might feed the cat, name that too: who may give what, or a clear line that nobody else feeds her during the sitting, so the sitter is not overruled by a well-meaning visitor.
Cover the if-she-ate-it-anyway step
Despite good instructions, cats steal. Write what the sitter should do if your cat eats something on the off-limits list: note what it was and roughly how much, watch for vomiting, drooling, lethargy, or loss of appetite, and call your vet clinic — number included in this section, not three pages away — describing what was eaten rather than waiting to see. For anything beyond a crumb of ordinary food, the instruction should be to phone first and monitor second.
Close the section with your own contact order: sitter calls the vet for anything eaten, calls you for anything refused for a full day, and writes both down.
Putting the treat allowance and the off-limits list into a KinsLe Care Pass gives your first-time sitter temporary, clear access to the feeding boundaries alongside the rest of the routine, so the rules are in front of them at the kitchen counter, not buried in a long letter.