Why Timing Instructions Deserve Extra Care
Of everything you leave a sitter, timing is the instruction where a small misunderstanding carries the biggest consequence, and it is also the one most often written in hurried shorthand. Plain words remove the ambiguity: write with the morning feed, at the evening visit before the bowl is washed, or last thing before the sitter leaves, instead of abbreviations or bare clock times that assume the sitter's visit happens at your usual hour. If the timing must be tied to a clock rather than a visit, say so clearly and say what window around that time is acceptable, using the guidance your vet already gave you. A printed copy means that instruction is visible at the care station at the moment it matters, not buried in a message thread.
Build a Tick-Off Sheet, Not Just a Note
For the printed copy, lay the stay out as a simple grid: one row per visit, one line per timed item, and a box to tick and initial when it is done. That tick is the safeguard against the classic double-giving mistake, where an evening sitter cannot tell whether the morning person already gave something, or two family members both helpfully step in. It also protects against the opposite error, a missed timing quietly papered over, because an empty box at the end of the day is visible to everyone. Ask the sitter to photograph the completed sheet or message you if any box stays empty, and agree in advance what they should do if a timing is missed — which, for anything your vet has flagged as important, means contacting you or the clinic rather than improvising.
Keep the Instructions to Timing and Handling Only
A sitter sheet is not the place to copy out your vet's full notes. Keep it to what the sitter must do: when, in what order relative to feeding, where the item is kept, and how your cat best accepts it, such as hidden in a small amount of a favourite food if your vet has approved that approach, or given calmly in a particular room. Note what is normal afterwards and what should prompt a call to you or the clinic, in ordinary language. Store everything together in one labelled container in the place named on the sheet, so the sitter is never hunting through cupboards while a cat disappears under a bed.
The Digital Copy Is Your Conversation Channel
The digital version matters most when something does not go to plan: your cat refuses, hides, or spits something out, and the sitter needs your answer in minutes, not at the end of the trip. Agree that the sitter messages you the same visit about any refusal or missed timing, and that only your reply changes the plan. If your vet practice offers an advice line, put that number on both copies so the sitter is never choosing between bothering you and guessing. When you return, file the ticked sheet rather than throwing it away — if your vet later asks how consistently timings were kept while you travelled, you have the honest record.
Rehearse It Once Before You Travel
If a sitter is new to your cat, watch them work through one timed routine before you leave, and correct the sheet, not just the person, wherever your wording allowed a wrong reading. KinsLe's Care Pass hands a trusted sitter temporary, clear access to your cat's care routine, including those plain-words timings, while you are away — so the sheet they tick in your kitchen and the instructions they can re-check on their phone are the same words, with nothing lost between them.