The written handover comes first
A sitter caring for your cat in your home needs your knowledge in a form that survives your departure. Write the feeding routine with amounts, times, and where each meal happens, especially if another pet in the house eats differently or steals food. Add litter duties, water checks, and the small rituals your cat expects, from an evening play session to the blanket arranged a certain way. Write what normal looks like for her: how much she usually eats, where she sleeps, and how sociable she tends to be, so the sitter can spot a change instead of guessing whether quiet behavior is typical.
Lay out the physical kit where it will be used
Put the food, treats, medicine, litter, bags, and cleaning supplies in the places the sitter will use them, not in a single box to be unpacked and interpreted. Leave the carrier visible and accessible, with a note on how she usually enters it or avoids it. Show where spare keys, the fuse box, and the water shutoff are if the sitter is staying in or visiting your home, and point out the doors, windows, and cupboards that must stay closed for her safety. A short walkthrough together, cat present, lets the sitter ask the questions your written note did not anticipate.
Contacts and permission for the worst day
Leave your regular clinic's name and number, the nearest emergency clinic, your own contact details while traveling, and a local backup person who can get to the house. State in writing that the sitter may take your cat for urgent care and how costs will be handled, so nobody loses time seeking permission during an emergency. Note her ongoing conditions, recent vet visits, and the specific changes that should trigger a call to you or the clinic, such as refusing food for a full day, straining in the litter tray, or hiding somewhere entirely new. Specific thresholds help a sitter act early without either panic or delay.
The cat-specific notes only you know
This is the section that turns adequate care into familiar care. List her hiding places in the order she prefers them, the games she actually engages with, whether she likes being picked up or only stroked on her own terms, and the noises or visitors that unsettle her. Mention any escape artistry, plant chewing, or cord interest, and where her favorite resting places are so an absence from them is noticed. If she is shy with strangers, tell the sitter that a cat seen only at feeding time may be perfectly content, and that patience will earn more contact than pursuit.
Agree the updates before you leave
Decide together how the sitter will report each visit, what photos or notes you want, and when a message warrants waking you in another time zone. Leave the handover in one printed copy by the food and one shared copy the sitter can open on a phone at the litter tray. When the routine is written, laid out, and shared, the sitter's attention goes to the cat instead of to detective work. KinsLe Care Pass is made for this handover, giving your sitter temporary, clear access to her routine and key details for the trip.