The short answer for a Domestic Shorthair
Pack her normal life, unchanged, in a bag. A Domestic Shorthair has no breed manual — she is an individual, and everything a sitter needs flows from her particular habits. The essentials are her usual food, her usual litter, bedding that smells of home, the scratcher and toys she actually uses, and one honest written page about how she lives.
Food: the whole week, identical
The single most common sitter-week upset for an ordinary cat is a food change — a sitter who runs out and substitutes something richer, or treats her to a different flavour daily. Send the full week's supply of her exact food plus a spare day's worth, with the amount per meal written down in the measure you use at home, not estimated in handfuls. If she grazes dry food and eats wet food at set times, say so in those terms. Add her treats with a rough daily count. A cat who eats exactly what she eats at home usually keeps the stomach she has at home.
Litter she already trusts
Cats are conservatives about litter, and a strange texture or scent in a strange house is a reliable recipe for accidents beside the box. Send a bag of the litter she uses at home — enough for the week — and confirm where the box will live in the sitter's house: somewhere quiet, away from her food, and not behind a door that may be shut. Note her usual routine, including how often you scoop and what normal looks like for her, so the sitter can spot a change — straining, unusual frequency, or avoiding the box entirely — as information rather than mess.
Comfort objects that smell right
Pack the blanket or bed she genuinely sleeps on, unwashed. Familiar scent is the fastest comfort a cat can be given in a new building, and a freshly laundered new bed is, to her, just another strange object. Add the scratcher she uses — or a cardboard scratcher of the style she prefers, upright or flat — because a cat denied her usual scratching outlet will evaluate the sitter's sofa. Two or three favourite toys beat a bag of new ones: the battered mouse she carries around is worth more than anything bought for the occasion. One item of your worn clothing gives her your scent at night.
The written page that runs the week
Write down her day as it actually happens: when she is fed, when she is active, where she hides when visitors come, how she asks for attention and how she asks to be left alone. Include your vet's name, address and number, your own contact details and a backup person the sitter can call, plus what you want done in an emergency if you cannot be reached. Note genuine safety items — the window she pushes, the houseplant she chews, the collar she slips. If she takes anything on your vet's instructions, copy those instructions word for word and pack the supplies exactly as used at home.
Watch-outs during the week
Ask the sitter to tell you about a full day without eating, litter-box straining or crying, hiding that does not lift after the second day, or any vomiting that repeats — each is a vet call, not a wait-until-you-are-home item, and your written page should say so. Most Domestic Shorthairs settle within a day or two once food, litter and a quiet corner are right. Rather than trusting that page to survive a week pinned to a fridge, KinsLe's Care Pass puts your Domestic Shorthair's routine, contacts and quirks in your sitter's hands for the stay — and takes them back when you return.