Make Ownership of the Cat's Care Unmistakable
Shared flats run on informal arrangements, and informal arrangements are how a cat gets fed twice by two people and litter changed by nobody. Tell the sitter directly that for this stay, feeding, water, litter and the daily once-over are their responsibility at the times you set, even if a flatmate says they usually do the mornings. Agree the reverse as well: if a flatmate does feed the cat or let her into their room, how will the sitter know, so meals are not doubled and a shut bedroom door does not leave the cat missing at headcount time. A simple shared note on the fridge, where the sitter records each feed and litter change, works well in a house where several people drift through the kitchen. Name the one flatmate who is a real backup with a key and your number, if there is one.
Map the Shared Spaces and Their Habits
Walk the sitter through the flat as it actually functions. In a shared kitchen, show them exactly which cupboard holds the cat's food, how portions are measured when several people's groceries surround it, and where the bowls are washed. Show them the litter tray's spot in a shared bathroom or hallway and the house rule for keeping that door ajar, because a tray behind a closed door is a common reason a well-behaved cat toilets on a bathmat. Point out the carrier's location in case of a vet trip, the windows that get left open in summer, and the flatmates' bedroom doors that stay open or shut. Mention the building's rhythm too: the front door propped open on moving days, the communal hallway, and the times the flat is emptiest.
Set Expectations for Guests, Noise and Irregular Hours
Student flats keep student hours, and the briefing should say so honestly rather than pretend the stay will be quiet. Tell the sitter what is normal here: flatmates returning late, friends on the sofa at weekends, music in the kitchen, and how this cat usually handles it, whether she joins the gathering or vanishes to one particular room. Agree the ground rules for anything bigger during the stay, especially whether a party is expected, and if so where the cat goes for the evening, with a door that stays shut, her tray, water and a bed moved in with her. Ask the sitter to keep the cat out of flatmates' rooms during gatherings if she is a food thief or a door-darter, and say where she is most likely to hide when the flat gets loud, so a missing cat at midnight is a known hiding place, not a search.
Leave Essentials Findable in a Busy Flat
In a flat where things migrate, label and stage the cat's kit before you go: food measured or with the measure in the bag, spare litter beside the tray, the carrier accessible rather than buried under hallway clutter, and your written notes on the fridge rather than in a message thread. Leave the vet's details, your contact plan around lectures, work or travel, and the spare-key arrangement in the same place. Tell the sitter what to do about small costs, such as running out of litter, including where the nearest shop is and how you will repay them, since a sitter who cannot face a shared-house whip-round may quietly stretch supplies. Finish by agreeing the daily update you want and who it goes to, you alone, so reports do not scatter across the flat's group chat.
A KinsLe Care Pass gives your sitter the cat's feeding times, litter routine and door rules as one clear set of instructions, which matters most in a flat where everybody assumes somebody else has done it.