The House Holders SF

I have a roughly 1200 sq ft single story house with a cottage in the yard. It's a lot to take care of, especially with my needy cats. Kat and John managed the cat barf and incessant meowing like champions! We are perpetual travelers and have relied on friends, families, couch surfers, even my insurance lady once (she loves cats) and have thus experienced a WHOLE range of house/cat sitters. Kat and John are by far the most considerate and trustworthy house sitters I've had.

Kat is pretty communicative and will not hesitate to ask if there is anything of concern. Her response time via email and/or phone is reliable and reasonable. She will always ask before acting. No surprises when I got home. John is relentlessly organized in a good way. Kat and John willingly categorized 2months worth of mail and stacked our newspapers / magazines chronologically! They are both very clean and I returned home to a cleaner house than when I left.

In addition, Kat and John are very responsible and were able to manage our gardener, cleaner and wayward guests (who arrived before us!) with ease. They were overall on top of things which is a relief when on the road. Am reluctant to share them only because I will be devastated if they are not available for my next trip!!

Jon and Kat took care of my kitten Leo, who is a rambunctious rescue cat and demands a lot of attention. They sent photos and updates while I was away, which was so sweet! Jon and Kat are absolutely wonderful people who I am so happy to know. I will always recommend them to my friends whenever someone needs a pet or house sitter in SF.

Leaving our home and our kitty in the hands of "strangers" was a leap of faith that we decided to jump into after a short interview-meet-and-greet with Kat and Jon.
They are warm and sincere, responsible and mature, not to mention super sweet.
Although during that first meeting, our cat was too shy to come forth and formally meet them. Within a day of their moving in though, I was elated (and relieved) to receive a short note and video from Kat - - our kitty was rolling around on the rug while Kat brushed her.
Frequent short notes and more videos in the days to follow eased our anxiety and made us so happy to know that our kid and home were in super hands.
We've since asked them to sit for us on other occasions . . . and will, with absolutely no hesitation, call on them again.

I haven't done many formal reviews but I had such a great experience with Jon and Kat that I feel compelled to share.

Jon and Kat stayed in my home and cared for my 8 year old lab Cocoa for three weeks while I was on vacation in Central America. I was a little worried about being so far away and potentially out of reach in case anything went wrong but was put at ease with Jon and Kat from the very beginning.

A few weeks prior to the trip (before the madness of packing and scrambling w/ last minute details) Jon and Kat came over to meet Cocoa and for us to get to know each other. I could tell right away that they would be a great fit. They were warm, friendly and laid back. As we discussed the few behavioral quirks/issues I'd noticed with Cocoa over the years I could tell from their past experiences that they could expertly handle any incident that might arise.

As departure day approached Jon and Kat gathered all the key contact and health/behavioral info they needed which further put my mind at ease that they were the right choice to care for Cocoa (and my home).

Right before the trip I discovered Cocoa had an ear infection that required daily ear drops for a week. Based on my impressions of Jon and Kat, I knew they'd have no problem keeping Cocoa on her meds and on a speedy road to recovery in my absence ... and I was right. They were fabulous! They didn't bat an eye when I asked them to keep Cocoa's ears clean and the meds flowing ... and when I got back the infection was gone!!

During the trip I couldn't have asked any more from Jon and Kat. After our grueling days of laying on the beach and exploring the jungles of Costa Rica :-) I would check my email to find wonderful updates from Kat (with expert quality photos from Jon). It was amazing. I got the feeling Cocoa was having just as much fun as we were. Maybe more?

When we got back from the trip the house was in great shape ... complete with clean sheets, mail sorted and a wonderful note from Kat welcoming us back. It was an amazing vacation made even better by the knowledge Cocoa was being so well cared for at home.

I would absolutely have them care for Cocoa again and highly recommend them to family, friends and anyone else who loves their pets.

Thanks Jon and Kat!

I was utterly thrilled with Kat and Jon's petsitting service! My boyfriend and I went away for 18 days, which is the longest I've ever left my dog and cat with someone else. Furthermore, I had never before left my pets with strangers. I am someone who tends to get very nervous when leaving my pets for a long time, but thanks to Kat and Jon, I was able to relax and enjoy my vacation without worrying about some pet-related disaster. From our first night away, even before boarding the plane, I'd already received email updates and photos of my pets, happy in Kat's lap. During my entire trip, Kat and Jon were consistent about sending photos and emails, sometimes several times a day. It was amazing! I was completely confident that my pets were happy and safe in their hands. I would absolutely recommend their service to any pet or home owner who plans to travel.

Kat and Jon house-sat our dog Buddy when we went on vacation for 10 days. Before we left they came to meet Buddy and us, so everyone was comfortable with the arrangement. Prior to the trip, they sent us a very thorough checklist of information we need to provide them, and offered to take care of anything that needed to be attended to besides Buddy. While we were gone they emailed us pictures of Buddy having fun, so we could tell he was doing great. When we came home, I think he kind of missed them and he wished we could all live in the house together. Throughout, Kat and Jon were totally reliable and awesome to work with it. I hope they are available next time we go somewhere. 6 stars!

Kat took care of my cat Harry while I was out of town. When we met up to discuss the job, she was both friendly and professional and I knew he was in good hands. Everything went smoothly while I was gone and she sent photos so I'd know he was OK! It's a relief to have a reliable petsitter nearby and I will definitely ask the House Holders to look after him again the next time I go on a long trip.

Kat and Jon looked after our kitties and our flat for two weeks while we were out of the country. They were wonderful! Our kitties were happy and content upon our return. It was clear that they Got lots of attention, pets and love in our absence. We were updated often with cute photos which I loved getting! Our place was left neat and clean and mail was organized. If you are a neurotic pet owner like me, and you want your pets and home in the hands of responsible, responsive and lovely people, look no further! I only wish we had found them sooner! As an additional note, I called several references of theirs before we sealed the deal, and all uniformly raved about Kat and Jon. I felt like we were in really good hands.

Kat and Jon are great cat/house sitters. They recently stayed with my two 5-month old kittens while I was out of town and took excellent care of them both. Since this was the first time I had left the cats since adopting them, I was initially worried about how they would respond to new people. All my concerns went away when Kat and Jon came to meet them. My kittens took to them immediately. I think they might have been happy that I was gone because each kitten had a person to themselves!

The checklist Kat provided helped me organize all my information about the kittens so we could both referred to it. Kat sent regular updates and Jon sent me lots of kitten pictures. Everything is the house was clean when I returned, and my kittens acted as if I hadn't been gone more than a day.

I highly recommend Kat and Jon and will use them again!

I met Jon and Kat through my daughter and they were available to housesit for me during a recent three-week trip. I have a small East Bay bungalow with a large front garden, raised veggie beds, numerous potted plants, and a neurotic cat that all required attention. Jon and Kat saw to everything carefully and professionally. I will ask them back whenever I have extended absences, and hope that they will be able to come again.

Their services were valuable to me in these areas:
1. My extremely noisy, very high strung, little princess cat got her meals AND lots of genuine TLC and tummy rubs (which she adores). J&K sent me pictures, so I wouldn't worry and could see how content she was.

3. My garden flourished under their care.

3. Thanks to their thorough sorting of my mail, it was the easiest return I've had from a trip. I was able to work through the business that had piled up very speedily. It was also great to come home to fresh sheets and a clean house.

4. Having the house occupied increased its security and gave me great peace of mind while I was away. I could, and did, literally forget about it and concentrate on the trip.

Thank you House Holders!