Tales of the Kitty

Been using this service for decades. It’s approved by Mori, my cat, need I say more!!!

We used services of Tales of the Kitty twice and both times I was not happy with one thing or another: the water dish was not thoroughly rinsed and slime accumulated in it, which meant that the water might not have been changed in the dispenser daily as requested; we were not informed on the delayed visit; and the final straw was coming back home to the dirty litter box. Why would I pay $ 37 a day plus the suggested tip for subpar service and most importantly, constantly worry about my cats’ well-​being while being away?

In San Francisco, a cat or dog is the closest most like a child. Yes, there are people in the city with human children, but a majority of us nurturers out here stick to fur babies.
I don’t trust my crazy little tuxedo cat with just anyone. Nor do I want some rando stranger accessing my apartment.
Nicole from Tales of the Kitty has watched my little one twice for long trips and so far, so good. Even when my cat isn’t being welcoming or friendly, Nicole still feeds her, administers meds and makes sure everything at home is as normal as it can be with a needy feline.
Online booking is super convenient and you can pay with a credit card, which is perfect for the cash adverse like myself. Regular daily visits are between $ 30 – 37, but that’s pretty standard for certified pet sitters in SF.
Though I still miss the little jerk cat when on a trip, it’s nice to know she’s in good hands.

Quick update, Tales of the Kitty remains top notch. We had to fly out of the country on very short notice because of a family emergency, and they called immediately to work something out, even though service would have to start the next day. We had friends to cover the short term, so we did not take up their offer, but I greatly appreciate their willingness to help us in a time of mental and emotional upheaval.
Anyway, we did have them start several days after we left. As usual, they did a great job. I very much recommend TOTK!
If you are on the fence, just save yourself the deliberation time and book them.

Shelly was a wonderful caregiver to our cat for years. After he was diagnosed with cancer, she became his backup (after me) hospice nurse and provided him with expert care — to say nothing about her complete love and devotion to him. When he died, she was among the first to offer condolences and she understood our loss better than most of our family and friends.
I can’t think of anyone I’d trust more to look after my cat than TOTK.

TOTK is super reliable and professional. I love their online booking tool too. They do what they say they are going to do and provide excellent communication. Nothing is better than peace of mind when I put my cat into their care. Every time I have hired them, they have sent me a status by text or email and sent photos of my cat.

Shelly and her crew are great! We have been using her services for a couple years and have never had a bad experience.
It’s nice to know that whenever we travel we can be at ease knowing that our babies will be taken great care of. We have piece of mind that they are always fed, have clean boxes, and are cuddled while we are away. We also always get some sort of update while we are away and come home to happy babies and a sweet note from Shelly and her crew.
It might seem pricy, especially if you are on a longer vacation, but it is most definitely worth it. I can’t imagine any other arrangement being better than Tales of the Kitty! Thank you, Shelly, for running such a tight and dependable ship!

Shelly & crew took great care of my kitty in June 2013. (yes, I’m delayed!!) The definite pros for going with TotK:
1. Bonded, licensed & insured
2. Excellent & secure web-​site with the ability to update, leave notes & comments
3. Credit card… let’s face it, the ease of use is really important!
4. Friendly, reliable & an awesome ability to interact with my cat.
I had gone away for a 3 day trip in May 2013, thinking my cat would be fine w some extra water & food… I came back to a completely neurotic cat. He didn’t like being alone at all!
I immediately searched for a cat sitter after the disaster of a trip in May & found Shelly. Upon returning from my trip in June, Kitty was a calm, cool cat again! Well worth it!
Thanks Shelly & the rest of the team!
P. S. I’ve already booked my holiday vacation plans with TotK & feel fortunate I got in before the rush!

With dozens of good reviews already, Shelly and crew do not need my review, but I MUST share. Several years ago as first-​time cat parents, we not only found Shelly but also got valuable parenting tips from her.
On a recent 4-​day weekend, Shelly’s colleague Hope stayed with our beloved furry son Rokko overnights, sent us sweet photos so we wouldn’t worry, and lo and behold, we returned home to a purring, contented kitty who wasn’t pouting on us! Who could ask for more?!
Thank you, thank you, Shelly, Terry, Hope and all the other wonderful cat caregivers at Tales of the Kitty!

I’ve used Shelly a number of times, and I’m very happy with the service. And so is my cat!
What I’m most comforted by are Shelly’s endearing email updates, which often come with a cute photo of my contented cat. During her last visit, she left a thoughtful card as well. In my opinion, that extra personal touch goes a long way.
Thank you for the great service, Shelly. I wouldn’t trust my cat with anyone else!

Shelly is the greatest cat sitter ever. I was so impressed when she came over to meet my cats for the first time. I could tell she really cares about animals. She was attentive and thoughtful each time she watched my cats. I was touched by the hand written notes she would leave and the email updates. The cats were always happy and relaxed when I returned. I loved that I could book online as well. I highly recommend Tales of the Kitty to anyone needing someone reliable and trustworthy to watch their pet.

Came back home from vacation with two happy kitties. They still had food in their dishes, which makes them very happy girls. Their water dish was clean & full & my house didnt smell like kitty litter. Yay to happy cats & owners! Thank you!
I only met Scott but he was very nice & sent me an email update to inform me about the girls.
Shelly left me a note when she stopped by.

Our teeny tiny kitty is one of the sweetest in the world, and our friends used to jump at the chance of taking care of her when we went on vacation. We were spoiled. When she entered her golden years things got a little more complicated. She needed sub-​Q fluids, meds and was a little pickier about her food. We didn’t want to put the pressure on our friends to take care of our now high maintenance kitty, so on a recommendation of a friend we hired Tales of the Kitty. I am so grateful we have.
We have used their services a handful of times and each time we come back to a cat that has missed us, but who has been well taken care of.
Pros:
They are super professional; insured and trained in all kinds of cat needs (needles? check. Chemo meds? no problem. Feed my jellyfish too? Sure, we can handle it.)
Once you are accepted as a client, you have your own sign in page where you change your kitties needs, schedule a visit and update key information. They will even pick up your mail for you. You can schedule daily visits, twice a day or every other day. all the information is on their web site.
Their pricing is competitive and I would rather pay 5 bucks more and know my cats are in amazing hands. They know my vet (Dr. Hazanow-​also awesome) and I feel very safe leaving our 15+ year old little girl with them.
They are fully booked for the holiday season, so don’t try to book for next day service. When you are ready to go on that spring cruise and are looking for the perfect kitty sitters, I wouldn’t look any further than Shelly, Nicole and the support crew at Tales of the Kitty.

I’ve been using TOTK for over a year now as I travel frequently with my job and have nothing but great things to say. My first appointment was only 2 weeks after my 2 cats and I arrived in SF from Australia so you can imagine my nervousness in using an unknown pet sitter in a new country!
Shelly came over to meet Jasper and Hermione prior to the first appointment and I could immediately tell all would be well. She just gets cats. It’s as simple as that. They both took to her immediately (cats recognize a kindred spirit) even Miss Hermione who can be a bit aloof around strangers. Shelly wisely brought her trusty laser pointer with her and any shyness immediately disappeared.
Every appointment is fulfilled as requested via their online booking system and they will even clean out the litter box, vacuum up cat hair and collect the mail. They send updates via email and also the odd photo which is very reassuring for us nervous parents.
I have always found the cats happy and well when I return home and this gives me comfort that it is money well spent. After dragging them both half way around the world, it is the least I could do to make sure they feel happy and secure.
Over the last year I have had Shelly, Nicole and Scott look after my babies and without exception, they do a fantastic job.
I would highly recommend TOTK for anyone looking for a cat sitter.

They take their jobs very seriously. This is a premium service, and they do it right. Things I like about Tales of the Kitty:
+ Their online scheduling system is great for soothing the fears of those of us who wake up in the middle of the night wondering if we really did set up catsitting.
+ They email to let you know that they made it into the building and all is well.
+ They have an earthquake rescue plan. Sounds crazy, but it adds peace of mind, and that’s what we’re paying for.
+ We’re new to the area, and they’ve provided advice on veterinarians.
+ Whatever crazily detailed instructions we provide, they follow them.
+ They have bought toys for my cats (which they love, BTW).
+ When I get home, the litterbox area is vacuumed, and the food cans and litter are taken to my outside garbage bins. Wow.

These ladies are amazing. We trust them without exception. I cannot tell you how better our cat does when he stays in his home environment. Even just one ½ hr visit a day is enough for him (he become a complete basketcase when he stayed a kitty hotel).
We got to meet Shelly and Nicole, who both came over to meet our cat Icarus. They are both incredibly competent and major kitty-​lovers. They’ve been doing this for years.

The owner Shelley sat down with me and asked me specific things about my cats that I never thought I’d tell anyone (you know, with the whole ’ Crazy Cat Lady’ craze that’s going on). She also wrote them down for their database so anyone from their company in the future would know that my girlcat was the runt, is ½ feral (we like to call it ‘street smart’) and needs to… you get the idea.
You can trust them to spend the full 20 minutes with your furbies and keep an eye on your place.

We just had an amazing experience using Tales of the Kitty while on vacation! Shelly, Nicole, Scott and their whole team are not only professional, but really reliable. The last thing you want to do when you go out of town is worry about your pets, and with them I didn’t once.
First, one of them comes to your house and walks through everything including toys, food, etc. and discusses the personalities of the cats (if you have more than one like us!), and what they like and don’t like. Then while we were away we got an email update letting us know everything was going well, which was really nice and reassuring. We had no problems and came back to two happy and healthy cats.
The online site and booking system couldn’t be easier too. They charge $ 10 more for holidays (when they book up) so keep that in mind. Overall we couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Thanks TOTK!

We’ve never used a cat sitter before and I was very happy to find TotC as a referral from our vet. Nicole was cheery and calm which was perfect for meeting our kitty. I came home to a happy, fat cat (I think he eats more than usual when we’re gone).
We were able to book care for our kitty on short notice and definitely plan to use these ladies again when the holidays roll around. Love the online profile and booking system.

My cats are very laid-​back, and I don’t worry too much about them when I’m gone (whether for the day or for a week). That said, I’m quite attached to them and would be pretty crushed if anything happened to these guys. I left them under Shelly’s care while I was away over Christmas this year, and knew it was the right decision the minute she met them.
I was already impressed by the super-​easy and thorough online registration system, but she was amazing when she came over to my apartment. I was expecting Q*Bert, my sociable kitty, to come out and show some love, but the other one, Jaspar, has diva qualities that make him less friendly. However, Shelly had a secret weapon: woo-​hoo laser pointer! She had both cats running around chasing the little red light, and this somehow won them over completely. Q*Bert was an instant purrball, which was no surprise, but Jaspar was super-​affectionate too.
Shelly texted me while I was gone to let me know that all was well, and when I returned J + Q were in good spirits. They were happy to see me, but not too frantic — an obvious sign that they were happy with Shelly. I recommend Tales of the Kitty without any hesitation whatsoever.