I'm so ****ed!

"Brandy Alexandre" wrote in message
s.com...
I had to go away for the weekend and I asked the neighbor's much
revered 14-year old son to feed Kami. Everyone talks about what a good
kid he is and so responsible.

Well, I just got home and in her bowl was a huge mound of her wet food.
Apparently she didn't eat it, and he just dumped in more. It smelled
more than sour and there were even so little gnats or fruit flies
hanging around it. No wonder she didn't eat it even if she decided she
wanted to.

--
Brandy Alexandre


Brandy,

I suggest that you look for a professional petsitter -- one who is reliable
and has excellent recommendations that you can verify. That is what I do,
and it is really a comfort to know that the person who cares for Holly and
Duffy is very knowledgeable about cats, able to make a decision to take them
to a vet if necessary, and completely reliable concerning their care.

Don't wait until you need someone to locate a petsitter. Start looking now,
check references, talk to the person you select, and make arrangements so
that you will be able to count on this person when you need to leave town
for awhile.

MaryL

"Brandy Alexandre" wrote in message
s.com...
I had to go away for the weekend and I asked the neighbor's much
revered 14-year old son to feed Kami. Everyone talks about what a good
kid he is and so responsible.

Well, I just got home and in her bowl was a huge mound of her wet food.
Apparently she didn't eat it, and he just dumped in more. It smelled
more than sour and there were even so little gnats or fruit flies
hanging around it. No wonder she didn't eat it even if she decided she
wanted to.

--
Brandy Alexandre


Brandy,

I suggest that you look for a professional petsitter -- one who is reliable
and has excellent recommendations that you can verify. That is what I do,
and it is really a comfort to know that the person who cares for Holly and
Duffy is very knowledgeable about cats, able to make a decision to take them
to a vet if necessary, and completely reliable concerning their care.

Don't wait until you need someone to locate a petsitter. Start looking now,
check references, talk to the person you select, and make arrangements so
that you will be able to count on this person when you need to leave town
for awhile.

MaryL

"Brandy Alexandre" wrote in message
s.com...
I had to go away for the weekend and I asked the neighbor's much
revered 14-year old son to feed Kami. Everyone talks about what a good
kid he is and so responsible.

Well, I just got home and in her bowl was a huge mound of her wet food.
Apparently she didn't eat it, and he just dumped in more. It smelled
more than sour and there were even so little gnats or fruit flies
hanging around it. No wonder she didn't eat it even if she decided she
wanted to.

--
Brandy Alexandre


Brandy,

I suggest that you look for a professional petsitter -- one who is reliable
and has excellent recommendations that you can verify. That is what I do,
and it is really a comfort to know that the person who cares for Holly and
Duffy is very knowledgeable about cats, able to make a decision to take them
to a vet if necessary, and completely reliable concerning their care.

Don't wait until you need someone to locate a petsitter. Start looking now,
check references, talk to the person you select, and make arrangements so
that you will be able to count on this person when you need to leave town
for awhile.

MaryL

I had planned on giving him
some money as a surprise for a good job rather than ask him to do it
for money. Obviously I didn't.

I had a good friend, an adult do something similar. I told him to feed my cat
one can of catfood a day. I had a stack of little cans there and two big super
size cans in back just in case a war broke out and I was stranded. He fed the
cat the big cans and just left the food there. There was a huge mound of food!
This is a 40 year old sane man of average intelligence. The huge mound of food
probably scared my cat to death so my cat didn't eat it. The mound of food
smelled so the guy opened the window. He didn't realize my cat then left out
the window. Thank god for my neighbors who fed him. Sometimes you have to spell
things out completely and in writing. Now I do. Some think I'm nutty but I
think it prevents stupid mishaps.

I had planned on giving him
some money as a surprise for a good job rather than ask him to do it
for money. Obviously I didn't.

I had a good friend, an adult do something similar. I told him to feed my cat
one can of catfood a day. I had a stack of little cans there and two big super
size cans in back just in case a war broke out and I was stranded. He fed the
cat the big cans and just left the food there. There was a huge mound of food!
This is a 40 year old sane man of average intelligence. The huge mound of food
probably scared my cat to death so my cat didn't eat it. The mound of food
smelled so the guy opened the window. He didn't realize my cat then left out
the window. Thank god for my neighbors who fed him. Sometimes you have to spell
things out completely and in writing. Now I do. Some think I'm nutty but I
think it prevents stupid mishaps.

I had planned on giving him
some money as a surprise for a good job rather than ask him to do it
for money. Obviously I didn't.

I had a good friend, an adult do something similar. I told him to feed my cat
one can of catfood a day. I had a stack of little cans there and two big super
size cans in back just in case a war broke out and I was stranded. He fed the
cat the big cans and just left the food there. There was a huge mound of food!
This is a 40 year old sane man of average intelligence. The huge mound of food
probably scared my cat to death so my cat didn't eat it. The mound of food
smelled so the guy opened the window. He didn't realize my cat then left out
the window. Thank god for my neighbors who fed him. Sometimes you have to spell
things out completely and in writing. Now I do. Some think I'm nutty but I
think it prevents stupid mishaps.

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 02:18:07 GMT, "BrandyÂ*Â*Alexandre"
wrote:

I had to go away for the weekend and I asked the neighbor's much
revered 14-year old son to feed Kami. Everyone talks about what a good
kid he is and so responsible. Blah, blah.... Anyway, I told him she
might not eat and just to dump out the food and give her another
packet. He didn't have to worry about anything else because she has
the fountain, dry food to nibble, the box is good for a couple of days.
Just feed her--he might not even see her.

Well, I just got home and in her bowl was a huge mound of her wet food.
Apparently she didn't eat it, and he just dumped in more. It smelled
more than sour and there were even so little gnats or fruit flies
hanging around it. No wonder she didn't eat it even if she decided she
wanted to. I could see that she ate more dry food in the last couple
days than she would in a couple of weeks. I had planned on giving him
some money as a surprise for a good job rather than ask him to do it
for money. Obviously I didn't. When he came back with the key I just
smiled and said thanks and I see she's alive and well.

I had thought of masking my other neighbor, who has a cat, to do it,
but he's gone during the week and I figured he wouldn't want any extra
responsibilities on the weekend. That's why I aksed the kid. But I
called him before I left to say he could go ahead and crank up his $60k
stereo system because I'll be gone and the first thing he asked was who
was feeding Kami. I should have stuck with my first instinct. Won't
make that mistake again.

(BTW, his cat stays at a friend's house during the week--Monday morning
through Thursday evening. She's not left home alone for that length of
time.)

IMHO You should have made it a pay job from the start. Kids like
money and that would have been a great incentive. You should have
explained in detail about changing the food -=- this is how kids
learn. You cannot expect a 14 year old kid to be as altruistic as a
close friend would be.

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 02:18:07 GMT, "BrandyÂ*Â*Alexandre"
wrote:

I had to go away for the weekend and I asked the neighbor's much
revered 14-year old son to feed Kami. Everyone talks about what a good
kid he is and so responsible. Blah, blah.... Anyway, I told him she
might not eat and just to dump out the food and give her another
packet. He didn't have to worry about anything else because she has
the fountain, dry food to nibble, the box is good for a couple of days.
Just feed her--he might not even see her.

Well, I just got home and in her bowl was a huge mound of her wet food.
Apparently she didn't eat it, and he just dumped in more. It smelled
more than sour and there were even so little gnats or fruit flies
hanging around it. No wonder she didn't eat it even if she decided she
wanted to. I could see that she ate more dry food in the last couple
days than she would in a couple of weeks. I had planned on giving him
some money as a surprise for a good job rather than ask him to do it
for money. Obviously I didn't. When he came back with the key I just
smiled and said thanks and I see she's alive and well.

I had thought of masking my other neighbor, who has a cat, to do it,
but he's gone during the week and I figured he wouldn't want any extra
responsibilities on the weekend. That's why I aksed the kid. But I
called him before I left to say he could go ahead and crank up his $60k
stereo system because I'll be gone and the first thing he asked was who
was feeding Kami. I should have stuck with my first instinct. Won't
make that mistake again.

(BTW, his cat stays at a friend's house during the week--Monday morning
through Thursday evening. She's not left home alone for that length of
time.)

IMHO You should have made it a pay job from the start. Kids like
money and that would have been a great incentive. You should have
explained in detail about changing the food -=- this is how kids
learn. You cannot expect a 14 year old kid to be as altruistic as a
close friend would be.

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 02:18:07 GMT, "BrandyÂ*Â*Alexandre"
wrote:

I had to go away for the weekend and I asked the neighbor's much
revered 14-year old son to feed Kami. Everyone talks about what a good
kid he is and so responsible. Blah, blah.... Anyway, I told him she
might not eat and just to dump out the food and give her another
packet. He didn't have to worry about anything else because she has
the fountain, dry food to nibble, the box is good for a couple of days.
Just feed her--he might not even see her.

Well, I just got home and in her bowl was a huge mound of her wet food.
Apparently she didn't eat it, and he just dumped in more. It smelled
more than sour and there were even so little gnats or fruit flies
hanging around it. No wonder she didn't eat it even if she decided she
wanted to. I could see that she ate more dry food in the last couple
days than she would in a couple of weeks. I had planned on giving him
some money as a surprise for a good job rather than ask him to do it
for money. Obviously I didn't. When he came back with the key I just
smiled and said thanks and I see she's alive and well.

I had thought of masking my other neighbor, who has a cat, to do it,
but he's gone during the week and I figured he wouldn't want any extra
responsibilities on the weekend. That's why I aksed the kid. But I
called him before I left to say he could go ahead and crank up his $60k
stereo system because I'll be gone and the first thing he asked was who
was feeding Kami. I should have stuck with my first instinct. Won't
make that mistake again.

(BTW, his cat stays at a friend's house during the week--Monday morning
through Thursday evening. She's not left home alone for that length of
time.)

IMHO You should have made it a pay job from the start. Kids like
money and that would have been a great incentive. You should have
explained in detail about changing the food -=- this is how kids
learn. You cannot expect a 14 year old kid to be as altruistic as a
close friend would be.

IMHO You should have made it a pay job from the start. Kids like
money and that would have been a great incentive. You should have
explained in detail about changing the food -=- this is how kids
learn. You cannot expect a 14 year old kid to be as altruistic as a
close friend would be.

I agree. With 14-year-olds, you have to spell it out. Write down step-by-step
what you expect of them. He *did* perform the task--and it's entirely possible
he misunderstood the instructions. And it should have been a paying job.
Next time the OP should hire a petsitter. They're bonded, responsible, and
experienced. The ones here charge $15 a day which is *nothing* compared to the
peace of mind knowing that your pet will be fed properly, and even *checked
on*, which is imperative for an aging cat with health issues.

Sherry