Adventures in Sitting Kitties

Duane is the best!!! I have had very negative experiences with leaving kitties while away and now I only trust certain people with my babies. He’s actually too good because he gets booked on holidays so reserve him early!

As wonderful as I had hoped!
It’s difficult having strangers in your home, let alone trusting them with your babies, but Duane did a great job, was very respectful of my home, and my cats have a new friend. I won’t hesitate to call him again!

I have nothing but great things to say about Duane. He’s watched our kitty a couple times while we have been away. Not only does our picky, old lady love him but he spends lots of time with her and makes leaving so much easier. He even sends us notes while we are away letting us know everything is okay. I would highly recommend him!

Duane has cared for two generations of my kitties, since 2007, and I can’t say enough about how wonderful he is with them, and reliable and trustworthy. His care was especially reassuring for an older, medically frail kitty. Since I’m moving away from Seattle, it will be a challenge to find someone I feel so confident in leaving my current girls with. Duane is one of their best buds and I know they will miss him, too.

Duane is an extremely kind and patient person. He went above and beyond making sure that my «not-​so-​friendly-​or-​happy» cat was ok. Even with key problems while I was gone (totally my fault), he remained calm and cool, like a cat. I felt he really cared about my cat beyond his job, and that impressed me. He even brought over a bigger litter box for my cat to try out. He was excellent with communication. I would definitely trust him with my cat again, which in the end is most important.

Duane is a godsend. Our cats love him. He sends us picture updates daily while we’re away and has suggestions for how to keep kitties happy while we’re gone. Highly recommended!

I wish I had found Duane years before I did. Our old tortoiseshell Emma really loved Duane. Emma loved everyone. But I did not love our previous hired cat sitters as much as him. Duane sent photos and stories and emails when he was with Emma. I never had to check in with him to make sure all was well; he knew the importance of initiating that contact so I didn’t have to. From the first time I met him, I knew he really cared about cats.
Yesterday, I received a call from Duane asking if he could come over to drop something off for us. He knew Emma had been sick, and he asked if she had died. I said yes, she died, four weeks ago. Diane said he wanted to give us something in memory of her.
He brought us photos he had taken of Emma, and had framed one of them. It brought me to tears.
You’re awesome, Duane. Thank you for caring for our sweet Emma.
–Megan (Tommy), JD, and Ellis

Duane is a great guy and a true cat lover. We feel completely comfortable leaving for vacation when he’s watching our cat and we love the picture and text updates. Thanks Duane!

Not enough good things to say about Duane. This guy freaking LOVES cats.
He totally saved me in an emergency. With only two days notice, he was able to take care of my cats for 10 days. He came over to do the meet-​and-​greet at an early-​morning time that was really convenient for my work schedule. Within five minutes of his arrival my skittish cat was all over him.
Duane sent email updates the whole time we were gone. The detailed notes and photos made it clear that he had spent a lot of time with my cats and had gotten to know their personalities. He came at the same time every day, played with them for quite awhile, watered all my plants, and took care of any trouble they got into — including cleaning up cat poop off the floor.
I was really worried about leaving my cats at home for so long but knew immediately upon meeting Duane that they’d be just fine. Top notch guy, good prices, and you won’t find someone who takes better care of your cats.

Duane is wonderful. Very professional and a true cat person. He looked after my cat over a long weekend. I really appreciated the email and picture updates and most important, my cat is happy.
Update: I now have two kitties, and the new cat is just as fond of Duane as her brother.

This is a long-​overdue review from an experience a number of years back. I feel, however, that no matter how long ago it was, it needs to be said because it was so egregious.
Duane and I lived in the same building, so I thought it was the perfect arrangement. Couldn’t be easier for him to pop by and feed my cat, right?
I went on vacation for more than a week and pre-​paid him. Four or five days in, I had a friend of mine look in on my elderly cat just because I was gone so long.
My friend found my cat’s food and water bowls *completely* empty and her litter box overflowing. I don’t know how long it had been since Duane had fed her or given her water.
I called Duane and he denied it. My friend took pictures and sent them to me so I could see for myself.
If I hadn’t had someone double-​check Duane’s work, my cat could have died.

Duane really likes cats! He made an effort to get to know both of my cats individually. He sends me a picture and an email update at least once per trip. I have a lot of confidence that he is giving them a good amount of attention and isn’t just coming in and out each time. Plus, he has a great website!

Duane, Duane, Duane is the best! I have worked with enough Cat Sitters to know he is one of the best and I will keep him around as long as he will have us (me and my two kitties). I love to travel and I love my Kitties, they are use to a lot of attention and I have this big fear of their gentle spirits being broken… also I have made them in to high maintenance cats (shame on me)…all that being said… I really need someone who I can depend on, the minute I met Duane I knew he was the guy. Duane is nice, genuine, and truly has a talent/​natural bond with cats. I was gone for 10 days and Duane kept me updated, he even took care of my thirsty plants. For the first time in years, I returned home to very happy kitties who probably got more love then when I am home, I could tell they were waiting for him to come back… I will always count on Duane and highly recommend him as someone who can give you peace while away.

Duane is a caring, trustworthy cat sitter and it gave us great peace of mind to know that our cat was in good hands while we were away. We found him through our vet, whom he also cat-​sits for. This was the first time we hired a professional cat sitter, and also the first time I was not completely stressed out wondering whether our friends had really gone over to check on our kitty or not. It was so awesome to get daily emails and pictures of our kitty looking happy and healthy. I highly recommend Duane’s services!

Duane has gotta be the best cat sitter I ever had. Completely exceeded my expectations. Over the week he:
1) emailed is pictures of our cats along with cute little stories
2) broke down our drinkwell fountain and cleaned it
3) cleaned all the cats feeding dishes
4) took in the mail
5) cleaned the bag from the litter locker (something I wasn’t expecting as theoretically those things are good to go for a while)
6) cleaned up any cat barf
Not to mention the little details you wouldn’t think of like:
1) making sure to remind us to email him when we got home (just in case the cats need another night)
2) passing our contact info to his sister in case he got hit by a bus and couldn’t watch the cats
On top of all that he was incredibly professional. Had a contract for us to sign and everything.
Both me and my wife slept easy during our trip knowing our kitties were in good hands.
Seriously, if you need a cat sitter, I cannot recommend Duane enough.

Duane is wonderful! He is so trustworthy and reliable in caring for our beloved kitties. If anyone goes the extra mile it is him. I appreciate that he keeps me posted on how the kitties are doing and sends photos. Plus he has graciously cleaned up after the kitties if needed, given medications and brushed them until their fur shines. I would not hesitate to recommend Sitting Kitties to anyone that wants happy well cared for kitties while they are away.

I can’t thank Duane enough for his kitty-​sitting services. He truly loves cats and was able to help my fiancé and I out at the last minute when we needed someone to watch our two cats. He’s extremely professional — you’ll fill out a form with all your contact information, vet information and the amount of days he’s to come over, plus any additional agreed upon services such as plant watering or newspaper pick up. He’s also very affordable and would send me pictures of Wrangler and Zelda playing when he came on his visits. I absolutely would recommend Adventures in Sitting Kitties for your next vacation or weekend away.

I’ve used Duane’s service 3 times now, and have just booked him for a 4^th for my vacation next month. He is definitely a cat lover, and takes really good care of my two guys. He is reliable, his rates are affordable, he’s been available for me on short notice, he sends email updates about how things are going, and I come home to happy healthy cats who aren’t holding a grudge against me for leaving them. What more could you want from a pet sitter?

Duane is an awesome cat sitter! He gets along great with our cat and she enjoys his visits! I think she barely notices when we get home. Plus Duane is easy to get in touch with to schedule appointments and always sends us email to let us know how she is doing. It’s easy to travel knowing that Sonya is in good hands!

After my husband’s brother left my cat in our house with the windows closed in the summer heat of Kansas and we returned to find a bloated and glassy-​eyed sweltering kitty, we decided to look into pet sitters when we travel. When we arrived in Seattle, we hooked up with one pet sitter who seemed to be looking around our house for things she could criticize: Why were my cats eating pet food with meat in it? Because I’m a vegetarian; they’re not. Why do I keep the windows open – they could fall out? Because it’s summertime in Seattle, I care about the environment & refuse to get an air conditioner, and I like fresh air. Why do I have plants around that they could eat? I’ve thought about this a lot. They don’t eat my plants because they eat wheat grass instead. I believe that she took great care of our cats, but she rubbed me the wrong way.
Then, we found Duane on the internet at Adventures in Sitting Kitties at
. I’ll admit, I was hesitant to 1) trust a person who has 6 cats and writes quirky little stories about them and 2) give a man I didn’t really know a key to my apartment.
But, upon meeting him, all of my worries disappeared. Duane brought toys for «the boys» (as he calls them) and immediately began getting to know them when he walked in the door. His prices are very reasonable and he is reliable. We have traveled many places with no worries because, when we return, our cats are not very interested in seeing us. They much prefer to have Duane walking through the door and are obviously disappointed when «we» are not «he»!
He’ll even water your plants, bring in your mail, and stay overnight if needed. That’s service.
Wow. A man who loves cats and has six of his own.
Duane’s a true cat person…
The comedian, Demetri Martin, might question that statement!
Or would he?