A PET'S PAL

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The staff at A Pet's Pal are always wonderful. Our cat is happy and in great shape when we return from our trips. We feel very comfortable with the service we receive!

We have used "A Pet's Pal" for our two cats in the past and are very impressed by their professionalism, reliability, and loving care for our geriatric kitties. We needed to go out of town for 3 days, and felt very comfortable leaving our cats in their care. Mary Ann was our cat sitter for all three days. The house was spotless when we returned. She left detailed notes and wonderful comments on the "Vacation Log" that was left for us to read when we returned. Mary Ann gave the kitties their treats and lots of love, as well as collected the mail and took the trash can to the street on the appropriate day. The feeding area and litter box area were very tidy, and both of our cats were healthy and happy when we returned. It is very reassuring to us that we can travel and know that our kitties are in the great care of "A Pet's Pal."

We have just moved to the area and did not have a pet sitter yet. With a last minute opportunity to travel out of town, we turned to and quot;Angie's Listand quot; to find a pet sitter in our area. After finding and quot;A Pets Paland quot;, I contacted Deborah, the owner, to request her services. Even with only a couple of days notice, and being new clients, Deborah was still able to fit us into her schedule.
She came to our house to meet me and our cats, and to discuss our specific needs. I found Deborah to be kind, professional, knowledgeable, and experienced. She used a checklist to cover not only information about our cats, but also about the house, such as where the circuit breaker and main water shut off valve were located in the case of any emergencies that the cat sitters might encounter when visiting our house. Deborah also offered that her team could water plants, open and close window blinds, and even take the garbage to the street on trash day as a part of the scheduled visit fee.
Deborah asked about the cats' routines, their food and litter habits, as well as how they liked to play. We discussed their medical history and current medical needs. Both of our cats have kidney disease, and although they have not started to receive subcutaneous fluid therapy at home yet, Deborah noted that administering subcutaneous fluids is an option if we need that done when we are out of town in the future. This was an impressive and reassuring thing for me to hear.
We have two 15-year old cats who are shy around people they don't know. When I brought them out one-by-one to meet Deborah, she held them for a few minutes and both cats responded well to her. I could tell that she was very caring and connected to animals. She told me about the experience of her team, and that each of her pet sitters are very committed to the animals in their care. I felt very comfortable leaving our cats in her care.
After arriving home from our 5-day trip, we found our cats to be very well adjusted and healthy. They acted as if we had just arrived home from the grocery store and not a 5-day trip, which has not been the case with other sitters. The food and water bowls were clean and filled, and there was no soiled litter left in the house. The garbage can had been put out to the street for pick-up, and the cat feeding and litter areas were clean.
The cat sitters left us a checklist noting all of the things they had done with our cats each day, and also signed their names. We especially liked their notations on the checklist showing that they gave and quot;catnipand quot;, and quot;belly rubsand quot;, and and quot;lots of loveand quot; during each visit. They noted that they enjoyed meeting our cats, and we were impressed that they were able to interact so well with our shy cats.
We are very satisfied with Deborah and her team of pet sitters at and quot;A Pets Paland quot;, and look forward to hiring them again in the future!

Deborah runs an excellent service that I totally trust. Her staff is professional, actually does what they are being paid to do (walking for 1/2 hour or 1 hour) and they love my dogs!

I've used A Pets Pal for several years. Deborah runs a good business and I have never had a problem. I can call her with very little notice and she is always there. Her people are great and take very good care of my animals, even when I've had more dogs and cats around, no extra and they will take her to the vet if something is wrong. They have had my driveway plowed when we got a heavy snowfall so I came home to a nice clean driveway. I recently moved so will have to find another service. I don't think I will find as good of a sitter.

They play with the pets and clean up for them. They will take the cat to the vet. They will water the plants. They have great service and I will continue to use them.

Deborah Vitale has taken care of my cats for several years. I would rate her highly because I went off for three weeks to China and she and her staff took care of my cats and they were in very good condition. One of the cats had a swollen lip. The lips of a cat are pretty small and they noticed it and brought it to my attention. They left very good notes and offered to do other services. They are excellent. I liked the fact that she interviewed me and met the cats and all of that and gave me a sense of confidence. She looked after my cats well. If I had any kind of emergency or if I had to go out of town really quickly or something, I would call her sometimes and she would always make arrangements to take care of the cats. My cats were quite finicky. I had taken them to a kind of upscale kennel; it was a vet's office. The reason I used a pet service is that when the cats came home they were so traumatized that they cried for three days and I thought if I had a child and I took them to daycare and they came home and cried for three days I would never take them back again. That was how I felt about the cats. When I was back home and all was well, they still cried, I felt that that was a lot of sadness for a cat. When they are at home, they don't hear all that noise that one would find at a vet because they are doing surgery there, cats are recovering and they are in closed boxes and things like that. I think they were pretty terrified. I was fortunate enough to find Deborah Vitale and she took care of my pets since 2007. She takes her business very seriously that my home and my pets are a priority with her just as they are with me. It was a long time to leave pets in the care of someone else when I went to China in 2007 for three weeks but she and her staff changed the litter, pet poop and played with them. They would do things like water plants and pick up mails and so forth. She had three or four other people that worked with her. She did a good job. I would give her top marks on everything because of the personalized service, the attention and affection that she and her staff showed to my cats. All was well with the cats. They were a little pushed out because three weeks was a very long time but they got over in like a day; cats do have emotions. When I would go away for three or four days and come back they were just as happy as they could be. She charged $17 a visit. We recently moved and it is out of her area, so she won't be doing it now. We have been moving now for about a year. I haven't sold my other house and she still has my house keys; that is how confident I am of her. She is out in the east side of Detroit and I am all the way north now which is just too far. She was recommended by a vet. I would use her if I was in her area.

Overall I would grade them A++++. I would not hesitate in recommending them to others.

Punctual, prompt and professional. Able to fit me in at the last minute. While I was gone, Deb called about one of my cats. It was clear Deb was very concerned about my pet and communicated clearly to me what was going on and consulted with me on next steps. When I got home, I saw that A Pet's Pal had done an excellent job. Everything was cleaner than I had left it and the notes showed that the sitters really cared about the animals. Also, one of the sitters got the cats a night light for their room. It was a great solution to a problem I didn't know existed. That went above and beyond anything I could have expected.

I have had extremely positive experiences with this company and plan to continue to hire them. All sitters are bonded and insured. They are also trained in animal first aid. They are adults, not teenagers. When I signed up with them, I was required to provide a power of attorney, giving them permission to seek vet care if necessary. When my sister and I were overseas and unavailable, there was a plumbing emergency in her home: a bathroom pipe burst and the living room ceiling fell. The pet sitting service called a family member who helped find a plumber. According to their information, they also will help with obedience training. I have never used them for this.