Heart & Hands Animal Care

New to Portland with two cats and by myself, finding Elizabeth to cat sit while I’m away, has been a blessing. I travel for work and being away for 3-4 days at a time, I definitely need someone feeding, cleaning litter boxes and just being company to my cats. This is the first time I’ve used a cat sitter that wasn’t a friend or family member, and had a fabulous experience. I can tell you none of them ever sent me photos and videos of my cats while I was away. I receive pics and videos from Elizabeth when she visits my cats, its been a nice treat to see them happy and playful when I’m gone. I’ve used Elizabeth’s services a few different times already and of course will continue to. As well recommend her to anyone I know with similar needs.

My cat means the world to me, and I hate to leave her alone when I travel - however since Elizabeth has been taking care of her when I'm gone, it has made my life so much easier. Elizabeth is caring, professional, reliable, and great to work with all around. If you need somebody to take care of your furry family members while you are gone, she is the person to go to, hands down.

Elizabeth has taken care of our home and our cats more times than I can count since 2012, and we have always felt so fortunate to have found her. Elizabeth has looked after cats with a host of dietary issues and administered all sorts of medications with care and close attention to detail. She's stayed at our house when we're away longer than a week, and added an extra visit when necessary. She always spends quality time when she visits, contacts us once a day to let us know all is well, and even sends photos. She has always extended such warm affection, thoughtfulness, and generosity toward us and toward our feline family members, including concern and well wishes above and beyond the call of duty when one of them has gone through hair-raising health problems or end of life. We consider Elizabeth a friend as well as a trusted sitter for our cats, and we recommend her unreservedly.

Elizabeth is an outstanding cat sitter, doing the little extra things that make a difference to me. For example, she is highly attentive to the health of the animals and has taken one of them to the vet for me charging a minimal amount. She brings in the mail and newspapers, The house is always in good order on my return. The cats seem stable and happy. I give Elizabeth top marks for the care she gives to my cats. Also, very professional, organized, responsive, and thorough!

Elizabeth Fischer, of Hearts and Hands Animal Care, has taken care of our three cats for five years. Her service has been exemplary. The cats always engage with her when she comes, and we get close up photos and notes twice a day, plus there is always a lovely card with printed photo on the table when we return. The kitchen is cleaned up, all cat dishes washed, and the litter box is clean when I get home. I have absolute faith in her integrity, and responsible care of our cats, and will continue to use her services. I would recommend Hearts and Hands Animal Care to anyone, and have. I found Elizabeth by word of mouth, and I have never regretted engaging her services. I know several people, satisfied customers, who have also relied upon Hearts and Hands Animal Care for a number of years. With 15 years of successful service behind her, I feel very lucky to have found such a reliable, experienced caregiver for my precious kitties.

Elizabeth is pleasant to interact with, quickly responsive, and texts me pictures of the kitties enjoying her company while she is over taking care of them.  She is a joy to work with and I feel secure that my animals are well taken care of while I a m away.

This was the third time I have used Elizabeth Fischer for my pet sitting needs and this was a disturbing, unreliable, unprofessional and unpleasant experience!! Here are my issues in the order they occurred: 1) When I contacted Elizabeth to ask if she was available for the dates I needed she said she was and wanted to know "the purpose of my trip". I shared with her it was for a memorial service. While I do not expect a professional pet sitter's sympathy I am not certain why she needed this information - and then gave no response to it and no respect for my situation in her subsequent, rude and unprofessional communications and decisions. 2) My flight was scheduled to leave Portland for Chicago on 1/12/17. On 1/11/17 Elizabeth texted me at 1:28 PM: "Did you flight take off?" I reminded her my flight was for the 12th. At this time we were experiencing a severe winter storm in Portland, so I understood the concern, and Elizabeth requested that I let her know as soon as I knew that my flight was not cancelled. I texted "Of course, it's a 1040 am flight so all things going smoothly I was planning on leaving my house at 800. But will be checking flights first thing in the am to see what the status is." Elizabeth then decided to inform me that my cats did not need two visits this day: "Melissa, it doesn't sound like the kitties need a morning visit. Wouldn't they be getting breakfast when you get up? I know I won't be getting there early since I don't have chains or 4 wheel drive, though I do have snow tires. I live on a residential street that doesn't get plowed. But I will get there." So I agreed that it was reasonable for one visit that first day. On the morning of my flight (1/12/17) I texted her twice that my flight was delayed but scheduled to leave, and that I was at the airport before I got a response: "That's good, Melissa. I can't use my car so I am planning to get to your kitties via 2 Trimet busses." Fine, I thought, people in essential services have to do what they have to do. As a Registered Nurse myself I have one of those jobs where it is imperative to find a way to get to my job in all sorts of weather because that is the promise I give to my employer and those counting on me. (There is a bus stop a block from my house and I am right on the max line) 3) 1/12/17 - No word all day, no "texts and photos". I arrived in Chicago and texted her that evening asking if she was able to make it, I received a response with a photo of my cat Maleko hiding in the closet looking terrified. She texted: "Yes. Here's Maleko, in hiding in your closet. I found Kalina behind a curtain. I will only be able to do one visit tomorrow, Melissa. The roads are too treacherous, and it doesn't look like they are eating much. I can credit your accounts, or leave a check for $25. Just let me know." Again, I agreed to this change to once a day to be reasonable about the weather. I did not agree to her math in which she was only crediting back $25 for $50 worth of missed visits but I held off saying anything due to the inconvenience of traveling in the weather. 4) She also texted a photo of my cat Kalina looking scared and posted that on her PERSONAL Facebook website Elizabeth Fischer (we are not friends, she denied my request previously, this was a public post.) I messaged her and asked her to take the photo down. She did not. However, things with Elizabeth got worse. 5) 1/13/17 - again I did not hear a word from her. Not reassuring when you're at a funeral and worried that no one is looking after your animals, and I wanted to know if I needed to make other arrangements. I texted "Please let me know if you can't get to my house and my friend will get my key from you." at 12:30 pm She wrote back with a text and a photo of only one of one of my two cats, Kalina, again she looked scared. "Kalina this morning. The kitties are eating I left extra food to last until tomorrow morning. I don't think Maleko remembers me. He was in the closet again." I texted, "Ok, thanks!" Then Elizabeth (with no sensitivity to the fact that I'm at a funeral) "About what time are you returning home tomorrow?" I texted her "I'm not coming back tomorrow (the 14th), but my mom is flying supposed to be back around 3 and she will be going to my house." 6) Then Elizabeth shocked me with this decision, texted, at 7:15 pm (why did she wait until 7:15 pm to inform me of this? "I left extra for for the kitties today, Melissa. The car I've been using to get to your place won't be available until 3 PM tomorrow, so I will not be able to do the visit before your mother arrives From now on, I will advise all winter clients that they need to have a Plan B in case of severe weather and I am unable to get there. I will send a $50 refund." Ok... now I understand that the weather is bad.... Believe me it was difficult to get to the airport. But why is she deciding on her terms to cancel the last visit completely? She coincidentally can't get to my house at the exact time my mom is scheduled to arrive? People need to have a plan B? What is her plan B? she is the professional offering services? Why can't she take the bus or arrange for someone to pick her up and do her job? Why is she deciding that my cats don't need a visit without asking my opinion? What is wrong with her math? $25 per visit x 2 total visits is $50. I paid her $125. So the refund is not $50. The refund would be $75. I texted her "I'm really disappointed to hear you say that. I will need my key returned. Having a plan B is fine but notifying people after they have left is not professional." She instead sent me a long text (waiting until 8:30 pm to respond, this is 10:30 pm Chicago time) "Wow. I thought you would be more understanding. Melissa, I am quite a distance away form you (Why is this significant, do not take a job if you are not capable of fulfilling it), and one of the two buses isn't running. This is an unusual situation for Portland with most streets unplowed. (Yes I live there too I am quite aware of whether or not they plow yet when I called my friend in this situation to help me because the professional pet sitter negated on her agreement she was able to travel from Clackamas to East Portland to help me!) Including the side street I live on. I didn't say I couldn't visit your cats tomorrow (yes, that is how I read the text and since she wouldn't answer the phone or return my call to discuss it what else was I supposed to think). I said I couldn't visit in the morning because I wouldn't have access to a car until the afternoon because things changed that were out of my control. (This is bizarre and not my concern. The third cancelled visit makes it unprofessional and unreliable). I left them plenty of extra food they won't go hungry. (They need attention and playing which is what I paid $25 for 30 minutes twice a day for... not just throwing down food.. we'll get to what I found when I came home...) As soon as I can drive my car I will send your keys and a $75 check. In the 13 years I have been in this business, no one has questioned my professionalism. I'm sorry that you see it that way. I wish you and the kitties the best." 7) I called to try to resolve the discrepancy - and left and she didn't answer - by this time is past 8:30 pm and I'm exhausted and need an answer before I go to bed. I left her a voice mail and said that I would have my friend Christy come to her house or meet her in a public place and obtain my key so that she herself could look after my cats since Elizabeth refused to do so on the 14th. I told her if she did not return the key I would be calling the police. I told her I wanted the correct amount of money refunded. She did not call me back but texted an address at 839 pm so clearly she had listened to the message. 8) My friend did indeed look after them and said she found them scared and hiding and not eating. There were approximately 5 plates of dirty wet food on the floor and a huge plateful of dry food. (when they are supposed to be only eating the dry food in small amounts) I highly recommend you do not use Elizabeth Fischer. She may have been good at her job at one time but I think she is physica

Elizabeth is always more than professional, going beyond my expectations. I always receive a text letting me know he is okay, often with a picture. If I'm gone for more than a few days, I usually receive more than one text :-). And I always receive a note at the end with a recap of how he behaved and any issues. I highly recommend Elizabeth and her service.

I've been using Elizabeth Fischer's pet sitting service, often on a weekly basis, for the past four months, and my two cats and I have had such a positive experience with her that we give her our highest recommendation: 5 stars and 8 paws up, way up! She looks after my kitties ? one of them elderly and needing twice-daily medication ? with so much affection, meticulousness and consistent good humor that I have complete confidence they're happy and safe while I'm out of town. And I always find them as mellow as can be when I come home from a trip.
I hire Elizabeth to visit my guys twice a day, but if the tricky younger one refuses to come in from her walkabout, Elizabeth will drop by later to see that she gets back into the house safely. She also stocks my bird and squirrel feeders at no extra charge, which I appreciate (as do the critters). I love the updates she texts to me on each visit, accompanied by charming photos of the kitties.
Elizabeth is both very warm and very professional and I wish I'd switched from asking friends for cat-sitting to using her service years ago: Leaving my cats in her care is a stress-free experience for me and it's such a relief to be no longer feeling guilty about leaning too much on my friends. I'd recommend her to anyone looking for good value in excellent pet care.

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It went very well, as always! This is the third time we've used Heart & Hands and it's been a complete joy each time. Elizabeth is a true professional, and makes everything very easy, while leaving you with every confidence that your pet will be well taken care of. She always goes above and beyond. The first time we called on her services it was the "blizzard" of February 2014, and Elizabeth had a long, hard slog to our house each time because of the road and weather conditions, but she persevered. The second was over Christmas, a busy time to be sure, but Elizabeth was very accommodating. She even left a little gift toy for Rhoda, which was very much appreciated. And she takes wonderful photos each time she visits, which are always nice to receive when you're away from home and wondering how your little friend is doing.
We absolutely would (and certainly will!) use Heart & Hands again the next time we are going out of town.

Elizabeth is amazing! I contacted her at the last minute to look after my cat while I was working long hours because she was a few days out from having surgery. Having Elizabeth take care of my cat put my mind at ease.

I've used Elizabeth about 4 times so far this year, and I come home to a happy, well fed cat. Most importantly, I know I can trust Elizabeth to do the right thing. We have an indoor/outdoor cat and Elizabeth has kindly sat with her outside on nice days so that Princess can get some fresh air. However, one evening Princess decided to get in touch with her inner wild child and jumped from Elizabeth's lap and ran off across the neighbour's yard and wouldn't come back. Elizabeth made a gratis visit at 7 am the next morning (Sunday) to let her back into the house and make sure she's safe.

Wonderful, top-notch service.  Loving, compassionate care for my cat while I was away.

Elizabeth is fantastic. She loves animals and it shows! She walks my dog 3 to 4 times a weeks. I cannot say enough good things about Elizabeth. I highly recommend her to all my friends, neighbors, and family who are in need of pet sitting or dog walks. She is professional, dependable, and loves my dog like I do! Best in the business!

She is easy to communicate with about scheduling. She is utterly, reliable and the cats always seem totally relaxed when we get home.

Elizabeth is absolutely wonderful. She gives new meaning to the word and quot;care.and quot; In addition to feeding and changing the litter box she brushed the cats and removed some matted hair that we thought were lumps. My cats looked wonderful upon my return. She also sent daily pictures and stopped by to check on the cats on the day I was returning. I wholeheartedly recommend her and am glad to know I will be able to leave them with her again.

Elizabeth Fischer is amazing! She is an absolute professional - both in her services as well as her credentials. I would not hesitate recommending her for pet sitting, pet walks or housesitting. I hired Elizabeth in March to walk my small dog 3 times a week after conducting an extensive search. I love the fact that she keeps a daily log of their walks and sends me adorable pictures of my little Beanie. My dog loves Elizabeth and I feel such a sense of comfort and confidence that my puppy is in such good hands.
Anyone can put a shingle out saying they provide pet services - with Elizabeth I KNOW i'm getting a professional as very few come with her education, experience and pet credentials not to mention her obvious love of animals. In April 2008, she was featured in an article for Spot Magazine, and quot;Ask the Pet Professionaland quot; outlining what to look for in a professional pet sitter. She also has experience as both a trainer and volunteer with the Oregon Humane Society and is Certified in Red Cross Pet First Aid. I feel very fortunate in finding Elizabeth. Look no further if you need pet care!