You know which bowl belongs to which cat. You know the quiet one may wait until the others move away. You know which cupboard contains the spare litter scoop.
Your sitter does not inherit that knowledge when you hand over the key.
For a multi-cat home, prepare one household sheet and one short record per cat. Agree visit frequency, demonstrate the routine in person and set an emergency plan before you leave. Cats Protection recommends reliable in-person care, with at least twice-daily visits as a general starting point and more care when an individual cat needs it. Cameras and automatic feeders do not replace those checks.
This is a handover guide for care in your own home. It is not a booking offer for a Siamese Cat Café sitting service.
Begin with identities, not a bag of food
Give the sitter a recent, clearly labelled photo of every cat. Note identifying marks, the name used at home and where that cat can usually be found. Avoid relying on “the little one” when two cats are a similar size.
Separate facts from instructions. “Often rests behind the chair” tells the sitter where to look. “Always hides, so do not worry if unseen for two days” could allow a serious problem to go unnoticed. Agree how the sitter will confirm that each cat is present and assess them without dragging a frightened cat out of a safe retreat.
At Siamese Cat Café, our resident stories give the cats individual identities. The same principle is useful in a handover: a group headcount is not the same thing as knowing how each cat is doing.
Demonstrate one complete visit
Walk through arrival, checking the cats, preparing meals, refreshing water, cleaning trays and leaving securely. Let the sitter ask questions while the supplies are in front of them.
Label food with the cat’s name and your established portion instructions. Explain any separate feeding arrangement and how to tell whether the intended cat actually ate. An empty communal bowl cannot identify who missed a meal.
Keep prescription details in the veterinarian’s or dispensing practice’s original written instructions. Ask the sitter to demonstrate any agreed care they must perform. Do not ask someone to improvise a dose, substitute a medicine or “work it out” from another cat’s routine. A medical need may require a suitably trained caregiver and more frequent attendance.
Write down the unglamorous household details
List all litter trays, the usual cleaning routine, water points, spare supplies, rubbish arrangements and safe cleaning products. Include rooms that must stay open or closed and the normal ventilation or cooling arrangement.
Explain how to enter without allowing a cat to escape. Check windows, balcony access and door latches together. Agree what happens if power fails, water stops, the sitter cannot enter or a scheduled visit becomes impossible.
Keep keys, access codes, addresses and personal contacts in a private handover—not a publicly shared article, social post or open document. A backup caregiver should know the access arrangement without making it available to everybody else.
Make the emergency plan usable
Provide your regular veterinary clinic, an appropriate emergency clinic, the owner’s contact details and a reachable backup decision-maker. Check the clinics’ current availability yourself. Explain how transport and payment will be arranged, and discuss any treatment-authorisation paperwork with the clinic in advance.
State that urgent care must not be delayed while somebody waits for a message to cross time zones. The sitter should contact a veterinarian promptly for concerning changes and follow professional advice. Repeated unsuccessful attempts to urinate, particularly with distress, are an emergency; Cornell explains why inability to pass urine needs immediate attention.
The handover is not a diagnostic manual. Its job is to help the sitter notice a problem and reach the right help.
Use a short update that says something
Ask for a message after each agreed visit. A useful format is: each cat seen or safely located; individual meal observations; water refreshed; trays checked; behaviour changes; doors secured; next visit confirmed.
For example, this is a hypothetical update, not a café record: “Cat A ate the measured breakfast at the usual station. Cat B was awake behind the chair and came out after the room quietened. Both water bowls refreshed. Three trays scooped. No change noticed. Balcony door checked.”
Do not require a cheerful selfie with every cat. A photo should support observation, not make the sitter wake, restrain or pursue an animal.
Copy this handover structure
Household: dates away; visit schedule; owner and backup contacts; vet and emergency clinic; transport and payment plan; secure access; cooling and power-failure plan; supplies; final locking check.
For each cat: name and photo; usual location; meals and feeding position; normal routines; handling preferences; relevant health information; original veterinary instructions where applicable; signs the owner wants reported promptly.
For each visit: identify each cat; observe meals and behaviour; refresh water; check and clean trays; provide appropriate quiet interaction; report concerns; check doors and confirm the next visit.
Keep this sheet concise enough to use, with supporting medical documents attached privately. Show the sitter where the carriers are and how each cat approaches them, and mark the litter-tray locations clearly.
The final rehearsal is simple: can your sitter complete the routine without you pointing at every cupboard? Fix the confusing part before departure. That is the handover doing its job.