About me
Hello, I’m Tamara.
I look after cats and dogs in their own homes around York. I’ve always loved animals, and pet sitting lets me spend my week with a lot of them and still come home to my own two.
Tamara. Out walking, usually with a dog nearby
How I ended up doing this
I’ve always been the one who ends up on the floor with somebody’s dog. Charlie, my cat, has been with me seven years. Skye, my golden retriever, three. If the house could hold more of them, it would.
Pet sitting started as a way of being around more animals than one house can reasonably take. I’ve been pet sitting professionally for over two years now, and I’d been looking after animals for more than a decade before I ever charged anyone for it. The reviews on this site are from verified Rover bookings.
Charlie is long-haired, extremely loud, and flops into my lap the moment I sit down. When he’s especially pleased with himself he dribbles all over me. Skye’s idea of a good afternoon is sprinting circles round me at the dog park until she’s had enough, then walking home like a sensible dog. We do a lot of York Community Woodland.
It’s just me. The person who comes round to meet you is the person who comes back to look after your pets.
A day in your house
What a day tends to look like. The order follows your animals’ own routine.
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First thing
Curtains open, and a proper hello for whoever is waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Animals fed in the order they expect it, medication if there is any, and a clean bowl of fresh water. The order is whatever your animals already have: some dogs want the garden before anything else, some want breakfast, and the care notes tell me which.
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Through the morning
A proper walk, somewhere your dog already knows. For a cat, the litter tray, then twenty minutes of being available on the floor, which is usually when a shy one decides to reappear.
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During the day
Post off the mat, bins out on the right day, plants watered if you’ve asked me to. From the street the house looks lived in, which is half the point of somebody being in it.
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Evening
The second feed, the last walk, lamps on in the rooms you’d have lamps on in. Then the sofa, and whoever wants to sit on me sits on me.
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Overnight
I stay at your house overnight. Your dog settles in their own spot, which is the end of the bed in plenty of houses, and your cat carries on with whatever your cat does at two in the morning.
Photos and messages through the day, as often as we agree before you go. If your cat has spent the whole day behind the sofa, that’s what the message says.
The practical side
What it costs, and how far I come.
Overnight stays are £50 a night, and bank holiday nights start at £60. Drop-in visits are £15 for 30 minutes and £22 for an hour, the same price whatever day of the week it is. All the prices are here.
I come to houses within about five miles of York for visits, and up to about fifteen miles for overnights. The places I cover are listed in full, along with the parking and the bin days that genuinely change how a visit works.
If you’re deciding between care at home and kennels or a cattery, I’ve put the practical differences together here.
Before anything is booked
What the first visit involves
Before your first booking I come round to meet you and your animals, in the house I’d be staying in. It takes about half an hour, it’s free, and it’s when I get to meet everyone and learn the routine they already have.
It’s free, and nothing is booked at the end of it
You can meet me, decide I’m not the right person for your animals, and say no. That happens, and it’s much better before a booking than after one.
It happens in the house I’d be staying in
I need to see the doors, the stairs, the garden gate, where the food lives and where the lead hangs. Your animals get to meet me on their own floor, which is the part that really matters.
We write the care down together
Feeding, walks, litter, medication and doses, your vet, your emergency contact, and who I ring first. It goes in writing so nobody is relying on remembering a conversation.
We sort out keys while I’m there
We agree how I get in and how the keys come back to you afterwards, on the day I come round, so it isn’t something to think about the week you fly.
What I do
See all prices- Overnight house and pet sitting, in your home
- Dog sitting, with walks included in an overnight stay
- Cat sitting, usually two half-hour visits a day
- Half-hour and hour-long visits for the other animals in the house
- The house as well: post, bins, plants, lamps
- Medication, including injections and insulin
Everything happens at your address. I don’t do daycare or dog walking on its own, and no animal ever comes to stay at mine. Anything else you want to check is on the questions and answers page.
“Tamara was wonderful with Maude. I came home to a happy healthy pup who had blatantly had the best time with this lovely calm and confident young lady. Thank you so so much Tamara and I would highly recommend her to anyone in the area she’s a gem !”
Verified Rover booking
Tell me your dates and I’ll tell you if I’m free.
Dates, your postcode and what animals you have. I usually reply the same day, and I’d love to meet them.