A Pet Sitter’s Worst Nightmare

Yesterday was one of those days. At the time, it was very traumatizing for me but it will likely become one of those funny stories to tell at a party. Believe me though, yesterday I was not laughing.

The dog I am looking after is a rescue dog from Romania and is, to say the least, a bit neurotic, or OCD. Maintaining her routine is incredibly important, otherwise she gets quite anxious (much like my x-husband)!

Katie dog’s day begins at 8am when I make up her food and take her and the food outside where she eats. I assume this is because that is all she has ever known. Anyway, she will only eat outside, and only if I stand there and watch her. If I try to walk away, she stops eating and follows me.

No problem, except yesterday there was a wicked storm with torrential rain coming down sideways. When I opened the front door to head out – we both hesitated. It was nasty out! Oh well. We both ran out the door, which I left open because I had not yet put on my coat, and after putting down Katie’s food I intended on running back in to put it on. Just as I turned a huge gust of wind blew the door shut with a loud thud!

Now this door is a big solid door with a lock that is automatic, so when the door closes it is locked. So, there I stood, mouth agape, half dressed in the pelting rain, saying, “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”  My phone and my keys were in my coat, and my coat was in the house, and Katie and I were already soaked to the bone!

I tried not to panic and decided there must be a key hidden somewhere, so I began lifting every plant pot in the yard hoping to find a key beneath it. I checked the shed, the windowsills, under the mats. No key. The wind was howling, and Katie was looking concerned.

As the cold rain ran down my face, so did the warm tears.

What was I going to do? Without my phone I had no way to call the homeowners, hell, I didn’t even know their last name so even if I borrowed a phone I really did not know how to get hold of them.

I left Katie in the yard – much to her chagrin, and I went to the neighbour’s house – their gate was locked. I went to the other neighbour’s house – not home. House by house I knocked on doors, but it was 8am on a Sunday morning and no one was opening the door to a half crazed soaking wet, partially dressed crying woman!

I saw a lady walking down the street and I ran towards her, but she crossed the road and swiftly ran away. More tears.

 I decided I would have to walk to the store and try to borrow a phone to call a locksmith…but would he believe me that it was a house I was supposed to be in? I had no identification. I did look suspicious…

As I was running towards the store, I saw down a side street a young couple bundled up walking their three dogs. Ah, dogs…surely dog people would be nice and have pity on me. I ran towards them and said, “Hi. My name is Corrie. I am from Canada.” And then I burst into tears.

(Now normally I am not a crybaby, but I had just received bad news about my own pet back home, and so emotions were a little raw). I did managed to get my story out, and by good fortune this young couple were familiar with Katie and they said, don’t worry, we will help you.

They took me home and we called several locksmiths – no answer at any, but we left messages and then they loaned me a leash to go get poor Katie, who by now looked like she had jumped in a lake. So did I actually. I asked Maria, the young lady whose kitchen floor I was dripping copious amounts of water onto, if I could squeeze out my wool touque in her sink, and I swear at least a cup of water came out of it. I didn’t ask if I could squeeze out my pants, though I sure wanted too!

When the locksmith finally arrived, he took one look at the lock and said, “That lock is the most expensive lock in the world. You cannot pick that lock.”

More tears.

The guy took pity on me and said, I have one thing I can try – and thus began a half hour of fighting with a special tool and a mirror and some wires with a rubber thing on the end. It took me to hold the mirror inside the teeny tiny mailslot, him to work the big tool inside the teeny tiny mailslot, and his partner to pull the cables taught, but after a while I heard a loud click, and the door popped open.

And that's when the floodgates opened. I grabbed the locksmith around the neck and literally sobbed into his ear. I couldn’t let go. I just cried and cried and mumbled “thank you, thank you, God bless you, thank you.” The woman he was with smiled the warmest smile and threw her arms around me and the three of us stood there on the doorstep in the pouring rain just hugging!! Then he said to me, “It’s Sunday, I am going to have to charge you double.”

“Sir, you can have my first born – I am just so very grateful!”

Meanwhile, back in Oliver where I live, the real pet sitter’s nightmare is unfolding as the young lady looking after my cats is traumatized because my young cat Ember - who has now spent more time of his young life with her than with me - is dying – and she knows depending on how his bloodwork looks on Thursday I may decide to pull the plug on the little guy.

Ember was diagnosed with stage 4 Acute Renal Failure – and it does not look good for him. I can only imagine how terrible my house sitter feels. She does not know what the cat got into – but it got into something on her watch, and I am sure she feels more terrible than I do. And now, she has been given the exhausting task of his care, giving him IV fluids, and medication, and watching the little guy suffer. She has been a trooper, and is trying to stay hopeful – telling me she is sure he will pull through, but I have read all I can about this, and I am not so sure. Even if Ember survives, he will likely face a rough life of chronic kidney disease, recurring UTIs and possible blindness. I am not sure I want that for him, so I am shoring up my emotional strength.

Pet and house sitting has been a great experience, and I have come to realize what a great responsibility it is - one that should not be taken lightly, and after today I will be much more careful. I have vowed to not take a single step out of a house without being fully dressed, coat on, with a phone and keys in my pocket. And I will not take lightly my responsibility to keep an eye on the lovely animals I care for.

And next winter, I think I will stay home and care for my own animals.