COVID-19 Response:

With the ongoing pandemic and other winter viruses prevalent, we are still taking necessary measures to ensure the safety of our sitters and our clients. All Meet & Greets will remain virtual (FaceTime or Zoom). At each visit, sitters have masks and disinfecting wipes. They will wipe/sterilize all surfaces used. If there are any additional protocols requested, we are more than willing to accommodate you.

Best Cat Sitters in Northern Virginia!

Locally owned and run in Falls Church, bonded and insured, members of Pet Sitters International, and the fastest growing cat sitting service in Northern Virginia! At this time, we do not service DC or MD. We've cared for over 2,600 kitties since we opened in November 2017, and with over 600 five-star reviews on Yelp, Google, Nextdoor, Petsitter.com, and Care.com, you can be assured that your fur baby is in the best of hands! We do not board kitties. They need to be in their familiar space.

Cat Sitting by Susan Team Leaders

Susan!

Susan Tate is the owner and CCW (Chief Cat Whisperer)! She loves cats and has had many in her 60+ years! Cat Sitting by Susan will take great care of your cat and is even able to provide insulin shots or other medication, if necessary. You will receive photos, videos, and texts while you’re away so that you can rest easy knowing your furry family member is happy and being well taken care of. Susan is married to her husband Gregg, and live in Falls Church, VA. They have 3 daughters, two granddaughters, and two grandsons. They had a big, happy cat named Patrick (photo below) who passed away after a bout with cancer. They then adopted Snickers (see below) who's their newest love, and recently added a new kitty, Fred, to the family! You can rest assured that we will love and treat your furry family member as one of our own!

Lourdes!

Lourdes is our Director, helping Susan to run and grow this vibrant, exciting business, and occasionally cares for some of our kitty clients! She was born and raised in Washington, DC and had several different furry family members, including dogs and bunnies. In her spare time, she enjoys anything outdoors, including hiking and photography. Lourdes loves cats because, "they are not only beautiful creatures, they are also intriguing and challenge you to get to know them for the individual being that they are." As to why she joined Cat Sitting by Susan, Lourdes' answer is, "Susan! To start, I love that Cat Sitting by Susan is a small, local, woman-owned business, operated by people who genuinely love cats and enjoy caring for them. Changed career paths to follow my passion for animals and helping people, so it's the best of both worlds!"

Cat Sitting by Susan Sitter Photo Gallery

Our official mascot/spokeskitty, Snickers!

We adopted Snickers from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, VA, and immediately fell in love with him! He is a 15-year old diabetic kitty, and what a cutie he is! Very affectionate, and he is a genuine family member! We documented Snickers' journey to us on the Cat Talk! blog. BTW, he's the face in the Cat Sitting by Susan logo!

We'll Take Great Care of Your Fur Babies!

We know that your babies need attention and playtime, not just feeding. Petting, cuddling, and talking to your furry friend are just as important as food and water! We'll take the best care of your furry little ones at a very reasonable price including feeding, litter box cleaning, and the loving and cuddling your fur baby needs! Please see additions/surcharges below. We accept cash, check, PayPal, Venmo, and all major credit cards (using the Payment drop down menu below).

For jobs starting after May 31, 2023, our base rate will be $25.00 per visit and overnight visits will be available starting at $100, which includes feeding dinner and breakfast.

*Please note - we do not board kitties. The minimum visit frequency is once a day, i.e., we will not care for kitties only every other day.

Base rate (one or two cats, per visit) - until May 31, 2023, $20, then effective June 1, 2023, $25.00
Additional kitties (per cat, per visit) - +$5.00
Have 5 or more kitties? - only +$4.50 per cat, per visit
Administer medication (per medication, per cat, per visit) - +$5.00
Distance surcharge (over 5 miles from our location, each 5 miles) - +$5.00
Congested area surcharge (see below) - +$5.00
Last minute weekend surcharge (see below) - +$10.00
Paid street parking, if necessary (see below) - +$1.50
Gas surcharge (see below) - +$1.00 per visit

There is a $5.00 per visit surcharge for families in high-rise apartment/condo buildings in congested, non-parking friendly areas of Arlington, including Ballston, Rosslyn, Crystal City, and Pentagon City. As well, if the only parking available is paid or metered street parking, there is a $1.50 charge per visit, except Sundays and holidays. There will be a $10 last minute weekend surcharge for jobs requested after 5:00pm Friday that start anytime Saturday through Monday morning.

Due to sharply rising gas prices, we are adding a gas surcharge of $1 per visit to help our sitters defray transportation costs. 100% of this will go to the sitters.

Due to the high demand for cat sitting services around holidays and during school breaks, visits on any of the following dates will have a holiday surcharge added ($5.00/visit), so the base rate will be $25 per visit, as well as there being a minimum of 4 booked visits:

September 1-4 (Labor Day)
October 6-9 (Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples' Day)
November 10-12 (Veteran's Day)
November 18-26 (Thanksgiving)
December 15-January 2, 2024 (Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, New Year's Day)

If cancelling with less than 72 hours notice, there will be a cancellation charge equal to the greater of 25% of the total booking amount or the cost of one visit.

*Effectively immediately, our minimum visit frequency is once a day visits, i.e., we will no longer accommodate every other day requests.

Check out Cat Sitting by Susan on social media below! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!

CONTACT US!

Cat Sitting by Susan

Mailing Address: 117 Rowell Court, Falls Church, VA 22046, USA

Call or text us at 703-867-7140 or email us at info@catsittingbysusan.com!

BETTER YET, LET'S "MEET"!

We love to meet our prospective furry customers (and their parents!), so please call or text and set up a virtual meet and greet (M&G) via FaceTime or Zoom! Yes, we are still (or again, depending on how you look at it!) only having virtual M&Gs, nothing in person. That darn Covid just won't go away and we're still getting cancellations due to Covid infections. We have done well over a hundred virtual M&Gs over the past year, and have found that everything worked out wonderfully, even when there were medications involved that we needed to discuss. All of our sitters are serious cat people, who have kitties of their own, so on their first visit to your fur baby, they know how to approach slowly and how to read your kitty. This way, your kitty connects the sitter's scent to a positive memory - getting fed, watered, loved and played with.

Initial meet & greets are complimentary if you book for four or more consecutive visits.

Please see customer testimonials below, and our 5-star reviews on Yelp, Google, Nextdoor, and Care.com! Background checks for all sitters are available for viewing. Links are at the bottom of the page.

Reviews on Yelp, Google, Nextdoor, and Others!

Patricia B (recommendation on Nextdoor)

September 2023

I used Catsitting by Susan recently, Leah was the person who actually came and took care of my cat. One half hour visit per day, feeding, box cleaning, playing, petting, etc. Leah was lovely, and I received a video every day showing how he was doing. He seemed so happy with her that I felt a bit jealous.

Daniel P (5 star review on Google)

August 2023

We love Cat Sitting by Susan! They make our little guy (Leo) feel special and are truly the best!

Katherine R (5 star review on Google)

July 2023

I would definitely recommend Cat Sitting by Susan. We went away for five days, and Alexis dependably sent us videos and pictures of our cats with a detailed description of what happened during her visit. I don't like having to leave our cats behind when we go away, so these updates were very reassuring. Cat Sitting by Susan is professionally run, and communicating with the team is very easy. I plan to use their service again the next time we go away and have to leave our kitties.

Valerie F (5 star review on Google)

June 2023

We had to go out of town 2x in a month and were pleasantly surprised to get the same cat sitter. Lilly really engaged our cats with a variety of toys that they seemed to enjoy, which was nice to see. She gave great updates including videos and pix. Lourdes, in the office, was very professional and easy to work with in setting up our portal and booking sittings. Will book them again: Great company!

Lin N (5 star review on Google)

May 2023

This was our first time using a cat sitter and we were concerned about being away from the cats. Cat sitting by Susan did a wonderful job with under the cat sitter Samantha set us many good photos, videos via phone and email to show how our cats ( Esme and Aster) were doing. We would happily use their service again and highly recommend it.

Dana L (5 star review on Google)

April 2023

If I could give more stars I would! They are so wonderfully nice and took amazing care of my cat who even has to get pills. The pricing is really amazing for how communicative that they are. I got a bunch of picture and videos each visit!

Srikanth S (5 star review on Google)

April 2023

We were traveling for a week for spring break and needed someone to take care of our two cats. We found Cat Sitting by Susan and it was a great process by which we were introduced to our cat sitter, Miracle. Miracle took amazing care of the cats and sent us videos and updates every day. She was able to befriend our super shy cat which is quite an accomplishment. It was such a relief to know our cats were in good hands. We will definitely be using this service in the future.

Danny R (5 star review on Google)

March 2023

Theresa did a wonderful job watching our 7-year-old furball! She even managed to clean out the litter box each day for a week without making the usual mess I make when cleaning it, since it's in a really tight space. I really like these folks too since it's their policy to send you pics and vids of your cat every day. It was very reassuring since we've never hired a sitter before. Will definitely hire them again!

Jennifer L (5 star review on Yelp)

March 2023

I hired Cat Sitting by Susan to watch over 4 cats (my 3 and a visitor) for a week during early March 2023. Since the 17-year old house guest cat required medicine twice day, I could not rely on a neighborhood kid. I needed reliability and experience. Their pre-sign up questions were thorough. They did not come to my house physically in advance; however, we walked around with video. It all worked out great. Olivia's text and email updates were very detailed and would put any owner at ease. My mother was very impressed too. I think my litter boxes have never been this clean! (a new aspiration). This was more than I usually pay, but very worth it for the service I required. (Also, if you drop off your key to them in person, have a meal or a beverage at the beer / wine store!)

Sean J (5 star review on Yelp)

February 2023

We had a wonderful experience with using Cat Sitting by Susan. Karen came out each day to pay a visit to our cat. Her detailed note of interaction with our cat and service provided each time warmly received. We looking forward to using them again in the near future! Thank you!

Leah P (5 star review on Google)

January 2023

If I could give 10 stars I would!! My experience with Cat sitting by Susan was absolutely fantastic, and I would recommend their services to anyone looking for a caring, professional, and highly competent group of people to take care of their kitties. I feel so relieved knowing that in the future I have access to such wonderful care for my cats when I have to be out of town.

Precious S (5 star review on Google)

December 2022

I am very please with Cat Sitting by Susan. The team there is quite professional. I love Erin as my cat sitter. My kitties look forward to her visit. My oldest runs to the door when Erin arrives and she looks forward to her feeding and play. My youngest kitty is afraid of new people but Erin's patience and persistence has paid off. The little one looks forward to Erin's petting her and hanging out to play. I highly recommend Cat Sitting by Susan!