Home But Not Alone Pet Care

We are heartbroken that by moving to Walnut Creek, we will no longer be able to hire Cathie to care for our dogs and to walk them 3 days per week. Over the past 2 years, she has been great at texting us about how they are doing, anything about them that concerns her, or that she thinks is cute, and sending us photos while we are on vacation. She has a wonderful, soft voice and manner. She is meticulous about keeping them safe while under her care and getting any instructions or routines correct. Really disappointed to be moving just out of her area.

Everything they said is true. Cathie is seriously the best pet sitter EVER. I am so thrilled to have found her when I moved out of the area that my last pet sitter covered. What a life saver! She has an incredible affinity for animals. She is meticulous at her record-​keeping, notating everything of importance about caring for your pet, including medical info, food preferences, hiding places, how s/​he likes to be pet, brushed, or pampered… really the list is extensive. She is wonderfully reliable, conscientious, and just a joy to work with. My cat, Luna, who does not take kindly to most folks, took to her immediately. I came home to a very well adjusted kitty! And the care didn’t end there… there were birthday cards and follow-​up notes, replete with pictures of my darling Luna, during my absence.
Really, just above and beyond service!
I highly recommend Cathie to anyone considering pet sitting services. Your pet will thank you!

I have used Cathie as a dog sitter and walker for at last 3 years. She is extremely reliable and trustworthy. Our dog is a member of our family and I cannot imagine entrusting her to anyone other than Cathie. 5 stars!

Cathie is the absolute best pet sitter I have ever encountered in life. And I have had more than a few since I move around a lot due to my husband’s job.
We have 4 cats and she is beyond excellent with them. You can really tell how much she loves animals.
She is trustworthy and knowledgeable, and she has always came through for us in a pinch when we needed someone to care for our little darlings!
~Bottom line is, I know my cats are well cared for and loved when I am away. I have not had that peace of mind with another pet sitter EVER.
5 Stars all the way!

Cathie single handedly turned a disaster around. Yep. i adopted a sweet bug cantankerous Amstaff from my local shelter because «she was the one ». thr ptoblem was I did this only a few short days before a scheduled family vacation. I know, very bad idea. But she was and is the right pup for us and Cathie made it possible to head out on vacation and know FiFi was safe and sound at home. I received pictures via text and when we got home FiFi was fine and acclimating to her new digs. She even framed a pic on fridge in a breed specific frame. Did I mention that FiFi is dog aggressive and but like a tank? Cathie didn’t flinch and provided plenty of love to my new pal. Do yourself a favor and rely on pet loving and reliable Cathie at Home But Not Alone.

I am a little late in getting this review up… I just moved back to the Bay Area after living abroad for many years. I returned with three rescued cats, two of whom have health issues. I read pages of Unilocal reviews before calling Cathie. She lives up to every good thing that is said in these reviews. What I didn’t expect and which sold me on her immediately is that she came to my house and sat with me and the three cats for almost an hour before I left on my trip! She had a hundred questions about the cats, their care, their personalities, needs, pleasures, etc. This was the first time since I’ve adopted the cats that I’ve left for a trip and felt light hearted about it. The text messages with photos of my babies Cathie sent me during my trip made my heart sing!
Because of their health issues, they have special dietary needs and medications. Cathie didn’t seem perturbed by this at all and took careful notes about who eats what and when the medications were administered. I almost cried with relief when I saw these careful attentions.
And as a previous reviewer said, when I came home, the cats seemed as chilled out and happy as if I had just been gone at work for one day.

Can’t say enough about Cathie, who is just the best pet sitter we have had. We were gone almost a month, leaving our two kitties in her care (as well as the stray we feed outside). A few challenges arose out of her control and she communicated and handled them with wisdom and skill. Cathy really cares about us, our kitties, our home and is mature, experienced and responsible. I feel very lucky to have found her…

We decided, last minute, to go out of town on Easter weekend and needed someone to feed and play with our two demanding Oriental Shorthair cats. After calling most of the pet-​sitters who were highly rated on Unilocal and finding them all booked due to the holiday, Cathie with Home But Not Alone was recommended to us by one of the booked pet-​sitters.
I’m very grateful! Her getting to know you visit was extremely thorough, and her manner professional. One of my cats is on medication twice per day, and both eat a raw diet which needs to be prepared before each meal. She took notes on their feeding/​medication schedule. She also provided references from her pet-​sitting clients on the east coast, some visits which included sub-​q fluids and insulin administration, so after she left, I felt confident that my two furballs would be well cared for.
Since we didn’t have an extra copy of our house key, she worked with us to ensure our home in Oakland was secure while we were away. The mail was inside and the lights on when we arrived home late Sunday night. My two cats are clingy and adore people, and they usually act pouty and neglected after I leave them with a pet-​sitter (my previous sitters were either vets or vet students), but they were quiet and comfortable when we arrived home. She even picked up a little laser pen to keep my rambunctious cat entertained!
One more thing to mention, which really put my mind at ease: she sent a text and picture update while we were away! Even though we were only gone for a weekend, it was reassuring, and I can imagine updates like this being especially wonderful should we decide to travel for a longer period of time. Overall, it was a fantastic experience, and we’ll be ringing Cathie again when we next travel.

I normally would have my aunt come over and stay with my English Bulldog, Madonna, whenever I need to go out of town. They both were crazy about each other. But my aunt is no longer available because she has moved out of town. I almost canceled my trip, but decided to call around and interview several pet sitters. Meeting with Cathie was a joy. Madonna is very picky but she took to Cathie away. Madonna stayed right by Cathie’s side the whole time I interviewed her.
Sometime Madonna will get a bit of an attitude and ignores me when leave the house for awhile and return. When I got back from my trip, Madonna was very happy and playful. I really could tell she enjoyed Cathie’s care.
Home But Not Alone Pet Care rocks!!! Cathie Raub is very professional.

Normally when we go away, we would pay a friend to watch our cat but none of our friends were available over the holidays.
I am elated that we found Cathie of Home But Not Alone Petcare. She is very professional and she truly cares for the animals that she looks after. During our first meeting she arrived early, armed with a stack of references and she even brought our cats some treat.
I’m very happy with the service she provided and will definitely use her again.

We have a nine month old kitten and were quite nervous about leaving him for two weeks. Cathie was great about reassuring us before we left and keeping us regularly updated about what the two of them were doing in her visits during our absence. Upon our return, our cat did not appear to be traumatized at all by our lengthy disappearance, a result for which I think significant props go to Cathie.
In addition to her sterling cat sitting, Cathie also fought the good fight against the hordes of ants that descended upon our house while we were gone (as the entire city of El Cerrito seems to be situated on top of a giant ant hill). Definitely above and beyond.
We were completely satisfied with Cathie’s services, and will definitely use her again the next time we go out of town.

We’ve never used a pet sitter before — normally we used an out of the way kennel when on vacation — but after a referral from a neighbor, we decided to give Home But Not Alone a call over the holidays.
Let me say — we were not disappointed. Cathie bonded immediately with us and our 3 year old Shitzu, Yoshi. Cathie is warm, caring and professional and she demonstrated a real affection for our little dog, even going an extra mile to text us photos of Yoshi and leave us some pictures of their week together! Plus bringing in the mail, packages on the doorstep, etc. Awesome.
We will never go back to a kennel, not while Cathie is around! Highly recommended.

The best pet care I have had in 30 years…
I am totally pleased by my petsitter, Cathie Raub, owner AND sitter with
Home But Not Alone Petcare in the Berkeley, Oakland, El Cerrito area.
My cat has a brain disorder and is terrified of strangers.
I was amazed when he stayed in the room with us on her
initial visit.
She did everything I requested and more: a special touch of
organizing and cleaning that really felt good to come home to.
The cats were calm and happy when we returned, and she made
sure we got home as planned in case they needed more care. Cathie
is magic with animals, and has a slew of references from seven years
running her own petsitting business in Pennsylvania.