I don’t generally write reviews, but Jennifer went above-and-beyond during this last weeklong trip, and I want to share what an exceptional job she did. While I was away, unbeknownst to me, my housemate had arranged for a repair in the apartment. The people doing the repair had put the cats in the bathroom and left!! (supposedly planning to come back later.)
Jennifer came in to find the front door taped shut, buckets of caulk etc. left in the living room, and no cats! She discovered the two cats trapped in the bathroom, scared; one of them was injured and had bled all over the place!!
(later figured out that the injury was from him chasing/biting his tail due to stress)
Jennifer immediately checked the cats to see where the injury was and whether the cat who had been bleeding needed medical attention. Then she took them out of the bathroom and reset all of their food and litter which had been disrupted. She spent time with them & gave them love and attention.
Jennifer also went to the doorman and brought him up to the apartment, to figure out what had happened, and they were able to find the repair guy to talk to. She got an explanation from them and made sure they were done and not coming back in. There was a floorboard with drying glue exposed in the living room, and she covered it up so that it wasn’t going to be a risk to the cats.
Meanwhile, I was out of the country and had no idea that any of this was happening until I woke up at 3:30AM and checked email and saw the update that Jennifer had written (email was the quickest way to contact me). She did an amazing job with that email too – first reassuring me that the cats were ok, then giving me a detailed and precise account of exactly what happened. She also, later on, helped me arrange for my friends to drop by to check on the cats and give them some extra TLC.
Throughout the entire situation, Jennifer’s instincts, empathy and professionalism were rock-solid. For instance, she identified the source of the bleeding and found out if the cat needed medical attention, but she also knew to limit the poking and prodding because he was so stressed out already. When she spoke to the repair guy, she was able to find out what happened, explain to them why it wasn’t ok, and take charge and tell everybody what to do (in a positive way – they wrote her a thank you note!) She took the extra time to deal with everything and make sure the cats were reassured.
When choosing someone to take care of your animals, you’re taking a risk – you can see how they handle the everyday tasks, but you don’t necessarily know how they act in a crisis. I was so impressed by the calm, matter-of-fact way Jennifer handled this situation and by the caring she demonstrated throughout.
Emily C. Manhattan, NY
