Hello! I'm Kathy Vanner, and it goes without saying that I love cats. I've lived in the Telegraph Hill area for over 30 years and started Cats' Cradle back in 2011. I've been enjoying cat-sitting local cats ever since!

In my spare time I'm the Welfare Team Leader and a fosterer with Cats Protection Blackheath & Deptford, and also sit on the branch committee. When I'm not cat-sitting I can often be found out and about scanning reported strays for microchips.

PLEASE NOTE: I am in no way connected with the Cats Cradle Cattery - they are a completely separate business who decided on a very similar name, which has unfortunately resulted in a certain amount of confusion!

In one word: experience.

I've been cat-sitting professionally since 2011, and have been volunteering for cat welfare charities for 13 years - initially with Celia Hammond, and then Cats Protection for the last decade.

By choosing me to care for your cat/s while you're away, you can be confident that your cat/s and your home will be in very safe hands. You'll also be supporting a local, independent small business.

I work alone, so your cat/s will benefit from continuity of care, and will be able to build a relationship of trust with me.

I'm fully insured for pet sitting and am able to provide references on request.

I've had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of cats through cat-sitting and through volunteering in the cat welfare field. So there's very little your cat can throw at me that I haven't experienced before!

I've fostered in the region of 60 cats and kittens over the years, ranging from timid feral kittens to traumatised cats to battle-scarred toms - which means I've learned a lot about feline behaviour. Nervous kitties are a speciality!

Fostering has also enabled me to gain experience with a wide variety of health conditions and medications. I'm pretty nifty at persuading reluctant kitties to take their meds, and am able to give subcutaneous injections

Volunteering in the rescue environment has given me a good grounding in disease management and appropriate hygiene protocols.

I've completed a wide range of Cats Protection courses covering many aspects of cat health and behaviour. I won't list them all here, but am happy to let you know if you're interested!