Testimonials
I'm not growing my business anymore but wanted to memorialize how it is that successful pet sitting businesses can grow: getting the word out from existing customers.
The pandemic somehow led to a loss of my original google reviews but I started another here and in addition to the reviews below, there are others on Yelp and NextDoor [I don't know how to find the reviews so this is merely the "faves"].
Pet sitting testimonials
Caryn B.
Amy has always been incredibly loving and understanding of the zoo at my house. She eagerly took on the task of caring for my three very elderly and sick cats as well as two very high-strung large dogs. On many occasions I would have a change of plans mid-trip and she was very flexible to accommodate my needs. The animals LOVE her and I never have to worry about my fur babies when I am away. She is very good at keeping me up to date on how they are doing as well as addressing any issues immediately. I would recommend Amy to anyone looking for a reliable, responsible and most importantly, loving pet sitter.
Teresa & David W.
We have 3 cats that Amy has been taking care of every time we go out of town. They absolutely love her (especially Orion). Amy always does a wonderful job of sending us daily updates as well as pictures of our babies. I feel very comfortable leaving our cats in Amy’s care. Our cats are not that used to strangers, but when Amy comes they don’t hide. She is great with them. We couldn’t ask for a better pet-sitter.
N.R.
We have two ancient cats, and when we learned that one would need medication twice daily, we knew we needed to hire a professional in order to leave town. Amy has simply changed our lives. I love my twice daily texts and photos, and when we return, the cats are calm and happy. When unexpected things happen, Amy is proactive, asks the right questions, and takes care of the unexpected: a full garbage can goes out, the box that was delivered is off the front porch, a sad or sick animal gets attention and love. When decisions need to be made about our pets, I trust Amy's help and advice.
Lyn P.
When my previous kitty sitter graduated from college and moved away I was heart broken; didn't know how to break the news to my 2 kitties. Amy was the purrfect antidote for our sense of loss! She made friends with even my temperamental kitty; has nick-names for each of them and sends clever twice daily updates and photos via text while we're away. My neighbor is impressed by how much time Amy is at my house with each visit and we always come home to well appearing and well adjusted kitties. She has administered medications, cleaned pond filters, kept an eye on the fishies and the turtle in the pond and unfailingly watered thirsty plants as well. It is always hard to leave our "babies" behind but so comforting to know that someone so professional and caring is in charge in our absence. We feel very fortunate to have Amy in our lives.
Linda F.
I used to take my dogs to a boarding place when I was out of town, until I watched the online video streaming they had and saw how frightened they looked, just sitting on the concrete floor. My first clue should have been that they hated being dropped off and couldn’t wait to get out of there! I decided to go with a dog sitting company that had employees that would come to my house, but nearly each visit ended up being a different person. I had to explain things to each person (at the time, I had an older dog that needed a lot of extra care). Sometimes they would follow what I would tell them, sometimes they wouldn’t. They would show up hours late at times, and the litter box didn’t always get cleaned.
So I did some research and found Amy. We scheduled an in home visit and I immediately knew that she was the one for us! She got right down on the floor and loved on each of my kids and she took extensive notes as I showed her around the house. She told me that she has been caring for animals for years, I could tell she knew what she was doing and that she has a genuine love for animals. She doesn’t mind some of the silly requests I want her to do, things that my kids are used to, she totally understands that for them to feel less stress, it’s important to keep a routine that they are used to. I appreciate that it’s just her rather than a different person every time so that my kids really get to know her. I have one dog and two cats and they all love her. One of my cats is terrified of new people, but she somehow gets him to come out of hiding to spend time with her, it’s amazing, no one has been able to do that! I also appreciate that she texts me updates with pictures for every visit. Because of her, I can now go out of town without stressing out wondering if my pets are being well taken care of or not!
I would highly recommend Amy, she is very capable and professional. I pay the same amount that I did with the boarding place and the other large company. I promise you will not be disappointed!
Sean H. & Laura G.
We have two cats and always leave them in Amy's caring and capable hands when we leave town. She is very professional and truly cares about the animals that she keeps company. From our first meeting, it was obvious that she was the right choice for our pets - even our mostly blind, antisocial cat felt comfortable enough with her to walk over and greet her, and even allowed her to pet him, which is almost unheard of for a 'stranger'. In addition to the expert attention that she gives our animals, she also goes above and beyond the call of duty for their human owners. During Amy's first stint sitting our pets, our male cat got severe gastrointestinal distress, leading to a pretty awful mess. Without a complaint, Amy whisked him off to the groomer, at her own expense, to make sure he was comfortable and clean. She then took our bedspread to the dry cleaner (again, at her own expense), and gave us one of her spare pet blankets to make sure that our bed remained clean for the remainder of our time out of town. Then, she apologized to ME for the inconvenience and extra cost of reimbursing her! I would never have expected such a quick and selfless resolution to such an unfortunate set of circumstances. Amy is fantastic, friendly, and demonstrably cares about pets and their owners. We would never even think of using another pet sitter in Salt Lake City.
James P. & Kerry L.
Amy has always done a wonderful job taking care of our pets. Diligent, attentive, careful - and so very caring - that we don't lose a moment of our time away worrying about the pets or our home. She will always be our 'go to' when we think about leaving our pets. I can't recommend her enough!
Steven F.
Amy is a very nice person with a lot of good sense. She has been taking care of my cats when I am out of town for many years now and she is great at it. I never have to worry when she tends to my cats as she is quite frankly completely trustworthy. She knows exactly what to do and does it. Amy has pets of her own and is great with them and I wholeheartedly recommend her as a pet sitter.
Lissa S.
I sleep better while I'm away from home knowing that Amy is taking care of my two cats. She gives them exactly the care they need, from Lucy's insulin shots to Simon's need for aloofness. I look forward to her updates and pictures each day. I can't recommend her services enough!!
S.S.
Amy has taken excellent care of my furry & feathered family. I have 6 cats & 2 parakeets and Amy gives them all lots of TLC.
I love that Amy sends texts and pictures to me during every one of her home visits. It's very comforting when I'm away to see that they're all doing great and being well cared for.
I will definitely use Amy's services every time I need to be away from home in the future.
Carly D.B.
I've worked with several other pet sitters before and Amy is by far the best! We trust her completely with our pets and our home, and it is such a comfort to know they are in such good hands when we can't be there.
I used to obsess and worry so much when we left our animals in the care of other people before, but not with Amy. She does an excellent job caring for animals of all sorts of personality types and special needs. She truly cares about the animals, and you can see that in how comfortable they are with her. Our shy cat has slowly opened up to her which says a lot because he won't really tolerate anyone but mom and dad. I also think it's fantastic that she fosters for Best Friends; that right there tells you she's a true animal lover.
Thank you, Amy, for always doing such a great job with our crew!
The Weeks Family
We won't trust anyone except Amy to watch our pampered Siberian cat, Sheba Bijou, when we go out of town. She always treats her to lots of love and petting, along with a few lively games with the laser pointer. And it's always fun to get a daily pic sent from Amy of our kitty having fun. Trust us -- there is nobody better suited to look after the four-legged members of your family!
Laura, Jack and Iz
Being new to Salt Lake City and having to travel a lot, I looked for someone to care for my two kitties while I was gone. The moment Amy walked in to meet the kids; I knew all would be good. She got down on the floor to say "hello" to them first. I think that the kitties get more excited to see Amy then me now.
She is more than a pet sitter; she has become part of the family. It is the "extra" things that Amy does to make sure that the kitties are good. The pictures, videos and checking in after I get home to make sure all is okay. I would highly recommend Amy to anyone.
Katie S.
From the moment we met Amy, the cats and I knew it was a great match! She has an innate ability to communicate with animals and put them at ease. Even my anxious and timid cat Loki, who always disappears when company comes over, loved her immediately. Amy is a great communicator with humans as well and always keeps me in the loop while I am out of town. Her tender care of my pets gives me peace of mind while I travel.
Lizel A.
I have two kitty cats, Missy and The Dude. In the past we had left our fur babies in the care of friends to check on them. After one week-long trip my friend mentioned that the batteries in our fire alarm were low and it had been beeping for some time. My cats had to listen to days of that obnoxious low battery beep because she didn't replace the battery! After that trip we decided that we needed a professional pet sitter, our cat's sanity was worth it to us.
We are so happy to have found Amy the Critter Sitter to look after our cats when we go out of town. She is so good, even to our cranky Missy cat. Missy is not friendly with new people. Amy spent the time and went at a pace comfortable for Missy cat. Amy sends us a text or email every day with pictures and updates about our cats. We feel comfortable leaving our cats in Amy's care. She even checks the mail and switches up which light we leave on. I recommend Amy the Critter Sitter, she has improved the quality of our vacations due to my reduced worry about leaving my pets at home.
Amy R.
Amy is the perfect sitter for my dogs and fish when we are away. My dogs adore her and I leave them in her hands with confidence, knowing she is dependable, thorough, and really cares about my pets.
Shari W. & Ware B.
Amy Palleson and Critter Sitters has changed our lives! I travel a lot for work and though my husband works in town, he keeps very long hours. I used to leave home with the added worry about "my girls"--two Jack Russell Terriers. Amy has allowed me to travel with a lot less stress and worry because she is so attentive, reliable and loving with our small dogs. And they adore her! We had tried kennels and neighbors and various ad hoc arrangements and it was so hard to leave these girls with strangers. But Amy becomes a part of the family! She truly loves animals and her attention to them is genuine. You can trust her with your creatures and your home. She is a special lady and we consider ourselves so blessed to have found her!
Brooke U. & Ian S.
We feel so lucky to have found Amy to take care of our two cats. She spends so much time each visit playing and cuddling with them and sends us lots of pictures with a detailed description of what they've been up to. They absolutely love her, and she even got our scaredy cat, Minnie, to come out of hiding on her very first visit! Minnie is almost always terrified of strangers! Amy also is great at dealing with tricky situations (cats knocking over and spilling an enormous container of dry food, us forgetting to leave a can opener, etc). She even sometimes will offer to go back to our apartment if we are worried about something. We are always confident that our cats (and our apartment!) are in good hands when we go out of town. We are moving across the country in a few months, and sadly I can't imagine ever finding someone as wonderful as Amy to take care of our kitties again.
Dave M. & Chuck T.
Our two dogs, Charlie, a German Shorthair Pointer, and Millie, our Yellow Lab, were like our children. They have since died of cancer, but during the years they spent with us, they were the center of our universe. We would never think of putting them in a kennel when we left town, especially since we rescued them, and they probably had bad memories of kennels. We knew any vacation we took would be spent worrying about them. Fortunately, our neighbor Amy offered to watch them for us. We explained that it was much more than feeding them; they were used to being around us 24/7. Fortunately, she was able to spend a lot of time with them, playing, or just relaxing in our backyard. We were so pleased when we returned to see them happy and healthy. We know our dogs well, and believe they have an innate sense of people. They seem to know animal lovers, and are naturally attracted to them. Amy is a HUGE animal lover, and it showed whenever we saw our dogs around her. It was obvious that they loved her even more than she loved them. This trust we developed with Amy allowed us to spend time in Europe, something we never could have enjoyed if we didn’t know our “kids” were in the care of such a competent, loving person like Amy.