Professional In-Home Cat Sitting
Milton Keynes & Aylesbury Cat Sitting
Locally owned and operated
Part of the Home Loving Cats family
Trusted in Milton Keynes & Aylesbury
5-star rated by local cat owners
DBS checked & fully insured
Complete peace of mind
We provide professional, caring in-home cat sitting while you're away. Your cat stays happy, comfortable and stress-free in their familiar environment.
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UK-Wide
Coverage - Fully Insured
- Vetted Sitters
Here is Tracy with Tiger...
and Mike with Magic...
Mike and Tracy Howells
We are Mike and Tracy Howells, devoted pet sitters and specialist cat sitters providing a very caring and professional pet sitting service and specialist cat sitting service covering the MILTON KEYNES area including Buckingham, Newport Pagnell, Stony Stratford, Woburn and Newton Longville, along with the AYLESBURY area including Haddenham, Waddesdon, Stoke Mandeville, Quainton, Bierton, Weedon, Whitchurch, Oving, Stone, Dinton, Wendover, Walters Ash, Prestwood, Cuddington, Great Missenden, Princes Risborough, Monks Risborough, Naphill, Weston Turville, Winslow, Fairford Leys, Thame, North Marston, Wingrave, Bryants Bottom, Buckland and surrounding locations.
Our Cat Sitting Reviews
Please check out our customer reviews by clicking OUR CAT SITTING REVIEWS.
"Mike put my mind at ease with pictures throughout the holiday. Professional, on time, tidy, and respectful of our home. Our three cats were happy and following their usual routine the whole time we were away."
Soraya Irving
"We had used a different service for 50 to 60 days previously and never once saw our shy rescue cat. Mike and Tracy saw her on their second visit. They clearly understand cats and follow instructions carefully. We wouldn't consider using anyone else."
Martin Groom
"Our kittens Molly and Milo were only ten weeks old, so we were understandably nervous. Daily photos and updates were so reassuring at that age. Mike and Tracy even took them to the vet for their vaccinations while we were away. Outstanding."
Emma Houghton
How our love of cats started
Mike grew up in South Wales and had a very outdoor idyllic childhood, roaming the hills and valleys. His father worked for Pilkington Glass, and there were many cats in the factory! When Mike was very young, his father brought home a kitten (named Noddy) that he had been feeding at work. Noddy was a fantastic black and white cat, with an amazing, gentle temperament. There were hamsters and budgies in the household, and Noddy would just sit quietly and watch them. He also loved sitting in front of the fire, and it was not unusual to see him almost catch fire! He lived to a good age, and was a very much-loved member of the family. Tracy has cared for a huge menagerie of animals from a young age – her mum worked in a pet shop for a time – even looking after an injured squirrel until it was well enough to go back to the woods.
To provide customers with total peace of mind, both Mike and Tracy have basic disclosure police checks and public liability insurance – so your home and possessions are absolutely safe in their care. When Tracy and Mike first met, Tracy had a beautiful white cat called Brandy – and it was fortunate that Mike was very quickly given Brandy’s seal of approval! Brandy loved to play with a ball or a length of string. Sadly, Mike and Tracy lost Brandy early in his life to a serious illness. He was such a character and he is missed to this day. Just look at these photos to see how gorgeous he was!
Here is Tiger...
and this is Magic....
How we gained our cat family - and how you can do the same…
For about 2 weeks thereafter we weren’t in the right frame of mind to have any more cats. Then we decided to go and look at some kittens at Cats Protection. (Of course), we knew how this was likely to turn out! Predictably it was love at first sight, and so we adopted sister and brother Magic and Tiger. That was ten years ago, and after what was clearly a difficult start in life for them, they turned into an amazing and affectionate pair of cats. Sadly, in early 2019 Tiger passed away with a serious heart condition. He will never be forgotten.
If you wish to offer that “forever” home to a cat or cats in need, you might want to click the following links to take you to the websites of Cats Protection Milton Keynes and or find your local Cat Protection in the UK.
Our realisation that most cats don’t like catteries
We got married in Greece, and all our friends and family came with us. This meant we had to find somewhere for Magic and Tiger, and we chose a very nice cattery. However, when we picked them up 2 weeks later, they were not in a good way – it was totally obvious that they had not enjoyed their time. To check out the reasons for this, please click on our article “Why Cats Hate Catteries”.
We vowed never to leave them at a cattery ever again. And that’s when we found Home Loving Cats in Aylesbury, in the guise of the amazing Pat Parish. We had some initial reservations and preconceptions about the service – until Pat came to meet Magic and Tiger. We have now used Home Loving Cats for several years. Magic and Tiger are always pleased to see us when we return from a holiday (or we should say we convince ourselves that’s the case!), but it’s absolutely clear that whilst we have been away, they have been happy and relaxed in the familiar surroundings of their own home. Finding out about the marvellous Home Loving Cats service didn’t just provide a solution for our own cats when we travelled, it gave us the opportunity to start our own Home Loving Cats business in the territory adjacent to Pat – so now we have the daily privilege of helping lots of cat owners and their cats in Milton Keynes and surrounding locations.
And here is an update as of September 2020…
Pat Parish has now moved house to the Durham area and is continuing her Home Loving Cats cat sitting business in that area. Consequently, we are now looking after Pat’s existing customers in the Aylesbury area in addition to our own customers in the Milton Keynes area.
Why our cat sitting service greatly benefits your cats!
Our aim is to look after your cats as if they were our own. We are caring and conscientious. Getting to know them in their own environment, and learning about their little routines is very important. As well as the basics of food, water and litter trays, we will spend quality time with your cats, doing whatever they enjoy the most – play, grooming, laptime or just relaxing in their company. This means that whilst you are away, you can be absolutely and totally reassured that your cat is safe, happy, and very well cared for.
Periodic updates while you are away is part of our service (via text message, email or WhatsApp). We am also very happy to attend to other simple tasks while you are away, such as putting out bins and watering plants, etc.
Contact Us Today!
If you want your cat(s) to have lots of fuss, playtime, laptime, general pampering, and a lovely time whilst you are away, please get in touch with us today!
To contact us, please enter your full postcode in the form at the top of the page.
We hope to meet you and your cats very soon!
Best regards
Mike & Tracy
Why Milton Keynes Cat Owners Choose In-Home Cat Sitting
Milton Keynes is one of the UK’s youngest cities but one of its fastest-growing, with a large and mobile population and a high proportion of households that travel regularly for work as well as leisure. That means a lot of cat owners who need reliable, trustworthy care at relatively short notice, and who are looking for something better than a cattery.
Mike and Tracy came to this work as cat owners first. Their own experience of returning from their wedding in Greece to find Magic and Tiger in a poor state after two weeks in a cattery is the reason they understand so well what their clients are trying to avoid. They made the same decision every owner makes after that kind of experience: never again. And then, through Home Loving Cats, they built a business around making that option available to others across Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Newport Pagnell, and the surrounding towns and villages.
The reviews above illustrate what the service delivers in practice. Soraya’s three cats maintained their usual routine throughout a holiday, visited by someone who was professional, tidy, and reliable. Martin had tried another service previously for a total of 50 to 60 visits without his shy rescue cat ever being seen. Mike and Tracy saw her on their second visit. Emma left ten-week-old kittens for the first time and received daily photos and updates, along with Mike and Tracy taking them to the vet for vaccinations mid-booking. These outcomes are not unusual: they reflect what happens when someone genuinely understands cats and approaches the work accordingly.
The territory also now covers the Aylesbury area following the move of the previous franchise holder, meaning Mike and Tracy serve one of the broadest geographic areas of any Home Loving Cats franchise. From the Vale of Aylesbury through to the Buckinghamshire countryside and across to Milton Keynes, the same personal, consistent service applies throughout.
For full details of everything the service covers, visit the Home Loving Cats service page. Our article Why Cats Hate Catteries explains the territorial behaviour that makes the difference so visible when cats come home after a cattery stay versus an in-home sitting arrangement.
