Rover.com | Pet SittingReviews of rover.com

The merger with CatinaFlat has been managed atrociously and has left multiple catsitters and owners completely in the lurch, with inconsistent access to booking details (even imminent/current bookings). Sitters are caught between adhering to Rover t&c's of not contacting owners outside the platform, or risking a ban to reach out privately to booked clients to advise them of the platform changes (and consequent pricing/payment changes), which neither catinaflat nor Rover have done. The poor management of this merge has left cats at risk of not being fed as booked (as booking details did not transfer over correctly, and contact outside the platform is technically prohibited, meaning many Sitters may not have backup contact details), sitters at risk of not being paid (as payment terms have now all changed, not to mention pricing being much higher on Rover), and owners at risk of paying twice AND potentially being left without their booked sitter. Absolute shambles all round, and a real loss for the catsitting community as there is now no dedicated catsitting platform. Rover is only suitable for dogs, and is not set up to manage catsits effectively or safely. I look forward to whichever company develops a replacement platform to fill this gap in the market - it's clearly needed. Rover is not fit for purpose.

Despite having 2 years to prepare for this "merger", i.e. Rover buying out CIAF, the actual moving over to this platform has been horrendous. Zero communication, zero support, everything going wrong, reviews being lost... It's clearly a dog walking/boarding/sitting platform where cats are a subcategory and an afterthought. Not to mention the fees - 15% for the owner AND the sitter? Ridiculous. It's been incredibly frustrating both for both sides. I've been going back and forth with a regular client about their booking for today - it's not been confirmed, and they can't find where on Rover to confirm/pay for it. I still went and did it, but will now have to arrange payment separately - and boo-hoo on Rover for losing out on their cut because of their incompetency! Should have done a better job with this "merger" and provided support and communication for both sitters and owners.

I have used the Cat in a Flat site for many years now, going back to 2018 for my first booking and have had an overall positive experience. Some sitters were subpar, but some real great ones. The website/app has evolved in that time and worked really well for what I needed as an owner. Since the merger, it is apparent the previous owners/creators have sold it to Rover who are not cat-focused and it just does not work in the way it did. Unless something is fixed, I am going to be looking elsewhere for a cat sitter in the future. We were given zero communication on this merger and I only found out via Reddit. Since then it has been nothing but AI/generic responses to sitters/owners problems. The costs are astronomical by now charging the owner and the sitter a fee and also in some instances charging additional cat fees making a twice daily feed for a 2 cat household incredibly expensive. I know the cat sitters are trying to work with the pricing models to make it work, but have encountered problems in being able to change those figures. The messaging I have seen from CIAF was that nothing really would change for sitter/owner when in fact it has completely changed by forcing all to the dog-centric Rover platform. There was zero engagement with sitters/owners about the move to actually check the features Rover offered translated to cat sitting. Disappointed in Kathrin Burkhardt and Julie Barnes for not considering the product they sold to make a few £££ and leaving the so called "community" network they created behind to be just another cog of Blackstone.

I’ve been a cat sitter for years and loved using Cat in a Flat, but the move to Rover has been a really negative experience. Rover takes 15% from sitters and then adds another 15% fee for owners, which feels excessive and unfair. I also can’t set different prices for twice‑daily visits anymore, and any price change has to be submitted for review. It took three days for Rover to approve a simple adjustment for a regular client. It doesn’t feel like I’m “my own boss” when the platform controls my pricing and delays my bookings. This transition has made things harder for both sitters and pet owners.

I'm writing this from the sitter's perspective, following cat in a flat's utterly disastrous merger with Rover. You've had nearly two years since the acquisition to prepare for it, but you've decided to release something apparently entirely untested, which breaks, omits 10+ years of reviews as a sitter, forces the parties to only communicate through their platform - all with higher fees - all without communication to your sitters or cat owners. Slow clap. You've lost me, and a whole bunch of others.

Do not trust Rover with your pet. Our dog sitter lost our dog after having him for just 12 hours. Thankfully he was found, but the experience was traumatizing. On top of that: the sitter’s address on file with Rover was incorrect, the home had a dangerously rotten front porch and stairs, and when we picked our dog up his entire bed was soaking wet with no explanation given. The sitter then told us our dog “wasn’t a good fit” for them. We cancelled the booking and were charged a $175 cancellation fee. Rover has not responded to our refund request. To make matters worse, we left a detailed 1-star review of the sitter — which Rover has not posted. Now they’re asking us to rate them on Trustpilot. Happy to oblige. Rover failed to vet this sitter, failed to maintain accurate listing information, failed to support us after a safety incident, and is now ignoring our refund request while suppressing our review. There is zero accountability. Use another service.

Bring back Cat in a Flat App!!! I am a pet owner who used Cat in a Flat (recently bought by Rover) for many years. Yesterday, without any communication made, I was unable to access the app. After changing my password I noticed the app has been entirely merged with Rover. Except that it is not fit for purpose. I have lost the bookings I have made with my cat sitter, I cannot see my saved cat sitters, I can’t search by ‘near me’ location. If you want pet owners to continue using your app, you will have to quickly add these features back. No communication has been made by Rover on the app change. Extremely disappointing. I have been loyal to CIAF but I am afraid this won’t be the same with Rover. It is certain a lot of UK pet owners and sitters will leave this service.

We had a horrible experience on rover. Our dogs were crated for more than 12 hours. Our sitter lied to us about what time she fed the dogs, when they were taken out, and when she was at our house. Plus she brought a strange guy into our house who had a full duffel bag that clearly indicated he was going to stay over after we said no other people were allowed to stay. I have documented screenshots I had to find another sitter myself since no one was available last minute. They gave me less than half my money back and she was only here maybe 6 hrs. She didn’t even come back to the apartment til 2am after being out all day. No communication and poor resolution. I would literally go anywhere else than here.