How would you handle this situation?

[bertha katzenengel]

Poll question: How would you handle this situation?

Our regular pet sitter really dropped the ball last week. We have eight indoor/outdoor cats and care for six-eight outdoor stray/feral cats. We were gone nine days and returned two days ago. We returned to find

+ we have five litter boxes downstairs and four upstairs; those downstairs were scooped only once, from the look of it; the upstairs were never scooped at all

+ the two large indoor dry food dishes were not only empty, they were licked clean (they are kept full at all times) and the astroturf placemat they sit on had had all the crumbs dug out of it -- the cats never do that

+ the indoor cats are fed 2-3 5.5 oz cans of food each evening; they had been fed just one per day *

+ the indoor pet fountain was disgusting and running too low -- could burn out the pump

+ almost all the outdoor cats were GONE, telling me they had not been fed consistently, if at all

+ the outdoor dishes hadn't been moved

+ the outdoor water dishes were relatively clean, telling me that no raccoons had come by -- another clue that food hadn't been put out twice daily as the sitter knows we require

Now: What would you do? I'm asking because I seriously need suggestions. Maybe someone out there is the same as I am but has learned to face fools without being terrified. I am terrible at confrontation and, wimpy me, I'm trying to figure out a "nice" way of asking for my god damned house key back. :eyes: <-- at self

Thanks for your help!

* we left a brief note that we were running low on canned food and hadn't had time to get to the store, and asked if she'd buy some, please, and we taped a twenty-dollar bill to the note. The sitter bought a case, and eight cans were missing. The sitter didn't even bother to look into the cabinet where she knows we keep the canned food -- there were at least five days' worth of cans in there, and none had been used.

edited to fix # 3