Rover.com | Pet Sitting Reviews 32,280

The merge from catintheflat has been disastrous. As a cat sitter, my current booking was deleted meaning I could not contact the owner in the middle of a booking! Additionally, my whole account was wiped meaning 7 years of reviews and clients have been removed! I tried to contact both rover and catinaflat but both just sent me in endless circles of AI chat bots. Looking through Rover, it seems to imply I’m a dog sitter who will also do cat sitting which is 100% not the case. I want nothing to do with dogs. Rover merge has completely ruined this for me and I will now be going private, a shame as catinaflat was an easy and secure way to advertise.

Great People. We have used Rover twice, and have met great people who really know how to take care of our dogs

I have regular clients on Cat in a Flat that I have catsit for for years, and the recent merger with Rover is *atrocious.* Didn't keep my settings the way I had them, my profile was reverted to a much older version, my profile was updated to say I took dogs (no), the website is completely unnavigable from the cat sitter's side. My clients are also now being charged more than I had my rates set even though I corrected it on the new platform. Now we are paid after the job is over, apparently, so if I need to take the bus to a client's house I now need to wait for that reimbursement in the form of payment for the booking even later and pay it out of pocket...

I am so incredibly pissed off and upset that we are are dealing with this on both sides. I use Cat in a Flat for my own cat too and think I will look elsewhere the next time I need to book.

I am very happy with girl I found to pet sit for me.
The process was easy and very helpful

Terrible merger for cat in a flat sitters! Unfortunately, this merge has been terrible for cat sitters. As someone who used to enjoy cat sitting (mainly as a part time hobby) I built up some lovely connections on Cat in a Flat. The system was intuitive and I enjoyed many repeat bookings. Despite the 19% booking fee for sitters, I didn't mind as I felt that it was worth it for the security and ease of booking. After the merger I was prepared to use Rover, but after setting up my account I was appalled by the following:

15% fee's for both owners and sitters (so greedy!)
Charging for multiple cats (ridiculous!)
Banning users from contacting clients outside of the clunky app. Meaning owners would have to log into the app multiple times to see updates.
Tracking visits and having a "report card"
Most trustworthy sitters are used to sending pictures throughout the day and these can be time stamped with a smart phone (so no need for this).
Asking owners to pay upfront but I have heard anecdotal instances of sitters fee's being withheld due to app glitches.

I have decided not to use this app as a cat sitter and I will be looking elsewhere.

Rover is an app designed to help dog owners. It does this job fairly well, even if the app interface is pretty clunky. Rover recently decided to buy out cat based competitor CatInAFlat however and it’s been a disaster.

On paper the move sounds good, bring both services under one umbrella, have more pets covered. The problem is the people in charge seem to not realise cats and dogs are different animals with very different needs.

Cat owners now face increased charges per visit because Rover doesn’t have the option to offer two separate pricing schemes for 1 visit or 2 visit per day for cat. Meanwhile skittish cats are now FORCED to spend additional time with the sitter they may not want. Have a nervous cat who just wants to be fed and left alone? Doesn’t matter. Under Rover’s terms your pet sitter is forced to clock in via photo confirmation and stay in your home for a minimum of half an hour, even if your pet doesn’t want it, in order to get paid.

I’d like to think this was just poorly thought out. But more likely it was just a way for Blackstone backed Rover to kill off a more enterprising innovative competitor.

If you are looking for cat services, look elsewhere.

I could not be happier with my experience with Alison. She is professional, caring, and knowledgeable. I have an energetic doodle she walks with ease and kindness. Rover provides good and prompt communication with clients.

I had to join Rover against my will, because Cat in a Flat which was a brilliant app, was bought out by them. Rover is a terrible app for cat sitters. The app itself is not user friendly, some of the links are broken. Some of the terminology on my profile refers to dogs, despite me not offering any dog services. I appear 13th on search results when typing my exact postcode so people 2.5 miles away are coming up before me. The brilliant notice board feature that was on cat in a flat doesn't exist on Rover. This feature allowed everyone a chance to "apply." This app is not fit for cat sitters. Intrusive location timing and tracking, very time specific bookings would not practically work for my clients or for me as a sitter. No discounted rate for two visits. If I set my rate at £10, rover take £1.50 off me and then £2 off the customer too so the customer has to pay £12 for one visit. My customers cannot afford £24 a day, sorry. Communication only through the app again would not work for my clients who were happy with communicating directly with me on WhatsApp. It's quite clear that Rover only care about making as much money as they can, ripping off people. I've also heard that they don't check whether people are licenced for animal boarding. This is highly irresponsible and shows a lack of care.

I want to raise serious concerns about how the transition from Cat in a Flat to Rover has been handled, as it has had a significant negative impact on my work.

I’ve been a dedicated cat sitter on Cat in a Flat for over seven years, building up a strong reputation, a large number of positive reviews, and a base of loyal repeat clients. Since the move to Rover, that history has not carried over in any meaningful way. My visibility has dropped, my past reviews are no longer reflected properly, and the position I once held as a top sitter in my area has disappeared.

What’s most frustrating is how abruptly this was implemented. Despite Rover owning Cat in a Flat for some time, there was no gradual transition or proper preparation for sitters. Instead, everything changed almost overnight, leaving both sitters and clients trying to make sense of a platform that feels poorly adapted for cat sitting.

There are also serious issues with pricing transparency. Clients who have tried to rebook me have seen rates that are far higher than what I actually charge. I have never set my prices at those levels. Additionally, even though I have clearly specified that I do not charge extra for additional cats, Rover is automatically adding fees for multiple cats anyway. This is misleading for clients and makes it look as though I am inflating my prices, which is damaging to trust.

The platform itself feels unreliable, and the lack of proper support only makes things worse. The support chat appears to be little more than automated responses that don’t address the issue at hand. It’s difficult to get meaningful help, and problems remain unresolved.

There is also an imbalance in how sitters are being recognised. Rover’s existing “Star Sitter” system favours those who have been on Rover longer, while experienced sitters coming from Cat in a Flat are not given equivalent standing. This is despite many of us having years of experience, extensive reviews, and a high number of repeat bookings. That history seems to have been disregarded entirely.

Overall, the situation gives the impression that the focus has been on scaling the platform rather than maintaining the quality and trust that Cat in a Flat was known for—particularly when it comes to cat-specific care.

For clients, I would strongly suggest reaching out directly to any sitter you previously worked with on Cat in a Flat and arranging bookings privately where possible. At present, the platform is inconsistent, pricing is not transparent, and the protections offered may not be as reliable as they seem—especially where pre-existing conditions are concerned.

Cat in a Flat used to be a platform that worked well for both sitters and owners. Unfortunately, this transition has undermined much of what made it effective, and the people who built its reputation are now left dealing with the consequences.

EDIT: Currently looking for a sitter myself from Friday to Sunday and Rover quotes £193 for 3 cats x 4 visits! This is ludicrous!

The overall experience was great for locating sitters that were close buy. Lots of fallow up after your purchase from Rover. I was very grateful for the sitter I was able to connect with. I found that the app was not user friendly,which made the experience less than what it could have been.

I was a sitter on Cat in a Flat and as others have said, since the merger with Rover, there have been lots of issues. My main issue is that I have bookings approaching, and I need to contact the owners to arrange a Meet & Greet and get my instructions. Unfortunately, I’ve sent everyone a message on Rover and not a single one of my owners has received a notification that I’ve messaged them. For bookings from new owners, I don’t have any contact details to contact them any other way, so what am I supposed to do? I also have a few owners whose numbers I don’t have because I updated them through Cat in a Flat. If this issue doesn’t get fixed I’m going to have to turn up at their houses to let them know I’ve been trying to message them to arrange a key pick-up; how embarrassing and unprofessional. Rover support just keep saying that owners will see my message when they log in, but they’re not going to log unless they know there’s a message! If Rover communicated the change to owners, at least it would prompt them to log in. Otherwise they might only log in when it gets very close to their booking and they realise that they’ve not had their M&G or given a key to anyone.

As others have said, Rover is set up for dog care services. The needs of dogs and cats are very different, and Rover doesn’t have the functionality to accommodate the needs of cats, so there are various issues related to that. The fees owners are expected to pay vs the small flat fee on Cat in a Flat is also off putting. But my main concern right now is that I have bookings coming up, my only way to contact owners is through Rover/Cat in a Flat, and my messages aren’t triggering a notification to my customers. I’m just getting repeated upbeat, AI replies telling me not to worry. I don’t know what’s wrong with them, honestly. We have very different standards. Unlike Rover, I am worried about my customers but I don’t know what else I can do other than leave this review and hope it prompts them to take some action to fix this quite serious issue ASAP.

I and my son have worked with Rover several times to obtain pet boarding services for when we went out of town. The providers we have worked with have been too- notch. They test your pet like they are their own, they communicate regularly and help keep you connected with pics and little stories about your visiting pet. There is an array of options for providers that fit your budget and pick up and drop off has always been easy and efficient. Rover understands that pets are family and reassurance when they are apart is of utmost importance. This is an awesome service provided by dedicated and caring people.

No regard for user experience during cat in a flat takeover. Issues:

- clients had to reconfirm bookings and pay IMMEDIATELY to secure
- increased pricing of existing CIAF bookings 🐽
- sitters not paid until after booking (used to be during) despite payment being take from owner MONTHS in advance
- fee now taken from owner as well as sitter
- prohibits phone number exchange - concerning in case of emergency or app issues
- glitchy app - no longer a bookings tabs
- ‘also sits cats’ on profile like cats are an afterthought
- awarded me star sitter status then took it away almost immediately 😂

Greed over regard for cat owners and cat sitters. Taking my sits privately now - Rover - you won’t get a penny of mine or my cat owners money.

Edit: in response to Rover’s response - CIAF payments were paid 5 business days after booking started. Rover pays after the bookings ends which in theory could be weeks for long bookings. With the secure telephone numbers, these presumably would not work if no data or if the app was down. It’s blatantly to avoid any out of app bookings which I understand but cats wellbeing is the most important thing and thus proper telephone numbers should be allowed to be exchanged. Avoidance of out of app bookings is clearly more important to Rover than an owner being contactable at all times if there’s an emergency.

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.

Jeremy house sat for us during a two week trip to Europe. So happy to see how well he and our dog Remi bonded. Nice to be able to travel knowing how well cared for she was.

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.