I had my first kitty in college and my second while living in San Francisco. Returning to New York, I lived for years in a building where I could not have any pets. So when I moved to my current location, in Manhattan's East Village, I made up for lost time. That was way, way back in 1992. I contacted an animal rescue agency named BeingKind. (That was the precursor to KittyKind in Petco.) Soon I took in a family of six abandoned cats from BeingKind. I included an old scratched photo, taken before the days of cell phones and similar devices. The momma and poppa cats were about a year and a half old. Teenagers in Love I called them. The four kittens were six weeks old and just learning to walk. They were about the size of my hand (not counting the tails). I eventually adopted out two kitties and kept four felines to myself.
They all lived exceedingly long lives, so I must have been doing something right. The momma cat lived to 18 years of age, the poppa and one daughter both lived to 19, and the final daughter lived very close to 21 (about 20 years and 9 months).
After the family went to Kittie Heaven, I took a break from being a caretaker. That ended in about nine months. One night I went dancing at Barefoot Boogie (highly recommended) and met someone who worked for Kitty in New York. That marked the beginning of the next phase of my love for felines, as I soon became an Official Kitty Caregiver.
I can now offer lots of love, a spacious one bedroom apartment, and decades of experience for my feline friends. I am able to give injections, pills, subcutaneous fluids, and blood glucose monitoring for cats with medical needs.
I am now partly retired but work about 20 hours a week as a psychotherapist. This allows me the luxury to spend lots of time with my four-legged friends. As you might guess, I love to write so I enjoy sending frequent emails or texts plus loads of photos to cat owners. This allows the owners to enjoy their vacations or business trips, knowing that their kitties are happy and doing well.
REVIEWS
Joseph - by survey 7/30/2024
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Here is our glowing 5-star review for Phil:
Phil is the best cat sitter we've ever had out of the dozen plus we've worked with over the last 15 years.
He's kind, considerate, thoughtful, and caring. He listened to all of our concerns and followed our care instructions word by word. He took care of our cat with love, giving her the space she needed whenever she needed, as she's a cranky one.
For 3 months our 19-year-old Persian Chinchilla was in his care, a long stay required by an urgent trip abroad we needed to take. His communications were regular from beginning to end, about 1 email with a picture every 3 to 4 days. He responded to us always within a day and brought up any concerning issue with our elderly cat.
When we wanted to know more about her eating, bathroom, or movement habits, he included them in detail in his emails, which were always a pleasure to read. Phil has a gift with words. I can't say enough positive things about Phil. Your cat could not be in better hands. Feel comfortable, safe, and confident your pet will be in caring, skilled hands. Phil is a true pet professional.
Lisa - by survey 11/17/2023
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This was such a great experience! My cat has to take 2 pills/day, eye ointment in one eye and eye drops in the other. The schedule for administrating the meds is intense with the ointment being 3x day. Phil administered all the meds with ease and on time! Spike the cat was super comfortable with Phil and was sleeping with him by day 3. I received email updates with pictures of Spike every few days, and very much enjoyed Phil’s writing style.
Lena - by survey 10/03/2023
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Phil was absolutely fantastic. He is very knowledgeable about cats and truly cares about them. My cat is rather nervous and demanding and I was worried about leaving her with a stranger. I didn't have to. Phil's kindness, patience as well as deep understanding of cats' needs and behavior won her over and she had a good time with him. Phil regularly sent me detailed updates and pictures. I'm so glad I found Phil and will definitely trust him with my precious little princess whenever I have to travel.
Megan - by survey 06/07/2023
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Phil is amazing and took such good care of our cats over the trial weekend. We're looking forward to our first vacation together in 3 years because we trust Phil to take good care of our old boys.
Romina - by survey 05/17/2022
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I booked with Phil the second time in two years and I am always amazed how much of a "cat whisperer" he is. You can tell the cats are calm around him. He took care of all three of mine this time around and I particularly appreciated the loving care he gave to my eldest who needs regular medication. In addition Phil was extremely reliable with his email and photo communication. He also was dependable in terms of pick up and drop off arrangements and very helpful in both directions. I felt confident knowing my cats were in good hands!
Sarah - by survey 9/19/2021
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Phil was great! It was clear he had lots of experience with cats and that my cat was very happy when I was away for a week. He sent email updates with pictures and cute stories about what my cat was up to, and he was very attentive.
Etienne - by survey
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Phil was fantastic. Very kind, I could feel right away that he loves cat and is able to create a good and calm environment for them to feel at ease. The minute we dropped our cat at Phil's apartment, she felt secured and not stressed and the stay went very smoothly. Phil did great at sending us pictures and updates every few days, so we knew everything was going well. Thank you!
Lily - by survey
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Phil was very pleasant and kind to my cat Momo upon meeting him. He sent in-depth emails of Momo's daily life while I was away, along with photos, which eased my mind about uprooting my kitty. As a seasoned cat sitter he had scratchers and toys available, and didn't mind my young cat's curious, and sometimes frenetic, demeanor. I was very glad for Momo to have companionship while I was gone. This is my second time using Kitty In NY, and although I was paired with a different sitter each time, both experiences have been positive. The office staff is also very professional, prompt, and easy to communicate with. They helped me right away even though my planning was relatively short notice.
Shauna - by survey
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Phil was a wonderful caregiver to our elderly cat. He was kind and loving and very attentive to our kitty’s very picky demands, and kept us informed about how things were going with funny emails and photos. Any kitty would be lucky to have a stay in Phil’s kitty hotel.
Elisabeth - by survey
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Phil took care of my cat Miumiu who has a chronic illness and requires medication + visits to the vet. He was extraordinary with him and took excellent care of my cat. I suspect my cat wanted to stay longer at Phil’s actually!!! Ahah. Phil has a kind heart and is a loving and humorous kitty caregiver. He sent us regular news via lovely emails + pictures of Miumiu. I really recommend Phil as a caregiver!
Romika - by survey
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Phil was an excellent, reliable cat-caregiver from the beginning to the end of this entire process. The drop-off and pickup went smoothly and during the weeks I was away on vacation, Phil stayed in touch with plenty of great information about how my two cats were doing at his place, as well as pictures. During the course of the time my cats were with him, he encountered some problems with his Verizon service, and I was impressed that he called me by phone right away to let me know so that we could work around it. Phil was able to give one of my cats the medicine he needed as well. Now that they are back home, it seems that they are even more at ease than before visiting with Phil. Highly recommend!
Kelly - by survey
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Phil took great care of my boy Vincent. He sent pictures and email updates several times also which was great!
Phway - by survey
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Phil was amazing! I'm so happy to have had him look after Del. It was very obvious he adored kitties, and was so caring and loving to Del. He looked after him incredibly well, was very easy going, and always updating with funny, entertaining stories of his time with him. Phil even went out of his way to help me with the purchase of a pet travel crate, and assembled it while I was gone, so that Del could get used to it before his travels. Phil followed all the instructions and had no trouble at all with adapting to Del's special needs like cleaning his ears and having warmer spaces for him to curl up into (as he's a Sphynx cat and gets chilly). All to say, I would recommend him highly to anyone!
Claudia - by survey
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Phil was amazing! I like him better than a previous sitter I used with KittyInNY. The moment I walked in to see Blue you can tell he had a great time and felt extremely comfortable. Phil also seemed to be very loving and affection. He would send daily emails and pictures. All in all, I was very pleased with his service.
Georgiana - by survey
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Phil was extremely welcoming to our cat and played with him. He gave very detailed and humorous updates by e-mail. He also went out of his way to help us when we encountered some difficulties with our return flight. Our cat returned in a very good mood, no doubt thanks to enjoying his stay with Phil.
Laura - by survey
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Phil was great! My cats loved him and were at home right away. Phil was very responsive and communicative and sent lots of updates and photos of my cats during their stay.
Zoe - by survey
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Phil regularly wrote really lovely messages about Blueberry and what she was up to. His pictures were great and overall his communications were thorough, clear, and kind. He cares a great deal about cats and I trusted that Blueberry was in good hands while I was away.
Anna - by survey
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Deli stayed with him for almost 3 months and I got updates on him, with pictures, pretty much every week. Anytime his food would be close to over, we were able to organize so that the website Chewy would deliver more. Deli seemed to love his stay, and reluctantly got into his carrier when we left. I would definitely recommend Phil to care for cats as he is very dedicated, caring, and keeps me updated with anything, plus pictures!
Ana
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Phil was so nice and caring with my baby! Sent me updates and pictures of him which I really appreciated. He was very attentive and my cat seemed to really enjoy his time with him.
Stefanie
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Phil was very responsive to any emails I sent him and was extremely attentive with his updates. He sent photos regularly along with great stories of how the kitties were doing. I got a sense that he truly cares for felines. Just after the first few interactions with him, I was immediately at ease, as I knew my fur babies were in caring hands.
Devon
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Phil was so thorough with his emails detailing the status of our kitties while we were away. He’d send cute photos with his emails too. He also made sure he had all of the feeding times exactly correct. He was very pleasant and kind to work with and clearly loved taking care of our boys. I would definitely recommend him to others! We would use him again too.