The Details

Visit Times

Visits are typically grouped into time slots throughout the day and are scheduled within a block of time. We reserve as close to the precise time requested for time-sensitive medication clients. The time slots that we offer are listed below.

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• Morning: 7:00am - 10:00am

• Early Mid-Day: 10:00am - 12:00pm

• Mid-Day: 12:00pm - 3:00pm

• Early Evening: 3:00pm - 6:00pm

• Evening: 6:00pm - 8:00pm

• Flex Time: 7:00am - 7:00pm

• Overnight: 7:00pm - 7:00am*

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​Please note that we do not do every-other-day visits.

*Overnight services availability and times depend on availability at the time of booking.

Visit Lengths

The length of visits can vary. After the first visit or group of visits, we leave a summary and recommendations regarding suggestions for visit length and modifications that may work better for your pet in the future. The visit lengths are typically 15, 20, 30, 45, or 60 minutes.​
 

• Quick check: Wellness visits, home checks, pocket pet visits, mail care, potty breaks, and lockout assistance are also available and typically take 15 minutes. The sitter's availability at the time of the request determines the ability to schedule these. 
   

• Mix and match: You can select different visit lengths for visits throughout the day to meet your pet's needs and have enough time to complete other tasks you'd like addressed when you're away. For example, a day of visits for your dog could look like this:

  • 30-minute morning visit for breakfast and potty breaks​

  • 20-minute mid-day visit for potty breaks and/or exercise

  • 45-minute evening visit for dinner, potty breaks, and bedtime routine

Visit Radius

Our visit radius is typically along Bettis Academy Road in Graniteville, Trenton, and North Augusta.

We keep a small radius for our service area to ensure that we can get to a client quickly during emergencies, such as power outages and storms. Additionally, we only book two in your home vacation clients at a time.

Medication Visits

Visits that require medication vary in length depending on your pet. For dogs, pills can often be administered using pill pockets or another item to sandwich a pill to make medication time as stress-free as possible. The same concept applies to cats, but it can take more time if your cat tends to hide. With shier cats who aren't great with medications, I recommend setting up a room or area where they stay during visits to make it easier to locate them for medicating and provide an extra layer of safety for them in the process. 

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Insulin-dependent pets: We only book one client at a time who has a pet that needs insulin due to the time sensitivity and additional care that may be needed. 

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Medication experience includes:

• Topical medication

• Oral medications

• Ear/eye drops

• Inhalers

• Diabetic management

• Subcutaneous fluids

Availability

We are a small, independent, and insured pet care business mainly run by Megan with the assistance of her husband and daughter when they are available and needed. 

Our calendar is updated regularly to notify clients of upcoming dates when we are unavailable due to being fully booked or on vacation.

We recommend having one or more backup sitters in case one or more are unavailable on the dates and times your pet needs care. 

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*At our home boarding: Senior and small dogs who are cat-friendly are considered for boarding when needed. We will need to evaluate your pet prior to care being scheduled to make sure boarding in our home is the right fit. Please note that we only care for one client's pets at a time in our own home. 

Client Types

Cats and dogs are the primary pets we care for, but we also take some small pet clients. We do not care for horses, livestock, exotic birds, or other animals that we are inexperienced with. Pets that we do care for include:​
 

• Cats: Will feed and water outdoor cats, but we do not let indoor/outdoor cats outside during visits
   

• Dogs: If independent access to the outdoors is available between visits, yard must be secure
   

• Fish: Indoor tanks
   

• Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, Ferrets: Enclosure or location must be temperature-controlled and secure
   

• Rabbits: Indoor only, unless in a temperature-controlled and secure outdoor building
   

• Some reptiles: Dependent upon required needs, and we do not feed live - aside from insects

Booking 

Booking is currently available privately or by using the Rover or Meowtel apps. We continue to use Rover and Meowtel for our clients who like the option to book with other sitters using these platforms. Meowtel and Rover work similarly to private services, but they are booked, paid, and updated via these apps. In addition, the apps have backup sitters and offer insurance, assurances, and other benefits for you. Below, we have listed a few of the main differences between these options:

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• Private:

  • Insurance is carried for the business and covers Megan and family

  • Private service contract must be completed prior to care

  • Pricing differs from Rover and Meowtel because using those services comes at an additional cost for Paws & Talk and the client

  • Back-up sitters are not available, and we recommend having a secondary sitter or service when we are unavailable
     

• Rover:

  • Cat, dog, and small pet care

  • Visit lengths can be 30 or 60 minutes 

  • Visit photos, updates, and booking are done solely on the Rover app
     

• Meowtel: 

  • Megan is the only individual at Paws & Talk who provides care on this platform​

  • Cat-only care

  • Visit lengths can be 20, 45, or 90 minutes

  • Visit photos, updates, and booking are done solely on the Meowtel app