House Sitting in Mexico (part 2)

We did a total of 6 house sits during our 5 months in Mexico (Oct 2018 – March 2019). Our previous post “House Sitting in Mexico part 1” covered our first three sits so this post will cover the other three we did in Puerto Vallarta, Patzcuaro and San Miguel de Allende.

Puerto Vallarta – Bubba and Carlye

Puerto Vallarta (also known as PV) is located on the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of Mexico. The climate here is generally very hot and humid however January (when we were there) is the best time to visit as the temperatures are always in the 20’s (Celsius) and the humidity decreases.

Having spent the previous 2½ months inland (at an elevation of 5,000ft) in the Lake Chapala area where the temperatures are lower and ‘chilly’ overnight, it was pleasing to experience warm days and evenings.

Our 3½ week house sit was in an apartment with wonderful views over the city and bay in the “Romantic Zone” of PV where each night, at 10pm, we were entertained with a fireworks display. We were looking after two tiny and cute dogs that are a mix of Terrier and Chihuahua – Carlye (7 yo) and Bubba (14 yo) aka Mr B.

Bubba was deaf and also had Addisons disease. He required medication administered three times per day as well as other instructions that we needed to carefully follow due to his condition. However, as it turned out it was Carlye that got sick and needed a visit to the vet! After the vet visit, which required a few injections and medicine, Carlye was back to her normal self within 24 hours.

Bubba and Carlye were very easy to care for. Twice daily we took them for walks at the Dog Park located within the Condominium complex to do their ‘business’. At other times of the day they had their own ‘grass patch’ to use on the balcony. We loved Bubba’s big ears and Carly was so small that when you picked her up, she could sit in your hand.

What the home owners said – “We would highly recommend them to anyone. I would have them back to house sit in a heartbeat. Thank you Glenn and Jacqueline for taking such good care of our fur babies! “

Patzcuaro – Frisco

Our fifth house sit in Mexico saw us head inland to the traditional town of Patzcauro to care for Frisco, a large ginger cat.

This town still has a ‘real Mexico’ feel about it with many indigenous Mexicans still wearing their traditional clothing and selling their crafts at the local markets.  Patzcauro is also well known for its Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) festivities. If you want to know more about Day of the Dead then take a look a the animated movie ‘Coco’ – it shows the traditions behind it wonderfully.

Frisco was a sweet elderly cat and would spend most of the day sleeping. This is not unusual for a cat, except that we would find him sleeping in our bed AND under the duvet. Frisco also liked a lap to sleep on and would settle on our lap in the evenings. At night-time he would sleep on our bed and liked to have his head on the pillow next to Jacqueline’s.

What the home owners said – “They were conscientious, capable, and trustworthy, also fun people to become acquainted with! We would recommend them without hesitation.“

San Miguel de Allende – Jitterbug, Brenda, Mocha and Mona

Our final sit in Mexico was in the Unesco listed town of San Miguel de Allende.

We stayed in a lovely two storey property on a golf course about three kilometres from town and had an assortment of animals to care for – 2 dogs, 2 cats and 20+ goats to feed.
Jitterbug was a Bernese Mountain Dog and the largest dog we have ever cared for – she weighed more than Jacqueline! Our second dog was Brenda – a rescue dog who adopted this family and for a street dog she was a pretty fussy eater!

Jitterbug, being a big dog, only required short walks during the day, so Jacqueline would take Brenda for an additional long walk each morning around the Golf Course which provided a perfect location for long walks.

There were also two Siamese cats that had very different personalities. Mocha, the younger one, was very cheeky and could open drawers whilst Mona was quite shy and would spend most of her time hiding in the master bedroom.

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What the home owners said – “They are absolutely wonderful and we would always go to them for any pet sitting needs. We liked them so much that we told them that “our home is their home” any time they want to visit San Miguel.”

We loved our time in Mexico. We found it safe, the people extremely friendly and are planning to return for more house sitting and travel adventures.