Tag: pet sitting

Pet Sitter Education Month

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Pet Sitter Education Month Tips & Best Practices from Cornell Feline Health Center

I saw this list from the Cornell Feline Health Center on my Facebook feed, and I DO ALL THESE THINGS!!!!!

1. New clients have a thorough registration meeting with me to go over all of their information. It generally lasts an hour. We go over the pet’s routine, where supplies and pet areas are, emergency contacts, and, if needed, the client demonstrates their preferred techniques for administering medication, food preparation, etc.

2. We go over the emergency medical plan, including veterinarian information. I also collect contact info for emergency contacts for the pets and the home. I encourage clients to leave cat carriers out, or to have them accessible to me (NOT in the basement storage locker).

3. I am bonded and insured with pet sitters insurance. This is business liability insurance.

4. Many common houseplants are toxic to cats. Tulips, lilies, poinsettias, etc. Sometimes, even the pollen of certain plants are toxic, even if the cat doesn’t chew on them. Sometimes a plant is so toxic that a cat will need to be rushed to the emergency veterinarian for immediate treatment if they eat it.

A good resource to consult is:

Poisons

5. I maintain training in pet first aid & CPR. Generally, these certificates are valid for two years, but I prefer to refresh my training every year. I am also a Certified Professional Pet Sitter (CPPS) through two major professional pet sitters associations, Pet Sitters International and the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters, and I am a Fear Free Certified Professional (FFCP). I love contuing education and I enjoy attending educational webinars and conferences whenever possible.

6. I have a car and primarily drive to all my visits. This also means that I am able to quickly transport pets for urgent medical care.

7. As part of the registration process, I ask if cats are microchipped. Microchipping cats, even indoor-only cats, is a great way of helping them to return home if they ever get lost. Cat collars are mostly designed to easily break away, to prevent injury and entanglement, which makes microchipping a more reliable means of retrieving and identifying an owned cat that gets lost.

A common issue I see amongst cat owners is that they neglect to update their contact info with the microchip company after they relocate. Their phone numbers, address, and email address might change, which needs to be updated in their file. It’s usually free and easy to do so, and is extremely important.

I also ask if the cat is licensed. Montreal requires that cats be licensed, and the permit is renewed each year.

Info on cat permits: https://montreal.ca/en/how-to/get-cat-license

Organic veggies for Guinea pig and rabbit clients

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Due to popular interest, Cats and Hamsters is now pleased to offer rabbit and Guinea pig pet sitting and boarding clients a new daily fresh produce option – Cats and Hamsters’s Special Selection!

This new option will include a species-appropriate vegetable and fruit selection comprising a special selection of:

  • organic produce
  • produce grown by myself from seed in my community garden plot
  • produce from the public markets

I am excited to share that this summer I am trying a local organic farm share, La ferme coop Aux Champs qui Chantent, and will include produce from that share in the daily Special Selection. La ferme coop Aux Champs qui Chantent is a local, organic, worker-owned, worked-run cooperative. Their pick up locations include the Plateau and Petite Patrie. Their philosophy includes offering good, healthy food and making it accessible. So uncollected shares are donated to community organizations and they offer “Solidarity Baskets,” where a weekly basket can be subsidized via donation and members can request a basket at a reduced rate to match economic need.

The original daily fresh produce service for Guinea pig and rabbit clients is still available, and may or may not include some of the same items in the Special Selection.

Clients who prefer to specify a specific list of vegetables and fruit for their Guinea pigs and rabbits can choose the concierge service.

Cats and Hamsters pet sitting

Happy 5 years of pet sitting!

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Cats and Hamsters pet sitting

Artist: Cody Stowe @weflaps

2021 marks my fifth year anniversary of professional pet sitting.

When I started my business in 2016, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. I knew I liked animals and that I wasn’t afraid to scoop a litter box.

Now I am a Certified Professional Pet Sitter and a Fear Free Certified Professional. I was named a Top 5 Finalist for 2021 Pet Sitter of the Year. I was on the news! I was asked to present at the 2021 Pet Sitters World Conference in front of my colleagues and peers.

Thank you to all of my amazing clients, who have been so supportive and, well, amazing! I love your pets so much!

With the US-Canada border opening up and the children’s vaccinations available soon, I hope that travel will get back to normal as we move into the New Year.

Cody Stowe @weflapscomics created this lovely image. I think he did an amazing job. Olaf in particular looks quite majestic! You can follow the adventures of Coral the cat @weflaps on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

New logo and winter holidays

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cropped-LogoStroke.jpg

I am thrilled to unleash the logo I’ve been working on getting for nearly a year. Looking forward to passing out my sleek new business cards – after the winter holiday craziness is over!

 

The winter holidays, which for me is roughly December through mid-January, is the busiest time of the year. Many people go away and return at the same time. I start receiving reservation requests for this time period in August. It is never too early to make a Christmas-New Year pet sitting reservation.

I am fully booked, and due to high volume, will respond to messages slower.

I am really hoping it won’t be as bitterly cold and miserable weather-wise as it was last year, when there were a couple weeks of -25°C weather and snow as far as the eye could see. I also no longer have the luxury of an indoor parking spot, and have already had one of those mornings where your neighbours swoop in to help you chip out the ice under your spinning tires while your child is watching from inside the slowly heating car. Montrealers are awesome – everyone knows how it is, and the spontaneous generosity of spirit always astounds me.

“It’s my fault,” I said, as we hacked away at the ice, realizing I should have cleared the slush from the tires the previous day before it froze into solid ice overnight.

“It’s winter,” my neighbour corrected. Yes. It. Is. One of my ice scrapers has already been obliterated.

Generally, I survive pet sitting in winter by always keeping 2 things with me in the car: an insulated water bottle to prevent my water from freezing while I make my pet visit rounds, and a big Stanley vacuum bottle of hot sweetened milky tea that I sip from in between each stop. I don’t drive long enough in between stops to warm up the car at all, and my feet and hands are always cold. That thermos is amazing at keeping liquids hot all day, and holds the equivalent of three large mugs of tea. Maybe I’ll do hot chocolate one day to mix it up. If you put in a cinnamon stick, the continuous heat of the vacuum bottle will infuse the hot chocolate with a warm, rich spicy flavour to help beat out the chill.