Angel Sitters Are Hard To Come By.

I once had a petsitter from Heaven. My pets loved her and she loved them. She followed instructions for their feedings and medications, she was always on time, she stayed awhile and gave special time interacting and loving on them. She was reliable, trustworthy, and on and on. We loved her. We needed her, and she was there for us … till she wasn’t. She retired about seven or eight years ago. It was devastating.

Angel sitters are really hard to come by.

Needle In A Haystack.

If you’ve read any of my other posts, you’ve figured out that I rescue senior animals. I am the Founder and President of Milagro Senior Pet Refuge. Naturally, then, I have a house full of senior animals with varying degrees of medical needs, and I knew it wouldn’t be easy to replace our angel sitter. This particular pet home comes with a lot of requirements and real dedication. I searched for years and years, but no one wanted the gig. Understandable.

I needed to travel back to the Midwest last Summer to visit family. There was no putting off travel this time. So I ramped up my search for a new petsitter. I spread the word through my rescue network, I joined several websites offering petsitting services, asked friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbors if they were interested in signing on or if they would at least help me get my request out. I interviewed at least a dozen potential petsitters. Although I found several qualified applicants, none of them wanted the level of responsibility that came with my houseful of senior rescue pets.

Right There All Along.

As I was thinking out loud and lamenting one morning to Kimberly my housekeeper as she worked, Kimberly said “Hey, you know if you’re really in a bind, I’m happy to help out.”  Funny, I had never thought to ask Kimberly about petsitting. The lightbulb came on. Kimberly has been my housekeeper for many years. She’s intimately familiar with my pets and our routine. She knows where everything is, she knows which pets have which ailments, she knows my pets all by name, and they’re comfortable with Kimberly and love her. She’s an animal lover and does a bit of pet rescue herself. She’s responsible, reliable, and best of all, we already have a longtime, established relationship built on trust. Kimberly was perfect! Why I never thought of her before, I have no idea. She was right in front of my eyes all along. Thank You, Jesus!

Peeky-Boo!  I See You!

It’s been almost a year now that Kimberly has been petsitting for me, and it’s going along beautifully!  A match made in Heaven. And something we have implemented that has added immensely to our ability to care for my pets while I’m away is that I have installed three security systems in my home, one of those systems being Canary video surveillance. I have multiple cameras staged throughout my home, so any time I’m away, I can view all activity, any time, anywhere in my home via the Canary app on my cell phone. It’s like being right there at home with my pets all the time.

So I know Kimberly’s comings and goings and I can watch her feeding and caring for my pets. And whenever she has questions, or can’t find something, I’m right there live to talk with her, even to tell her where Gabriel or Speedbump are hiding as she searches high and low, because I can follow them on camera as they tiptoe one step ahead of her from room to room, hiding in a kitchen cabinet or under a bed. It’s really pretty funny to watch.

Petsitting On Steroids!

Another vital benefit of remote video surveillance is that, if I should see one of my pets on-camera in distress in between petsitter visits, I can text Kimberly to go to my home immediately to tend to the pet so that it doesn’t suffer needlessly until the next scheduled visit. What a Godsend, having Kimberly and Canary. It’s like having my ears, eyes, and hands on my pets 24/7 even when I’m away. I cannot recommend it enough — do yourself a favor and get Canary. It’s Petsitting On Steroids!!

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God Bless and Happy Pet Parenting!

With love and good wishes,
jeannie.   ?

About jeannie:  I’ve been pro-actively involved in pet rescue all of my life. I founded Milagro Senior Pet Refuge© (Phoenix) in 1998, and BareFootPets (TM) in 2008. Animal welfare has always been and will always be my heart’s work. If my only legacy is that I save a handful of precious souls that would not survive otherwise, I’m good with that.