How I Became a Pet Sitter

The Story Behind My Pet Sitting Journey

I never imaged I would become a Professional Pet Sitter and Dog Walker.

Sometimes I feel like a cat that has lived several lives. Before I found myself on this path, I had already worked in several different fields, both employed and self-employed, ever since I was 16. I had worked in retail, as a Legal Secretary, and in various roles in between.

For a number of years, I was also a struggling creative, running my handmade jewellery business, selling online and taking part in local markets. I loved the creative side of it, but like many small business owners, making a consistent income could be challenging.

As I approached my 40th Birthday, I found myself hoping that life might start to look a little different. I was frustrated with certain aspects of my life and increasingly aware that I wanted more stability, a better living environment and, ultimately, a change.

Around the same time, several things began happening at once. My income was unpredictable, I was dealing with some personal and health challenges, and I was increasingly uncertain about what the future was supposed to look like.

I certainly didn’t realise that things were about to change in a way I could never have predicted.

Losing My Girls

At the time, my two Yorkshire Terriers, Princess and Zoe, were the biggest part of my life.

I had raised Princess from three months old and Zoe from just two and a half months old. They had been with me for more than a decade, through so many stages of my life. They weren’t simply my dogs. They were my family, my companions and a huge part of my everyday routine.

Around this time, both girls had been unwell with what was believed was a virus they had picked up from another dog. They were receiving medication and I was keeping a close eye on them, but I had no idea just how serious things were about to become.

Then, completely unexpectedly, everything changed.

One afternoon, after returning home from a personal medical procedure, I was focused on looking after Zoe, who had already been unwell and was taking medication.

As the afternoon went on, her condition suddenly deteriorated. She lost consciousness, and I rushed her back to the vet. Despite the vet’s efforts to save her, Zoe sadly passed away that evening at the age of 12 years old.

I was completely devastated.

Then, just several hours later, I woke to the sound of Princess breathing heavily beside my bed.

When I reached down to pick her up, she was incredibly weak. Somehow, I knew.

Within minutes, Princess had taken her last breaths.

She was 13 years old and had only recently celebrated her birthday.

In the space of just a few hours, I had gone from having two dogs who had been a part of my life for more than a decade to having neither of them.

It was a loss I simply couldn’t comprehend.

When Life Doesn’t Stop

The following morning, I had to get up and face what had happened.

There wasn’t really an option to stay in bed and shut the world out. I still had five hungry cats waiting for breakfast.

As heartbreaking as that sounds, there was something strangely comforting about having animals who still needed me. Their routines continued, and so, in a small way, did mine.

I was surprised by how affectionate my cats became. They seemed to sense that something had changed. We became even closer during that period, and their presence helped me through some incredibly difficult days.

I missed my dogs terribly.

I missed seeing them around the house. I missed their little routines. I missed having dogs to walk.

And suddenly, I found myself wondering what I was supposed to do next.

I had already been questioning my direction in life. Now I was also trying to figure out how to move forward after losing two pets who had been such an important part of it.

Then Came an Unexpected Idea

One morning, while I was doing housework, something completely unexpected popped into my head.

Pet Sitting

That’s it!

There was no grand business plan. No carefully calculated strategy. No moment where I suddenly thought, This is what I was born to do.

Just one random thought while I was sweeping around the house.

I had used a pet-sitting service myself in the past, so I had a basic understanding of what was involved. But I had never seriously considered it as a career.

Curiosity got the better of me.

I started researching.

The more I learned, the more interested I became. I started thinking about what services I could offer, how I could structure my days and what kind of business I wanted to create.

Then things started happening surprisingly quickly.

I came up with a business name.

I designed a logo.

I created an Instagram page.

And I started advertising.

Before I really had time to think about it, an idea that had appeared while I was doing housework had become a real business.

Looking Back

When I look back now, I sometimes wonder whether I would ever have thought of becoming a pet sitter if everything in my life had continued exactly as it was.

Maybe I wouldn’t have.

Perhaps that is one of the strange things about life. We spend so much time trying to plan our next move, yet sometimes the next chapter appears when we least expect it.

I didn’t become a pet sitter because it had always been my dream.

I became one during a period when my life felt uncertain, painful and completely different from the future I had imagined for myself.

But somewhere along the way, I discovered that caring for animals was something that came naturally to me. It gave me a sense of purpose, a reason to get out and about, and the opportunity to continue doing something that had always been such an important part of my life - being around animals.

Today, I still think about Princess and Zoe.

They aren’t here to see the business that came after them, but in a strange way, their place in my life helped lead me towards something I never knew I was looking for.

And maybe that’s the lesson I’ve taken from it all.

Life can be messy. It can be turbulent. Sometimes it can completely knock your plans off course.

And sometimes, you’re just sweeping the floor when an idea pops into your head.

For me, that idea was pet sitting.