9 Reasons Why Cats Need Daily Pet Sitter Visits—and Not Lose All 9 Lives!

Cats just love doing their own thing, whenever, wherever, all by themselves. Everything seems to be on their own terms. They may be independent, self-sufficient, and can land and stand on all fours, but obviously, they can’t pick up the phone to call you to come over, fix themselves some chow, get their own water, and clean up their own mess.

You probably think that you can save more than a few bucks by having cat sitting visits every other day or longer, but don’t dare break Murphy’s Law. Anything can and do happen within the 24-hour period. Unless your cat is one of the video game characters with unlimited tries and 1-ups, he or she only has one life per lifetime.

Game over. Period. Continue reading →

10 Random Geekified Facts on Pet Breeds

Fun, reliable pet sitting and house sitting
Pico “Piccolo” declares and celebrates the Chiweenie Heritage Month.

Fun, reliable pet sitting and house sitting.

I enjoy a great deal of cross-cultural, linguistic, and literary geekery, especially when paired with the animal kingdom.

That said, I’ve compiled a few fun facts on that intersection. Impress your fellow critter lovers with this trivia list of artful doggery! Continue reading →

Best 7 Natural Products for You, Your Pets, and Your Home

Cat TP

Keeping our living space clean is one of those duties that we pet owners especially can’t avoid. You can use any old products to clean, but typical products don’t clean well or are even harmful. Adding more harmful stuff to get things extra clean definitely won’t help matters.

My friend and I previously worked in facilities that required some hazmat training. When you work at a factory or for some other type of company where your job involves working with chemicals, the company is legally mandated to post warnings in the form of very detailed manuals—some of which are as thick as phone books—of all the ingredients in those chemicals and all the possible resulting symptoms from their use. The chemicals in home-use cleaning products are the exact same ones that require regulation and warnings in factories. However, there is no such warning requirement placed on chemical manufacturers who sell their products for home use.

Considering the cumulative effect of toxic chemicals seeping into your system when you spend all your time cleaning with typical cleaners and using typical hygienic or grooming products for you and your pets, it only makes perfect sense to switch to natural products, especially if you have four- and/or two-legged kids scampering about in your home. Continue reading →

Pet Reading: What’s Your Pet Thinking?
Typical daily thoughts of pets.
Typical daily thought of pets.

Have you always wondered what your pet is thinking or feeling? Has it ever crossed your mind that he or she has an important message or life lesson for you?

Pet reading gives you insight on your pet’s physical and emotional state or issues, as well as your own. Although pet reading and pet communication are both used together to get a complete picture of the animal’s condition, pet reading is not the same as pet communication. In pet reading, your pet simply tells you his or her thoughts, feelings, and problems, while in pet communication, humans and pets aim to resolve issues collaboratively. Pet communication, combined with pet psychology, are called for pet behavioral issues to correct temper tantrums and potential or existing health problems. Neurotoxins often cause mood disorders and illnesses such as cancer, all of which affect pet behavior. As domesticated animals are evolving and very sophisticated, it’s helpful to use various tools such as pet readings, pet communication, and pet psychology for their well-being.

On the human side, pet reading is a glimpse into our life journey. In the Taoist school of thought, the environment or nature is our teacher. Animals are more than just our companions. They are also our guides and teachers, often sent to work on our problems in this lifetime for the growth of our souls on the earth plane. The behavior of animals often mirrors the internal state of their caretakers. Continue reading →

Dude, Where’s My Spell Checker? The Case for Good Writing

I love cooking my family and pets

There’s been so much ongoing debate on what constitutes professionalism in the pet care industry. Is it much ado about nothing—nothing more than having certain pieces of paper to prove that you’re legit?

In the words of Grumpy Cat:

Grumpy Cat How About No

A much better (and often unfortunately overlooked) way to showcase our professionalism is having an excellent command of a particular language—English in our case.

This is yet another component in the theme of projecting a professional online image and presentation in the pet industry.

Great communication helps us establish and maintain rapport with prospective and current clients. It’s how we easily distinguish ourselves from the kid-next-door types who can probably only do textspeak! Continue reading →

The Multipotentialite Advantage: Why My Wacky, Eclectic Background Is an Asset to the Pet Industry—and All Other Industries!

Pet sitting, house sitting, cat sitting

Passions are like potato chips. No one can have just one.

That’s how we multipotentialites/polymaths/scanners/Renaissance personalities/Jacks and Jills of all trades roll. We flit from one interest to another, picking up a bunch of stuff and diving deep into it, then ditching it, going to the next new thing, then back the old thing again. Repeat cycle ad infinitum.

I’d always been A-OK with my plural nature—until society said that it wasn’t. And it’s still sticking to its guns. There’s always been real pressure to specialize because financial security is top priority, especially if you come from an immigrant community like I do.

I’ve always been a swan in a pond full of ducks. For the longest time, I’ve felt alone and inadequate, being judged for not being able to settle with one thing permanently.

A lot of us multipotentialites have been branded as freaks, slackers, flaky, unfocused, irresponsible, and easily distracted. (SQUIRREL!)

Yes, I’m definitely freaky and guilty of squirrel pursuit, but slacker? Heck, no.

It takes a lot of effort to spin many plates. Multipotentiality isn’t for couch potatoes. Continue reading →

How to Prepare for Your Pet Sitter or House Sitter

Ready, get set, go!

Now that you have your trip schedule all set, it’s time to find a pet sitter or house sitter. Maybe this is your first time to use a sitter or you’re switching to another sitter. Here’s a handy guide to make things go more easily and smoothly for everyone—and every pet! Continue reading →

The Legend of Scott Dinsmore: A Link to the Past, Present, and Future

Live Your Legend creed

Here’s something NPSR—non-pet sitting-related, a favorite acronym among pet care pros.

I’ve already lined up some sundry, not-usually-yapped-about animal-themed topics for this blog, but I interrupt my regularly scheduled blog program to take the time to remember a good friend and mentor, Scott Dinsmore of Live Your Legend.

He practically died for his cause—living his legend in his rather short 32 years on Planet Earth while trekking across it as part of his nomadic, off-the-grid adventure that kicked off last year. Continue reading →

How and Where to Look for a Pet Sitter or House Sitter
Pico wants you to get a pet sitter!
Pico wants you to get a pet sitter so your fur kid can chill out like he does. 🙂

So you’re about ready to book your fab weekend getaway or a cruise. Or duty calls you to go out of town. Who’s got you covered for keeping your animals company and your home secure? You’ve got to find a sitter, but where to look for one? Continue reading →