When I’m caught up in the day-to-day, I don’t appreciate how far I’ve come. But when I look back at all the changes, experiences and growth of this past year, Wow.
I was cleaning up some files on my computer yesterday and I decided to delete my pet sitting reference materials. Yes, I was a pet sitter.
Six months ago, when impending divorce became a reality and I first realized I was going to be completely on my own, my mind went into overdrive about ways to increase my income and support myself.
One career that I’ve always thought would be fun and I’d like to give a try was to be a pet sitter. We used to have two cats and I knew that our pet sitter, YJ, made a very nice living, and I love animals, so I thought – I could do that! I called YJ and asked if she could use any help over the summer. Of course she could.
My very first client was a black cocker spaniel named Kala. On the very detailed instruction sheet that came with the clients’ keys was a note that began “Kala is very old. If you should arrive and find her dead…..”
The first evening I went to visit Kala she was very happy to see me. We played for a little bit, went for a brief walk, cleaned the water bowl and filled it with fresh water and ice, prepared two different kinds of dog food, searched the backyard for poops, and did doggie treats. Kala was a sweetheart and we bonded. The visit paid $9.00.
The next morning, I arrived at Kala’s house and called for her at the front door, and there was no answer. I went in the house and starting calling around for her and, and no Kala. I went into the kitchen and there she was, lying under a chair, dead.
I got really upset. Kala was my friend! I went outside the house and called the owner of the company, YJ, who was became very upset and said she’d be right over.
So there I am waiting outside the house in shock and in mourning (didn’t want to sit there waiting in the “death house”), with Mozart’s Lacrymosa running through my head, when YJ pulls up, tears streaming down her face. She’s a total animal lover and her and Kala apparently go way back. So now YJ’s trying to comfort me through her own tears, saying things like “well, we knew she’s an old dog and this could happen…”
So YJ turns the key in the lock and Kala comes bounding to the door all barking and happy to see us like her death never happened. We were both ecstatic and I felt like an idiot. YJ was jubilantly exclaiming “It’s Lazarus! Risen from the dead!”
I said to YJ, “but she wasn’t even moving!” YJ said “did you try kicking her?” No. Then YJ said she keeps a mirror with her so that if an animal appears dead, she’ll hold the mirror up to it’s nose to see if it’s still breathing, which would indicated just a very sound sleep.
Ok. Who knew.
So that was my initiation. I thought I couldn’t possibly do anything dumber and it couldn’t possibly get any more stressful than that. But I did. And it did.
As a pet sitter, there’s so much detail, and each detail is very important. You’re responsible on a daily basis for the lives of the babies of your client, and if you just leave one door partially open a beloved pet could get away.
And a side personal note here – I’m the kind of person that when I go on a long trip, I always have to return to the house after I’ve driven 3 blocks to double check that the coffee pot is off, the iron is unplugged and all the doors are locked.
One house had 5 cats and a detached garage. I cleaned up the litter and went to put it outside, and when I returned to the house I realized I had left the door open behind me. None of the cats had gotten out, but it took me and YJ a one-hour search to confirm that. Cats are good hiders.
That was the same house with the one-of-a-kind hand-made cat dish that could feed 3 cats at once. When I was filling it with food, I had it too close to the edge of the counter and one of the cats jumped up, knocked it off the counter, and it broke.
Then there were the dogs I went to visit and the house was 97 degrees because the air conditioner had broken and the dogs were panting from the heat and peeing all over the carpet. Don’t ask.
My career in pet sitting lasted 2 weeks. It is no longer one of my sweet fantasies. Our romantic expectations never match the reality, do they?
