Roy

Profile Updated 12th May 2024 

Celebrating 11 years as a petsitter, dog walker and housesitter. To date I have looked after pets and walked dogs every day for the last 3604 days. To date, I have looked after cats, dogs, birds, fish, snakes, rabbits, and lizards as an ABN registered petsitter and dog walker.

My record was feeding 79 cats at one location where my customer was actively looking for homes for feral cats. 

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Who am I? As an ABN registered business I provide a 24-hour professional and reliable pet care service and have looked after pets over the last 6 years with each visit being at least one hour. I do not believe 40 minutes is enough time with your loved ones. With a 24-hour service, I often take calls in the early hours of the morning (eg 2 am) to help pet owners who have an emergency or need someone to look after their pets urgently.

When covid hit Sydney I was receiving calls from other petsitters and dog walkers telling me they were out of action and could I temporarily look after their customers pets until they were back on their feet. Visited their homes at the height of covid with full protection as many of my customers were down with covid themselves.

I have experience looking after pets that have health issues such as suffering from diabetes and each visit I do a quick health check on the pets to make sure they are not stressed or otherwise unwell. I am trained in giving injections and providing medication as needed.

I send pictures of the pets to the owners daily or as required as well as cleaning litter boxes, watering plants, checking the mailbox and checking the home is secure each day.

Before walking dogs, I check that the pavement and asphalt are not too hot for the dogs to walk on. Injuries received by dogs walking on hot surfaces are avoided by canceling the walk and notifying the customer. I make sure the dogs never step on glass, eat food left on the street or do anything which may harm them or make them sick. Dogs are always on leash unless we are at a fenced-in dog park and the owner is happy for the dog to be off-leash.

I always check with the customer first before giving the dog treats. Some dogs have allergies or are limited by vets to what they should eat so I always check with the owner first. 

I have looked after animals for friends and family for over 30 years which gave me the experienced of dealing with animals that may be stressed while the owner is away. I love animals and decided to change my career from working in the computer industry to a much happier career... looking after cats, dogs, rabbits, snakes, fish, etc.

I have looked after animals for friends and family for over 30 years which gave me the experience of dealing with animals that may be stressed while the owner is away. I love animals and decided to change my career from working in the computer industry to a much happier career... looking after cats, dogs, rabbits, snakes, fish, etc.

One of the first jobs was a lady in the Northern Suburbs who was receiving complaints from the council because her dog was barking during the day and neighbors were getting upset. She hired me to go around and walk the dog twice a day and told me about what was happening with the council complaints. On my second day, I found out what was happening. The customer was leaving the dog biscuits in his bowl outside when she went to work. Unfortunately, 2 magpies knew the food was there and would fly down and steal the food. The dog would see the birds at his bowl and start barking loudly. The problem was that every time the dog saw a bird in the backyard he would bark at the bird to scare it away before it ate his food. I let the customer know what was happening and she installed a doggy door and left the food inside..... no more magpies and no more complaints from the council.

 I am now in my 11th year as a business looking after pets and walking dogs every day and in my 8th year working with Pawshake. My record for the number of animals I have looked after for a family was one lady who has 2 cats inside the house but she also asked me to feed the feral cats that turned up each day outside for a meal. I counted 79 feral cats in the backyard that the customer was trying to find homes for... I respected her goal of trying to find homes for all these cats but I think the number of cats was getting out of control as it appeared those cats were not desexed. Definitely the most interesting experience I have had over the last 8 years.

I also provide a 24-hour service so I do get calls from pet owners in the early hours of the morning if something unexpected happens. For example, earlier in 2022 I received a call at 2am from a couple who had 2 german shepherds. They had booked a house sitter (not through pawshake) and the housesitter had canceled at the last minute. The dog owners were flying out at 7am.... 5 hours time.... and urgently needed a housesitter. I drove out to the customer at 4:45am, met them and the dogs, checked the keys were working, and looked after the 2 lovely german shepherds for the next 7 days.

Many years ago I heard that the owner of a cat and dog had asked an elderly guy if he could drop in once a day and feed her pets. She then headed overseas. Unfortunately, the elderly gentleman suddenly had a health problem and ended up in hospital. His daughter knew her father was looking after a cat and dog but no one knew the address of where they were....all that was known was that they were in the Inner West area somewhere in a 3 suburb radius. I joined a group of people who searched those suburbs trying to find where the cat and dog would be.... they were locked inside a house. We eventually managed to locate them by listening for barking dogs...used the key the elderly gentleman had and got inside and looked after the dog.

As a result of what happened there, one of the procedures I have in place is to document the address of every home I am currently feeding pets and keep that list at home. If something happened to me, my family knows where those pets are and any medications they are on and can organize a replacement sitter. This is something I recommend every petsitter should do to protect the pets they are looking after.

 While Covid is still in Sydney I continue to wear a mask all times when away from home to protect myself and my customers while we have this pandemic. I still provide same-day service if required for pet-sitting and dog walking. 

----------- A note about 3 specific reviews I was given that need some talking about.

------ First review

A quick note about a review I received from Sunitha 25th June 2022. Sunitha had booked me through Pawshake for 3 weeks to feed her cat twice a day. After I accepted the booking, Sunitha then asked if I could do a third visit at lunchtime as her cat is fed 3 times a day. As 3 meals a day were what the cat expected I agreed to the 3rd visit which I was never paid for. I would do the extra visit for 15 minutes and then go. Her cat needed medication every day as he was easily stressed. The problem was that I then found out her cat hates men and was very angry whenever I was there and was growling at me whenever he saw me. . I found out that it took 2 years for the cat to accept Sunitha's husband which is something I should have been told about before accepting the booking. 

Sunitha said in her review that I had said looking after her cat was difficult. I had never said that. I did say that her cat obviously did not like men and included a picture of her cat with hair sticking up and an arched back. Sunitha agreed and told me on Whatsapp when seeing the picture " He does look very fluffy in the picture so has his guard up" and that was when she told me that it took 2 years before her cat allowed her husband to pet him. With all 63 visits to this cat over 3 weeks, I needed to ensure her cat was not stressed by my being there and also needed to ensure the cat did not injure me. I have been slashed by a cat many years ago and they were deep cuts and hurt like blazes.  

I was asked to do the final visit every day at 7pm which was after dark. One of the issues was that there was no light on outside the front door so that area was pitch black. A few nights before Sunitha returned I was leaving her place while it was pouring with heavy rain and as I went down the stairs in the dark I fell down the stairs and twisted my ankle. I still had 3 homes to visit that night to feed cats and my ankle started swelling so I went back inside and sat on the edge of the bath and ran cold water over my ankle. Not sure what mess Sunitha is referring to but possibly there were footprints on the floor as it was raining outside. Sunitha really needs to have a light outside her front door as I could have been seriously hurt.

On the morning that Sunitha arrived back at Sydney airport at 7 am I was at the pet hospital in North Ryde booking in my elderly cat for surgery. By the time I got over to where Sunitha lived, she had already arrived home. In her review, Sunitha said I should have fed her cat 4 hours before she got home. She got home at 9am so she was suggesting her cat should have been fed at 5 am. Our agreed time was 7am which was when I was at the pet hospital with my cat that morning.... so not sure why she is saying 4 hours.

I was very disappointed with this review from Sunitha. Originlly my messages to Sunitha were going through Pawshake but then Sunitha said she was having issues getting on Pawshake so we swapped to Whatsapp. I sent a message through Whatsapp with pictures every second day letting Sunitha know that either her cat was at most times asleep under the bedsheets or in the kitchen with her back arched when she saw me. I only took a picture once of the cat under the bed sheets and he got a fright...so I never did that again. I visited her cat 63 times over those 3 weeks 21 of which were free and every time her cat saw me is back was arched which means he was on the defensive.....or afraid. He never ran away from me which suggests he was not afraid. I should have been told that her cat hates men and I recommend only female petsitters look after this cat in the future.

------ Second review 

 Update 12th January 2021:

 In the last week I received feedback from Sherrie who gave my service 4 stars out of 5

 thank you :)

 Her feedback has prompted me to tighten up my procedures for looking after pets. Even after looking after pets every day for 7 years there is always room to improve service which I accept. In most cases with my customers all the food is in one place however in this case while the cat's wet food, brushes etc were on the one table her dry food was stored elsewhere. For some reason, I did not see that in the instructions she left me. Her cat received ample food each day so it did not starve but clearly, it should have had dry food as well. 

Affective immediately, instead of my asking customers to leave notes out with instructions I will be bringing a form with me on my first visit in which I will write down where the pet food will be and how much will be given as well as any medication required. The customer will check the form and will sign it is correct.

This extra control will make sure that the pet owner and myself have all the details correct of what will be required and we both sign off the form and the owner will get a copy of the signed for.

------ Third review 

In late December 2019 , we had a number of days in Sydney where the air temperature was 35 degrees by 10 am, which means the concrete and asphalt that dogs walk-on would be around 40 degrees. This is too hot for walking dogs as they can get heatstroke or serious burns to their paws. By midday, the temperatures were even higher. Unfortunately despite doing the right thing by her dog, I have been given my first negative review by a customer for not walking her dog on 4 of those hot days late December while she was overseas. During the Christmas period my phone kept on overheating as well and I could not send my customer pictures every day. Unfortunately, this customer assumed no pictures meant I didn't walk her dog. The customer was fully refunded for the days that I did not walk her dog due to high temperatures and I am disappointed that she decided to give me a negative review for doing the right thing by her dog.