Mature professional female with 25+ years experience of house/pet-sitting

About this sitter

Mature reliable professional female, based in Dublin, with over 25 years of house/pet-sitting experience all over Europe for dogs, cats, horses, goats, etc., including animals with additional health needs. Please note that I can no longer sit for indoor-only cats due to a recently-developed allergy (I'm OK with cats that go outdoors).

I am fully-insured, and have a current valid UK DBS check (which (police + legal records). I unfortunately lost all of my previous testimonials from Mind My House (and Trusted Housesitters) after having to take a break from house- & pet-sitting, but I am trying to re-contact previous people for whom I have sat to ask them to re-add their reviews to this new profile.

I'm looking for house- and pet-sits for responsible owners with well-behaved & trained pets, who want to be assured that their homes & pets will be cared for properly, and will be happy & relaxed when they return.

Please note that:

- I hold a full clean UK driving licence but don't have a car, so for rural sits I can only accept them if you provide transport & required insurance
- I won't accept sits where the sitter is expected to contribute to cost of utilities, heating fuel, maintenance, animal feed, etc)
- for short notice sits, and sits outside of Europe, I will only accept them if the home/pet-owner pays for the full costs of travel.

Why they want to house sit

I have always loved animals, and as a child had dogs, cats, horses (and a golden pheasant which my father found injured & I helped nurse back to health!). I started looking after neighbours' and friends' families' pets in the 1990s, and that quickly evolved into house- and pet-sitting in other cities, and then once the internet evolved, in other countries. My love of travel, both personally and for work, means that I'm not able to have my own pets.

I love meeting new animals friends (and their owners), and experiencing new scenery & cultures through them. I also like the fact that by caring for an animal in its home environment, as it is less stressful for them than being put in a kennel/cattery, and removes all associated risk of emotional upset, anxiety and ill-health.

Their experience

I have over 25 years of house- and pet-sitting experience in many different countries across Europe, both in cities and in the countryside. I've lived & worked in many countries, so I am used to adapting quickly to new environments & cultures. I speak English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, but I can usually pick up sufficient words & phrases in other languages quite quickly to be able to communicate.

I'm experienced at caring for lots of different animals, including dogs, cats, horses, goats, chickens, etc., including animals with additional health needs & need medication, a special diet or exercise regime, etc. Please note I can't sit for cats which only live indoors now, as I've developed an allergy recently to some indoor-only cats: the allergy is fine if the cats spend time outdoors.

Please note: I had to take a break from house- and pet-sitting for a few years, and unfortunately as a result lost all of the prior testimonials I had on this site and on TrustedHousesitters. I am still trying to re-contact previous hosts to renew those historic testimonials.

What can they bring to the assignment

As mentioned above, I am well-travelled, adaptable & reliable and speak several languages. You can be assured that your pets will be happy, relaxed and calm when you return, and your house clean & tidy and in full working order.

I've renovated 3 properties in 2 different countries, so have pretty good DIY skills. In my 30 years of house/pet-sitting I've successfully dealt with a number of property & animal emergencies, including storm damage to property, heating/power issues, illness and injuries, so if anything did happen, you can be assured it will be dealt with calmly and sensibly.

I no longer have my own car as I live in a city & cycle everywhere, but I've had a full clean driving licence since 1988, so if you have a vehicle I can use, it is an option for you to insure me to use it whilst you are away.