Bringing home owners and house sitters together
Sitter available
International Pet Sitter and Consummate Animal Lover
United States
Testimonials
They have 23 testimonials (view below)
Pet experience
Dog(s), Cat(s), Chicken(s), Rabbit(s), Rodent(s)
Police check
They have a police check
Availability
From: 2 Mar 2025
Until: 21 Sep 2030
Occupation
Not stated
References
They have referees/references (view below)
About this sitter
Hi, my name is Anika Clay and two of my greatest loves are animals and travel/ learning about new cultures. I am also a former (well, post injury) samba dancer, performer, and teacher, a yoga instructor, and an editor. My passions besides animals include dance and music, history, art, architecture, working with children, and meeting people from around the world. I love both the city and the country. I've lived in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Istanbul, and Brazil. I am vaccinated and do not smoke.
Why they want to house sit
I have loved animals and been an animal person since I was aa child and have always felt a very deep connection with them. I have cared for, rescued, fostered, and/or owned dogs and cats for 20 years and am very active in animal rescue. Before I owned a dog, I was always volunteering to walk and play with my friends' pets as I genuinely enjoy spending time with them. I'm a bit of a dog/cat whisperer, am endlessly patient with all pets, and form close bonds with animals. Wild or domesticated, they are all thinking and feeling individuals, and I'm very attentive to their needs and moods. It seems quite natural and ideal to be able to connect with them while pursuing traveling, one of my other passions. I enjoy slow travel, staying in one spot and getting to know the culture, so pet-sitting allows me to spend quality time in a country while being less lonely on the road and make new animal friends. I am part of a women's travel group and a member asked if someone would take care of her dogs while on holiday. I volunteered, had a great experience, and realized it's a wonderful way to combine my passions.
Their experience
I have several years of petsitting experience and decades of fostering, caring for, and owning animals. I have plenty of 5 star reviews and great references.
What can they bring to the assignment
I'm truly an animal person and am fully invested in making sure your fur family is healthy, feeling good physically and emotionally, and well taken care of. I am very patient and truly don't mind cleaning up messes or dealing with medical or behavioral issues. I have fostered, volunteered with, and owned rescues and am very aware of the special needs of animals that have been mistreated or on the streets. I have experience with dogs and cats from newborns to senior. As I have a pet of my own and travel when I can, I understand how important it is to have a pet sitter who genuinely cares for and enjoys animals. I'm very experienced and have taken care of animals all over the world and done a lot of rescue and fostering! Usually it is through friends or people I have met traveling, and I'm excited to find this website to get to know even more sweet furry creatures in different places.
Last updated:
28 Feb 2025
Available to house sit
, Africa, Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Caribbean, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Laos, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Middle East, Monaco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, North East Asia, Norway, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South East Asia, South Korea, South Pacific, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam
Availability dates
From: 2 Mar 2025
Until: 21 Sep 2030
Do they charge?
They don't charge for house sitting services
Personal details
Membership
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References
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Sitemap
MindMyHouse.com – https://www.mindmyhouse.com/owners/sitter_listing/61182
Testimonials
I can't recommend Anika enough!
I can't recommend Anika enough! This was the second time she has sat for me, and she once again exceeded all expectations. While I was away, Roger had a medical scare, and Anika handled the situation with incredible grace and thoughtfulness. She kept me informed throughout, stayed calm under pressure, and made sure Roger was safe and well cared for. On top of that, Anika is extremely organized and flexible. It's clear she genuinely cares about the pets she looks after. I’m so grateful for her help and will definitely be reaching out to her again in the future. Highly recommend!
Caroline, United States, 13 November, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
We highly recommend her
Leaving your pet is never easy and when it is a senior dog, it is that much more difficult. Anika was knowledgable and resourceful, enthusiastic and so kind. We highly recommend her! Our Rosie connected with her right at "hello". We had never worked with Anika before but she made herself available, stayed longer to make sure she met both of us, and made us feel very confident of her ability to care for Rosie and our home. Anika kept us up to speed with fun and informative messages and photos and went to the trouble to put down some yoga mats to help Rosie walk more confidently! We are SO happy to have found Anika. She went above and beyond. It is not easy with senior dogs...Rosie walks slowly, takes a little medicine and needs some inspiration from time to time. We highly recommend Anika and hope she'll come back. Thank you Anika! Rosie misses you already.
Mark & Suzanne, United States, 31 October, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
Anika was amazing
Anika was amazing. She rescued us from a tricky situation, and was very understanding about the state of things while we arranged for cleaners. She was so good with the pets, and we could tell that she was tuned into them right away. Definitely the person you want looking out for your babies while you're away. I'd give her a million stars if i could.
Ram, United States, 24 October, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
Anika was great
Anika was great-- she had some of the worst travel luck ever- multiple flight cancellations, etc... and was prompt to let me know and help problem solve. I was glad we got a little overlap time to connect in person when we got home. Hope we cross paths again as she's a rad person!
Candace, United States, 17 October, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
We highly recommend her
Anika took exceptional care of our two cats, Merlu and Mini, during her stay. Both cats quickly bonded with her, especially our shy cat Mini, who hasn’t warmed up to anyone like this before. It’s clear they both miss her! Anika was fantastic at keeping us updated with wonderful videos of their playtime and left the house immaculate. She was incredibly self-sufficient, handling check-in and departure remotely with ease. We highly recommend her as a reliable and caring housesitter.
Emily, Switzerland, 10 October, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
Anika was terrific
Anika was terrific and we were so very pleased to have her take care of our two cats. She was reliable, responsible and organized about the travel and the sit - and most important of all, she was very caring and concerned about befriending our two cats and taking great care of them! She took the time to keep us informed about them while we were away on our trip and sent updates, pics and videos, which always means a lot. Also, she was clean and responsible and left our house even neater and cleaner when she departed. She really bonded and took great care of our cats and we most heartily recommend her!
Lisa, Bulgaria, 10 October, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
I can only recommend Anika
I can only recommend Anika, she is definitely very gifted with pets, attentive to their needs and personality. She got very close to my cat in a short time and my cat was falling for her, as I could see from many cute pics they were sending me regularly. Anika was also very self-sufficient and communicative. The flat was tidy and in great condition and my cat calm and happy as a relaxed as a zen monk
Iveta, Czech Republic, 11 September, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
A wonderful pet sitter
Anika was a wonderful pet sitter for our two small dogs Maisie and Luna. She was friendly, reliable and formed a lovely bond with both dogs. I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Anika for a sit to anyone and we would be delighted to welcome her back to our home in the future. I think our dogs miss her already
Victoria, Spain, 13 August, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
A wonderful pet sitter
Anika was a wonderful house- and cat-sitter while we were away! I felt that Anika was both organized and reliable, which was important to me as I was often without cell service or internet over the 9 days. She took excellent care of Cam and was self-sufficient with both his care and the apartment while I was unavailable, and when I did have service she'd send an update with cute pics of him snuggled up in bed or chilling on the couch. Cam had also been sickly in recent months leading up to our trip, and Anika was very attentive during her stay to monitoring his condition and keeping him on his elaborate medication schedule. Returning home after a full day of travel to a clean apartment and a happy cat was the best feeling!!
Alexa, United States, 26 July, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
Super kind
Anika is super kind and took fantastic care of Moose! He was in a great mood when I returned home after three weeks away. Anika sent pictures/videos of him every few days which helped me feel comfortable about him being reliably cared for. When I returned the bedding had been stripped/cleaned and the flat was generally tidy and maintained. Last star withheld due to some difficulties in communication/responsiveness, as well as some cleanliness oversights (a bit of trash left behind, large items left out of place, floor not vacuumed, overwhelming litter box smell) which weren't great coming home to after 19 hours of travel. However, I would still recommend Anika despite these issues.
Danielle, United Kingdom, 05 June, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
Great job
Anika did a great job taking care of my two kitties and sending regular updates! They loved her right away and I came home to two very happy kitties. She also cleaned up around the apartment before leaving which was much appreciated.
Amanpreet, United States, 25 April, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
My cats were well taken care of
Anika was great and my cats were well taken care of. She left my house spotless and everything in order. We did have some communication issues once or twice, but we were on very different time zones. She did check in and would respond when I needed her to. She even went above and beyond and picked up an errand for me as well as responded to my neighbors when there was a question regarding the building. This was my first time so I was a bit nervous. However, my cats and home were perfectly fine when I returned. I would definitely use Anika again and recommend her to others.
Amanda, United States, 06 March, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
Anika is an excellent resource
Anika is an excellent resource! I would definitely invite her back again. She was communicative, flexible, tidy, and took really great care of my animals.
Orly, United States, 05 February, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
Experienced sitter
Anika is a very experienced sitter who has an intuitive, heart centered and very thoughtful connection to pets. My young male scaredy-cat wanted to meet her when she came over for introductions/ keys-- and he hides from EVERYONE! I trusted her to take excellent care of my fur babies, plants and home, and I'm glad I did! She provided updates and photos throughout my trip, and understood the relational dynamics between my cats like a pet psychologist. She saw their vulnerabilities and strengths, then protected and connected with them accordingly. I came home to happy cats, healthy plants, and a tidy home. Looking forward to her next sit!
Hunter, United States, 02 February, 2024(This was sourced from another website)
A gret help
Anika was a great help while I was gone during Christmas. My cat came down with an ear infection before my trip and she was willing and able to care for him while I was away. I would love to host her again!
Ana, United States, 21 December, 2023(This was sourced from another website)
A great help
Anika is a GEM of a sitter! She is honestly probably the best sitter we have ever had. She communicated really well and regularly without us having to prompt an update. She fulfilled our requests exactly as we had laid out without issue. And most importantly, she bonded with our two kitties in a very short amount of time. Our Kiki especially has a very difficult time with new sitters and struggles with separation anxiety. She never truly warms up completely to sitters on a first sit, she sometimes hisses and never wants to be touched, but Anika calmly let Kiki lead their interactions and by day 3 Anika was already getting Kiki to let down her guard and be loved on. By the last couple days Kiki was purring (unheard of with strangers!!) and talking up a storm to her new friend. I was shocked! Anika has a very calm demeanor that is just pleasant to interact with and I imagine many animals just feel at ease in her presence. Our kitties needed to be let outside most days and Anika had no problem feeling comfortable doing this and getting the kitties back in. When we returned we could tell our home and our animals were treated with great respect. We have had some sitters on this app want to stay with cats because they really just want a low maintenance place to stay, but Anika truly invests time with the animals she is sitting and has many people who she sits for regularly for this reason...hopefully including us! We would have her back any time she is free in the future and we could not recommend her enough. Thank you Anika for being so kind and gentle with our creatures!!
Anna, United States, 20 November, 2023(This was sourced from another website)
Splendid, reliable, responsible and relaxed
Anika was splendid—reliable, responsible, and relaxed. She was a repeat sitter for me so she already knew and was fond of my cats, and they of her. I was traveling to a fraught family event and I did not have to worry about my cats at all, or ask for updates—Anika let me know everything was fine.
Annie, United States, 15 November, 2023(This was sourced from another website)
Took great care of our cats
Anika took great care of our cats, consistently offering updates and photos to keep us in the loop. Communication before the sitting had its challenges due to her frequent travels, and we got the trip confirmation close to the date. Despite the difficulties, Anika went above and beyond, making every effort to fulfill her commitment and managing to attend as planned. Her effective communication during the sitting kept us reassured about our pets' well-being.
Andrea, Cyprus, 13 October, 2023(This was sourced from another website)
Anika was amazing
Anika was amazing, when we got home we found a very happy cat! She was proactive in communicating with us and managed to solve a few issues in the house without fuss. We also found a very clean house, which is not always the case, so thank you Anika. We’d recommend her to anyone in a heartbeat!
Francesca, Italy, 01 July, 2023(This was sourced from another website)
Anika did a very good job
Anika did a very good job with the cats. She sent updates and photos along the way. You can tell she really loves animals. My plants also thrived while I was gone. She was helpful when I needed her to look for something and send photos as well.
Rebecca, Turkey, 13 June, 2023(This was sourced from another website)
A great sitter
A really great sitter for my dog. He loved her and I know he received very good care from her.
Rebecca, Tunisia, 24 April, 2023(This was sourced from another website)
Thanks
Thanks to Anika I was able to visit my family for orthodox Easter with a broken leg! She stayed in our house for 4 days and took care of my two cats, plus fed some stray kitties that live outside my door daily. She cared and played with them and gave them the attention they needed and I returned home to find them both calm, happy and relaxed :)
Naya, Greece, 13 April, 2023(This was sourced from another website)
Anika did a great job
Anika did a great job of bonding with my rescue cats, who I’d been worried about leaving with a housesitter for the first time. She took great care of them, and thanks to the photos and videos she sent through, I felt comfortable that they were happy while I was away.
Suzie, Greece, 11 March, 2023(This was sourced from another website)