Physician Available for House and Petsitting

About this sitter

I am a retired physician seeking house sitting opportunities again, starting in April 2025


I am active in communities that explore the interface of depth psychology and spirituality.

I spend a few months each year with my 88-year-old father on his 40-acre property near Hudson, NY. I helped him build two of the houses there by hand in the 1980s, before we had electricity on the property. He still does construction projects and operates heavy equipment (!). I assist him when I am there. You can see a photo of my father and my younger daughter Hannah at his farm in one of the photos.

I am looking for housesits in places that we can drive to (USA/Canada) or are accessible by public transportation in other countries - open to a variety of locations.

Why they want to house sit

I enjoy exploring different places - to experience new areas and people. Sometimes I am invited to teach/offer events for people in different locations.

My father and niece have pets, but I do not presently have pets of my own - housesitting gives me an opportunity to enjoy and care for them for a period of time while traveling.

Their experience

I have been house sitting for about 6 months a year since 2022. I have taken care of multiple dogs, a cat with chronic pancreatitis in Slovenia for a month, another cat that needed twice weekly subcutaneous fluid infusions, and both healthy and elderly dogs. Medical complexity, blood or body fluids - these are not a problem.

In the past, my family has had several cats, and many dogs - mostly larger ones (several German Shepherds and Collies, a Lab-Shepherd mix, and a rescued Greyhound), but also a border collie and hound mix.
We have had pet garter and corn snakes, painted and box turtles, Egyptian spiny mice, hedgehogs, white mice and rats as pets, as well as guinea pigs, gerbils, a parakeet and a rabbit. 50+ years ago, we had 4 kestrels as pets when we explored a bit of falconry.

There is a Husky along with 2 cats presently on my father's property that my niece cares for. There are also horses that a neighbor keeps there for grazing.

I have owned two homes, and I helped my father build the house on his property from scratch back before there was any electricity or portable power tools, so I can do minor repairs and diagnostics on older vehicles and some household items and structures.

These are the housesits I have done and have been accepted for so far:

[MOST OF THESE HAVE BEEN ON THE housecarers.com website, so you can find me there under SolidSoul; I have not done any with mindmyhouse yet]:

June-August 2022. Lamy, New Mexico.
Plant care, including removing aphids from plants manually without chemicals. Aphids were still gone the next year when I housesat again.

October 2022-February 2023. Arroyo Seco, New Mexico. I housesat for a total of 13+weeks for Kitty and Joe in three segments over this 5 month period. Cared for 14 year old Labrador Guido - feeding, giving meds, walking twice daily outside, and plant care. I repaired their wood stove and unplugged the weather station on their roof. When the owners returned for a week or two, I accepted two other housesits (below)

December 2022, Los Alamos, New Mexico. Walked and fed three dogs (Charles, Roxy, Missy) three times a day for Angel, fed and watered 10 chickens for 1 week

February 2023 Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico. Walked and fed 2 year old Anatolian Shepherd/Lab mix, Yama, at Kelly's off-grid solar house for 8 days.

June 2023-late August 2023. Lamy, New Mexico.
Housesitting at Wendy's house - plant care, fixed broken cabinet and vacuum cleaner, other minor repairs...

late Aug - early Sept 2023. Pojoaque, New Mexico.
House sat for an elderly dog and cat for 12 days. The cat needed subcutaneous infusions of fluid and multiple medications on a regular basis

Late Dec 2023-late Jan 2024 Ljubljana, Slovenia. I took care of an elderly cat for one month that needs multiple medications.

late Feb 2024-late Sept 2024 Spent 6 months housesitting in Jemez Pueblo, NM for a couple without pets.

Late Dec 2024-early Jan 2025 10 days housesitting outside of Santa Fe, NM for two 75- pound dogs

What can they bring to the assignment

Responsibility, attention to details, medical expertise, and general competence, including some basic maintenance and repairs.

Excellent recommendations ( All of the housesits involving pets in the section above have been through housecarers.com.You can find my profile and recommendations there under the name SolidSoul.

I am a non-smoker, minimal drinking (2 ounces of wine once a fortnight at dinner), no drugs, quiet - don't party. I have been conscientious with the lives and well-being of the people who come to me for assistance in my professional life, and also with other people's property.

While not a veterinarian, I am quite comfortable with complex and messy medical situations in animals.

I worked as an ER physician for over 25 years - ER docs at rural hospitals tend to become a jack-of-all-trades. I studied auto mechanics back in the day when there was plenty of room under the hood and less computerized components in vehicles. I am able to do some minor maintenance and repairs, run tractors and fix some equipment. I am very comfortable with wood and pellet stoves, and have repaired doors and a wood stove at some of the housesits.