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Loving animals is an integral part of my life. For decades, my friends and family heard me ask "why can’t I just spend my time loving animals".

My life initially took me in the direction of a traditional career. After getting my Masters in Information Science, I worked as a librarian and also as a freelance back-of-the-book indexer. During that time, I volunteered for various nonprofit organizations and kept a close eye on animal rights issues. Although my volunteer work was rewarding, it wasn't as large a part of my life as my career was. So after 15 years of more traditional employment, I decided to shift gears and I started my pet sitting business.

I also currently work as the Knowledge and Research Manager for Mud Bay, the largest independent pet retailer in the Pacific Northwest. It is focused on healthy, organic, non-toxic food and supplies. Mud Bay is well-known for its knowledgable staff, who are required to take courses in dog and cat nutrition and behavior. My job is to research, write and edit articles on a wide variety of topics within the fields of dog and cat nutrition, health, behavior and care. For example, in the course of just one week I researched and wrote about toxic plants, nutritional approaches to managing seizures in dogs, low-carb vs. grain-free pet foods, supplements and diets for FIV+ cats, and foods that are ideal for cats with early stages of renal failure. This job presents me with opportunities to learn a lot about dog and cat health issues.

Animals - particularly those with special needs - have been important in my life for as long as I can remember. (View photos of some of my pets, both past and present.) As a young child I talked my parents into letting me bring home a sickly chick from a community farm so that I could nurse it back to health. I still remember the dusty smell of her little warm body and the sound of her timid chirp. I spent many sleepless nights watching and worrying about her.

As a teenager, I took care of a neighbor's diabetic cat when the neighbor was away. This cat was a wonderful old fellow who was still pretty playful in his old age. I remember a friend asking me if I was scared to give the cat his shots. Her question took me by surprise because I was more scared of him not getting the shots. It was crucial that he was properly cared for while his owner was away.

In college I had a feisty cockatiel named Bulldozer. After surviving a severe upper respiratory infection, he needed daily injections for a while. (Giving shots to a bird is quite an experience!) For the rest of his life, he hung out in the bathroom when I took showers so the steam would loosen the mucus that built up in his lungs.

In 2005, I adopted Jane Ear from Feline Friends. One of her ears was amputated because when she was rescued, it was a bulging cancerous mass. She was so afraid of most people that the other Feline Friends volunteers thought she was feral. For some reason, Jane Ear was quite tame with me. While she swatted at everyone else who came close to her, she let me pet her and even purred for me. I knew that all she needed was a quiet, calm environment with an understanding care taker. Read more about Jane Ear from an article I wrote for an employee newsletter at a previous employer.

For 15 years I had Meek, a beautiful Bombay cat living with me. Like most Bombays, Meek was extremely talkative, flirtatious, and needed lots of attention. He liked playing hard to get - he was a great tease and knew how to play "cute" so people would walk over to try to touch him. However, just as they got close to him, he would hop up and start to run off; he would then stop and turn around to make sure they were still following him; if they were not following, he would try again. Meek had chronic renal failure (CRF), so he was on a special diet and took medication and supplements that supported kidney function.

I currently have three cats: Snicklefritz (Fritz), Raggedy Andy, and Emma. Fritz and Meek were littermates who both came to live with me in 1994 when they were between 4 and 5 weeks old. Andy joined us in 2008 when he was around 9 years old. Emma joined us in 2010 when she was approximately 9 months old.

Fritz is a typically aloof and independent cat who has only just begun learning how to cuddle. Fritz used to have lots of aches & pains, and was on small doses of aspirin every other day. Luckily losing a small amount of weight made a huge difference in his pain levels and he is now aspirin free. When Meek died in early 2009, Fritz was completely distraught. It took several months for him to return from the depths of sorrow and begin figuring out how to live without his best buddy.

Raggedy Andy is one of the many cats I've rescued from the greenspace behind my home. When I first saw him, I thought he was feral because he took off running into the woods whenever he saw people. After many weeks of dropping dollops of wet cat food in the woods as I walked on the trails, Andy learned to associate me with food. Even so, I was patient as he took 10 months of seeing me several times a day before he trusted me enough to let me touch his head as he safely crouched under my shed. Several more months passed before he would let me actually pet him. After 18 months of this, I took him to the vet to be neutered, get a round of tests, and get vaccinated. Andy tested positive for FIV. Unfortunately cats who have been vaccinated against FIV will test positive for the virus, so I can't be sure that he truly has the virus. However, since I don’t know Andy's history I am treating him as FIV positive. Basically that means giving him immune support supplements and continuing to give him only high-quality, healthy, organic food.

Emma came to me through Feline Friends. When they found her, she was about 6 months old, had a broken jaw, was blind in one eye and visually impaired in the other, and tested positive for FIV. She's my mini-Meek: a tiny Bombay with shiny fur, long muzzle, affectionate, and talkative. She also has an enormous vocabulary of chrips, meows, and grunts - some of them have multiple syllables.

The dogs in my neigbhorhood know me and several of them keep me company when I'm gardening, mowing the lawn, or doing just about anything outside. My two best dog friends are Ginger and Annie.

I also take care of cats who show up on my property looking for food. Those who don't have humans caring for them are taken under my wing. I feed them, re-introduce them to human kindness, and make sure that they get fixed. Feline Friends has been a huge help in these efforts. View photos of some of these rescued cats.

I'm a huge fan of Feline Friends, a non-profit organization offering medical services, refuge, and placement for rescued cats. While a number of organizations help pets who already have human families, Feline Friends' sole focus is on cats who have no people looking out for them. In fact, many of the cats they help have been found after surviving abuse and torture. They come to us with bullets and arrows lodged in them, broken bones, chemical burns... you name the torture, Feline Friends has seen the aftermath. They also have a trap & release spay/neuter program for feral cats. I volunteer at the Cat House (their adoption center) when I'm feeling strong enough to resist the temptation of adopting a bunch of the orphans. When family or friends want to buy me gifts (for birthdays or holidays) they know that my biggest wish is for them to make a donation to Feline Friends.

I GoodSearch for Feline Friends!