Animal lovers, experienced house sitters

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Hello, we are Karen and Julie. We’re both from Australia, Julie from Sydney and I'm from Perth. As we are between work contracts we are currently housesitting and traveling in London and Europe.

We are both animal lovers, Julie is a keen dog lover and I’m a keen cat lover. We’ve both owned other pets such as chickens and birds, a goat, rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and we’re very good at taking care of humming bird feeders.

We are both homeowners and have a lot of experience with looking after property and dealing with any unexpected problems that may arise. We understand that looking after someone’s home and precious pets is an important responsibility and one that we take seriously and fully embrace.

We are both research scientists and worked in research at the Brentwood VA Hospital, a government run facility in Los Angeles. We have been through rigorous and extensive security checks and police clearances before being authorised to work there.

We are mature, reliable and responsible and caring animal lovers. We appreciate how important pets and homes are to their owners so looking after them will be our top priority while you are away.

Why we want to house sit
A current break between research projects gives us an opportunity to travel and experience different places and communities. We are both very keen travelers who have been fortunate enough to have travelled extensively throughout the world. We have both had the opportunity to live in different places, including London, Los Angeles, Jamaica, Zambia, Zimbabwe and various places in Australia.

A major attraction for us is the opportunity to look after your pets. As we travel so much it’s not possible to have our own pets. We really miss being around animals and having contact with them so love to spend time with them.

We enjoy the experience of house sitting as it gives us the opportunity to travel and immerse ourselves in the local communities and cultures and meet new people. We prefer to stay in a home rather than just flitting through places as a tourist and staying at impersonal hotels.

Our experience
We are both experienced house and pet sitters and will be happy to provide references we have received on other websites and by email.

We love all animals and are experienced and comfortable looking after them. We find that animals respond well to us and we are able to form a good bond with them. We enjoy being around animals and will spend lots of time with your pets, giving them plenty of love and attention. We are both fit and energetic and love taking dogs for walks.

As homeowners ourselves we appreciate how important it is to have your home cared for and looked after. We have a high standard of cleanliness and know how to take good care of your home, treating it as we would our homes and leaving it spotless. We will also treat your neighbours with respect and will be quiet and considerate.

Also as homeowners we have a lot of experience with looking after properties and dealing with problems that may arise.

Our professional backgrounds as research scientists brings us many transferrable skills that we have found useful for house and pet sitting, as well as for life in general. These include good organisational and communication skills, ability to follow instructions and attention to detail.

Our travel experiences have given us an appreciation of other people and their different cultures. It has also made us more adaptable, resourceful and self-sufficient.

We are both non-smokers.

We don’t mind looking after a one bedroom property as we have a single blowup mattress we can put on the floor.

You can go away and enjoy your holiday knowing that your pets and home with be treated with love and care. For extra peace of mind we will keep you updated through emails, photos, texts and skyping as you like.

Some of our pet sitting experiences include:
Remi, an Airedale Terrier puppy who loved running through the vineyard and swimming in the dam.
Max, a maine coon tuxedo, a big cat with a big personality.
Sterling, a gentle pit rescue who loved having his chin scratched and going to the dog park.
Tootie, a cute moggie who would sit on your pillow and prod your head for breakfast.
Spartan, a friendly chocolate lab with cute grey eyebrows.
Mavis, a Jack Russell cross Corgi who had just had back leg surgery so could not put any weight on them and had to be carried outside.
Mushie, a cat with a thyroid problem that needed tablets twice a day.
Lilly, a King Charles Cavalier who was the sweetest dog who LOVED her food!
Smoky, a beautiful rescue cat who loved to chase a laser pointer.
Violet, an impish whippet who kept us entertained with her antics.
Rex, a bearded dragon lizard who loved sitting in the sun during the day.
Ally an elderly black cat who kept forgetting to eat so had to have food brought to her to remind her.
Chrissie a cat who loved to be brushed.
Various birds like budgies and cockatiels.