Professional Pet Care Specialists and Holiday Stress

Dec 23, 2019   Tracey Aston   Hiring a Pet Sitter

Professional Pet Care Specialists work 24/7 and yes, that means holidays too! In all honesty, this time of year is normally extremely busy for them. In addition to all the decorating, baking, shopping and festivity planning, they are working long days, traveling frequently and fighting traffic and possibly inclement weather.  There are no days off, sick days or bad weather days – pets need fed, walked and cared for at all times, even holidays.

Professional Pet Care Specialists spend a good bit of their day walking pets. In areas without sidewalks, passing cars or speeding motorist can pose a safety risk for Professional Pet Care Specialists. This risk is doubled during inclement weather and busy drivers rushing to get their errands run during the holidays.

Professional Pet Care Specialists must always be available as pets depend on them for their wellbeing. This can mean having to drive in inclement weather – snow, ice and even during a state of emergency.  Even during good weather conditions, Professional Pet Care Specialists spend a part of their day driving between appointments and must always be aware of distracted drivers, traffic laws and traffic conditions.

Our article Are You Emotionally Ready to be a Pet Sitter details some of what a Professional Pet Care Specialist goes through on a daily basis.

Responsible pet sitting requires a high level of dedication, care and service to those who have trusted you with their furry family members.  Add to that, a lot of Professional Pet Care Specialists are small business owners and as such are more prone to experiencing stress and burnout from running a full time business in addition to caring for animals themselves.  Caring for an animal, putting their needs above your own, is very emotionally demanding -every pet sitter wants to the best for both their human and furry clients.

Pet sitting can come with a wide array of emotional challenges, such as stress, anxiety and exhaustion.  It's not uncommon for those in pet services to feel isolated -there's no time off, no sick time and schedules often include evenings, weekends, and holidays.  They must remember schedules, client phone numbers, employee phone numbers and emergency numbers, medication schedules and animal routines.  Professional Pet Care Specialists care, deeply, that's why they are in the business they are in. They care about the animals in their care, bond with them, look forward to seeing them and want the best for them, and because of this, yes, worry about them.  Professional Pet Care Specialists give 100%, to every client, all day long.

This is never truer than around the holidays, when their work load is doubled, colder weather is present and decorations are around. Professional Pet Care Specialists are constantly going from the cold of the outdoors, to the warmth of a house, to the cold of their parked car, which may or may not have warmed up the by time they reach their next destination.

A professional Pet Care Specialist will be remembering routines, schedules and medications for all pets in their care, while making sure the pets aren't trying to sneak a peek at the presents or bring down a holiday tree.

Professional Pet Care Specialists do what they do because they love what they do, but it doesn't come without stress, anxiety and planning. Professional Pet Care Specialists will want all their clients, both human and furry to enjoy the wonders of the holiday season and will be out there making sure all are taken care of.