|
Update on Gussy, who I posted about below: 11/27/2017 Gus’s family said goodbye to him last night. The family had asked me at the last minute to care for him over Thanksgiving but I couldn’t because not only was I booked up but Gus had diabetes and sometimes wouldn’t eat which meant our visits required double—and sometimes even triple— the amount of time I had to give. Naturally, I never told his human how difficult it was to sit for him and always found a way to make it happen regardless; but not this time. I just didn’t have the wiggle room. There’s part of me that wishes I could have said yes just because I would have wanted him to see his end with the same sitter who--unfortunate timing as it was--dragged him around to vets during Christmas holiday 2015 to get him diagnosed with his diabetes in the first place but when she sent me this text last night when I was buying Christmas items at Target at 9 PM, I thought: you’ve already made a difference; you’ve done what you needed to do, and now you even have this text to prove it. Love you, Gus. (AKA: Gussy, GussyGoo, Gustard, and Chitosan Man, since he always had to have a chitosan pill before eating and getting his shot). Run and be happy, Gus, and thank you for making us better people for having known you.  This page on my site is no longer being updated, simply because in the course of my pet sitting day, I send out client "visit diaries" that are fairly elaborate (including descriptions and photos/videos) as well as manage an Instagram account so, in the interest of time, choices had to be made.
I am, however, leaving this page up because it gets a lot of views and I'm hoping that seeing me with Gussy gives some kind of indication of what you could expect from me during a visit with your pet(s). I do not come in, feed, scoop, walk, and say, "Ciao" because that is not the kind of person I am nor the kind of experience I'm trying to cultivate, and my time with Gussy seen here, is a rare self-shot video which gets the point across without making me seem too dorky (which took forever to find since I had a plethora of dorky videos to wade through; the videos I take are candid and it seems I'm almost always chatting in them). If you'd like to see a sampling of photos and videos, please go to my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/amythesitter/). What you'll find there are some--but not all--of the pictures I send to clients; time constraints and the volume of pets I care for and pictures I take means that some of the most lovely shots only get sent to clients and never posted to IG. If you do end up over there, you'll see that the IG account has a bent towards humorous captions (though some are poignant) which doesn't mean that's the only way I see things; it usually means that something really funny happened during a visit and I wanted to recreate it for others to also potentially enjoy. One of the biggest compliments I've gotten about my visit "diaries" was when someone said "it's like we can be on vacation and home at the same time"--which was my original hope in sending pics/updates--but after years of doing this, I know that the converse of this sentiment is also true, for in seeing their pets through different eyes while away from home and in a strange place, I’ve become aware that clients often feel so attuned to how special their pets are, that it makes them miss them all the more. The upside to this, however, is the homecoming. Over Christmas 2015, I administered to this little guy because he fell into an emergency diabetes situation and--dang it--it still wasn't able to be fully controlled and, one day, he woke up and had lost his sight. Now, instead of leaping off the couch, he slips off; instead of racing around the house, he walks gingerly and bumps into things. But....he knew my voice and is sticking close and knows I'll guide him safely where he needs to go, and it really feels so good to be able to be there in support of a sweet and vulnerable animal. It's an honor, Gussy. ❤️ |
