It’s normal to want to know who is looking after your pets when you can’t. I am a 40 year old British expat living in Switzerland with my husband and son since 2013. We live in the Morges region with our 3 Siberian Forest cats, 2 budgerigars and a few fish. We are a family of animal lovers and have also had, throughout the years, a dog, rabbits, hamsters, mice, gerbils, snails, slugs, worms, and the occasional caterpillar that we have successfully seen become butterflies or moths.

Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have experience volunteering at veterinary surgeries, my local RSPCA animal rescue centre with dogs and cats, a dairy farm, horse stables and after university I spent several years working in the animal industry with mice and rats. I studied Animal Behaviour at Chester College where I was able to study a variety of animals large and small*.

I have handled, studied and looked into the care and welfare needs of sheep, chickens, cows, horses, pigs, rabbits, dogs, cats, rats, mice hamsters, gerbils, fish, lizards, reptiles, amphibians, a variety of birds, insects and arachnids**. I have also worked in the care for the elderly industry in England both in the community and in a care home doing palliative care, night sitting, care for people with dementia and with those who just needed a bit of extra support.

Random trivia about me:

  • Yes, I have tried cat food and dog treats (I was young and it was a right of passage)
  • I have had kitten porridge in my face (again, I was young, and it was a right of passage)
  • I have been thrown from a horse
  • I have been bitten, scratched, peed and pooped by most animals at some point
  • My pet cats are unable to cat and are a disgrace to cat kind (but we love them)
  • My birds hate everyone and everything except for each other, but are getting better
  • My husband has a cat allergy (hehe)

* While I do have a lot of experience with both ill and healthy animals, I am not a veterinarian and do not pretend to be. I am able to administer medications, and health check your pets looking for signs of general ill health but not diagnose illness.

** I am not a huge fan of handling some insects or any arachnids. I am happy to make sure they are okay, their enclosure are secure and have a good environment and give them food, just please don’t ask me to touch them. I spent 4 months studying pond diversity during my Masters degree collecting and identifying various aquatic and semi-aquatic insects – and after spending that length of time looking at insects and spiders under microscopes and having dragonfly nymphs jumping out of pond weed at me, you would think I’d be desensitised… I’m not.