My family adopted our first pets (a Domestic Shorthair cat and a big-boned Shetland Sheepdog) when I was 6. Since that time, I've helped care for foster cats, three adopted kitties, and a second dog who we raised from her puppyhood. I walked dogs for our neighbors in Virginia for two years before we moved and had an ongoing commitment to another woman in our neighborhood when she needed someone to watch her Chihuahua. I've spent time house-sitting and pet-sitting in our current home as well and can take care of other, non-mammalian pets in your home; my sisters and I cared for hermit crabs and growing up, and we owned a Red Ear Slider for four years and a Box Turtle for two. Currently, I am helping take care of our four-year-old hound dog and am the primary caretaker for my two-year-old cat with anxiety and some behavioral issues. Due to the various medications we've tried for my current cat, and the cat we recently lost who had feline lymphoma in her last years, I have grown adept at figuring out how to get meds into a pet safely and am used to cleaning up should anyone have any accidents around the house! Though senior care is where I recently dedicated most of my time, I have spent plenty of time around puppies and kittens as well and can handle young pets with ease thanks to my time watching our hound dog in her early childhood and all the fostering I've done for kittens.