062- Specialized Pet Care with Cheyenne Williams
Brought to you by Time to Pet. Go to timetopet.com/confessional for 50% off your first 3 months.
Summary:
Cheyenne Williams, owner of Shiney Day Specialized Pet Care, joins us this week to talk about emergency preparedness and specialized pet care. From planning to practicing, to tools and resources, this is a packed episode!
Topics on this episode:
Unique Challenges and Opportunities of Florida
Preparing for emergencies
Building Relationships with vets
Getting started in specialized pet care
When to call for help
Cheyenne’s favorite tools and resources
Main take away? It’s never too late to start getting prepared or learning new things about the pets we’re caring for.
About our guest:
My name is Cheyenne Williams I am a pet care professional in Sarasota, Florida. My husband and I have two daughters who are being raised to have a passion for animals and technology. We also have 3 dogs and 3 cats, all of which are special needs pets. In the very beginning, while working in the local emergency hospital, I would often witness owners facing not only the stress of their beloved family member's diagnosis, but also wondering "Who will watch my pet while I'm away" and who can I trust. We started with two pets who needed specialized care. I grew a passion for knowing my patients were safe away from the hospital. April 4th, 2015, Shiney Day Pet Sitting was founded. I am continuing in my Bachelors for Veterinary Medicine, I am a Certified Professional Pet Sitter through PSI, and am keeping up on CE in animal welfare. While I take this journey I am also educating other sitters and pet parents about pet preparedness.
Where does the name Shiney Day come from?
While in school, I participated in a duel enrollment program that allowed students to obtain a higher degree and was able to complete the program as a Certified Veterinary Assistant before graduating. On November 11th, 2011, I was placed in a Veterinary Practice for my internship, the doctor I worked for insisted on calling me "Shiney" instead of Cheyenne because I was very outgoing and was the "sunshine" to everyone's "day." 9 years later, I have grown into a technician at a 24 hour Emergency and Specialty Hospital and the name stayed with me.
Links:
Download:1) Authorization form, 2) Emergency Prep Info, and 3) Controlled Substance Form
PSI: https://www.petsit.com/become-a-psi-member
ASPCA Continued Learning https://www.aspcapro.org/ ASPCA has an App
Pill Identifier and Information https://www.drugs.com/
Plumb: https://www.plumbsveterinarydrugs.com/#!/home
Pet First Aid & CPR https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/first-aid/cat-dog-first-aid
Helpful Vancouver Vet https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtEnS6HGyK1oe71sxbJuhcw
VIN for Pet Parents/ Professionals https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/
Give us a call! (636) 364-8260
Check out our Covid-19 resources
Follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter
Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, & TuneIn
Email us at: feedback@petsitterconfessional.com
A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
pet, medical conditions, people, medications, pet sitter, owner, called, animals, care, client, vet, dog, emergency, veterinarians, visits, recommend, day, feel, cat,
SPEAKERS
Meghan, Collin, Cheyenne
Meghan 00:17
I'm Collin and I'm Meghan. And this is pet sitter confessional, an open and honest discussion about life as a pet sitter brought to
Collin 00:24
you by time to pet. Well, hello, everybody and welcome back. Specialized pet care and emergency preparedness are two really big topics in our industry. How do we as pet sitters, equip ourselves, educate ourselves and make sure that we have the tools on hand to provide services to special needs and special care animals? And is that even a service that we want to provide? additionally, being prepared for emergencies takes extensive Planning and understanding of the emergencies that may come up in your given day and where you live today. Cheyenne Williams, owner of shiny day specialized pet care joins us to discuss these two big topics, how she approaches them and how we can equip ourselves for the long run. Now let's get started.
Cheyenne 01:21
My name is Cheyenne. I am the owner and operator of shiny day pet sitting located in Sarasota, Florida. I am a Certified Professional pet sitter as well as a certified veterinary assistant. I'm currently enrolled in school for veterinary medicine technology, I should say not doctorate,
Collin 01:45
why did you start pet sitting
Cheyenne 01:47
so I actually started pet sitting while I was working and one of the emergency hospitals that I was at, a lot of times we had clients come in and They would get like a pretty difficult diagnosis. And there were situations where they were going on trips and didn't know if their regular pet sitter would be able to handle medicating the pet or if they would have to cancel their flight. So I created my business specifically for those animals with chronic medical conditions and special needs.
Collin 02:23
Where did your passion for caring for animals come from?
Cheyenne 02:26
So that's actually a pretty funny story. I didn't originally want to be a pet sitter or be in veterinary medicine. I wanted to become a marine biologist at SeaWorld.
Collin 02:41
Okay.
Cheyenne 02:43
Yeah, I started when my mother took me to SeaWorld in California. I got this cute little stuffed animal that I love so much and only being five years old. I dropped it into one of the tanks and the handling. She actually had one of the whales bring it to the side of the tank. Oh, yeah and handed it to her and then I immediately fell in love with that. So when I was in high school, they had the option for a veterinary assisting program and I was done with all my high school courses. So I elected to do that and was placed in a veterinary clinic and fell in love with animals and the medicine. So I decided to pursue a career in that.
Collin 03:37
So how long have you been pet sitting?
Cheyenne 03:40
I have been pet sitting since 2015. I started probably about four or five months after starting at the hospital that I was at the time okay. Specifically for AI couple who travelled a lot. And they had one of them had a urinary issue that needed to be monitored because he was at the hospital for being blocked. And then the other one had something called IBD, which is a lot of gi issues, and he needed to be medicated twice a day. So I was helping them out with that. And then I was like, wow, this is entirely different, but I still get to work with animals and do what I love.
Collin 04:29
So after five years, what kind of services do you offer these days,
Cheyenne 04:34
I offer like basic pet care, typical dog walking cat visits, and like boarding in our home, which is super fun and my husband and my kids absolutely love that. But I also offer like advanced care and I have two levels of advanced care. Level one which just involves Either topical or oral medications and then level two and that would be something where the pet needed like injections. And I also offer pet nutrition I partnered with the company for that. So that's been beneficial, especially with these animals with chronic medical conditions
Collin 05:22
when you're doing the pet nutrition stuff you're really working with with owners to develop a kind of plan for them, depending on what kind of condition they have.
Cheyenne 05:31
Yeah, so if there is like a pet profile that they can fill out, and it kind of bases a completely customized nutrition plan based on that animal's needs. I also work closely with a lot of veterinarians in the area. And if you know the pet needs to be on a prescription diet, of course, I'm going to say hey, you need to stay on that like don't mess with their treatment. That Way, and then we come up with like a game plan on if they need to exercise or like if they need extra medications, less medication. So we work all as a team pretty much with the veterinarian, the owner and myself to figure out exactly what that pet needs. Do you
Collin 06:25
said you're based out of Florida? What's it like running a pet care business where you where you live?
Cheyenne 06:30
I love it. Honestly, I am originally from Colorado. And it's really cold there. I could not imagine running a pet care business somewhere where it snows. I couldn't imagine driving on the roads or like even walking a dog outside with snow on the ground like it drops down below 70 here and I'm freezing. It's definitely interesting. We are in a pretty tourist populated area. So sometimes traffic's heavy Other times it's not but that can also fluctuate with the business as well.
Collin 07:09
So what do you think makes that market different than a market maybe somewhere else in the country,
Cheyenne 07:15
specifically in this area, some challenges would be the fact that it is like a tourist destination. So a lot of people are visiting a lot of people have second homes here. And we kind of do have like a season where we're more busy versus like, early in the year and then like kind of between August and November, it's a little slower as well. And then once it starts getting cold, other places more people come down here.
Collin 07:54
What about some maybe opportunities that you're able to take advantage of that maybe somebody and not quite so tourists? environment wouldn't have
Cheyenne 08:01
I get to walk dogs on the beach, which is just amazing.
Collin 08:07
Oh, that's amazing.
Cheyenne 08:09
Yeah. I mean, but that does come with like a little bit of a dangerous territory to with walking dogs on the beach and being a, you know, like a dog park and stuff. But definitely the weather is way more cooperative, I should say with spending a lot of time outdoors.
Collin 08:31
Now I know some people probably hear Florida and they immediately think like hurricanes. So do you have those? You know, have you had to deal with one of those? And in how do you prepare for emergencies?
Cheyenne 08:45
That is actually a really good question. So I just did a presentation for the local cert, which is community emergency response team in regards to preparing for hurricanes. And like other pet emergencies. So I mean, the most important thing about preparing for hurricane is really staying connected with like the news and the Weather Channel, as well as family members. And if you do have multiple sitters that work with you staying connected with them. Well, it was probably like a year after I started pet sitting is when Irma came in town or was it? I don't even remember if it was 2016 or 17. But Irma was coming this way. And it was like, supposed to be coming directly at us. So I was fully scheduled. We happen to have Foster's at the time. Our foster cat decided she wanted to give birth to her kittens literally the day before. Oh my gosh. So yeah. though that was really interesting, so we, I communicated with the owners that were out of town. We communicated with my in laws, which is where we were going to be staying. And by the time, Irma was supposed to hit us, it was my father in law, my mother in law, my husband and myself, our two daughters and 21 animals. Oh my goodness. Yeah, one one of them. He was really sweet Animal Services dog who had bilateral surgery on his hips like three or four days before. So we were having to sling walk him and like, I feel like at one point we set up our own pharmacy in like the kitchen area for all of the animals that we had in our care. So that was interesting. But the best advice I have for hurricanes or other natural disasters is just having a plan in place. Going over that plan, at least once or twice a year with your staff if you have it or your family. Having a pet emergency kit is also another great thing. And seven to 10 days of water for each mistake, individual people and pet is always the plus sometimes it's really, really hard to get a hold of water down here when we do have a hurricane. But Amazon actually has this really cool product that the cert team sent to me. It's like this giant water balloon that holds up to 30 gallons of water. It's like $35 on Amazon. You just fill it up in your bathtub, and you can put it wherever you want, which I thought was amazing. I definitely have already ordered one. I feel like that would be really, really good to have on hand as well.
Collin 12:12
And I love how you mentioned that. Not only do you have to plan for those emergencies, but you have to review it, it doesn't do any good if it just sits over there collecting dust. And then when an emergency comes up, you know, you're scrambling because you have no idea who your emergency contacts were where you were supposed to meet any of those procedures. So reviewing that stuff is so important and almost as critical as just getting a plan in the first place.
Cheyenne 12:36
Yeah, definitely. And it's so funny to my seven year old daughter, she's very calculated and organized and she was actually a little bit of a comic relief at the talk I gave to the cert team the other day she was there they both both my daughters and my husband were there and we started talking about fires. I had mentioned that the fire department came out to the school and they went over, you know, emergency plans and stuff like that with the kids. And from the audience, I just hear her say, yeah, we still have yet to do that bomb.
13:14
Like, oh,
13:17
I was like, thank you.
13:20
Obviously I have homework to do.
Collin 13:25
But you know that that speaks to like, you will never be 100% ready for 100% of the possible emergencies out there. But just having a few simple things in place goes such a long way to being ready for most of them.
Cheyenne 13:40
Yes, I completely agree. Like at all times, I keep at least 230 pound bags of dog food on hand and 217 pound bags of cat food. At least I have the basics and we have like our emergency kit and stuff like that and hopefully when that container comes in, I'll just have a place for water so I won't have to, you know, rush around to 20 different stores when there is the possibility of a hurricane.
Collin 14:10
Yeah, yeah, that would make that process a lot easier. I know. You know, when you're dealing with special needs pets and medications and things like that, do you do you ask for extra from the from the owner whenever they're staying with you. So you have that on hand in case you guys become separated?
Cheyenne 14:27
So that is a really good question. Most of the time, I don't just because they will give me like their full prescription in the event of like hurricane season approaching that is something that I would request if they're boarding with us, or you know, I have automatic emails that go out like during hurricane season reminding pet parents to stock up on food and water and medications as well, but it's not Something that I asked every single time they're boarding with us.
Collin 15:04
Yeah, I guess especially if they're just already giving you the full bottle. You know you already have a lot on hand in that case
Cheyenne 15:12
and one thing I definitely recommend if you're dealing with special needs animals, a lot of times they are older and may be dealing with some type of pain like back pain or arthritis in the hips. If that pet is on a controlled medications such as Tramadol, I recommend getting an authorization form. It's really awesome. It's a good way to cover yourself legally as well. When you're dealing with controlled medications, if somebody brings me like Tramadol for their pet who has arthritis, I have them physically counted in front of me write the number down on this chart with their signature and my signature and then when they pick them up, we count them again.
Collin 15:58
I would never would have thought to do something Like that, but yeah, if it is a controlled substance, you're found either missing medications or found holding on to it in case of an emergency. You know, having that form I can see would just be huge.
Cheyenne 16:12
I mean, it's always a good idea to cover all your bases.
Collin 16:16
How has your background as a certified vet assistant help you care for the animals that you watch?
Cheyenne 16:22
It definitely helps as far as when I have a pet in my care if they have a medical condition. And I'm aware of how that disease process works and what signs to look out for to either notice if it's getting worse. Or if something's changing, because a lot of times these paths are much older and they typically have more than one issue. Or sometimes they don't, maybe they have only the one issue and I'm like, Huh, you're you're kind of acting a little funny and it's not consistent. With like your diabetes, I would be able to identify it better and quicker to be able to relay it back to the owner or veterinarian to come up with a game plan as far as how to proceed
Collin 17:14
really leaning into the the just the power of observation at that point, you know, knowing what to look for in an animal, especially if you know a diagnosis, some signs and symptoms that may may come up from that.
Cheyenne 17:27
Yeah, definitely. And, I mean, that kind of goes into really having a good relationship with the clients that you're working with as well as the veterinarians in the area. I am a little different to where a lot of my referrals I've actually personally worked with these doctors in a hospital setting but you know, going in introducing yourself to veterinarians or their staff is really beneficial that way when you have a pet that is showing weird issues. has diabetes or has Cushing's you can call them be like, Hey, this is what's happening. Has this been recorded before? Or is this a new symptom? So I think that really benefits not not only the communication with the owner and the vet, but the pet as well. Being able to identify that
Collin 18:21
Yeah, really using them as a as a resource to build a team to better care for the pets that you're you're looking after. And digging into those those resources and those people in your area to lean on their knowledge and their strengths. Again, building that core group so that if you have a problem if you have a concern, if you have questions, you know, who to reach out to and can better serve them?
Cheyenne 18:46
Yeah, definitely. And a lot of times, I know some people are like, Oh, I I don't know their vet, so I'm not going to reach out but any type of concern with any animal I definitely recommend calling you know, not only the owner, but the vet as well. And just being like, hey, so fluffy has a little bit of increased respiratory rate, Is that normal? And even if they don't know you, even if you don't have that close working relationship, they're going to be able to help you. So it's always better to ask than just assume that this is part of the process.
Collin 19:25
Yeah, it's when you start assuming things of, Oh, well, you know, the dog wasn't doing that yesterday, and it started doing it today. So I that's probably fine. Like, you can go down some really bad paths with that and find yourself in really bad situations that you just you want to avoid completely.
Cheyenne 19:43
Yeah. And I mean, I actually have an example from today. For one of my basic cats that I do visits on. He has no known medical conditions. He's like four years old, not an old candle. I was in there playing with him tonight. He started doing this interesting, like sneeze. And I was like, That's weird. I don't. You've never done that before. So I called the owner and I let her know. I was like, Hey, he's he's like sneezing but not really sneezing, but he doesn't seem like he's having difficulty breathing. And she's like, is he rubbing up against your leg and trying to like bunny kick? You like attacking your leg? And I'm like, Yeah, he was doing that earlier. She's like, he's totally playing. He does that when he gets worked up. So being able to like, identify what's normal for the pet and then bringing concerns to the owner or the vet when something's a little off. Definitely, I think builds that trust more and just helps a lot. It could save a life.
Collin 20:47
Yeah, I know. We like to take notes about that kind of thing. Whenever we're over with pets, especially, you know, ones that we're going to be seeing an awful lot. We like to take notes in those kind of behaviors. So we have something to reference to and and refer back to and bring up whenever we are communicating with the client to about about what we saw during this day or when we see it at that time, just so that, oh, you know, the last time we were over, were they doing this, we can check our notes and then we can reach out to the owner and go from there. But just as a way to keep a memory of things going on into as you mentioned, just be observant and actually watch the pet while it's in your care. There's a lot of stuff that you can get distracted by you can get distracted trying to take pictures or write an update, or, you know, go through those motions, but really taking time to actually spend time with the pet and watch and how it interacts and how it's behaving is just is so important.
Cheyenne 21:42
Yeah, and one of the like most important things that I think too is monitoring their eliminations. So like if they're urinating, not urinating, when was the last time that pet did urinate could be really important too. And then with storage as well like, is it loose today? Was it loose yesterday? So like you said, taking notes like that is super important, especially with a pet with a medical condition. So you've
Collin 22:11
mentioned it a couple times your advanced pet care services. Could you tell us a little bit more about those and why you you offer those services specifically?
Cheyenne 22:21
Yeah, so my advanced pet care services, I do, like I said, level one and level two. So for my level one visits that's for any pet that needs like oral medication, and that could be like a tyroid pill for a cat or a Tramadol for a dog. If they need topical medications. I get a lot of requests for help applying flea meds. Ironically, some cats Just don't let their owners do it. Some cats absolutely hate it so I get a lot of requests to apply for medication. And now it's really cool. A lot of compounding pharmacies are actually making oral medications topical for pets that are extremely hard to give pills to.
Collin 23:12
Oh, that's really sweet.
Cheyenne 23:13
Yeah, it's awesome Stokes pharmacy shout out, they've been great. And then, as far as my level two, I work really closely with a mobile vet who is just way too busy to do it. They had referred quite a few animals, actually, to me for subcutaneous fluids that were diagnosed with like kidney disease and stuff like that. So I'll go the recommended amount of times a week. So like one person only gets it once a week one gets it every other week. I have another kitty that needs subcutaneous fluids five times a week and a dog that needs it every other day. So it just depends on what they need. But that would fall under my advanced level too because I mean, because needles are involved, honestly.
24:02
Yeah, sure.
Cheyenne 24:04
So and then diabetes, any thing that requires an injection would be listed under the advanced care medical number two, the same rules apply with like my boarding. So if I have a pet that needs like medications twice a day orally, that would be level one. And then if it's a diabetic pet, that would be a level two,
Collin 24:29
what are some things that you've learned over the past five years from providing care for those special needs pets,
Cheyenne 24:37
a lot of patience. So a lot of times like I personally think of pets as people, and a lot of them are older so they take a little more time and patience to either eat or, you know, a lot of them don't want to eat so you have to kind of coax them into eating And of course, just being super, super patient with disease processes in general, a lot of times I get owners who are upset, who are, I don't want to use the word obsessed, you know, just really detail oriented on their pet's medical condition. Mm hmm. And they, you know, want to ask a bunch of questions and they want to explore other options or they want you to kind of reassure them that they're making the right decision and things so I feel like patience is definitely the biggest thing I've learned. But I've also had to kind of teach myself forgiveness as well. A lot of people don't think about that when it comes to taking care of animals. But especially with these older guys, you know, they don't have much longer and sometimes after a pet passes, you feel like you couldn't done more, even though you're doing as much as you can. So definitely in this specialized service, and with veterinary medicine, you really have to take time and like, remind yourself that you are doing what you do best. And it made a difference for that.
Collin 26:18
How do you handle those situations where a client passes, whether one that you've watched for a really long time, or maybe one that's been in your care, and they've they've crossed over the rainbow bridge,
Cheyenne 26:31
every situation is different. I always send gifts personally, because I don't have this giant giant client base. Like a lot of companies do. I have like a smaller group of clients that really need these services. So I always try to find like a personalized gift for the owner. I had a rabbit that I took care of for two years. He He ended up crossing the Rainbow Bridge about seven days before I was going to take care of them. And that was pretty difficult. So I went online, I found the cutest little Memorial rock with a rabbit on it that I could find and sent it to them. And I feel like being able to grieve with the owners is how I get through that.
Collin 27:25
Yeah, I think recognizing that it is a it's, it's okay to feel that loss and into grieve and then to be in and be to do that with the owners and let them know and let them see that. They know that they can see the care and love that you provided. But letting them know that you're there for them and, and taking those moments to cry with them and, and really just letting that process happen and not feeling like I've got to speed through this or you know, as a client. So I've just got to work. Gotta keep working and move on from it but but really taking that time to let that process happen naturally.
Cheyenne 28:06
I personally feel like it definitely helps them to there have been three clients that have actually called and waited for me to get there before saying goodbye to their pet so I've had the opportunity to be with several of them in those last moments and I think that's you know if you can handle it if the owners want you there I think that kind of helps with the coping as well.
Collin 28:34
Yeah, and that's that's a side that not a lot of people think about whenever they think about pet setting is you are there for the happy the the joyful, the the memorable experiences, and then you're there at the hard times, and you're there for the clients themselves. And because you do really become a family member, after all the care and love that you provide.
28:58
Oh yeah.
Cheyenne 29:00
I feel like it's important for us as pet sitters to remember that it's normal, even if it's not your personal pet like these are still pets that are very close to you. And it's normal for you to grieve. It's normal. I highly encourage going into some of the Facebook groups and if you just need to let it out, let it out. But that's definitely one of the most challenging parts of this profession.
Collin 29:26
Yeah, it's the part that people like I said, Don't don't talk enough about unfortunately. And so sometimes you can get caught off guard and not not realize or not know how to handle those situations.
Cheyenne 29:37
I don't want to compare it to natural disasters. But as far as that goes, like knowing who to communicate with can also help you a lot in that process. Like if you have that one pet sitter that you can go to and talk about anything or your spouse or a family member, you as the caretaker for these animals needs support to win I I think a lot of people need to remember
Collin 30:01
that. Yeah, absolutely. Because as pet sitters like you, we care and we give care and we take care of people, we take care of pets. But there are moments where we need to be cared for too. So as you mentioned, having that close group around you and if it's one person or a couple people that you can go to, to be loved on yourself and taking that time to do it is is one of those things that is you said you didn't want to compare it to a natural disaster. But that's that's planning that's a little forethought to have in in those events. You don't want to ever have to use it but man when those support systems are there, it's so so good.
Cheyenne 30:41
Yeah, definitely helps you get through it a lot. A lot easier.
Collin 30:48
Have you heard about time to pet Dan from NYC pooch as this to say it has been a total game changer for us. It helped us streamline many aspects of our operation from scheduling and communication to build In customer management, we actually tested other pet sitting software's in the past, but these other solutions were clunky and riddled with problems. Everything in the past has been so well thought out. It's intuitive feature rich and it's always improving. If you were looking for new pet sitting software for your business, give time to pet a try. As a listener of pet sitter confessional, you'll get 50% off your first three months when you sign up at type two pet.com slash confessional. If someone is interested in providing similar services, similar advanced care services, what should they do to prepare for that as far as education certifications, trainings,
Cheyenne 31:41
if they want to really dive in deep and make sure that they're giving the best care to these pets they can. There's a couple different things I recommend. So first of all, have some type of formal CPR training. I know there's a few programs out there that you can get certified Fight on pets, having like a emergency authorization form is a really, really big one that I recommend kind of like the controlled medications log, having that emergency authorization form. If you know you're dealing with a sick animal or an animal with a chronic medical condition, I personally have something called a pet referral form. And that is for the veterinarians who refer things to me. It's almost like I'm going to say this, like you can see my air quotes, but it's almost like a prescription pad where on this referral form, the doctor writes exactly what they want me to do, like give 250 miles or CCS or sub q fluids X, Y, and Z days. So I have them filled that out. That way I can keep it just for legal purposes. So people don't try to claim that I'm practicing medicine or anything. Like that there are a bunch of helpful tools that you can also download. I personally have something called plums, which is like a giant Encyclopedia of medications specifically for pets. So if I have any questions about anything, I can look it up, but I also pay like a very hefty fee yearly for that. So the cheaper version is drugs calm. If you go on to your phone, you can type in drugs, calm medications guide, and it's actually an app where you can look up medications, it can tell you what they are, how they're used, you know, stuff like that. So I recommend having that on your phone. That way if you know a pet owner says, Oh, he's on pro and you're like, I have no idea what pro in is you can easily look it up. Another thing that I have referred to Other people too, who kind of want to know more about certain medical conditions or how to medicate pets properly is called the helpful Vancouver vet is a YouTube channel and they give you step by steps on how to medicate how to read body language. Or, you know, if you're having a really hard time with things, that's a really good place to get like how to videos as well as the ASPCA pro website that actually has a really good guide on preparing for emergencies and also teaches you about like basic medical conditions as well. So those are some things that you can do without getting certified in anything. Another amazing thing is pet sitters International, I'm actually a member with them and that's where I got my Certified Professional pet sitter. Through they have a pet sit Pro, subscription, which is monthly. And it's just all these wonderful documents, articles, webinars, videos on just everything having to do with pet sitting, they have some specifically for like medical conditions and stuff like that. So I highly recommend that. And as far as you know, if you want to be like take the extra step and become a certified technician, which hopefully by the end of the summer I will be, then there are online programs for that as well. And that definitely kind of gets you a step ahead,
Collin 35:36
man, that was a ton of information. And no, no, that's all amazing. And I will make sure that all those are in the show notes on the to the episode and on our website. So people can go and find those and click and start perusing because I love that that progression of Okay, let's say you've got the first client that has some specialized stuff and there's some medications you can download. load these apps. And then you can start building and going to the YouTube site and seeing how to administer stuff. And then the ASPCA and the pet SIRs International. And then like, if you really find yourself finding a niche, and finding a passion for the special needs and the medications, take that next step, and go be go be certified and go through an actual training program. But you don't have to start there, as you mentioned, that you can. There's all this wealth of other information that you can build up and add to your personal knowledge. And you can just walk down that path.
Cheyenne 36:34
Yeah, definitely. And I mean, I did it kind of backwards. So I started in the hospital and kind of got to this point, but I mean, schooling because it's practically going to school to be a nurse for animals. I can't say practically it is going to school to be a nurse for animals. A lot of people won don't have that. Like passion for Like husbandry and nursing, and that's totally fine. That's an entire level of commitment. I feel like I started my business for these special needs animals because I loved it so much that I couldn't just do it in the hospital. Right? ASPCA also has an app that you can download that you can get basic information as well. So I have that on my phone, which is been super helpful.
Collin 37:26
So if someone is listening to all of those resources, and maybe some of these services, this is a lot of information. So how might somebody recognize that they're in over their head with a particular client that may have medications or special needs,
Cheyenne 37:42
just the best advice we can give is to go with your intuition that's going to be entirely dependent on the situation and we started talking about that a little more. And it really is like you as a professional should know your level of comfort in what you're doing. K with handling what you're not sure of, and what you're definitely not going to be able to handle. And when I say that, like, are you going to have the time in your schedule that allows you to take on this pet? Are you comfortable with what kind of medical condition that pet has? Do you know what that is? And it's okay to tell owners that you're not 100% sure about that medical condition. One of one of the pets that I've taken care of in the past, I told her it was a really rare It was like it was the other type of diabetes that pets get, but I had never dealt with a patient or client that had that type of diabetes. And I told the owner, I was like, Listen, would you mind if I got in contact with your bet and I talked the situation over with them that way I have a better understanding of this disease process and what I need to look out for and I feel like being honest with Owners about that type of stuff. Like if you're not sure, let them know. Ask them if it's okay if they reach out to their vet. Or if you did more research on your own with any of those sources, and I feel like that will help build that relationship more. But definitely just go with your intuition. If you don't feel comfortable with it, don't take it on
Collin 39:25
that practical of, do you have? Do you have the time you mentioned? Do you have the time and ability to sit with a pet and administer the medications and maybe take slightly longer visits with the pet because it you need to do that to accommodate them? And then, man, I just love the Do you even understand the medical condition and the disease process that pet has? Would you be able to recognize signs of it getting worse or progressing or changing while it's in your care? And if not, you know, look at some of those resources that You mentioned earlier but more importantly reach out to their own bed to to talk with them. And as you said, like if you're not comfortable with it, don't take that pet on. Because that's you're not doing anybody any good by doing that.
Cheyenne 40:14
And, and precisely if, you know, there are certain medical conditions that I've never had to treat or I've never learned about and that's totally fine. My huge motto is the day I stopped learning is the day that I need a new career. So I feel like everybody can really take that how they want it, but the second, I feel like I know everything there is to know I need to take a step back and you know, be like, that's not true, like kind of slow down a little bit. So always be available to learn. Even if you say, you know, unfortunately, I don't feel comfortable taking on this case, jot it down, like look it up. I'm personally like a bookworm with that stuff. So if you have time, look up these medical conditions or learn about one a day. Like I said, those sources are really awesome for just learning things that you probably thought you never would have to look up. And it can definitely come in handy in the future.
Collin 41:16
Because as you mentioned, knowing your limits and know and going with your intuition is really the best thing there. And that can goes into play as to, you know, if the condition starts changing, or you start seeing new things, you know, do you call that? Do you just try and go it alone, and that's that, that's that fork in the road that a lot of pet sitters come into it. And if you don't fully understand the condition and you're not comfortable, it's the vet every time and even if you do, you need to notify them of those changes.
Cheyenne 41:48
Yeah, exactly. And that that's super important with dealing with these types of cases too. And having that relationship with the vet, like just being able to call even if you talk to a receptionist, just be like hey I have fluffy in my care. He's a patient there, this is what we're experiencing, you can always ask for either the doctor or a technician to call you back or you know if they're available to talk to you if they recommend being seen, which is another part of the emergency authorization form that I recommend is having that permission from the owner to take that pet into see the doctor if you deem it necessary. So any type of signs of worsening so like if the dog starts vomiting or trying to think of like a good example of like a disease progression, so we can go with like congestive heart failure Actually, that's that's a pretty common condition for an older pet to have. So if they're on the medications for congestive heart failure, and they're doing great, and then all of a sudden you kind of noticed that they're breathing little heavier or they develop a cough, knowing that those are signs of the heart condition, potentially getting worse could definitely say that pets life being able to like identify types of shock as well, is something that I would recommend people kind of get first with any, but like any type of shock, so there's four different types of shock and people need to be familiar with what those are and what they look like. So that would be something to kind of like add to your note or like side note, being able to identify the types of shock and a pet and congestive heart failure. One of the types of shock is cardiogenic shock, so that has anything to do with the heart and being able to tell that by looking at the gums and how they're breathing, if you really want to get technical, you can check like a femoral pulse or Under their, their left elbow, you can kind of feel their heart there too. So kind of knowing the normal vitals for a pet will definitely help in determining whether or not you need to go to the bat or take over on your own or like treat on your own.
Collin 44:16
There's a lot of things to cover initially. And I think for anybody listening to that, that what you just described, as far as everything that goes into checking, and different things to check for different disease progressions, like that kind of knowledge is just so invaluable. And if you've never taken the time to look that up, or to have just short notes on that for individual pets that are in your care, that alone is such a big part of planning and providing excellent care is to be able to look for those kinds of things. And so taking the time to review some information, watch some YouTube videos, and you can just start on a per pet basis. You don't, you know, you like to read books and dive into this stuff and go headfirst into it. Some people may think about that. That's a lot of information. And I don't know if I can take it all in. If you just start with the pets that your current sitting and go, Okay, I need to learn about this condition that they have. Okay, and then the next time you get a different pet with a different condition, learn about that condition, and build up and build into it over time.
Cheyenne 45:26
Oh, yeah, definitely. That's actually really wonderful advice. And I know, sometimes the internet can be a really scary place. But there are also certain sources that you can go to, that have really good information on just basic medical conditions. Definitely knowing the four types of shock and their their signs. That's a big one that I recommend because even pets who don't have medical conditions per se, can either go into To an electric shock from a bee sting or any type of like insect bite, there's another one if you're boarding larger dogs, called hypovolemia shock, which is caused by too little blood volume. And that could be I don't know, if anybody's familiar with a gdv, also known as like a bloat. So that would be hypovolemic shock or the stomach slips and they're not able to pump enough blood. So being able to kind of identify what shock really is, will not only help with like pets with chronic medical conditions, but if you have a pet that has been healthy all its life, and all of this sudden we're not acting normally at all. There's something called veterinary Information Network. You have to be a veterinarian to have access to one of their versions, but they have one that you can look up basic information on medical conditions.
Collin 47:03
So I don't I don't want anybody to feel overwhelmed by this. Yeah, no, no, I think it should be a challenge and, and something to lean into and to dig into, to have that to build that information to build that knowledge base over time, so that not only are you taking better care of the pets, in, that you're watching over, but also you're building your confidence in your abilities. So that, you know, you're not as you mentioned, you're always learning and that I've years from now, you're not the same person and 10 years from now, you're not the same person. You're always always growing. Yeah, definitely done that thought process starting back in 2015. And thinking about the past several years, what's been the biggest learning curve for you since you started in the business?
Cheyenne 47:53
That is a really good question. I would have to say the biggest learning curve for me would be Timing, especially like being able to identify how long my visit should take, being able to prepare in case they go wrong. So just timing of everything, I have to make sure that if I have two pets who are on medications that generally the same time that I'm able to schedule them where they're both going to be on a good schedule, but not overlap, causing the other one to get delayed treatment. So I think that's been my biggest learning curve. And something that I'm honestly still learning too, is just how to time everything out. And then also just knowing that I, I personally can't help every pet every time. And that kind of went back to, you know, our challenges with the pet loss and the grieving process is that learning how to kind of deal with not being able to help them or feeling like I could have More. So those are two of the biggest things that I've learned over the last few years.
Collin 49:06
Yeah, I can imagine the timing and scheduling is is quite the event and quite the struggle whenever you have multiple pets and on multiple different variations and schedule regimes how how complicated that gets really quick. You know people may be thinking oh you just do every four hours. Well, if you've got travel time and if you've got time there and you've got, you know, multiple clients to get through, you know, that all of a sudden your day is shot really quick and then you know, touching on the can't help every pet every time I think more people need to remind themselves every that maybe we can get it all printed on a T shirt or tattooed on our foreheads. Because sometimes, or maybe just right on our mirrors. We'll just write our new mirrors in the morning because we we do so badly want to be able to To say yes to everybody, and do 120% all the time. And that's not always possible. And in knowing that when you do your best, that's, that's what you can do. And sometimes you have to say no to certain pets, sometimes you have to say no to certain clients. And when you have them, you do your best. And you have to be confident in that being enough. And that's really, really hard.
Cheyenne 50:27
Yeah, and I think that also kind of ties in with like knowing your support system as well, like we talked about, like your support system for grieving but also having other professionals that you can reach out to. I know that there are a lot of veterinary technicians who do pet sitting on the side like when I first started that would be happy to help if you reached out and asked and there's also a lot of professional pet sitters who feel comforted medicating pets so being able to like know who in your area has certain skills and you know trusting them and reaching out to them if you need help will not only help you, but definitely serves good for the pet as well.
Collin 51:15
Yeah, cuz at the end of the day, you want to you want the pet to be cared for in the best way possible and sometimes that's with another person, if you don't have the abilities or the time or the capacity. You having someone that you can refer that you trust wholeheartedly, is is a real weight off your shoulders to know okay, I can't have I can't do that one right now or that's not something I'm comfortable with. But Call this number this person's amazing. They'll be able to take care of you and then you have confidence and peace of mind that that pets getting the best care possible. Yeah, exactly. I was wondering just kind of as a pet sitter and pet care professional, are there any sort of products or services that You're currently enjoying or, or would recommend that other sitters use, maybe to help make their lives a little better.
Cheyenne 52:06
I think we all know of time to pet love time to pet that has been because I mean when I first started, like I was just using my iPhone, putting it in my calendar that way that was just, it's an entirely different experience when you have a professional software like that. I personally have a fanny pack which I love so much. And I keep everything in it that I will need for any and all of my visits. Specifically for some of the visits I do I keep pill pockets which are those treats that you can wrap the pills in to give to pets. I also have something called a pill popper, which is like a It looks like a straw with like a stick on it and you put the pill in the end and you can pop it down their throat. They're being really really difficult. Fortunately, I don't have to use it all the time. If you know you are wanting to do specialist services, I'd highly recommend investing in a sharps container from Walgreens or wherever you get them the local hospital Pet Hospital, if you have a pet there that needs insulin or something like that they can provide those types of containers. So always having one of those on hand, the pheromones, so I have adaptable, if I'm saying that properly, and feel away, and I normally keep two separate shirts in my car for when I'm dealing with cat clients. And when I'm dealing with dog clients, and I do have pheromones that I spray on both of them that way. It kind of just helps calm them down. So I really try to utilize those.
Collin 53:52
Yeah, I don't think a lot of people know about those or if they do, they're underutilized because they can be a real lifesaver as well. As you mentioned, helping bring bring the pet bring the client down a little bit. put them at ease just enough to make the visit go a little more smooth.
Cheyenne 54:10
Oh yes, definitely I I will do it for every meet and greet. Like consultation every single visit. I am just like my animals get really really confused when I get home at the end of the day with how much fair different bear mountains I have on. So I have my cats like looking at me funny. I have my dogs like sniffing my legs the entire time. So I definitely throw some mixed emotions for them by the time I get home at the end of the day, but especially like if you have an owner just for basic care that say, well my cat is really shy or my dog is very timid. Having those pheromones kind of almost makes you like a another it makes them feel like you're at their level. So I definitely recommend it. You can get it practically anywhere. I know chewy calm has it. I always keep cat and dog at home. And then I have the cat and dog in my bag and my little fanny pack that I take with me. So I have it everywhere.
Collin 55:15
Well, Cheyenne, I want to thank you so much for coming on today and taking the time out of your really busy schedule to really help us all get up to speed and pointed in a really great direction as far as as emergency preparedness and caring for pets that need medication or a little more advanced care, and really challenging us to continue to learn and not just invest in better care but invest in ourselves so that we can continue to advance and be the better pet sitters than we are today. If listeners have more questions or maybe some follow up or want to pick your brain a little bit more, how can they reach out to you and follow along with your work. I have a Facebook page with is shiny days specialized pet care. I also recently made an Instagram which is shiny day pet care. So no specialized in that one that was way too long.
Cheyenne 56:15
But you can also reach out to me via my email is Cheyenne at shiny day pet sitting.com.
56:22
Again, thank you so much for coming on today. It's been a real pleasure.
Cheyenne 56:25
Thank you. I appreciate it. It's been fun.
Collin 56:28
Cheyenne really brought so much information to this interview. I'm telling you when I walked away from this one, I had so many notes that I feel like I'm still coming out from that. So all of the resources that Cheyenne mentioned in this will be included in the show notes and on our website for this post. She really did challenge us to better ourselves so we could better our care. And that's, yes, partly customer service and how we're organized Also just what we're knowledgeable of, and for. So taking that one step at a time, and digging into those resources, little by little really does pay off in the long term. Dealing with the loss of a client is heavy, and very serious, and something that we all will eventually experience. And I know Megan and I haven't had that happen to us, while we've been pet sitting several times. And honestly, it never gets easier because it's new and different in different circumstances. And you just get attached in new ways, being open to talking to somebody about that, and admitting and to yourself and to others, that it hurts to lose a client because we do form relationships with them. They are family by the end of our care, that part never goes away. And that part where we need to be open with ourselves, to talk with people about that to other pet sitters, people in our families, to friends. That part is where we can begin to mature and heal through that process. We'd love to hear how you have dealt with the loss of a client, or how you've been bolstering your knowledge of specialized animal care. please email us at pet sitter confessional@gmail.com. Or you can give us a call at 636-364-8260. We'd also like to thank our sponsor, time to pet for making this show and all the other ones possible. We'll talk to you again soon.
