Laura

Hi there, my name is Laura! I'm from San Francisco, California and I moved to Berlin in 2017. Before my move to Germany I was a school librarian, focused on teaching kids responsible research habits and nurturing a love of reading. Nowadays I am enjoying learning German, reading voraciously, and messing about with watercolors.

Growing up my family had two cats, and when I started college it felt natural to adopt two cats of my very own, Maya and Tigerlily. Both of my sweet and sweetly grumpy girls had about a dozen nicknames each, something I still do with all cats that I meet. Sadly my girls both passed away at the ripe old age of 17, and I still feel the loss every day.

My two motivations for joining Pawshake are that I enjoy spending time with cats and dogs, and I'm very good at caring for them. As well as over 30 years of experience caring for my own family pets, I have often been a catsitter for friends and family. Recently I had the opportunity to spend a month providing live-in dog care and housesitting, which was a wonderful adventure.

Typically my visit with cats will begin with getting down on the ground and having a few minutes of petting, or just letting them check me out if that's what they prefer. Then it's a quick check to clean up any messes, a bit of play and food, more play and pet time, and finishing off with a clean litter box. I'm experienced with giving cats medication, both in pill form and as injections (feline diabetes is no joke!). I always spend between 30 and 45 minutes with your cat per visit.

When taking a dog for a walk I always use the leash until we are safely inside the dog park or a designated off-leash area. The amount of time I spend with your dog per visit is flexible, but never less than 30 minutes. While I love dogs of all sizes, I prefer to work with small dogs (beagle-sized or smaller).

In addition to caring for your pets I'm happy to bring in the mail and water any houseplants.