Laura

I am Laura Malerba, an eighteen year old university student with an Italian and Irish background, though I have lived in Belgium until I was seventeen. During this time, I grew up with two different cats. My family's first cat, Tiger, was a stray who chose us as his adoptees, and a few years after, Jaggy came along, who is currently thirteen years old and one of the gentlest cats I've ever come across. Having been around cats for such a big part of my life, I have come to understand their behaviours and characters incredibly well, and find their presence extremely comforting. Now that I have moved away from home, I am not allowed to have any pets in my dorm, which has really shown me how much I miss the presence of a cat, and so would be incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to take care of other's people's cats so that I can continue connecting with felines.
Regarding more practical experience, I volunteered at an animal for up to a year. This shelter had over 100 cats, each and every one of them diverse, and each and every one of them incredibly well cared for. Some of the cats at this animal shelter had health conditions that made it difficult for them to eat properly, to see or coordinate their muscles. This exposed me to a lot of different situations and feline personalities, which has made both more aware of the various conditions that cats can suffer from, and as a result of that, the importance of giving them safe and caring homes and lots of support.
The animal shelter also taught me how to deal with other kinds of animals, such as rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks, geese, chickens and pigs, which was also an invaluable learning curve and allowed me to truly bond with some of these special friends.
I can thus apply the knowledge and skills I learned from these experiences and care for people's pets in a gentle, patient and skilful manner. It would truly be a gift for me to continue connecting with animals, and applying as a Pawshake pet sitter couldn't be a more perfect opportunity to achieve this.