We've moved!

Cozy Critters Pet Sitters of Bellaire Blog has moved! 

Though this blog (2009 - 2018) will remain, all of our new blog posts can be found on our recently updated website at CozyCrittersofBellaire.com

Our 14th Anniversary

It's February already and this month Cozy Critters Pet Sitters celebrates our 14th anniversary! Woohoo! It's hard to believe sometimes we have been providing this great service to our community for fourteen years. When you are doing what you love and are passionate about, and it's also providing a service to others -- well, that's what it's all about, isn't it? Not to mention everywhere and every time we show up for work we are greeted with such joy, enthusiasm, excitement and love! How many people can say that? We love what we do and we are so grateful for our clients, both human and animal, and all that we have shared, experienced and learned over the years. We look forward to what lies ahead in the years to come!


 A warm, heart felt Thank You!! to all of our clients for your continued trust and confidence in us. 

Celebrating our 12th Year in Business!

2002 - 2014

This Valentine's Day, Cozy Critters of Bellaire celebrates it's twelfth anniversary! We are so grateful for all of our wonderful clients, both two and four-legged. We love meeting other animal-loving people in our area. We love getting to know each and every pet, caring for them and loving them as if they were our own. So many memories and funny stories are made over the years. But most of all, we love providing a great service: Pet Sitting! Looking forward to making more friends and memories....

 To all of our clients...

Cozy Critters Daily Dog Walks Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

The book fanatic that I am, I had to create a book full of pictures I have taken of the dogs we have walked on a daily basis over the last 11 years. It also includes many of my favorite quotes about dogs and animals. (Unfortunately, a few of the photos I had got lost during the change over to a new computer and all I had was a printed copy of which I scanned. These photos came out very grainy.) Now this gives me an idea about a cat book....

Our 11th Anniversary

2002 - 2013

This month we are celebrating Cozy Critters Pet Sitters' eleventh anniversary! I was still digesting the fact that I've been pet sitting for a decade and now another year has already gone by. Time goes by so fast....

We are so grateful for all of our wonderful clients, both two and four-legged. We love meeting other animal-loving people in our area. We love getting to know each and every pet, caring for them and loving them as if they were our own. So many memories and funny stories are made over the years. But most of all, we love providing a great service: Pet Sitting! Looking forward to making more friends and memories....

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cozy Critters Donates to Patrons for Bellaire Parks

Bellaire Town Square Entry Plaza

In honor of our 10th anniversary, Cozy Critters Pet Sitters is proud to be a donor to the new Bellaire city hall entry plaza. The entry plaza, complete with a gazebo, new landscaping and a brick walkway and wall, has local businesses advertised on the wall and brick walkway. Though we had no choice in where our brick was placed, we couldn't have gotten a better placement -- front and center!

They will be having a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Monday, May 21st at 6:00 PM at the gazebo behind city hall located at 7008 S. Rice. Stop by and check it out. 

All Kinds of Critters

"Luna" Hedgehog

We can now add another type of critter to our list of pets we have cared for: a hedgehog! Besides cats and dogs (of course!) we have cared for horses, rabbits, birds (a large variety), fish (fresh and salt water), guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils,  iguanas, bearded dragon, chameleon, leopard gecko, turtles, tortoises, frogs, tad poles (yes, tad poles!), sugar gliders, snakes, rats, mice, chinchillas, tarantula, scorpion, hermit crabs and chickens. Whew! 

Celebrating 10 Years in Business!

It is with great pride that I am able to say that Cozy Critters Pet Sitters is celebrating their 10th anniversary! It's hard to believe a whole decade has passed since I first started the business in the Spring of 2002. It has gone by so fast! We have done well over 36,000 pet sitting visits! These last ten years have been filled with many wonderful memories, lots of funny stories and a whole lot of unconditional love from all the wonderful pets we have cared for. We have learned a lot too, and continue to every day. Not to mention it's been a real pleasure to get to meet and provide a great service for so many animal loving people like ourselves! We have the greatest clients! We couldn't ask for more! A big "thank you" to all of our clients and we hope to be your pet sitters for many more years to come.

Another big "thank you" goes to MeyerLand Animal Clinic, who not only has treated our pets (and some of our clients' pets) for the past few decades but has also referred many clients to us. All the veterinarians and staff there are great! Thank you for your continued confidence in us. We really appreciate all that you do.

Foster Cats Get Valentine's Day Present

After being in a cat condo for a month and a half our foster cats Tommy and Biscuit were getting a little stir crazy and needed to be able to walk around and stretch their legs. We figured out a way to give them more room and do it inexpensively. We already had a patio in the backyard with four posts and shade screen on top. Two sides of the patio are the back of the house. We bought two rolls of plastic poultry fencing and stapled it around the posts, to the top and to landscape timbers on the bottom. On Valentine's Day they moved into their 10 ft. by 15 ft. by 8 ft. high outdoor cat-proof room! Complete with a warm cat house, a grassy area and lots of toys. They are loving it! The weather has been great. They spend their time rolling around, snoozing in the sun and watching our dogs running around. They have gotten used to the dogs and actually look forward to visits from Einstein and Duke in particular. They smell noses and rub up against the fence. Our cats make periodic visits and they seem to entertain one another. (Although our cats are a little bent out of shape because they can't lay on the patio any more.) Another good thing is our big bay window in the living room looks onto the back patio. I can watch them from inside and they watch us as well.  With a possibility of rain in the forecast, we have since put up a tarp covering half of the area. (The shade screen on the ceiling keeps out 80 percent of the sun's rays but lets rain through.) Needless to say, they are really enjoying themselves now and are constantly entertained!

Cozy Critters Fosters Two Cats

Cozy Critters has started off the New Year fostering two sweet male cats; Biscuit (bottom) and Tommy (top), ages 8 and 10. They belong to a client who has become homeless. With our house being full with our four dogs and four cats and considering that bringing in any new pet would upset the household, we figured out a way to take them in but yet keep them separate from our pets. We set up a cat condo in our shed in the backyard for them. They have settled in nicely and are doing well. Since it's gotten cold, they now each have a heating pad to lay on & I have covered up the whole condo with beach towels. They get good food, treats, toys and lots of pets of course. This is definitely a big change for them but considering the alternatives, at least they are safe and cozy and are being well cared until their owner can get back on her feet and find a new place to live. Our dogs know they are there and are curious about them (they like kitties!) but our cats haven't seemed to notice them or if they have, they don't seem to mind since they are not in their space -- the house. Please keep our client and her cats in your prayers that they will be able to have a home together again soon!

Another Feral Cat House Delivered

We were excited to be able to deliver another custom feral cat house for our Cozy Critters Feral Cat House Project. Just in time for Christmas! This brings our number of cat houses given away to ten so far! This house is made for two, is made out of cedar and is totally insulated. The roof removes for cleaning. Thanks again to Anne and Joerg for another outstanding job! Wow! Our clients were excited to receive it and couldn't believe how well made it is.  I know the cats will appreciate it too!

Click here to see the other fabulous custom cat house made by Joerg.

Feral Cats Receive Custom Cat House!



Front

Side door to upstairs loft

There are definitely angels among us and two of those angels are Joerg and Anne! They were so nice and generous to respond to my previous blog post about Cozy Critters Feral Cat House Project and offered to build some cat houses! Wow! Check out this custom cat house! It's incredible! It's two-story, made out of cedar and is completely insulated! There are two compartments downstairs than can be converted to one big living area if needed. The second story loft has stairs (for the older cats) leading to the doorway. The roof removes for easy cleaning and so does the second story floor. They thought of everything!

I was so excited to be able to deliver this house to clients who have seven feral cats, six of whom are a mother and her five kittens. Our clients were also very happy, not to mention surprised, to receive this fabulous custom cat house. (They had no idea they were on my feral cat house list.) They couldn't believe it! They've never seen such a fancy cat house! I'm sure the cats will be enjoying it! They have a nice warm place to sleep during the winter now and that makes it all worth while.

I can not say thank you enough to Anne and Joerg, who are two very nice, generous, kind-hearted people whom I had never met until I picked up the cat house. You did a fabulous job. Better than I ever imagined. I love it, my clients love it and I'm sure the cats are going to love it. What lucky cats they are now! Joerg has his own painting, home repair and remodeling business. Check out his very creative and talented work at http://www.dermaler.us/ or find him on FaceBook.

Thank you, Anne and Joerg! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!

Cozy Critters Feral Cat House Project

With winter approaching, I think about all the feral cats that do not have a cozy warm place to sleep. We have many clients who feed feral cats in their backyards. Most have been trapped, neutered or spayed and are given food and water but a lot of them do not have shelter or a cat house to get out of the winter weather.

We buy small dog houses or medium size pet carriers at garage sales and estate sales, clean them up and convert them into weather-proof cozy cat houses. We have given away four so far but need to make more. They need to be big enough for an adult cat to turn around in but not too big. Some people need multiple houses and have limited space to put them in. I wish I could supply houses like the one shown in the picture, but ours aren't quite so fancy. (Perhaps a future project?)

If you have an old pet carrier or small dog house that you don't want or need any more, email or call me (281-788-6611) and I'll come pick it up. You will be helping to provide another feral cat with a warm place to sleep in the winter. On the otherhand, if you have feral cat(s) and need a house, email me and I will put you on the list.

Cozy Critters to the Rescue!

I rescued another dog today. An 11 month old male Maltese named Snowball. He was running down Stella Link right in front of me as I was driving. Thank goodness he had a tag. I called & went to his address but no one was home. I dropped him off at my house while I finished my pet sitting rounds. They called a short time later & he was returned safe & sound. His family was very happy that I rescued & returned him! They had gone somewhere & it started thundering & he got scared & jumped through the wrought iron fence in his yard. He had gone quite a distance for such a little bitty thing. I was just happy to get him out of the street & back home! I love happy endings!

Dog Days

I like the early mornings on weekends because they are quiet and there's not much traffic out. It makes getting around to our morning visits much quicker. I was making such good time this morning, I decided to change my visits around a little and ended up going a different route than I originally planned.

There were no other cars around as I was driving down S. Braeswood, on the way to my third visit this morning when I saw a little Pomeranian in the middle of the street. He was looking around as if lost and I noticed he had a collar and tags on. Thank goodness for the tags!! I pulled over, grabbed a leash out of my pet sitter's survival bag & quickly got the dog out of the street. He was very friendly and came to me easily. He knew I was trying to help him. He had a microchip tag, a rabies tag and a Pomeranian Rescue tag, all from out of town. I called the Rescue number and a nice lady took the tag number and my information and said someone would call me back very shortly. Within a few minutes the owners called me and came to pick up their dog. They thanked me and said they had just adopted him yesterday and he got out of their gate. I was so glad he had tags and I was able to return him safely home in just a short time! I hope they dog proof their yard now.

After they left, I went on to my third visit. I wasn't there very long before I got a call from my husband who was doing his round of morning visits. A puppy was at a client's house, laying up against their garage door. (This client only has cats and we had been pet sitting since Friday.) He was emaciated, very lethargic and did not want to eat or drink anything. He appeared to be around 6 months old and very cute. (No collar, no tags.) Where did he come from? Did he wander here from somewhere near, somewhere far? Did someone just dump him off? How is it, animals just show up where ever we go? I finished up my visit, drove home to get a carrier, and then to the client's house to pick up the puppy. Poor thing could hardly move, it was so sick and weak. He was growling in the beginning because he was scared. Now he seemed to know we were trying to help him. He just laid there & looked at us with those cute brown eyes. I took him back home in the carrier and set him on the front porch with food and water until we could get back from doing the other visits we needed to do. (These things always happen when you are really busy and on the weekend!) I took him to a vet as soon as I got home. I didn't realize how sick he was. He had a high temperature and now had bloody diarrhea. He was on death's door and most likely had Parvo. The best thing we could do for this sweet little boy was to euthanize him. It was very sad. I stayed with him, petting him until he crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. At least he got some love at the end of his very short life. If only in the end, he knew someone did care about him. At least now he is not suffering any more and can run and play with all the other animals in heaven.

Today we rescued two dogs, both within an hour of each other. One had a happy ending, the other a sad ending. I can't tell you how many dogs we have found/rescued in the 7 years we've been pet sitting. I lost count. We find them a lot because we're driving or walking around all day. Usually, we are able to locate the owners within a few days, if not hours. On occasion, I've had to find a new home for one. That's because we've already kept as many as we can! (All of our eight pets were rescued or adopted from shelters.) If only we could find Roux, a client's dog who escaped out of her yard on April 2nd while we were pet sitting. (see April blog). That would really make my day!