Mindy's Pet Sitting & Care Services
A warm heart for those with cold noses!
A Little About Mindy
Hello! My name is Mindy McGill-Carlison, I'm a 30 year-old Ithaca local that has about 20 years of pet-sitting experience. While I was a student at Ithaca College (2011-2016), I ran a successful petting service with ~20 clients. I stepped away from the pet sitting world for a while to focus on my professional career. I’m now looking to rejoin the world of pet care in my 30s to help save up for our next home and to start growing our family! My husband, Matt, and I lovingly care for 2 dogs, 5 cats and a rabbit. Matt will occasionally help with pet sitting visits and can serve as a back-up sitter should I be unavailable.
I have experience with most furry friends, including barnyard buddies. I have previously cared for pets needing medications, including those requiring subcutaneous injections. The only animals I am unable to watch are reptiles, amphibians and arachnids - cool pets, but not in my wheel house!
Professionally, I am a Research Administrator at Cornell University. I have worked at Cornell since 2017. In this role I assist with proposal submissions, budgeting and adhering to sponsor guidelines. I've presented nationally a several conferences and have been published in trade journals.
I believe that one of the most important aspects of pet care is trust. Trust that who you hire to care for your pets (who are more family than "just pets") will respect them as living, breathing and feeling creatures. Trust with your home and your personal belongings. Trust that I will provide for your animals in your absence. Trust that I will be fair, honest and responsible. The more you know about something or someone, the easier it is to trust, so please read on and get to know a little more about me and my business.
Education
Being a life-long Ithaca resident, I was a student in the Ithaca City School District for all of my primary education, graduating from Ithaca High School in 2011 with honors. I thoroughly enjoyed my high school years as a member of the school's International Club, horseback riding at Kelviden Farms in Enfield, NY and working as a cashier at a local food market. I added many interesting classes to my curriculum, including Latin and Zoology, in addition to my all honors studies.
My senior year of high school I attended the TST BOCES New Visions in Life Sciences program. New Visions is a highly selective program which allows accelerated high school seniors from the Tompkins, Seneca and Tioga counties to study at a college level a year early. The program, held at Cornell University, allows students to explore their individual interests in life sciences both on their own and with guidance from college professors. I was accepted into the program to shadow veterinarians from Cornell University Hospital for Animals as my career goals at the time were to attend veterinary school and open my own practice.
However, after shadowing veterinarians in many different settings, I could no longer see this as a future career option. For almost a year I could not pin-point the exact reasons; however, it was not until after being asked countless times why I no longer wanted to be a veterinarian did I understand my sudden lack of interest in the field. I absolutely loved working with animals, but I could not take seeing them at their worst. Shadowing at the veterinary school made me see animals that were desperately ill, or toward the end of their lives. Most of these animals were scared of, or at the very least, not fond of the vets. My first "rotation" was at the Large Animal Hospital and I saw a horse euthanized for the first time, I sat in a hallway and cried for twenty minutes afterwards.
I wanted the animals I would work with to be happy to see me, and enjoy my presence. In the summer of 2012 I would realized my new found passion of animal care outside of the hospital setting.
On May 17, 2015 I graduated from Ithaca College with my BS in Business Administration, concentration in Management and Minor in Legal Studies. The following year I graduated with my MBA from Ithaca College (2016).
In My Spare Time...
When I am not pet-sitting, dog walking, or attending classes I have the opportunity to play with my own pets, perform experiments in the kitchen (cooking and baking new and exciting things), knit, crochet and sew!
