February 26, 2017

Meet Meg Wallace of Eastside Petsitters in Los Feliz

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Meg Wallace.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Meg. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Years ago, I was new to Los Angeles and spent my days temping, having recently moved from New York City where I went to college. My friend, who started the company while he was in law school had just passed the bar and encouraged me to take over. As I had always been an animal lover and grew up with pets, it sounded like a great idea. At the same time, my beloved kitty was diagnosed with kidney disease and so I spent many lunch hours rushing home to check on her and give her medicine. I knew that I would feel much better being closer to home to check on my kitty and decided to give it a try. I never had any idea that this could be a real job as it truly is so wonderful to spend your days walking dogs and visiting cats and other small animals. I feel very lucky that this is my life!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
For the most part, I’ve been very lucky and things have gone well. Of course, there are always things you learn and certainly, I feel that I have grown a lot as well.

Having studied theater at Marymount Manhattan College in NYC, I certainly didn’t envision myself running a business and so learning about the day to day operations have been a challenge. I have been careful to keep the growth of the business slow so that it always feels as personalized as it was at the beginning. That is really important to me.

Also, I feel like I’ve learned so much from all of the wonderful animals and their pet parents. I have met dogs and cats with all different personalities and temperaments. They all have their own unique needs and challenges and its fun learning how to keep them all happy and fulfilled.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Eastside Petsitters – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We a small, personalized pet care company that does dog walks and hikes, cat visits, other small animal care and overnight stays. Our philosophy is that we want to give every pet we visit the same loving care that we give to our own pet. We are aware of the responsibility of caring for people’s beloved companions and strive to keep them happy and relaxed and on their usual routine when their human is working or traveling.

Because of my experience with my own kitty with kidney disease, I’m especially passionate about caring for pets with special medical needs. Having been through that experience, I understand how difficult and stressful it can be as well as how many medical issues are treatable. We are always happy to help out with special needs pets and between myself and the sitters who work with me, many of us are versed in giving fluids, insulin shots and oral and topical medications. We also don’t charge extra for medications as some companies do because we don’t feel like anyone should be penalized for having a pet that has a medical condition. Actually, we feel that the pet parent should be applauded for taking such great care of their pet and we are honored to be able to help with that.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We hope to keep providing a quality service and making more four-legged friends. It is such a lovely way to spend your time and so fulfilling to be of service and spend your days that it hardly feels like a job.

The only big change I’m planning is to hopefully update the website in the not too distant future.

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