My
name is Margaret Gletherow, formerly Margaret Cafarelli before I
married my husband, Ron Gletherow in 2000. Ron is my partner, not only
in life, but also in my pet sitting business, and will be my back up when
needed. More on Ron later.
My experience with animals has been a lifetime of loving and living with pets. I literally grew up with my dog, Caesar. We were "pups" together and grew up together in Billerica and Lexington, Massachusetts. He was indeed my best friend until he died at the age of 13 on March 15th, "The ides of March".
My love of animals was
strong at an early age. As early as I can remember, maybe five or six
years old, I stopped eating meat - that's when I found out where it came
from! What a shock for an animal lover! We had pet chickens (baby
chicks at Easter do turn into chickens!)- and my brother pointed out to me
that the chicken I was eating used to be running about like our pet chickens!
(no, we didn't eat our pet chickens, my parents were also humanitarians and
would not kill a fly)......"The animals are my friends" I declared,
"not my dinner!".
Even now, at the age of 50, the idea of eating animal flesh to me is
unthinkable and barbaric. I don't judge others - in fact my husband is a
carnivore and I wouldn't even try to change him (actually I did try, but it
only lasted a few days). Some people aren't meant to be vegetarians. For
me, this is the only option.
Getting back to my pets, in addition to my beautiful dog, Caesar, my growing up years involved caring for cats, birds, fish, hamsters, lizards, turtles and other various four-legged and feathered friends. Animals have always been a big part of my life, and I can't imagine life without them. More about them on My Pets page.
Fast
forward to the Spring of 2006. After many years of searching for "the
perfect job" as an office temp, and having worked as a bookkeeper and
office assistant in various businesses, including Burr's Marina and Great
Brook Golf, I finally decided to
break out on my own and pursue my love of
animals as a full time career, as a pet sitter. Thus began Meg's
Petsitting.
Just before starting Meg's Petsitting in 2006, I worked at the Old Mystic Vet Clinic and gained valuable experience, working alongside the compassionate veterinarians, Cheryl and Lawrence Monteiro. The Monteiro's have taken care of my cats for the past eight years as my "mobile" vets and recently took over the Old Mystic Vet Clinic. They are very intelligent and caring vets and I'm proud to be associated with Cheryl and Lawrence.
I
have lived in Gales Ferry since 1995. I share my home with my husband, Ron and our cats (more on them on my
"About My Pets" page). Ron also loves animals and is
especially fond of big dogs. He assists me on my petsitting jobs, and
sometimes substitutes for me when I get too busy. As well as helping out with
the petsitting, Ron is also a talented singer/songwriter and musician, originally from
London, England. Ron immigrated to the U.S and settled here with me in
2001. You can find out more about him and his music on his web site,
which is on my links page. I also play back-up guitar and write
with him occasionally, as "Maggie's Guitar". You can see
videos of some of our shows on our "Maggie's
Guitar" link.
