Pictured here is the kind-hearted friend of the felines named Julie. She has been a Katie’s Kitty pet sitter since 2007. Having lived in the East 50’s for over 25 years, she is intimately familiar with the Midtown Area. Even after clients move away, Julie remains good friends and in touch, saying, “Their cats became family to me.”

An artist’s approach to empathy
Julie grew up in California, but after college, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting. She even made appearances on Broadway! An artist through and through, she soon found new life working as a commercial artist and sculpting portraits in bronze, glass, and marble.

Much like acting, Julie feels that sculpting requires a certain compassion that has translated over to her passion of pet sitting. “Doing portrait sculptures demands empathy if you are to do it well,” she reflects, “You need to feel yourself in another person’s shoes to better understand their personality. Now, of course, I try to feel myself in another’s paws!”

Above all else, Julie ensures that her clients, and their kitties, can sense kindness, respect, and and understanding. She notes, “ It’s an intimate affair being allowed into someone’s home, building, and life to care for a pet.”

With cats as her constant companions
Julie views empathy as an important skill that she has been working hard to cultivate since early childhood — and she learned it from her own cats! At one point in her life, Julie was the guardian of 7 feline friends. “It was like living in the Serengeti plains, and I was allowed to join them in their habitat, which was my apartment.”

During that time, she also learned how to give oral medications and sub-cutaneous fluids, as well as easing other ailments that trouble aging cats. Without so much as a second thought, she even turned down an opportunity to sail the Greek Islands. “I would not leave my cat that needed fluids daily for kidney problems.” That was that.

Today, Julie is the guardian of this golden girl named silly (who prefers the lower case like bell hooks). “Believe me, silly is quite spoiled,” Julie says with a contented laugh.
After a costly bout with liver inflammation, silly begrudgingly switched from commercial canned foods to a healthier diet that includes fresh salmon from the supermarket.

Now, life is good. Silly is 14 years old, and together, Julie and her cat dance, play tag, and enjoy a ton of games every day. Silly especially loves to be massaged and hugged. “Playfulness is good if they want it,” Julie mentions, “My silly is a touchy-feely cat, but some aren’t. I respect their boundaries.”