Ever wish you could leave for work in the morning and not worry about your pet’s having separation anxiety, or about having to arrange your daily schedule around your dog’s bathroom habits?

Do you hesitate to take a vacation because you hate the thought of leaving your pets in the care of a stranger, or wonder what to do with them when you visit the Boothbay Region and want some shopping and dining time?

Paula Brown of Boothbay is here to help. Brown has been taking care of pets off and on for almost 30 years. She took some time away from it when she left the Boothbay area in 1994, until 2011, after she came back to care for her mother, Joanne Brown.

‘I needed to have some extra money to care for my horses,” Brown said. Horses are her favorite animals. Morgans, to be specific. She has ridden Morgans since 1972, and owned them since 1980.

Her business, Creature Comforts Pet Care, has been running full time since March 2017.

Brown said she fills a different niche than other pet sitters and boarding facilities. “A lot of people don’t want to get all the required vaccines, including kennel cough, and dogs aren’t allowed at most facilities without them. And a lot of dogs play more aggressively, or they’re barkers, or geriatric, and have special medical needs.

“I get a lot of elderly dogs and cats that require insulin and other shots.”

She also has regular customers. She goes to one home in Boothbay Harbor five days a week to walk the owners’ dog at noon. Another client hires her to exercise her dog two or three times a week.

Br9wn  offers comprehensive overnight care in the clients’ homes, where she’ll pick up mail and water plants along with caring for pets and their specific needs, for one night up to several weeks; drop-in care visits that run 30 to 45 minutes; and hourly sittings for visitors from away who are staying at an inn or renting a house or cottage and don’t want to leave their pet alone while they go out playing tourist.

Brown has stayed with pets while their owners attended a wedding, a party, or other event. “Whatever the client wants I tend to be very flexible.”

 A couple weeks ago, she took care of her first tortoises, two red-footed tortoises named Wilson and Molly, for a young couple who also have two cats. Asked how she cares for a tortoise, as they don’t require noon-time walks, Brown said she changes their water, which they like to wade in, and feeds them salads.

If dogs like car rides, Brown will take them on little outings, including to the barn where her horse is boarded. “They love that. There are horses and chickens, and the whole nine yards.”

Brown will care for most any animal, including ferrets, birds, goats, alpacas, and llamas and horses. While her clients are away, she keeps them posted with emails and texts on how their pets are faring.

She said flexibility and adaptability are important in a pet-sitter, and she offers both.

Visit the Creature Comforts Pet Care Facebook page, call 207-380-5045, or email glorymorgan@yahoo.com