Sam Heggie, will be offering her premium cat care service to felines and their human paw-rents across East Oxfordshire ((Thame, Chinnor and Watlington) and Buckinghamshire (Aylesbury, Princes Risborough and Stoke Mandeville) from Monday 10th July.
Introduction
Sam, who has had a rewarding career in PR, working with small businesses and charities, including The Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity, Aylesbury, where she was Communications Manager for seven years, and then running her own PR business since 2016, is now turning her hand to cat sitting – a result of her love of cats, in particular older felines.
What did life look like before joining The Cat Butler Franchise?
I’ve worked in PR & Communications for over 25 years supporting non-profits, then running my own small PR business for the last seven years, again focussing on working with charities, small businesses, and sole traders.
It has been brilliant to be able to utilise my skills and experience to help a variety of businesses and organisations over the years, and now I feel it’s the right time for a change of direction.
Why cat sitting?
Sam: “I am a big cat lover having grown up with five cats as a child, and now with our senior moggy, Patch, who we adopted from a Blue Cross rehoming centre near us. As a cat in his twilight years, he enjoys being in his own home environment with his usual sounds, sights and smells. I can’t imagine how he’d react to staying at a cattery with other pets (even getting him there in a pet carrier would be hard I think!), it just wouldn’t be the ideal situation for him. So that got me thinking about when a neighbour or friend can’t help (and sometimes you feel bad asking don’t you?) the perfect solution would be to be able to call on a professional cat sitting service so that the cat can stay in their own home while they’re parents are away; be it on holiday, for work, or simply for a weekend break, giving both them and their cat, peace of mind while they’re away.”
What was it about The Cat Butler that appealed to you?
Sam: “I will admit that having my own business already, I did investigate setting up a cat sitting service on my own, but when I stumbled across The Cat Butler on a Google search, spoke to the franchise owner (the guru!), Sandra, and fellow franchisees, I knew this was for me. The client reviews and testimonials speak volumes and reassured me that this was the right business for me and a wonderful opportunity to be able to bring it to my own area – I cannot wait!”
Tell us about your feline family
Sam: “My feline family is our short-haired domestic male tabby, Patch, who is now a mere 16 years old! He was originally a stray found in London many moons ago and was moved around several times to different rehoming centres until he found an older lady who looked after him until she sadly passed away. Then during the pandemic, we were looking to adopt and rehome a rescue cat and found Patch on The Blue Cross animal charity website. As it was during the pandemic, we couldn’t meet him ‘in person’ due to the restrictions at the time so we saw lots of videos and photos and I knew he was for us.”
“Patch absolutely LOVES a lap, will lick you to death with affection, and is a major sunbather. Anytime he can get a sunshine spot, he’s there! For an older cat he can move let me tell you! We love him to bits and my teenage son absolutely adores him. I often find them snuggled up somewhere together.”
What does the future hold?
Sam: “I am very excited to be launching The Cat Butler Thame & Aylesbury on Monday 10th July and am so looking forward to providing this exceptional cat sitting service to all you moggy mums and dads out there, I can’t wait to meet you all!”
The Cat Butler Franchise
If you would like more information on becoming a franchisee with The Cat Butler, fill in our short form to request a brochure and learn more about our unique cat care franchise opportunity.
Our franchise brochure gives you plenty of industry insights and, in particular, a useful comparison between joining a franchise or going it alone.
