Meet The Sitters
Fiona Richards with Harley and Murphy
Fiona Richards founded Privileged Pets in 1995 while still working in human resources after twenty years she was ready for a change. Her love for animals and many years of owning her own horses and dogs led her to this new career path.
Fiona is a native of Scotland and has lived in the Katy area since 1990. In 1998 she was selected as Woman Of The Year for the Katy Charter Chapter of the American Business Association and served as president for the 97-98 year. Fiona was honored to be nominee for the 2001 annual Citizen for Animal Protection Celebrity Paws gala along with her pets Murphy & Egon.
Fiona is married to Jack, a retired Police Officer, who rode with his K-9 partner Egon. Jack now handles the training for Privileged Pets. Her pets at home are Holly, and Hadleigh two Bloodhounds which she adopted. Not to mention Tuco & Twix Chihuahua’s, and Shade, a yellow Lab, who is their retired drug dog.
Ashley Cavell with Frank Bielec from Trading Spaces
Ashley Cavell, R N, is a native Houstonian with 2 cats. Samantha & Heat, both are adopted. Growing up with Golden Retrievers, and a couple of litter of puppies gave Ashley insight & a basic understanding to pets as a youngster. “I was use to cleaning up doggie messes at a very young age”, she told us. Walking, feeding and in general being responsible for them. Pet sitting with Privileged Pets since January of 2008 ,while she attended nursing school, Ashley is able to use her hands on caring skills for animals while working her way to her goal of being a Doctor. Her skills also include administering insulin shots for dogs & cats (as well as humans). As a nurse, she takes of people and as a sitter, I take care of your furry friends, too!
Hollie Miller
Hollie is a born and raised Montrose gal. She often irritated her childhood friends when she was more likely to want to spend time with their pets than with them. She has two sweet kitty cats of her own- Lucille and Levi who provide her with hours of hilarity and entertainment. Hollie has worked for Privileged Pets previously for two years and is looking forward to taking care of all her old and new friends. She has been the go to pet-sitter for friends and family for years and years. Hollie specializes in all inner loop areas and case by case will do surrounding sits whenever possible. She is pictured with good friends Mr. Magoo, Siren and Pixie.
Cissy is a native Houstonians who grew up and has lived in the Tanglewood/Briargrove area most of her life. Cissy has always been involved in volunteer organizations and has been a part of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo for 22 years. She is a member of the Junior League of Houston and is an active member of St. Michaels Catholic church. Cissy has owned her own litigation services business for over 16 years.
Cissy Smither
As a child Cissy spent a large part of her free time on a small ranch southwest of Houston where she developed her love for animals. Over the years she has been involved in countless animal rescues and has fostered numerous dogs and cats in her loving home. She is the proud owner of a 7yr old Lab/Basset (Mia). From the very beginning of their relationship Cissy knew that she wanted to combine her business knowledge with her passion and love for animals. It was through a dog rescue in 2005 that Cissy became friends with Fiona and Jack. After watching the success of Privileged Pets, Cissy had no problem when it came time to decide which pet sitting service to align herself with.
Desiree Brown with Hollie
Desiree was born and raised in Katy Tx. A graduate of Katy High School & former FFA student raising goats for 3 years. The daughter of a family friend of Fiona & Jacks, Desiree came to work with Privileged Pets in July 2010. Her experience and love of animals is leading Desiree to her goal of becoming a vet. In the meantime we are proud to have her as one of our team members not only pet sitting but assisting at our kennel.
Desiree considers her hobbies to be working at Privileged Pets, as working with the animals is fun and rewarding, watching movies, dancing and learning all she can about animals.
Meredith with Buddy
Meridith wasn’t born in Texas but she got down here as fast as she could! Born and raised in the North East, Meridith grew up in Maryland surrounded by sporting dogs — retrievers, pointers, spaniels, and setters. She spent a lot of time on the Chesapeake Bay with a big, handsome Chessie named, Mike. After college, she moved to Texas and met her husband, Bruce, of 24 years. Bruce’s job took them to the Middle East and they lived in Kuwait from 1995 – 1999. They went over with two dogs and came back with a third — plus a cat! Time passed and, sadly, all three of those dogs eventually crossed the Rainbow Bridge. A new addition joined their family in 2010. Meridith fell in love with a chocolate lab puppy, Callie, she bought at a garage sale — of all places! This “yummo choco puppy”, as Meridith affectionately refers to Callie, has lead she and Bruce to the sport of Dock Jumping. Callie competed in Splash Dog and Dock Dog events in Texas and Arizona by the time she was a year old. Callie isn’t the longest jumper in the group but she does make every effort to “rock the dock”. Meridith gets great enjoyment out of watching her dog have fun and fly through the air when she jumps into the water.
Her 16 year old Kuwaiti kitty spends her days sleeping on a heating pad and nights patrolling their home while their lab sleeps soundly in her kennel. They also have two African Spurred Tortoises named Bit and Byte. They are super friendly and can devour a pile of romaine lettuce and spring mix in a matter minutes.
Meridith enjoys the movies and considers the Academy Awards to be her Super Bowl. She sees every film and performance nominated for Best Picture, Actor/Actress and Supporting Actor/Actress and fills out her ballot form for Oscar Night in advance. She has picked “Best Picture” correctly for the last six years.
Halloween is Meridith’s favorite holiday and takes a lot of time and effort to decorate her house and yard for trick-or-treaters. She takes great pride in having the coolest house on the street.
Meridith lives in Katy and serves on the board of her Homeowner’s Association. She is a member of the ETHS (East Texas Herpetological Society) as well as HARKA (Houston Area Reptile Keeper’s Association) in addition to being Certified in Pet CPR.
Amanda Rose with Miller
Amanda is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up playing lacrosse and attended college at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD to become one of the top lacrosse goalies in the college’s history! After visiting Houston, TX one weekend in 2008 she immediately fell in love. As Davy Crockett would say, “I wasn’t born in Texas but I got here as fast as I could!” Amanda has been a Houston resident since 2009 and lives in the Barker Cypress/I-10 area. When she isn’t pet-sitting Amanda works at her day job as a Student Activities Coordinator at a Community College. Upon her arrival to Houston she immediately found a local golden retriever rescue so that she could have her own furry pal to enjoy Houston with. Amanda adopted a 2 year old golden retriever ‘Miller Thyme’ from Golden Beginnings Golden Retriever Rescue (www.gbgrr.net) in November 2009, where she currently volunteers, and her life has never been the same! Miller enjoys doing anything and everything with Amanda including talking walks, participating in local 5K’s, swimming, chasing tennis balls for hours and they both love being a team in the dock jumping sport. Amanda loves the companionship that animals provide and gives 110% to every animal she comes in contact with and looks forward to meeting your furry baby! Amanda is also Certified in Pet CPR.
Kristina and Maggie
Kristina has been around furry pals since the day she was born. She has had the privilege of having many furry brothers and sisters growing up including labs, german shephards, yorkies, chihuahua’s, maltese, cats and some great mutts as well! Kristina is a graduate from Northwestern State University in Louisiana and has been the go-to pet sitter since she was in high school. She resides in the Barker Cypress/I-10 area. When she isn’t pet-sitting Kristina tends to her full time job in a college admissions department and continues to work on her Master’s degree. Kristina has her own princess, a maltese, Magnolia Rose who answers to ‘Maggie’, who loves to be by her side no matter what! Kristina loves to meet new friends; human and four-legged, especially when she can spend time playing and cuddling with the fur babies while also tending to their needs. When free time allows she loves to support her friends in the dock jumping sport, take walks with Maggie, participate in local 5K’s, and visit dog parks and animal rescue benefits. She can’t wait to meet your baby and make new friends for both her and Maggie! Kristina is also Certified in Pet CPR.
Amanda Poole with Fats
Amanda Poole has lived in the Houston area her whole life. She moved to Katy two years ago. She has spent the last 13 years working in the automobile industry. Looking for a change, she decided to switch careers and become a pet sitter. She has always had a love for animals. As a child she had rabbits, dogs, cats, and hamsters. She rescued her cat, Cujo, from the ASPCA in 2002. In 2004, she found a 4 week old kitten that had fallen into a sewer grate at her job. After numerous tries, she was able to free the kitten from the sewer with the help of a coworker. The kitten was so energetic and full of spunk that she named her, Spaz. In 2010, she moved into a house in Katy where she found a dog roaming the streets of her neighborhood, hungry and tired. She took in the dog and named her Sage. Her hobbies are trying to save and rescue any animal she can find that needs her help and reading.
Crystal
Crystal grew up in Houston but has lived in the Katy area for over 15 years. She grew up with two Chihuahuas and she always had birds. (parakeets and small parrots) She graduated from Stratford high school in Spring Branch. She has two beautiful children and because of them she has a house full of pets! She has 3 dogs- A schnauzer (Bootsie) , a dachsund (GiGi) and a chihuahua (Lila). She also has two koi ponds and two large fish aquariums. And last but not least, a Sulcata tortoise. She has also been a busdriver for Katy ISD for 12 years. Her love of pets has brought her to us. In her spare time, she loves the outdoors. She loves working in the yard, going camping and going to the beach. Just anything that has to do with the outdoors. She is very excited about joining our team!
Casey was born in San Antonio and moved to Houston in 1998. She finished her B.S. in Criminal Justice at the University of Houston-Downtown in 2008 and currently works for a family foundation in the Galleria area since 2005. She has 2 Dachshunds; Rocki is a 14 year old black, long-haired and Gabrielle, Gabbi to her friends, is a 2 year old Piebald that Casey adopted in November 2010. She was at the beginning stages of heartworms but is all cleared up now and just as loveable as any neglected pup would be! She will be in your lap giving you kisses before you can even sit down!! Rocki had part of his lower left jaw removed do to a growth, which causes his tongue to hang out all the time, and coincidently enough, Gabbi is always sticking her tongue out too, which makes both of them irresistible to love!
Casey’s father was a pet supply salesman so she grew up around birds. In fact, her mother still has the moluccan cockatoo that her father bought for her when Casey was in kindergarten! But while renting a room from a friend who owned Rocki’s parents, she fell in love with her first dog Rocki, and he has been by her side ever since!
In her free time, Casey also makes handmade greeting cards, invitations and announcements, not to mention small pet beds from wine crates!
Brandon with Mowgli
Brandon worked for a small independent oil and gas company based in south Texas as a petroleum geologist. Unable to stay passionate about his profession he decided to switch careers and follow his dreams of becoming a small business owner. Brandon holds a B.S. degree in Geology from the University of Texas A&M Corpus Christi. He was born and raised in Dallas,TX and is the oldest of five siblings. When he’s not caring for animals, he enjoys playing golf, fishing and having a great time with family and friends. Brandon has experience in handling dogs and cats, as well as exotics, such as reptiles, birds, fish and small rodents. His latest goals are to become a certified dog trainer and groomer. Brandon will be servicing the Sugarland area, but will cater too most sits. He is pictured with his green wing macaw Mowgli.
Kelly with Zoe
Kelly is a native Houstonian and proud of it. She attended the University of Texas A&M Corpus Christi where she received a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She loves animals and has been around them her whole life. She is a firm believer in spaying and neutering your animals and adoption programs. In fact, five out of her seven pets were adopted or found as strays. Her furry family consists of three dogs, three cats and one very spoiled green wing macaw. The princess of the family is Zoe the Pomeranian who is six years old. The keys to her heart are table food and Kelly, when either is around so is Zoe. Cooper and Charlie are two very lucky pups that Kelly found and being the animal lover she is, quickly accepted them into her home. Her three cats Stone, Midas and Joules are all rescues and definitely add some humor to the household. Lastly, is Mowgli the green wing macaw who is the gentle giant of the family.
Her hobbies include being an avid fan of the Texans and Rockets, doing activities with her dogs, hanging out with her family and shopping. Kelly will mainly be servicing the Sugar Land/Southwest Houston area but will always cater to outside sits as well. She is pictured with one of her dogs Zoe.
Kailly with her lovable dog.
Originally from Atlanta and after attending the University of Berkeley, Kailly originally came to Houston in 2006 to attend The University of Texas Health Science Center to obtain her Masters degree in Public Health. Soon after graduating and getting married, Kailly and her husband John moved around for his job. Finally settling in Houston in 2010 where they both love to live!!
While planning a vacation, Kailly needed help with her two large dogs, Delilah and Lennon, she turned to Privileged Pets for pet sitting. After chatting with Cissy, Kailly’s sitter, Kailly realized she needed a change in her career and joined the Privileged Pets team in early 2011. Kailly grew up in a home with dogs and currently has rescued 4 animals; 2 dogs, Lennon and Delilah,
and 2 cats, Marley and Presley (passed in 2009).
Christopher with his dogs, Maddie & Tommy
Christopher Busby is a lifelong resident of the greater Houston area. Raised in Katy now enjoying his home in the Meyerland area. He has two dogs: Maddie and Tommy both of which he has personally trained .Christopher gained his training skills ,working with Privileged Pets at their kennel as a kennel tech in 2007, while attending high school . Loving the work he has done he has branched out and is now pet sitting. Christopher has always had a fondness for animals, having had at least one pet since early childhood.
A University of Houston graduate, majoring in English Literature and Political Science, working concurrently as a teacher. His hobbies include reading, volunteering a local church functions, atheltic activities and meeting new people.