Natalya Karelina | Owner & Founder

Under our care, pets always get individual, loving and personalized attention in the stress free environment – their own homes. And the animals’ safety and well-being is our foremost priority.

Unlike bigger pet sitting companies, who use multiple sitters coming to one home, we have the same caregiver on each visit from start to finish. Pets feel so much more comfortable and are less nervous when they have a strong connection with the same pet sitter. We stay in touch with owners 24-7. Any concerns, questions, clarifications can be addressed in no time.

We want to assure our clients that their fur kids and houses are always in reliable, gentle and protective hands. We are always here for them.

Sending clients daily updates and cute photos of their pets is customary and expected. All pets in our care get lots of love, petting and interaction. We do spoil them!

We pay great attention to how animals feel, physically and emotionally. If a pet behaves out of the ordinary, we monitor them, discuss any concerns with the owner and do whatever it takes to make them feel better. We take care of homes too, plant watering, mail pick up, light rotations and security check ups are all part of the package. We are fully Bonded, Licensed and Insured and our first consultation is always Free of charge.

There are few things I am proud and excited about. First, my business excites me every day! Meeting new people and their fur children and building lasting friendships is exciting. Even today, 10 years later, we have clients who are with us from the beginning. Throughout the years, many of our customers have moved out of state or retired and no longer utilize the services, yet we still stay in touch and care about each other. I think that alone tells a lot about the business and its approach to customer care.

Second, building a company from the ground up and keeping it successful for many years is not an easy task. It takes lots of time, energy and dedication. I started with just one client and we gradually reached about thousand clients in ten years. Its truly an American dream to own a small business, run it successfully and enjoy every day doing what you love the most and I am very proud of it!

Challenges?
Yes, I’ve had them too. Even though I always loved animals and had an instant connection with them from an early age, I’ve never seen myself being a business owner. As True Friends Pet Care grew, I had to learn lots of new things, everything from marketing to billing to customer service and everything in between. However, the most challenging of them was hiring new people to work for us. Its quite easy to find someone who just puts food and water down for kitty or a dog, but finding like minded, reliable and dedicated pet sitters who want to provide the best service possible and go above and beyond the call of duty is challenging. I had to learn to use my intuition in finding the right staff, to be able to trust them and to use a special process to train them.

LA also offers many art exhibitions and live concerts, that would be our next stop. The Troubadour, for instance, one of the smaller venues, is a great place to visit where you can be close to the stage and enjoy your favorite bands in a more close setting.

Hiking in Thousand Oaks with the best city views is great too, Tarantula trail is one of the best ones for views. A peaceful day kayaking in Oxnard is also a must There are several dinner options after a long day. Cinepolis in Westlake Village is one of them. Its a movie theater which offers great food and drinks while you’re watching a movie. I have had only great experiences there. The Grill in Westlake Village is a nice place for special occasions or Boccaccio’s on the lake with incredible views of Westlake Lake and the surrounding hills. But any restaurant on the ocean is great. I especially love Malibu Farm restaurant. Its on the Malibu Pier and it offers delicious, very fresh food and beautiful views of the Ocean. As the one of most unusual experiences, I would recommend visiting the Thien Hau Temple in China Town of Los Angeles. When I visit this place, I feel like I’ve traveled thousands of miles and I am in a foreign city. It is such a happy and meditative place to visit. Being able to observe the unique culture and traditions in such an intimate setting is amazing. Los Angeles is such a diverse city with many wonderful places for any taste and preference.