Shannon Huskins
Speaker Bio
Shannon is the founder of Paws & Purrs Feline Services in Atlanta, GA and has been pet sitting since 1997. Paws & Purrs is an exclusively cat-only business that specializes in feline hospice care and in-home cat sitting & wellness services. Shannon and her staff focus their attention on each cat’s behavior & environmental enrichment needs, managing chronic illnesses, and client education.
Shannon is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Biology as well as a minor in Health Science (pre-med). It only took Shannon one volunteer shift at a local animal shelter a few years after graduating to realize that her life’s path would be one that combined animals & medicine! Two weeks later, she was working as a veterinary assistant & loving every minute! Like most vet techs, Shannon quickly took up a “side job” as a part-time pet sitter & thus her pet sitting career was born!
Over the next 18+ years, Shannon continued to gain knowledge through her veterinary career and found ways to incorporate those experiences into her pet sitting business. She became a Registered Veterinary Technician in 2005, became a member of Pet Sitters International the following year, and learned through trial and error how to run a successful cat sitting business as a solo sitter.
Upon retiring from her vet career in 2015, Shannon began the next phase of her career by hiring sitters, expanding the client base, and developing partnerships with local cat veterinarians & other feline-specific businesses. She began a Lunch & Learn Lecture series with the co-founder of a local feline adoption center that focuses on cat-specific topics for veterinary personnel and other pet professionals. Shannon was selected as a 2020 Finalist for Pet Sitter International’s highest award, Pet Sitter of the Year. And in 2022, she partnered with FurKids Inc to become co-manager of an exclusive all-cat rescue & triage care center that houses 60+ cats & kittens that are in need of life-saving medical care.
Shannon shares her home with her partner Kathy, and their 10 rescue cats.