Meet Dan McPartlan | Owner/Founder, The Comforted Kitty

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dan McPartlan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dan, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important factor behind our success is providing a consistently excellent service that is empathetic to the client’s situation in leaving their beloved cat (and home) in our care while away. We’re prompt with communication with the client, follow their directions for care precisely, and send them a daily visit update on how the visit went with their cat and any issues that have arisen. There are so many mediocre pet sitters out there, both amateur and professional, who take advantage of a client’s trust, endanger the pets they’re caring for, and do not live up to the expectations the client had when arriving back home. We want every client to look forward to leaving their cat and home in our care without having to worry in the back of their mind while on their vacation.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
What sets us apart from most other pet sitting companies is first that we are a cat-only pet sitting company while most others are dog-centric. More importantly, though, we strive to give the client the utmost peace of mind while they are away on their vacation that their cat (and home) is being well taken care of by a professional who is well versed in feline behavior, do exactly as is instructed of them, and keep the client updated on how things are going via daily visit updates. We also keep the cats in their natural environment (their home) as opposed to a noisy, unsanitary and unfamiliar boarding facility that they usually are miserable staying in.

I started this business back in the fall of 2014. I was unemployed, on disability, living in a 120 sq. ft rat-infested apartment and having just two cats, a bicycle, backpack, and several hundred dollars to my name. Out of desperation I sacrificed pretty much everything to grow this business. I worked every day of the year: Thanksgiving evening, Christmas morning, birthdays, weekends. I rode my bike in the rain, heat, early morning, late nights in sometimes not the best parts of Oakland or Berkeley.

Some of the biggest lessons I learned are that hard work really can pay off as long as you are smart about it, persistent and consistent in doing it, and having a very strong vision or “why” you are doing it. The entrepreneurial life can be very lonely, unforgiving, and disheartening with failures at times, especially when you have no mentors to rely upon or financial stability. But I strongly believe in the old adage “where there is a will, there is a way” and most things will work out if you believe enough and learn from your mistakes. You have to be very aware of why you are doing things the way you are and think about whether there is a better, more efficient way to do it, especially true when you are scaling a business. Don’t give up on your dreams. It can seem really daunting when starting out but one of the most exciting things for me has always been just taking that first step that most are not willing to do out of fear. It really can be that easy to just get started. I felt it when first starting this business, when I posted the first job application for a staff sitter, and when I picked up and moved from the bay area to Las Vegas to start a new branch of the business in 2019.

Also, the lessons of hard work, good customer service, and being very honest were lessons my parents taught me as a child and were key to my success in starting the business and growing a loyal client base that raved about our services. These are the traits we look for most when partnering with new cat sitters. We’re nothing fancy or innovative, just a bunch of hardworking, honest cat lovers!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
*I have never visited the Phoenix or Tucson areas so my experience is based on the bay area and Las vegas*

In the Bay Area, there is almost too much to attempt to list! I am more of an outdoors enthusiast than partier. For bike riding, the Bay Trail especially along the east bay side, visiting Point Pinole regional park, hiking Angel Island, visiting Marin county particularly the Tiburon peninsula and Sausalito, maybe eat at Bar Bocce in Sausalito or The Caprice in Tiburon. Walk around lake merritt in Oakland. Walk in Golden Gate Park in SF. And I can’t forget to mention touring the UC Berkeley campus (I am an alum).

in Las Vegas I would definitely recommend Mt. Charleston or Lee Canyon and Valley of Fire for hiking, skiing, mountain biking, etc., Area 15 for the unique experience, eat at one of the five star restaurants on the strip such as Jose Andres’ Bazaar Meat, visit the Mob Museum or the National Atomic Testing museum.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
All of the cat sitters we have partnered with over the past 5 years. Their hard work, empathy, and love for felines has been instrumental in expanding our client base in dozens of cities in several states and showing all of these clients that there is a professional service out there that is trustworthy and a superior option to boarding their cats or burdening a family member, friend, or neighbor. I would also like to give a huge shoutout to Genevieve Ray and Emily Ziebell, two female small business owners and fellow pet sitters whose referrals and guidance helped me get my business off the ground in Berkeley, CA.

Website: www.comfortedkitty.com

Instagram: @comfortedkitty

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thecomfortedkitty

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/comfortedkitty

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-comforted-kitty-berkeley

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6YXtkbXLsL_guTb3mhqYRw

Image Credits
All images taken by Dan McPartlan