All because she loves animals. So much in fact, she has found a way to turn her love for them into a part-time job — as a pet sitter.

Abry, owner of Nicole’s PURR-FECT Pet Sitting Service, has become a pet owner’s dream by allowing pets to stay home while their masters are away.

The professional pet sitter prides herself on low rates and the good care she provides each animal. Even the message on her answering machine: “We give your pets loving care when you can’t be there” ensures her promise.

The 25-year-old medical assistant keeps almost any kind of pet, from reptiles, dogs and cats to birds while owners are away.

“Birds are the easiest,” said Abry, who can also add a baby bobcat to the long list of animals she has cared for. “If it’s a pet, I’ll care for it. I haven’t turned down a job yet.”

The pet sitter is so dedicated to the job, she has become bonded, licensed, and insured as a professional pet sitter. She has even joined Pet Sitters International, a North Carolina based club that provides information and training sessions for those in the profession.

“I love what I do, because I love animals,” Abry said.

And her clients seem to love her as all 35 of them are willing to allow her to use their names as references.

“We think she’s great,” said Neisha Fort, who hired Abry to pet sit their 11-year-old Golden Retriever, Kazam.

“Kazam loves her, too,” said Dr. Sam Fort. “She brings him treats and report cards. He always gets good report cards.”

Abry said the report cards are just something extra she has come up with for her clients. The treats simply reward pets.

Before she takes on any job, Abry first interviews potential clients and their pets. Abry said that gives her a chance to meet the owners and their animals and interact with them in their own environment.

“I would be scared to let myself in a home where I had never met the animal, especially where there’s a dog. That’s their territory and they’re supposed to guard it. I like the animals to smell me and see me with their owners.”

She even interviews cats to find out what they like and where things she may need to care for the animals are in the house.

Abry has worked numerous times for the Forts while they’re away from their Salisbury home.

The couple used to send Kazam to a kennel until they heard about Abry’s service from friends and neighbors. The Forts said when Kazam began to get a little older, they decided it was best for him to stay home.

Once they heard about Abry, it was their opportunity to do that.

“He’s happier when he’s home,” Neisha Fort said. “When we get home now after a trip, we see him immediately as opposed to waiting the next day to pick him up from the kennel. We’re happier with that. Nicole is truly a Godsend.”

“And we’re glad we can just keep him out of the car because he fills it up with hair,” Sam said, laughing.

So now, when the Forts are away, Abry enters their home two or three times a day, takes Kazam out for a walk, feeds him, brushes his coat, plays with him for a while, gives him his prescribed medication and fills any other requests the Forts may make.

Abry asks clients if they want their newspaper and mail brought in, their radio or television turned on or off and if they want lights on and off — all for the cost of the visit.

And she says she does this for each of her clients and is willing to take more since she hopes it will turn into a full-time job.

Abry gets help from her husband, Pierre, who accompanies her on many of her jobs and is also an animal lover. In fact, the couple met in a pet shop.

“She asked to hold my pet python,” Pierre Abry recalls. “I support her because I know it’s what she wants to do.”

Abry says she has been an animal lover all her life. The owner of three cats, two of which were strays, has had dogs and cats since she was very young. So she knows how hard it is to sometimes care for pets.

“Sometimes it’s a lot of work, but I can handle it,” Abry said through a big smile.

Abry has proved she can handle more. This past Labor Day weekend, the pet sitter had seven different jobs and managed to provide special care. “I woke up early that weekend to ensure all animals were well taken care of,” Abry said. “This is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. So it was fun.”

Not every encounter with pets has been fun for Abry.

Seven years earlier, Abry was attacked by a friend’s Dalmatian, which resulted in 36 stitches to her face and cheek. The dog, one she had always gotten along with, took her slender face into his mouth. It was hard for the then 85-pound teen-ager to fight off the dog, which weighed around 60 pounds.

Though she was hurt pretty badly and didn’t leave home for a month because of severe facial injures, her love for animals has not diminished.

“That was indeed an awful experience,” recalls Abry, who doesn’t show any scars from the attack. “Surprisingly, that experience didn’t traumatize me. I only feared that dog, not all dogs. I know I can’t judge every dog or even every Dalmatian on one experience. I just can’t.”

And today, her love for animals can be seen through her interaction with them.