A REGISTERED veterinary nurse from Barrow has set up a new pet care service, offering sitting and dog walking for animals in Cumbria.

Nikki Sanderson started her own service and began taking her first bookings on Thursday February 15.

After graduating from the University of Chester with BSc (Hons) in Animal Behaviour and Welfare, Nikki became a trainee veterinary Nurse at Grove Veterinary Centre in Barrow. She attained a Veterinary Nurse diploma in 2019 and continued her career with the ‘fantastic team’ at Grove. Here, she took good care of some of the towns ‘beloved fur babies’.

Now she is em - bark - ing on a new venture with her new business - Pumpkin Pals Pet Care.

As someone who has worked with pets for almost a decade, Nikki says she is in a unique position to use her extensive knowledge and the skills gained over the course of her education and career  to help people feel reassured knowing their pets are in safe hands.

Pumpkin Pals Pet Care was inspired by the loss of Nikki’s mum. After her mum passed away in 2022, Nikki began to reevaluate life and realised she wanted more flexibility and a better work-life balance as well as more time outdoors.

Nikki revealed that she named her ‘new lil business’ after her seven year old tabby cat Pumpkin because she is her ‘world’.

Nikki said she has always had a passion for animals, ever since she could talk, and has focused on caring for animals ever since leaving secondary school.

The Facebook page Nikki set up to manage her business has already succeeded in gaining some attention over just a couple of days.

She said: “I honestly didn’t think it would take off as well as it has, and so soon! I was expecting a couple of messages here and there, but the response has been fantastic and is amazing to see.”