Handy nanny’s career change

By Mara Pattison-Sowden
MILLGROVE resident Lisa McFadyen gets asked to do many different jobs with her work as a pet carer.
One job of late has been milking goats with coats.
The Warburton family was going away and asked Ms McFadyen to milk the goats – Ada and Zena – and keep an eye on their pet yabbies.
She had never milked goats before and had to be shown how, taking five to 10 minutes to drain the milk.
Goat owner Tristan Black said the family was trying to provide more of their own food at home.
“We take them for walks and the kids love playing with them,” he said.
It is cold and wet and shady when the goats aren’t in their shed, so the jackets were bought in May to keep the chill away.
“We’ve been using them overnight especially when it started to get cold several weeks ago,” Mr Black said.
Ms McFadyen was working in an office before finding it wasn’t fulfilling enough, and the death of her much-beloved dog Cherokee from cancer spurred her on to a new career.
She attends people’s properties and exercises and feeds the animals.
“I massage horses, train puppies, clean guinea pig cages – whatever the person needs help with,” she said.
“It’s so rewarding to be working with animals every day.”
Lisa McFadyen runs Cherokee’s Pet Care in the Upper Yarra and can be contacted on 0413 428 692.