Tender Loving Care: Pet Nursing Hotel
Leslie Fleuranges is a 21st century pet parent; she sees pets as children, not just outdoor protectors. After retiring from a 15-year career with Hills Pet Nutrition, Fleuranges did the opposite of what most retirees do—she started working twice as hard to create a business that she had been dreaming about for years. Tender Loving Care Pet Nursing Hotel®, a day care and overnight boarding facility for ailing, aging, recovering and transitioning cats and dogs was born out of water cooler conversations and research into the needs of pets that are sick or elderly.
“I had noticed over the years that a lot of my co-workers would stagger their hours so that they could be home with a sick pet or would leave early to give their pet shots for diabetes or fluid for kidney disease,” Fleuranges said. “Many of them put their lives on hold to take care of their pet.”
SPECIAL HEALTH CARE
That observation spurred Fleuranges to delve into the issue of senior pet health care and the services offered to owners of aging, sick or dying pets.
Fleuranges found through her research that while there are businesses that will teach owners of senior and sick pets how to care for their pets in their home, none actually offered out- of-home daycare or overnight boarding for these at-risk pets.
“Sick, aging or recovering pets can’t always be in a regular pet day care,” Fleuranges said. “They need special care. Being able to create a sort of pet spa for pets that are older or for pets that have special needs is something I can do that is really important.”
Tender Loving Care Pet Nursing Hotel® is the first business to house pets that don’t typically do well in normal pet daycare or with under supervised overnight boarding.
The new facility offers 27 luxury suites for dogs and two for cats. Fleuranges designed these suites without grates or cages to reduce stress to the pets and to make them as comfortable as possible.
“Each suite will have a comfortable bed and unique décor,” Fleuranges said. “We will be watching, feeding, providing medications to the pets, playing with them, keeping them clean and loving on them around the clock. There is a whole separate area for the cats, because cats get stressed if they see, hear or smell dogs.”
SPECIFIC PLAN OF CARE
Fleuranges understands how much people love their pets and how they can become like children to their owners.
“It can be very difficult for pet parents when their pets become sick or elderly,” Fleuranges said. “People will totally give up their lives for this creature that they just adore, and they don’t want anything to happen to them. They can’t trust just anyone to take care of them the way they could.”
That is why the facility will be staffed by certified veterinarian technicians, or nurses, to care for the pets and administer daily medicines and treatments. A personalized “plan of care” based on the specific special needs of each pet will be crafted for each guest and a minimum of two staff members will be on site 24 hours a day to care for them.
In addition to providing quality care for aging or sick pets, Fleuranges works with assisted living facilities in Topeka to help patients who need assistance with their pets.
“Many senior citizens get into situations where they either can’t take care of their pets for a period of time, or need lodging for their pets when they travel, and that’s when we will step in and help them out,” Fleuranges said. “We will go to their location, pick up the pet, let them spend time with us, and then bring the pet back when the pet owner returns.”
Tender Loving Care Pet Nursing Hotel® also partners with PetPaceTM,
a company that makes smart health collars that monitor a pet’s vital signs and activity levels.
“For an additional fee, if the pet parent agrees, we offer PetPaceTM health collars for dogs and cats that tell us the pet’s body temperature and other biometric measures to help us know what is going on with their pet at all times,” Fleuranges said.
OPPORTUNITIES
Fleuranges, a New York native, chose to stay in Topeka to open her new business because she loves the community and finds the residents to be incredibly supportive of new business owners.
“It’s not a typical town. If I asked anyone for help or insight, they were there,” Fleuranges said. “That would have never happened in New York, there just isn’t that same sense of community that we have here in Topeka.”
Fleuranges says she plans on expanding her pet nursing hotel to other cities such as Overland Park, Wichita or Manhattan, and might even franchise her business if things go well for her.
“When it comes to our pets, we are more alike than we are unalike, meaning we all love animals and we all want the best for them,” Fleuranges said. “I want to offer pet parents the peace of mind to travel, attend events, and live life without worrying.”
