About Me

My name is Jill Stienissen and I am the founder of Balance 4 Paws.

I have been passionate about animals my whole life. Growing up we always had pets in our household and I was always going around looking for animals in need. I always knew that I wanted to work with animals.

When I was 18 I started studying animal care and management. During this study I had the opportunity to do several internships in some amazing places with some incredible animals. I did one year in a horse stable, several months in a cat and dog shelter and I had the amazing chance to do a several months internship in a wildlife sanctuary in Thailand. Here I worked with rescued elephants, bears, monkeys, different species of birds, nocturnals and much more. The study covered a wide variety of animals from farm animals, domestic animals, amphibians, aquatic and wildlife.

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After my study I travelled a year in Thailand and Malaysia and ended up in Dubai. In 2015 I got the amazing opportunity to work in a beautiful veterinary hospital in Nad Al Sheba, Dubai as a veterinary nurse. It was an absolute dream job. I got to nurse all sorts of animals back to health. I worked with cats, dogs, falcons, exotics, birds and all sorts of wildlife like tigers, lions, gazelles ect. Here I gained lots of experience. After working there for almost 3 amazing years, I found the love of my life, ironically a veterinary surgeon, and got married and soon after pregnant. Unfortunately that meant I had to stop working.

After I had my daughter I went through a rough path in my life. Regular psychology didn’t work for me and I came across a lady offering an alternative way of dealing with my depression. This completely changed my life. After working on myself for a long time, I wanted to go back to finding a purpose. Since I have such a passion for animals I felt it was my calling to also help animals the same way that I was helped. This is where I started Balance 4 Paws. My goal is to bring happiness and balance back into the life of animals and help them the way I was helped. I did several studies and gained several certifications for crystal therapy, reiki and cat behaviour. So I can offer the best care and advise to pet and pet owners. My goal is to have only balanced and happy animals in every household!