Animal lover turned hobby into career after husband became sick

An animal lover turned her hobby into a career after her husband got sick.

Abigail Forrest started her unusual online business while caring for her ill partner Alan Forrest, 36, after he was struck with labyrinthitis, a chronic ear infection.

The 33-year-old, from the Southside, was also looking after her 10 pets which included multiple ferrets, hedgehogs, and cats, meaning she had to be home a lot.

Abigail launched her own business (image by Bethany Grace Porter)

Abigail has customers from all over the world interested in her products (image by Bethany Grace Porter)

Abigail has cats and hedgehogs at home (Image by Bethany Grace Porter) 

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It was then she decided to combine her creativity and love for animals by launching her online business Fauna Forrest.

She started selling hats, toys, and accessories for tiny creatures which has caught the attention of shoppers from across the globe.

Abigail said: “I was newly married when my husband ended up getting really sick and I had to stay home to look after him.

“I have five cats, three ferrets, and two African pygmy hedgehogs but have always struggled to find variety on the high street when buying things for them.

“That is when I decided to start my online business Fauna Forrest which lets me and my customers accessories our animals in a safe way, while still expressing their individuality.

“I have customers from all over the world now that buy my mini hats and toys for their lizards, rabbits, hedgehogs, cats, and dogs.

“The wonderful thing about the internet is that if there’s something niche interested in you will find your community.”

Abigail creates cute hats for her pets, including her African pygmy hedgehogs (Image by Bethany Grace Porter)

The hats don’t have straps so are not restrictive (Image by Bethany Grace Porter)

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Abigail launched her business in 2016, but has always been passionate about animals and creating since she was a child.

Watching her mother as a dressmaker inspired her to make tiny clothes for her toys which helped build her creative skills.

Now she sells berets, bow ties, collars, party hats, and crowns for pets but keeps the animals’ safety and comfort at the forefront of her designs.

Her work was also shortlisted for the global Etsy Design Awards last year celebrates high quality items from sellers around the world.

Abigail puts safety first when creating items for pets (Image by Bethany Grace Porter)

Abigail has five cats at home (Image by Bethany Grace Porter)

Abigail said: “From a young age I have been inspired to make things, I used to make outfits for my beanie babies so it has always been a hobby that I have now made a business.

“In the pet community and industry I find there is not a lot of originality, I try to provide this with my bespoke designs and I can customise things for adaptability.

“A lot of the stuff on the market is unsafe for pets so I make sure safety is a huge priority of mine.

“I don’t use straps or clips which are different from other pet companies, I would rather the accessories were just placed on the animals so as to not cause them distress.

“When you are dressing animals up you don’t know exactly how they feel about it and I want them to be really comfortable.

“I want to challenge the lack of originality and want to keep learning and changing my products.”

You can check out Abigail’s shop here.