When you can't detach yourself from work (long)

This is for all the people who have worked or currently work in any sort of animal welfare or do it from home. I was wondering, how many of you can come home at the end of the day and not think about the kitties you look after or worry about them. I know as humans it's normal, but when i had my 2 month stint at Animal Aid it was drilled into my head that you couldn't get attached. Unfortunately i did. I know that animals get put down under the most extreme of cases, it is a shelter that keeps Animals long term if they dont get sold and dont get sick. Instead of killing them off after 3 months if they dont get bought or reclaimed.

There was one gorgeous cat named Heather, she was a b&w dsh about 5 years old. I was told by many of the ladies that she was unfriendly and short tempered. I did find that out but a few weeks into work she warmed up to me and never attacked me. If she was getting annoyed she'd give me a quick nip but nothing serious. She would spend ages sitting on my lap. She got so attached to me that she would follow me into the kitchen and jump up on me as soon as i sat down, and i didnt see her do that with others. I gave her my usual attention and went home, next week when i came back i noticed she wasnt in (even amongst the 40 or more kitties that would be there) and i was told she was put to sleep. Apparently she attacked someone and they couldn't sell her if she was vicious. I was very sad.

There was another cat named Odball. Pure white like Charlie, but he had one blue eye, one yellow, and was deaf. He meowed his head off for hours for attention if he was in his cage, and some of the women would forget he was deaf and get annoyed. I didn't mind it. He didnt like one of the bigger cats and they fought so he wouldn't be out the whole day. When he was out with me in the kitchen (the place where everyone converged to sit up on the benchtops and the kitties would hide on top of the bookshelf and in the just cleaned litter trays ) we would have string and little toys that he would go nuts with, he was such a lively cat and you would still forget he was deaf. Even i didnt know for a while because i thought he was just ignoring me anyway, he got put down as well. I think because he didn't warm up to many people who came to look around. And they were worried about his fighting.

It was even harder working in quarantine. There were some kitties who weren't claimed after 8 days and sick, they went to sleep. There were some that just gave up and didnt eat or move from their bedding. There was one beautiful orange persian, i was told he was about 11 but he was so tiny and skinny i think they got the age wrong. He wasn't claimed and was a scared cat, i spent that week giving him lots of attention and hugs, being gentle and coaxing him to eat. It's so hard being human. There are so many animals that are dumped or left behind when people move. I sometimes wish they all were locked in cages to see how these babies feel. I never once was involved in any of those animals being put down, or helped carry them down to the clinic. I couldn't do it. But i still felt ashamed i couldn't help them more.

I know this is a long thread. I just want to know how you handle these things. When i came home i would give Jaz and CHuckie tonnes of cuddles and worry about if any of our cats would be there the next day at work. Some ladies there just shrugged it off because theyd been working there so long they'd just become numb to it. I know you have to be professional about it, and i did try to grin and bear it, or have my teary moments in private.

What do you do to get rid of that awful feeling? I haven't been there in months now, but i have photos of the long term cats and i got onto their website and keep checking to see who's there.

Im sorry this took so long, i just started feeling horrible and needed to let it all out.

There's no easy way to do it. I cried for weeks when I had to choose 4 kitties to be euthanized for overpopulation last summer. We are a limited kill shelter & this was the first time in 4 YEARS we had to euthanize for overpopulation. The saddest thing was 3 of the 4 cats euthanized were surrenders. The owners didn't care anymore.

There are ones you get really attached to, there's one deaf girl here....got a severe inner ear infection so not only is she deaf, but her balance is off. She is dog aggressive, not real open to cats & does hiss/bite if you scare her. But I love her anyways. I know her time will be up very soon. There's not much you can really do about it. No rescue will take her, but the one that will we will not send her to. They aren't real good at finding good homes all the time.

Sorry I sorta hijacked your thread. There is no way to work around those nasty things. I know that if they are considering euthanizing anyone here, they ask me or tell me first. That feeling never goes away. IMO, that "feeling" is what makes people who work in rescues so good. There is one lady at the shelter here who is a total ...& she's no help. she's just a burden.

Originally Posted by white cat lover

Sorry I sorta hijacked your thread. There is no way to work around those nasty things. I know that if they are considering euthanizing anyone here, they ask me or tell me first. That feeling never goes away. IMO, that "feeling" is what makes people who work in rescues so good. There is one lady at the shelter here who is a total

...& she's no help. she's just a burden.

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No apology needed. I want people to share their opinions and experiences in here as well. There was one woman who had a mentaly disabled child who volunteered there as well. This girl could do all the stuff that we did but she had the mind of a 5 year old. Now that isn't her fault, but there were times where she would make rude comments about me to other people and she threw a heavy cat toy and it smacked me in the head. I was very pissed off that her mother never saw any of this and thought her daughter was innocent. This girl always ran around saying 'im an angel im an angel' and then did something stupid like teasing the cats to the point where all of them were meowing and unsettled. Her mother was actually a bit of a to me as well if i tried to bring it up.

some people

You can't just not get attached, it's really not possible. BUT you cannot focus on the negatives either. Remind yourself and your coworkers about what a great job you are doing nad what great placements you've made.

You must always keep in mind that you are adopting to "the general public" and they won't deal with a lot of things that you or I would--and I always always always play in my head the saying "there are worse things in life than death" such as being stuck in a cage for a year or two because there are like 3 people on the face of the planet that would want to deal with a particular health/behavioral problem.

I keep a list of all the animals that I've known that had to be euthed at the shelter and say an extra special something about the ones I had to euth myself. It helps me to know that SOMEONE will remember their names.

Read this, I think it's important for all people involved in sheltering and rescue to be aware of these.

http://www.animalsheltering.org/reso...ur_phases.html

It isn't possible not to get attached - I seem to be quite lucky in the cats I foster, I get very few ill cats, and we do have cats as long as it takes - 14.5months with Tom, that did get me down as he got stress related cystitis (which made him spray) and fought my neighbours cats. We did have a bad year for losing cats last year though, we are all hoping that it is a better year this year. We are also very small, so I think it is different, cats do move a lot quicker as there are so few of them at times (esp at the moment, we only have 5 adults, and 3 of those aren't fully ready to be rehomed). But, there are a lot of positives to what we do - I never get upset when a foster goes, as my mindset is they are only here till a permanent home is found for them, so when they go, my goal is achieved and I can then help another needy cat. I have only kept 2 fosters as well, both are oldies and the kind of cats that don't tolerate change that well, and had struggled to adapt to a rescue environment - they were both fosters for months first though just in case someone would offer them a home.

I am sending hugs and prayers to each person here that is involved in this type of work. I don't think I could do what you guys do.

Originally Posted by LSULOVER

I am sending hugs and prayers to each person here that is involved in this type of work. I don't think I could do what you guys do.

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You said it Belinda. I couldn't do it either, I would fall apart and never return. Those that do this type of work are angels on earth

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

You said it Belinda. I couldn't do it either, I would fall apart and never return. Those that do this type of work are angels on earth

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Yeah, I agree Nat, people always tell me that it takes special people to do what I do too, not all people can work in a day care.

But people who work in a animal shelter have it much harder, I could never do it. I do think that they are angels too.

I do some extensive volunteer work for my local shelter. It is a no kill, so it makes it easier that if a cat is not there, most likely they are at the vet or went home. However, we still have that rare case...

There was a case not long ago where 3 young cats (6 months old) came in via surrender. Two of the cats were great. They were very friendly and loving and got a home almost immediately. The 3rd was a very nasty cat. The cat cuddling volunteers (including myself) tried everything we could to bring him around. After a month, he didn't get any better and was sent to a municiple pound. I'm sure that cat was put down. Municiple pounds around here don't have the space or time to try and rehabilitate a cat like that. I think about that poor kitty all the time. He was probably scared, misunderstood, etc. I wish there was more we could do.

We currently have another cat that is extremely feral. We are looking into sanctuaries for her. She was never an outside cat, just came from a woman who had 12 cats in the house and didn't pay any attention to her. She only likes the other cats she came in with and tries to attack any other cat or dog she comes in contact with. She doesn't like humans at all and is very unadoptable. I just don't know what is going to happen to her.

Even though it is a no kill, it is still very hard work, but rewarding when the kits go to a good home.

Bless those of you who do this for a living. I can't imagine how it feels to work in those instances where euth is a must. Dragoriana, take heart that the kitties that warm to you know love for at least a small part of their lives. It warms my heart that someone is there to understand them and give them the love they deserve.

I admire you so much. I could never do that job..It would just break my heart. But, just remember you DID make a difference in those cat's lives. You gave them someone to come to, someone to bond with, and you made the shelter a home for them. For some, you could have been the highlight of their lives! Maybe you are the only one that has ever shown them how wonderful humans can be to animals. THAT is what you have to focus on. And, I have a feeling you will be ambushed at rainbow bridge!