Question for people who help at shelters

Hi,
Don't know if this is in the right place?
I have been thinking about volunteering at our local cat rescue, but I am a bit concerned about bringing home infections etc. to my cats. Mine have all their vacs. Am I being over cautious? What do other people do about this?
Thanks Anne

Take off your clothes and shoes in the garage before coming inside the house, then walk straight to the shower without any kitty interaction.
It is a valid concern IMO.

Good for you wanting to help out at shelters! I am not a volunteer at any shelters, but I am a vet tech. Your concerns are very valid and I too had the same concerns about my job. Here is my 2 cents worth: since all your cats are vaccinated and as long as you take the precautionaries, like washing your hands before leaving and getting off your clothes as soon as you get home, I think you will be fine. In my 6 yrs as a vet tech I have yet to bring home anything to my gang. I may have possibly brought home a cold to Melody once, but that can not be proven. So I say go for it! Just be forewarned it is not easy working in a shelter if you have a big heart-you may end up with more kitties than you need-then you will be just like me!

When I worked at the shelter and vet hospital, I would come home through the basement door, undress down there and throw my scrubs right in the washer (I used some kind of like antibacterial detergent, I can't remember the name of it, but I'm sure any detergent would be fine) and wash them right away. I'd grab one of the "scrap towels" kept in the basement, haha, wrap it around me and run up to the shower.... never had any problems

Glad you want to volunteer! Shelters always need help... just a word of warning - you WILL want to take all the furballs home! haha surprisingly, none of my animals were a result of working at the shelter and hospital

Good on you!! I volunteer at the local shelter and it's so rewarding. It's a whole lot of fun and you know you're making a difference. I've also found that working at the shelter has taught me soooo much about kitties, their personalities and how to deal with them, how to pick up signs of depression early on and picking up early signs of things like kitty colds. I thought I knew a lot about cats before, but this has really tuaght me so much more.

I don't have any cats at home (we've just moved to the US from Australia and had to rehome our baby), and we don't plan on keeping any cats permanently while we're here, so I don't have to worry so much.

But... one thing that's useful is to get a bunch of big aprons - one's that cover most of your clothes. That way you can wear that while you volunteer and get fur and drool all over that, and just wash your hands and take the apron off and you should be right to go home to your kitties.

The kitties at our shelter that go up for adoption have all had tests for diseases and been vaccinated, wormed and had a dose of Advantage for fleas, so generally they're fine in that sense. The only problems kitties have had who are up for adoption, is kitty cold and one had worms. Worms would be hard to bring home, and I'm not sure how a kitty cold is transferred, but I daresay hand washing and wearing the apron at the shelter would go a long way in preventing that.

Good luck and have fun

I would only caution those of you that are only changing your clothes to pay attention to your shoes as well. Many pathogens are easily tracked in- that's why they make shoe covers, which are cheap if you don't want to dedicate one pair of shoes to shelter work.

That's so kind of you! I've thought about volunteering for sometime now, but I never seem to have the time. My is always in the right place, but my body just never seems to catch up! I hope everything works out for you!

Originally Posted by Cearbhaill

I would only caution those of you that are only changing your clothes to pay attention to your shoes as well. Many pathogens are easily tracked in- that's why they make shoe covers, which are cheap if you don't want to dedicate one pair of shoes to shelter work.

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Oh yes, very good point... I didn't mention that in my post, but my shoes would come off in the basement as well - I only wore those shoes for work (heck, I couldnt get scrub pants off with my shoes on, and I figured shoes off would be implied when I said I was running upstairs in nothing more than a towel ) At Animal Welfare, the shelter I worked at, we always had like footbath dipping stations, especially going into and out of the ICU, that would disinfect your shoes

At least at the shelter I worked at, they were very good about teaching the volunteers all the percautions to take, etc... you could probably mention that you dont want to track anything home with you to whoever's orienting you at the shelter and I'm sure they'll give you tips and guidelines

The humane society I volunteer at had a bout of distemper go through & we lost many kitties(kittens mostly). It reminded me of how careful I must be. My shoes came off in the garage. If you can, have a pair of "volunteering shoes". I spray my shoes with blech water to clean them 1x a week. My clothes come off in the laundry room as soon as I get home. I wash my arms & hands, anythig that might have touched a cat, before I leave the HS. It's easier to do in their sinks.

I have never had a problem wanting to bring a cat home....oh wait, yes I have!