A day in the Life of a Cat Shelter

[mom2raven]

Bless you all for the work you do. I am sure it is hard, even with the rewards.

 

[addiebee]

Yeah, that "miracle of birth" thing is a bunch of bull! Next time, tell a person who says that to you that the real lesson for children is to be responsible human beings, and what better way to do that than take care of an animal, while NOT adding to an unwanted population. Suggest they find a good video on the birth of animals to watch.

Also that the cat population is out of control and many, many cats get put to sleep w/o ever finding homes. What are they going to do when the kittens are weaned and ready? Keep the entire litter? Try to find them homes? Obviously not very caring persons.

Also, I doubt from what you said that the "free" kitten she will get will get needed vet care b/c of $$$. When people balk at paying $120 for one of our cats, I patiently explain what said "free" kitten really costs if they want to be good pet parents. But then, as I said, some don't really care.

 

[addiebee]

Glitch, if your local humane society is horrible, contact the home office and complain. USHSis based in the Washington DC area. OR... contact your local TV or newspaper and let them do an expose story on the place!

 

[catsknowme]

Originally Posted by AddieBee

Glitch, if your local humane society is horrible, contact the home office and complain. USHSis based in the Washington DC area. OR... contact your local TV or newspaper and let them do an expose story on the place!

This is why I am currently in the situation I am with so many kitties. I managed to place a very young stray that I named DAX; got him vaccinated, wormed and then neutered; unfortunately, my close friend who took him has an adult daughter with a "dark side" who abused poor DAX and I took him back. He was so freaked out - hissing, growling, biting - I made an appt. for him to be put down by my vet since he seemed so traumatized, but fate intervened - I got busy at work & had to cancel his appt. - left him in the carrier overnight, with just the other kittens & cats for company & next morning let him out to hang with the others as he no longer attempted to attack me. by next day, he was back to his cuddly self, except now he's terrified of strange people.

 

[addiebee]

This is why I am currently in the situation I am with so many kitties. I managed to place a very young stray that I named DAX; got him vaccinated, wormed and then neutered; unfortunately, my close friend who took him has an adult daughter with a "dark side" who abused poor DAX and I took him back. He was so freaked out - hissing, growling, biting -


OMG - that's horrible! There are some really sick people out there who masquerade as normal! So glad you were able to save him!

 

[icklemiss21]

That is why I am so glad we have black lists for people like that even if it means that some people who would never actually hurt an animal get placed on them and have to prove themselves through a vet or other references

 

[callista]

This is the frustrating thing, isn't it? I mean, on one hand you want to place your animals because there are a hundred more waiting for space; but on the other hand, you're scared that if you're not careful enough, a cat will end up as somebody's outlet for aggression or perverted science project... I'm only a volunteer; I can't imagine what the shelter owners go through. I wish I could cast a "detect animal lover" spell or something.

 

[icklemiss21]

You get a good sense by things they say when looking at them. Stories about their own cats etc.

Obviously doesn't work 100% of the time but definitely cuts down on the crazies getting them.

 

[rebochan]

My shelter experience is only volunteering on Saturday mornings at a local Humane Society no kill cat shelter. Basically, that's only how much they need more for, though they do have full time workers. I spend about two hours scooping litterboxes, scrubbing out cages, vacuuming and sweeping the floors, then scooping the litterboxes one more time. It's not too terribly rough when you've got cats following you through the whole place though. It's only hard when they, say, think you are a tree or think a litter box that is being scooped out into a garbage can can actually support their weight

After that, I socialize with the cats. I know a lot of their names now, but some of them I just give nicknames too...

This is Jojo, or as I nicknamed him, Vampire Cat. The first two weeks I stayed out of his way because I thought he was always bareing his teeth. The third week, I was informed he had a cleft palate and he just always looks like that. Now I think it's cute. He's kind of insane, but I actually got him in my lap one day. This is quite shocking, as he's apparently a little tempermental with some of the other people. He also bats away other cats that interrupt our time together. He also randomly chomps on my hand. I don't think he's actually being aggressive, he just doesn't realize that it hurts us!

I'm just hoping spending all that time with him gets him a good home soon. He's high-maintenance because of his crazy litterbox habits, but he's a good soul.

I'm never there during the open adoption hours, so all I can do is trust the people who are to adopt them out. But the woman who's there most of the time is very picky about cat owners and she won't adopt unless she's absolutely sure they're good people.

 

[icklemiss21]

For those interested in volunteering most shelters really need extra volunteers over the holidays