How do I protect my cats when volunteering at a shelter?

[Mochiandme]

Where I volunteer they have community rooms and cats in individual cages in the back in various stages of going through the process. It's typically a two week process of testing, shots, spay/neuter, etc before they become adoptable. With the rooms, we wash our hands thoroghly between rooms, don't use the same trash bag across rooms, change all water and food bowls. We carry our own pens to note what we see in the rooms, and we also let the shift leader know if anything unusal is going on. Any cats with Panleuk or other contagious diseases, you don't have to do if you're uncomfortable. The one we had recently, a volunteer who has only dogs did her room. In the back we wear gowns and change them when we go to another bay. We've been advised to leave our shoes outside when we go home and to shower immediately and put the clothes in a hamper or wash right away. A couple times they've had a breakout of ringwork, and those cats are isolated and tended to by staff, not volunteers.

Thank you for the details! I can definitely come up with something with my situation. I volunteer as a kitten vet tech assistant and she's not there those days and I have to do whatever needs to be done lol.

 

[Mochiandme]

Thank you for your volunteer work! Please don't beat yourself up because of this URI. If your cats have the standard vaccines, it is HIGHLY unlikely that it is panleukopenia/feline distemper, especially since you use PPE at the shelter. URIs are typically viruses aka "the common cold" so your cats could have been exposed to a virus from the supermarket floor or an unseen urine spot on the driveway, etc.
You can ask your vet about using L-lysine for immune support. My ferals do well with Homeopet's Feline Nose Relief. Be alert for yellow or greenish nasal discharge which could indicate a secondary bacterial infection that will respond to antibiotics. Probiotics are often helpful - I like Benebac Plus although my country vet recommends generic human grade Lactobacillus.
Here is the link from American Veterinarian Medical Association:
Feline panleukopenia

Thank you for your suggestions! They're all vaccinated against panleuk. My oldest wasn't doing well after the vet (very congested) but has gotten better. That nose relief will be magic for him lol. My cats have feline herpes so when they got uri, I thought they were all goners.

 

[Mochiandme]

I like all the things people say, above.

Kinda' tangent here... I used to work in a chemical factory where I walked through clouds of steam from boiling vats of chemicals all day.
Then, if you include my work with those chemicals, my clothes could have been contaminated with anything from acids to cyanide. I had a special uniform, shirt and pants, that I wore only for work. As soon as I got home, every day, I went straight upstairs, took off my work clothes, threw them in a separate hamper, took a shower and put on fresh clothes. I had heavy boots, gloves, apron and goggles that I wore only inside the building and took off then put in a locker before going home.

A lot of what the others say is similar to my experience. Do your best to keep work "stuff" at work and keep home "stuff at home.
"Never the twain shall meet."

Something I didn't notice being mentioned... I think it's wise to make sure that your home cats are up to date on all their shots.
While you are at it, same goes for you.

Yes I think I'm going to have a specific "uniform" for volunteering. Thank you for your advice!

 

[Mochiandme]

I agree with Feline Nose Relief being very good with URI's. I put it in a tiny bit of lickable treat and they lap it right up. We had distemper make its rounds a few years back and it was horrible. Out of 15 cats, 12 died. They were all outside strays and ferals. I'm sure my cats were exposed because we didn't know what it was for a while. All my inside cats were fine, (the vet did come to my house and give them boosters) as long as you are up to date on their vaccines they should be fine. I would wear paper booties or bring along a change of clothes and shoes to wear after washing up. Hand washing is still the number one preventer of MANY diseases.

Thank you! I'm definitely buying the nose relief. My cats are vaccinated against distemper. I wear gloves and change gloves so much lol

 

[Mochiandme]

Don’t worry so much about a single incident.

It’s not supposed to be like rolling the dice one hundred times in a row and hoping it doesn’t come up craps. It’s more important to make sure you’ve got all your bets covered so that you don’t have to worry about crapping out in the first place.

It‘s better to think about the long haul.

Thank you so much! I definitely need a routine for this.

 

[Mochiandme]

Please don't beat yourself up. What you did - volunteering - you did out of love for cats. Maybe you brought the infection home, maybe it was coincidence. There's just no knowing until real life experiences like yours are studied. What the veterinary community in this country relies on most of the time are studies done on cats in laboratories. And what could be MORE stressful and unnatural for a cat than to be in a cage in a lab.

The National Institute of Health has an area called "PubMed" which is free. You can search any cat health issue, and find most U.S. published studies on the subject. You can also Google studies done outside of this country, where information is often shared more freely. It's how I found a Scandinavian study on cats dosed with Megestrol Acetate for birth control (successfully) , and a French study on adverse reactions to Megestrol Acetate (a fraction of one percent.)

The world needs more people like you. Keep fighting the good fight.

I'm doing my best lol. Thank you for your information!

 

[Mochiandme]

I've had this same concern when caring for strays who come into our yard. I told myself I would no longer take them in my home. But keep them outside until the shelter appointment. Then one got hit by a car. I feel so guilty trying to save them but have to be careful for the safety of my own cats. I told myself we would build an outdoor shelter. But then worried about predators and if we put them in the garage. What if there are spiders. The struggle is real:/

It really is. Thank you for caring for strays! The more people looking out for strays and letting a shelter know to tnr. Then we wouldn't have kitten season every year.

 

[catsknowme]

Please keep us updated on how well they do with Nose Relief. 10 drops per pint of fresh, pure water (filtered, bottled or good well water) is how I administer it. I also use L-lysine for immune support and marshmallow root &/ slippery elm to soothe internal systems during flareup of respiratory, intestinal, UTI and stomatitis issues. Some studies show little support of effectiveness of natural medicine but my vet was raised on a ranch & my folks were healers so we are familiar with certain ways to prepare botanicals and avoid tinctures preserved with alcohol.

 

[fionasmom]

Not going to hijack anyone's thread, but just want to add that NIH PubMed is full of info on any health issue you might be looking for. As others have said, thank you for the work that you are doing to help cats.

 

[Mochiandme]

Please keep us updated on how well they do with Nose Relief. 10 drops per pint of fresh, pure water (filtered, bottled or good well water) is how I administer it. I also use L-lysine for immune support and marshmallow root &/ slippery elm to soothe internal systems during flareup of respiratory, intestinal, UTI and stomatitis issues. Some studies show little support of effectiveness of natural medicine but my vet was raised on a ranch & my folks were healers so we are familiar with certain ways to prepare botanicals and avoid tinctures preserved with alcohol.

Thank you for the advice. I will keep you updated. My last cat just got the uri so it will definitely help her!