Kittens!

I've been working cats for a while. There's only one other KA who likes cats, and I don't mind, so that's what I do.

A while back, I pulled this guy from stray:

They named him Dark Angel and put him in CQ. This is back when we were at capacity and were fighting for every free space.

The front desk offered to put him up front in a kennel with them, so at least people could see him when they walked in. He had a huge sign saying he was available and awesome.

Soon after, a litter of kittens that had been running around behind the front desk were discovered to have panleuk and euthanized. DA was quarantined to his kennel. Probably fine because of age and never actually touching the floor, but at risk because of being a stray and possibly coming into contact with things/people the kittens had touched.

He was adopted anyway =)

That's when I found another kitten in stray but didn't pull him because he was sick. Receiving wanted him checked before they put him in CI for treatment. He waited for vet attention for 3 days. Finally, someone from receiving checked him themselves, and he had sores (indicative of calici). He was euthanized. Had the vets looked at him earlier, he would either have been euthanized or treated, but wouldn't have spent those three days rotting in the feral room. I'm still upset about that.

Week before last, I tried to stay in CQ as much as possible because of recent panleuk "outbreaks." On two separate occasions, about a week apart, kittens were found with panleukopenia. On the second occasion, in an effort to contain the outbreak, a dozen kittens were euthanized. I'm not sure how much about that I can say here, but someone should have been fired, no one has been, and I am still pissed about this.

Despite my best efforts, the past two weeks I've been in CS, the feral room. There were some cats and kittens I was monitoring and thinking of pulling, but luckily someone got to them first.

Mickey So Fine "feral"

Mickey So Fine "available for adoption!"

Poor Mickey. I don't know what happened to him before he got to us, but he has some pretty ugly marks on his face, what looked burns to me. You can kind of see them in the pictures. He was not ready for the floor, in my opinion, but it's better than being in the back. Hopefully he'll come around.

This past Saturday I pulled four kittens:

They named the first one after me, not knowing there were three more on the way.

Rasin & Craisin

First, I just pulled Rasin and requested his name be Raisin. Little spelling error, oh well. Then I decided to pull his brother, Craisin, the wee one in the back, in hopes that some time in CQ would help him out. Miraculously, he decided he wanted to be nice, too, and he got put on the adoption floor.

This is my favorite:

Haymitch "feral"

Haymitch "available?"

Not sure if he made it to the adoption floor yet. He had a pretty nasty booboo on his neck. Said it looked like a pustule. Ick. He is absolutely stunning and a wonderful, snuggly purr box. I was tempted to bring him home, but he needed to be looked at by the vets. I guess he looks like Zsasz to me. We still miss him.

UPDATE: Haymitch went into foster, got very fat, and was adopted by a lovely family.

It's been pretty busy in the cat rooms. We have a new volunteer who has been doing a fantastic job cuddling and adoption counseling. There have been some notable adoptions, but we could always use more.

Now, for another week. We'll see what happens.

Bad day

We were full this morning. Last night, Receiving was scrambling to find places to put incoming animals, both dogs and cats. This morning, they pulled for space. For those who don't know, "pull for space" means: Choose dog and cats to euthanize in order to make space for new ones. It is more "fair" to euthanize those who have had months to find homes than those who have just arrived and never had a chance. Truth is, euthanizing healthy, friendly animals is never "fair". The fact that our facility exists as more than a temporary stop for lost animals is not "fair".

We hold hundreds of animals. If we could hold more, I have no doubt that we would eventually fill again. Every summer, we are full to capacity, and then some. I'm so glad that I don't have the difficult job to not only choose the animals that are sacrificed but also do the sacrificing. To make that decision and then execute it must be excruciating, especially knowing how much those individuals care. This is not a career you enter into lightly. It's one where you know that you can't "win" every day. Some days, you just lose.

Honestly, I wasn't particularly upset about any of the dozen or so dogs that were pulled today. I hate to say it, but I also was not surprised about the ones that I knew. Sad because I know many of them were loved by the volunteers, but not surprised. Pit bulls are adopted far less than other dogs. I would wager that a majority of non-medical euthanasias are pit bulls. I never bought into the breed stereotypes, but my job has made me a full believer that dogs are not defined by their breed, especially one perpetuated by false media reports. But that is a rant for another day.

What upset me were some of the cat choices. Black cats are the pit bulls of cats. Like puppies, they're more adoptable when young, but once they reach adulthood, they are adopted in much lower numbers. Yesterday, I found out that my favorite cat in stray, who had been waiting for a vet exam for three days, had Calici and was euthanized. I went with him and he was out before he knew what was happening. I can't help but wonder if he had been seen earlier, would he have been okay? I know better than to dwell on questions like that, but they still pop up and are troublesome.

I didn't recognize some of the cats, but there were two that stood out. Yesterday, I told Doc that a cat had tapeworms, and she handed me the pill for treatment. I'd never actually pilled a cat, but I didn't tell her that. I knew how, and I did it. Thankfully, he was cooperative. He was euthanized this morning. Another one was China, a fat, older, very sweet and silly cat. Both were large, black, short-hair cats.

We are short staffed. Full past capacity with animals, but short in all departments except the front desk. We have been operating with half kennel staff, about 3/4 receiving, NO full-time vet, one out of two vet techs. It's getting ridiculous. I usually work 4 days with 3 days off. Tomorrow will be my sixth day in a row. I am tired, sore, stressed out, and disheartened.

Worth it

My job is hard. I come home tired and covered in who-knows-what after 10 hours on my feet. I'm sweaty, sticky, stinky, cranky, and did I already say tired? My coworkers bicker like a bunch of children, there's policy that is so out of touch it's not funny, and I constantly encounter the lowest, most sociopathic people in our county.

But Friday I pulled a kitten from stray. A big, handsome 4 month old medium-haired black kitten with huge paws. He was neutered yesterday and went home today! I can't take all the credit for saving him, but I also can't guarantee someone would have noticed him if I hadn't pulled him.

Today I made a new friend in stray. Another medium-haired black kitten, about 3 months old. He's sick, so I didn't pull him. But I gave him a blanket, and he loved it so much he made biscuits.

That made showing up to work totally worth it.