A day of data entry

If you didn't already know, today was my day in medical. Usually it involves a few intakes, a lot of paperwork, and prepping for the weekend. Well, today was more paperwork than anything else. I won't bore you with to much of the details but the data entry consists of setting up the animals files in our shared computer system and entering all of their medical notes.

There were a few other things that I did today in addition to sitting in front of the computer. I dished out the meds in the morning, including pilling a few cats which I must say I am getting pretty good at. We also had to pay close attention to our cat in ISO who has had a tough time pooping. We actually had to take him to a vet's office yesterday to have him looked over. They ended up giving him an enema and putting him on lactaloose. Apparently, from what I hear, he had a pretty large movement but has yet to go at the shelter. Hopefully the laxative and wet food will do the trick because I really don't feel like learning how to give a cat an enema.

We also had to purge a hematoma on a poor little safe house animals ear. I have to say, the sound of pus coming out of this poor little guy was pretty nasty, along with the smell, but he really seemed to be feeling better once it was all over. The med staff is still debating if surgery is needed. They are still waiting to see if the purging and antibiotics do the trick.

After all of this we still had to give a good ten dogs a dose of panacur. This is a de wormer that can usually knock out giardia in a five day treatment plan. I hope it does! When we all came in this morning, one of our new second chance labs was pretty much sprawled out in a large mess of diarrhea that even the most seasoned kennel staff members were holding their breath for.

The day took a little longer than expected but we ended up getting all the information entered into the computer. We also got all of the meds ready for the weekend and all of the dosing done for the afternoon. There wasn't anything to crazy which means that it was a good day in the med room. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to you comments.

Not a lot happening

Well, as my Thursday's go today was an uneventful one. Typically it is the day that all of the previously adopted animals get to go home after their surgery day but surprisingly enough there were none today. What that means for me is that my attention was focused on a different sort of task today.

The majority of my day was spent setting up our "on hold" messaging system. Sounds exciting I know, but it is actually something the shelter has been looking to do now for some time. What the system does is loop a series of pre recorded messages and announcements for all of our customers that have been placed on hold. This is a big step up from dead silence that has traditionally accompanied the uncertainty of our customers wondering if they have been disconnected when they are actually on hold. It is also a way for us to spread the word about upcoming events at the shelter.

It's actually a pretty cool system that is easy to modify if you have a new event or change of hours. The only thing I don't like about it is the fact that it is my voice playing on the message system. The other thing that kind of got to me, and a few other staff members, was while I was setting it up, just about every speaker phone in the shelter was on a continual loop of the message. Not that I don't like to hear my voice, but over and over again even I was annoyed with it. Finally I got a hold of the phone company and was able to straighten it out and get it all working, so now, we no longer have dead silence but rather a nice recorded message of the events that are taking place at the shelter.

There were a few other things that took place today up at the front desk. As always we got to spend some time with a dog in need of some good sleep. What happens is one of the kennel staff will bring up one of our animals that is having a tough time and set up a nice comfy spot for them behind the counter. It not only lets them get some well deserved shut eye but also puts the spot light on them for customers coming into the shelter. In addition to this we also had one of our staff members dogs up there while he tried introducing his other dog to one of ours. Not sure if he is thinking about fostering or adopting, but in any case I hope it works out.

I'm closing with a picture of one of our mange puppies that we have been treating at the shelter going on three months. I am amazed every time I see these guys because they are looking better and better. Hard to believe this guy was once hairless covered in soars! Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

A whole lot of nothing, til the end that is.

For some odd reason, today I decided to do as much cleaning as humanly possible. Not sure if it is because I am only back in the kennels for two days a week or what but I just had the urge to help out. I started by doing the East side kennels, not a difficult task because for the first time I cleaned up after the dogs and didn't have to pick up one piece of poo. It was a miracle! Once I got all of the dogs fed and back in their kennels I moved on to the North cattery. There I was caught by our medical manager and asked to dish out a few meds as well as feed some of the guys that had been slated for surgery. I was able to feed them because they came down with upper respiratory infections and were unable to be anesthetized. I have never seen a cat eat food with medicine in it faster. After I swept up and made sure that I cleaned up after Clark the cat twice since he always spills his food bowl I headed back to dog ISO. there I finally cleaned up a yard that I had been neglecting for some time. I also cleaned up after our new puppy that stays there during the night, not because she is sick but because the heat is that much better back there.

Once the animals were accounted for I headed over to do some dishes. It's pretty amazing how fast they can accumulate when all of the new dogs are on panacur and dirty up an additional dish every morning. As long as there is good music playing in the kitchen the task is made a lot easier, and at least this way I can get out of taking out the garbage, especially because I saw that someone had torn a whole in one of the cattery garbage bags which means litter and poop are spilling out at some point in the journey back to the dumpster.

My afternoon was pretty uneventful, I did have a long conversation with a volunteer about how the shelter works and the choices that are made and never taken lightly. I always appreciate their input and help but it is tough for them to understand the things that go on in the shelter because they typically are only getting a snapshot of the happenings. In any case, I think they account for so much here that if we didn't have them this shelter just wouldn't work, plain and simple.

I did have one dog showing today, it was with our good friend the escape artist Cora. The family wasn't necessarily the perfect fit but I was willing to give it a go any how. Well, they fell in love with her even after all of my explanations about why she was returned and her tendencies to muzzle punch and escape. I decided to leave them alone for a bit to get a feel for her. When I returned I learned that they felt she wasn't the right dog for their young children. It's funny that no matter how much I explain a behavior, until the people actually experience it they tend not to believe it. Hopefully they find a right fit and Cora will find hers as well.

The rest of the day was dedicated to laundry and one interaction with a dog that just got returned to us. Luckily we found her a good playmate who needs a little guidance as well. We are just crossing our fingers that this duo will be a positive influence on each other rather than a bad one. And just so you know, I am finally learning to understand where people are coming from when they return our animals. I just always hope that it never happens.

Closing out the day, in fact at 4:55, a gentleman came into the front office to adopt Clark, the rambunctious cat that always turns over his food dish. Apparently he and his wife had been in this past weekend to meet and wanted some time to think it over. Well, it was decided that he was the cat for them. It turned a good day into a great one. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments, and remember, yes there are those people that return animals for the wrong reasons, but there are also those that have fought with it for months and feel it is the only option for the animal. Then of course I need to remind myself that I am not a people hater! :)

Oh yeah, the pictures are of two sweethearts that were just looking for someone to play with and of course the other is my new friend Legend the basset hound who just came in this week.

Back at work and learning of some great adoptions

It's always nice to come back to work and learn of some great animals finding their true forever homes. Today this was especially true because I learned of a great senior dog finding a home along with FOUR cats! The dog was a great story, I had actually been conversing with the adopter via email the entire week and sure enough they came in on Saturday and ended up adopting. About half an hour after taking Princess home they had already sent a thank you email and of course a picture of the once skittish dog asleep on grandma's lap. It was a great sight and I even saw some staff members get a little teary eyed when they saw it. In addition to that adoption we had four cats go home as well. Three were pretty standardized adoptions but one in particular stood out, it was a cat named Spice that has for some odd reason been returned twice already. Now it wasn't anything on her part, they just weren't the right homes for her. The first had just lost a cat and felt it just wasn't quite the right time yet and the second thought she was a little too "needy", funny when I hear something like that when in the adoption they say they are looking for a lap cat. Oh well, I just have to remind myself that I am not a people hater. In the end I think that he found the right home that he will be truly appreciated in.

Moving on with the day. I began by cleaning out some kennels, I thought I was doing the lazy thing by signing up for south side dogs but of course that bit me in the but. It turned out that one of the guys over there has giardia and boy was he a painter. I felt like I needed hand rails in his kennel just so I wouldn't lip and go face first into the mess. I am being a little selfish here, I really do feel bad for the little guy but man was it a mess. Not only that, but an hour after I scrubbed it the kennel was back to the same condition. Well, at least we know we can treat him and it's not something more serious.

After all of the cleaning I was able to finally take a look at all of the new arrivals that came in on Monday. As always they were a very cute bunch that shouldn't have any trouble getting adopted come Saturday. Most of them are pretty leash shy but when it came to friendliness they all scored very high. I actually have two favorites out of this bunch, one is a big old basset hound who is just nicest thing and another that looks like a cattle dog but is only about twelve pounds, it quite a site to see in person. Here is a few pictures of some of the new guys.

I did do one showing today, it was with my friend Arbuckle the Italian greyhound and Schnauzer mix. The woman seemed like she would have been a good home but once in the showing she saw the energy level of this dog and said it might not be the best fit. It was really sad actually because he is such a cute dog but because of his age his is a bet scattered brain. Hopefully he doesn't stay here much longer because he needs to get the mental stimulation that will keep him busy and of course help him with training.

Closing out the day I talked to a woman who saw one of our animals on pet finder. It was one of those special animals that needs the perfect home. One without children and of course they have to be familiar with the breed. Luckily the conversation went really well and even after being a complete realist about the dog she was still willing to pack up her van with family and two dogs to come down and meet. Hopefully it will be a good fit and come Saturday our Tanner with have a place that Tanner can call home.

Quite a day back and I do have to say I am going home with a smile on my face. I do have to ask if Johnny M. was ever able to find those padded envelopes, but maybe I'll save that for another day. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

A quick day in medical

Today is my weekly dose of helping out the medical staff. As I said yesterday, when I was at the front desk, it has been nice getting the different aspects of the shelter under my belt and of course learning new things daily.

The morning started off with dishing out the morning meds to the animals. Since there were three of us we were able to knock it out pretty quickly and get on with the rest of the day. But before we could do that a report of some bloody diarrhea came in. This could mean lots of things, none of them good but some certainly worse than the others. A giardia snap test was performed and came back positive. Now all we have to do is quarantine that dog off, feed them full of panacur for for five days and start them on some metro that will help with the loose stool. Now it is just a matter of making sure that no one else comes down with it.

Once that was done it was on to draining an ear of a dog that had a hematoma this past week. This was my first experience with this and I have to say the smell wasn't that great if you catch my drift. To me it seemed an incredible amount of liquid but apparently that's normal. It took a few minutes to finish up than a hot compress was put on the poor little pups ear. I have to say he was quite a trooper and it actually didn't seem to bother him that much.

After the smell cleared the room it was time for a few dog intakes. It was two little terrier mixes that had been relinquished yesterday that were hopefully going to go up for adoption this Saturday. At first we were a little hesitant just because the poor little guys were still very stressed about their new environment. Good thing the staff knows how to deal with this and handled the situation very well. After a few treats, some shots, and a little advantage it was all done. I'm just glad we had all the rest of their previous medical history because I think if we had had to do any more poking and prodding the little guys would have gotten too freaked out.

There was one last intake left, a sweet little five month old kitten. Long story short, an elderly woman passed and the cat was her property. The individual that had power of attorney was relinquishing the animal to us if everything checked out medically and behaviorally. The cat was a doll, I was really amazed at how calm and easy her intake was. The only thing I didn't like is that the woman wanted to call her "Kitten". Well, since the past animal with that name didn't make it we decided on something a little different. I actually got to name it after my grandmother, Mima. That's not her real name, but when you're five it was a lot easier to say than anything else. Here is a picture of Mima below.

That was about it for the day, it was kind of slow with a little bit of data entry but all in all I still learned a thing or two. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

Good old customer service

As part of my new schedule I mentioned that I will be helping out up at the front desk, well, today is one of those days. I have to start by saying it is a nice change to see all aspects of the shelter but there are also those situations up here that I never thought would ever come up at this shelter.

The one common thing that I am experiencing up here is the constant telephone calls inquiring about everything from coyotes to neighbors complaining about barking dogs. In addition to all of the usual calls we get about animals and general questions we also get a good amount of calls that are actually looking for their local shelter which could be one of many. More often than not the majority of the phone calls all I end up doing is giving the caller another number. Sometimes it is kind of tough to always be polite because people don't quite understand that we are private and don't have animal control, they think that I just don't feel like helping them.

Aside from the influx of phone calls there is also the walk in traffic. Everyone from potential volunteers, to donors, to the all important adopters make their way through the front desk. Today was no different except that two ended up being one in the same. We had an elderly couple come in to donate towels to us and because they were here ended up taking a peek at the dogs we had in our care. Before I knew it they were in a showing with our Noodles and ended up adopting. They were the cutest couple that I knew were going to spoil the hell out of this little dog. They even asked if we would know where the best place to buy a car seat for him was. Hopefully they will keep us up to date and bring him back for visits because it's always nice to see updates on our little guys. This side of the adoption is nice to see because you really get to experience the emotion that these new families are expressing.

Along with the adoption comes the tougher times as well. We had a total of two relinquishments and two returns today. The more I go through these things the more I understand how hard it is for these owners to give up their pets. Two of them were sweet little dogs that the owner just didn't feel like they were living a good enough life so she thought we would find them a more suiting home. The other two were returns due to a divorce, as I have mentioned in the past whether it's ten days or ten years we will always take back our animals. I just hope that everything goes accordingly and these guys don't stay in the shelter for too long.

Closing out the day I have to add that we also deal with strays, in a limited capacity. Because we are private we have to call county to come and get the animals since we are not contracted to do it. That is unless the animal is micro chipped, then we simply call the owners and tell them to come and pick them up. Luckily the animal that came in today was micro chipped, the funny thing was the address and number were not correct but the secondary information was. It was amusing to call the mother in law of the owner to tell her that her son's dog was at our shelter. The comment I got back was, "he got out again". Luckily the son came in within the hour and we informed him about changing his contact information. I am just glad he had a chip in the first place.

Sorry for no pictures today but hopefully a lot tomorrow. As always thanks for reading and I hope I didn't bore you to much today and of course thanks for your comments.

Thank you for repairing the washer

Well, my last day in the kennel for the week and of course I sign up for the dirtiest job in the morning. I try to do it at least once a week so my nose stays used to the smell. What I am talking about is cleaning up after the dogs in our South kennels. As I have said before, it always varies which task is the messiest but right now I would have to say due to shear number it is our South side dogs.

After I fed the dogs and brought them back up from their runs it was already time to open. Of course I answered a few phone calls to the shelter because I really hate when it rings more than twice. After that I had to quickly finish time cards since I was already a day behind. Once all of that was done another staff member and myself got to cleaning. The day was slow so we decided to pull out the huge cat kennels and clean both the floor and windows behind them. I have to say this, even if you don't have any sort of allergies, today would be the day that they would come out. The amount of dust, cat hair, and pure dirt in the air was astonishing. I can't even remember how many times I sneezed because I was sneezing so much. Anyways, we only did one of the rooms because my eyes were so itchy I really couldn't put up with it.

While I was leaving the cattery I headed back to the laundry room to see if there was any progress on our broken washing machine. As I said yesterday, the stuff really piles up unless it is continuously running. Anyways, the repair guy was there and it turns out our drain had gotten clogged and that was the reason the machine was unable to finish a cycle. In all honesty I wanted nothing to do with this because I had a good idea of what it was clogged with. Well, luckily the guy fixed the clog quickly and soon we had the thing up and running again. Here is a picture of the mess that was made when the machine had to be drained.

Finally I had my first showing for the day. It was actually with a woman I had met earlier in the week who came back to see the same cat again. She was looking at a grey tabby who has been at the shelter almost as long as I have. When she first came in she wanted to adopt but because this cat has been here so long I didn't want her to rush into anything and have this cat come back to us. Luckily when she came in today she fell in love even more with Ella. I'm crossing my fingers her husband feels the same way and this special animal will finally get to go home.

My last showing of the day was with my favorite little kitty Muffy, the shaved down Persian. It was with a single woman who has dealt with the breed before. She absolutely fell in love with her just like every one else that meets her does. Even though she has dealt with the breeds before I still had to reiterate how much work this animals are, that and the fact that she still needs a dental. Even with all of that there was no way she wasn't going to adopt. It seemed like a perfect fit and the woman was so excited you couldn't help but smile. Another great adoption of another great animal.

Closing the day I got to see Sushi, our mange puppy mom, one last time because she came in for her altering surgery. She had quite a face on her after the procedure. I had to include a picture because it really does look like a human face. Thanks for reading everyone and thanks to all of the volunteers and animal care givers out there, you are making a difference.