Super Ball

I know, kind of a funny title for a blog about my days working at the Humane Society but if you saw me at all today you would understand. I started the day walking into the parking lot seeing all of the kennel staff's cars. Once I realized they all just parked there before going to their two day class I got a little nervous. Then I realized that of the other two kennel staff members one was assigned to the front desk and the other would be going home around 11 because she was sick. What does all of that mean to me, I would be bouncing around like a super ball from one thing to the next until five o'clock came around.

We split up the morning cleaning pretty evenly in order to get it done the fastest. We brought all of the dogs down and got started. I teamed up with another to whip out the south side kennels with the other attendant covered the East and West. Once we were done with our share we hurried over to the cattery. I was surprised at how many different places there were cats. We have five different rooms for them from the two in the main cattery, to the in/out room, cat iso, cat iso 2 you could call it, and of course the kittery. When cleaning the cattery you always have to keep an eye on all of the animals. You have to make sure that they don't wonder off anywhere or get stuck behind or underneath something. With all of the bedding and litter boxes changed and new food put out it was time to make sure the rabbitat was handled. Luckily the other staff member was taking care of it. And thank God there were those hard working volunteers to help out bringing the dogs back up to their kennels. They really are an imperative part of this whole operation.

Once all of the animals had been attended to, the daily cleaning duties were up to me. All of the trash was taken out and the laundry started but in addition to the normal duties Monday includes some weekly cleanings as well. Woo hoo, that means I got to take out all of the poop buckets from the play yards, clean the laundry room, and wash the cattery windows in addition to everything else. After all of this was done I took a quick lunch and got back to it.

Next I decided to tackle the dirty crates by the laundry room. These are all of the used or donated crates that need to be sanitized and scrubbed before their next use. This is always fun because no matter how hard I try my socks always end up dripping wet. At least I got the area a little more organized. Since I was right there I thought what the hell, how about another load of laundry. I am just really glad that there wasn't that much to do in the first place so it made it a lot easier.

With the rest of the busy work (washing dishes, afternoon and special feedings, taking dogs down to their yards) passing the time fast I was still asked to help out in a few more areas. Not only did I pass the day by fast by staying busy but I also learned quite a bit because there was no one else their to do some specific tasks. I ended up doing a dog showing with a little cocker spaniel. Well, I actually couldn't show her because she wasn't available until tomorrow, but I was able to get a good feel for the couple and evaluate the adoption. They said they would be back first thing in the morning to see the dog. After I filled out my opinions on the situation I was asked by our vet tech for a little help in her medical office. First though I had to feed some cream cheese to a big lab while his ears got cleaned. It's always easier with cream cheese. Next I went into her office and helped with a dog intake. Very similar to a cat one but with some different vaccinations. After that I had to get another dog that had already been through intake. Her test came back positive for heart worms but we wanted to be sure. I had to hold tight to the dog while more blood was drawn to be sent out to the lab. The tech wanted to take care of it today to try and make the dog available sooner.

A day that flies by faster than a Saturday was a curve ball today. I really did enjoy helping out wherever I could and having the responsibility in my hands. Hopefully I took care of everything that needed to be taken care of and of course I hope I thanked the volunteers enough for their help. I am definitely looking forward to a nice hot shower tonight.