Not the way I like to start my day

I began my day at 9:30 today. A nice way to sleep in but usually makes for a slow day. Anyways, I strolled into the cattery to start cleaning. I finished up a few cats when I noticed another staff member who started with dogs come in to help out. Immediately she noticed that Beauty, a six year old cat that came our way via bag dropped off next to the shelter, was very lethargic. She felt her gums and knew that it wasn't good. She dropped what she was doing and took her to the vets office since it was an off day for our medical staff. Well, we got a call and it turns out that Beauty was in the midst of heart failure. We all knew she had a heart murmur but had no idea the seriousness of it was. Unfortunately it wasn't treatable and they had to put her down. Really not the way I like to start my day. I felt so horrible for this poor cat that literally was left in a bag next to the shelter because our waiting list for relinquishments is so long. I wish she could have had a better life than was given to her but at least I know now that she is no longer suffering.

Of course now I have to put a smile on my face and pretend nothing is wrong and try to get some animals adopted. Funny thing was though for the first two hours we were open my radio didn't work and I was so busy doing the laundry and other work that I didn't even do one showing. It was kind of nice to go off in my own little world though. All I tried to think about was the animals that got to go home on my days off. The two long termers Jack and Sweetie and of course I have to mention Sprocket who ended up getting adopted by the woman I did the showing with last week. These are the things that no matter how down you are can really put a smile on your face.

Once I was finally called out for not having a radio that worked I immediately got a showing, or rather a denial. The profile was for a kitten showing but the potential adopter wanted it to be an indoor outdoor cat. I even asked to make sure that was what she was looking for and it was. Because of this it is an automatic denial because we feel that the kittens cannot protect themselves outdoors yet and feel that they will have a better chance being indoor kitties first. I have to say the woman was a little irate and tried pretty much everything in the book but in the end she walked away, I think, a little more educated on the subject.

After my showing I learned that our resident hoarder, I mean rescuer, brought in five dogs for us to take in. Of course after evaluating them we only took three but the ones we took seemed very adoptable and even more cute. Not sure how socialized they are but hopefully they will adjust quickly to the shelter and when they become available for adoption they will find homes as soon as possible. Here is a picture of one of the dogs, a puppy with about ten different mixes that I will have to do some research on in order to remember them. Of the other two dogs, one is a dachshund and the other a shepherd mix. I think they will be available in less than a week, and a good thing because we are already getting inquiries about them.

I had two more showings, one that wanted to Shaq, an older dog that is truly a good companion. Unfortunately he is also very prey driven and the potential adopter has a cat at home. Hopefully we can find a right match because I know whichever animal we send home they are going to have a wonderful life. My last showing was with Wendy, our doberman/weimeriner mix. She is a beautiful animal but a spazz to say the least. She has gotten a lot better but still is going to need a very patient home. The showing went well but of course she got her hound deafness going and ignored everything we said to her. The woman was still interested so we did the interaction with her black lab who she said was pretty fickle when it came to other dogs. After about 15 minutes in the showing her dog finally opened up and it was on from there. Both dogs were running around at full speed chasing after each other and play bowing when they could. It was great to see two dogs get along so well. The woman liked what she saw but the rest of the family needs to meet as well. Hopefully they can find the time and take this wonderful animal home.

After a rough start I was able to bury myself in busy work to take my mind off of things. I know tonight though that the majority of what I will think about is how that poor cat spent the remaining months of its life. I can be forgiving to the individual that left her at the shelter because they might not have had any other choice but that still doesn't make me angry.