The Cat Hoarder

Last post I mentioned that the woman who came in with the 10 cats was a Hoarder, and she was! But she proclaimed herself as a rescuer so I changed the name to "Rescuer" and titled this post appropriately "The Cat Hoarder". Last posts' lady brought in a total of 10 cats or less a day and many of them were spayed and neutered, meaning she at least tried to take care of them. They were not malnourished and seemed to be better cared for than other hoarders I've seen. Although they were all sick with URI and Feline Leukemia and Aids...at least they didn't multiply like rabbits!

Allow me to share with you one of the craziest things I have seen to date at the shelter. A true hoarder that brought in a total of 30 cats...all at once. The woman who brought them in was the daughter of the older lady who was the actual hoarder, so I had to call to confirm with her that we had permission to receive the cats. The reason she was giving them up was that she had too many, obviously, and she was in the hospital because many viciously attacked her whenever strangers would enter her home. I couldn't take a picture of this for confidential reasons, so I thought maybe I could show you through a little diagram. Picture this:

1 Mini Van       +             5 Cages              +         30 Cats

The putrid smell that reeked from the van hit me like a heavy wall that made me take a couple of steps back and look for fresh air. The cages had cats packed into them and were piled up on top of each other. They were all panting and breathing very heavily because of stress and dehydration.

None of the black cages had a plastic bottom to them, so there were huge holes on the bottom of each cage; here laid the problem. Each cage held at least 15 cats and if we tried to move the cage up and out, they would easily slip out of the bottom holes and bolt away. So we either had to remove the cats one by one into smaller carriers or somehow cover the bottom and move the cages onto these rolling carts. We attempted to move them into carriers, but turns out they were actually very feral and wouldn't let any of us get close to them. Somehow we managed to slide these square plastic boards under the cages and slide the cages onto the carts. Finally, we were able to transfer the cages with the cats into the buildings with fresh water and air conditioning!

I don't know what the legal issues were that she got into because of this or if she was penalized. I do hope she was because this to me is cruelty to animals and many of them had to be put down because of the diseases and bad conditions they were in. She didn't even bother spaying or neutering ANY of them, and the daughter told me that at one point 7 of them were pregnant. How someone allows that to happen is beyond me.

All of these different cases I've been seeing at the shelter is alarming to me and motivates me even more to pursue a career in Veterinary Science. I have decided to work in the field of Shelter Medicine and help reduce the number of unwanted pets as well as rescue those that are homeless. I want to better understand the protocols and legal issues regarding shelter medicine and the urgency of the problems associated with it. This way I can start to help those pets who need it and still pursue my dream of becoming a Veterinarian. Maybe then I can prevent cases like these from happening and be able to help the animal victims (and people) that go through this.

Asima and Dog Behavior

One of the most interesting things about my job and something I've been learning about a lot is dog behavior. The shelter environment is really stressful on them and over time they can develop some behavioral issues if they are not socialized and worked with. Which is why the volunteers are so important at shelters! If you are ever wondering how you could help rescue animals, start by volunteering at a shelter. I have seen very skittish and nervous dogs improve and become more comfortable with people by working with volunteers and/or the staff. They need our attention and love! :)

I've been reading a lot on dog behavior and learning SO much about why they act the way they do and how we can help them. Shelter dogs though are much trickier to work with because of the environment they're in versus working with a dog in a family home. I'm still learning and trying to do my best in order to help these dogs out so they can be adopted out quickly. It's a work in progress and I will definitely have another post once I finish the book I'm reading just for dog behavior! So stay tuned.

Meet Asima :) She got adopted and went home today after being at the shelter for 6 months. She was one of my favorite dogs at the shelter and I truly hope it all works out and that she has a permanent home. I got really attached to some dogs when I first started working at the shelter but I realized how difficult it is to part with them after getting so emotionally invested in them. I still give them all a lot of love and I do get close to many, especially the ones that have been here for a while, but at the same time I've been trying to not get sooo close. I had to turn away when she walked out with her new owners because of how sad I was to see her go! (Note: I am very happy that she got adopted)! She's been here since I started and Asima was a dog who came in to the shelter with a VERY skittish and timid personality; so I decided to put some before and after pictures of her.

As you can see in the picture above, she would always crouch down, have her ears laid back, and carried her tail in between her legs. Typical body language of a scared and frightened dog that doesn't yet trust people. After working with her and giving her time to open up, she would come right up to us and give us so much love! Notice how perky and alert her ears and face is in the second picture - what a transformation! The key is to not force them and let the dogs become comfortable with you with time. Which is why it is so frustrating when people return dogs after only a couple of days! Every dog is different and some need more time than others to learn to trust people again and know that everything will be ok.

We had a return today for a small Corgi mix named Sunshine that was adopted out this past Saturday. The couple said that she would always crouch down and shy away anytime someone would try and pet her, and they thought she would bite them. OH man...they didn't even give her a week to get comfortable in her new home! And I bet they were trying to force her to like them versus letting her come to them. To top it off, they wanted to exchange her and just get another dog...ha yeah right like we would let that happen.

VIDEO 

Anyways, I added a video that I took of Asima the day before she went home :) It was truly bittersweet because I am happy that she got adopted...but at the same time I'm sad that I can't see her every day. She was the first dog I really worked with and learned how to train and socialize dogs. It was with Asima that I realized that not every dog is doomed to be a nervous wreck for the rest of their lives...they are capable of change and can adapt if given the chance :)

A Return and a "Rescuer"

Just another manic Monday at the shelter...but not really! Lol we had no pick ups today and only 2 adoptions today, meaning it was a pretty slow day . It's nice to have a day where we aren't all going crazy and stressed out. We were able to catch up and knock off a lot of things we've been meaning to do but haven't had the time for.  We spent most of the day cleaning, doing laundry, bathing some animals, and restocking medicine and other items. I was also able to update some of the cats with their vaccinations and flea preventative. They have to get some once a month and some of them have been here for longer than a month. Tomorrow though we're going to have 10 dog and 5 cat pick-ups...so we prepped ourselves for tomorrows ensuing madness.

I was also in cat receiving today and the two people that did bring in cats turned out to be some interesting ones. The first was a woman who adopted one of our sweet calico female cats about 2 weeks ago, and she ended up returning her today. Her excuse was that the cat meowed too much for attention. She then proceeded to tell me that she is going to pick up a cat she adopted from animal services tomorrow. Seriously? Basically, she got sick that this cat meowed too much so she was "done" with her and decided to try out another one. It's sickening to think that this woman believes that these precious animals are like clothing items...just try one on and return it if it doesn't "fit". The confusion and stress it brings to the animal is terrible and it makes me sad that these poor things have to put up with people like that.

After she left another woman came in that has brought in a total of 50 cats to the shelter, including today's 8. FIFTY! To make a long story short, she is a self-proclaimed "rescuer" that couldn't afford to care for any of them any more, so she has brought in 10 cats at a time until today (to bring in the last 8 of the bunch). She called us before she started bringing in the cats to make sure that we wouldn't call the police on her and to see if we would accept her animals. We said yes as long as she brought in 10 at a time and tried to find homes for at least some of the cats. What is REALLY sad to me is that she believes she was a rescuer when in reality she was a hoarder trying to make excuses...a real rescuer actually tries to adopt out animals and not just keep them.

The bawling woman was repeating over and over that they were all "sweet and lovable" kitties and I took her word for it. And this is what I got:

Turns out most of these "adorable kitties" were ridiculously feral and all had Feline Leukemia and Aids. As I was moving one of them, it turned on me and quickly managed to scratch the crap out of my arm. Ugh. I was so sure I had a good grip on her scruff and legs but somehow she was able to swipe at me and launch out of my arms. I'm assuming the woman tried to save outside cats along with some indoor cats, and those feral ones carried most of these diseases and transmitted it to the others. Although one tried to kill me, I truly feel terrible for these cats because of the conditions they were living in and the diseases they were carrying. Just another Monday at the shelter!

Cats Cats and more Cats!

I've taken a good amount of cat pictures at the shelter and I thought I'd make a post to showcase all of them. Like I said before, I've never been much of a cat person but working at the shelter has made me realize how freaking adorable cats are! They are unique and have funny little quirks that make them hilarious and adorable.

Bella the Munchkin recently came in to the shelter and I just HAD to take a picture of her because of her breed, called the Munchkin. They are known to have small round faces and short stubby legs...and I find it absolutely adorable! Bella is truly a little Munchkin with a curious and extroverted personality.

Rascal is an orange medium haired cat that is around 8 years old; a good ol' senior kitty with a calm and mellow personality. Notice anything different about him? Yup, he has one ear missing! I was told that it was because of untreated ear mites that he lost his ear but after some research, I don't think ear mites can cause this (I could be wrong though). My theory is that he was born like that, he was either attacked by dog (happens often), or it could very well be the ear mites. Who knows!

In my previous post I mentioned that Bella was a very popular name, and as you can see in this post...I wasn't kidding! Two more Bella's to add to the list...my goodness. These three are some of my favorite cats because of their sweet personalities and beautiful markings. Bonfe is a classic long haired Tuxedo cat while Bella has the Calico colorings; both refer to the color patterns and not the breed of the cat.

Calico's are mostly white with two other colors, such as orange and black. Tortoise shells, also called Torties, are similar but have no white and are usually mottled in their colors. Tortie and Calico's are both known to be ONLY female and not male. I found this so interesting that only females can have these colorings and not males, so of course I looked more into it. Coat colors are genetically linked to the X-chromosome and the calico and tortie color patterns are mutations on the X chromosome. Females with these colorings have what is called an X-inactivation which enables them to carry the colored mutation.

Some males have been known to have the calico and tortie patterns but it is very rare. Also, if they do it is usually because they have an extra X chromosome (so XXY) and are sterile because of it - this is also known as Klinefelter's Syndrome. 

Side note: In Ancient folklore, Calicos and Torties are believed to bring good luck to their owners!

Cats use their nose to smell their surroundings just like dogs do! They have up to 19 million odor-sensitive cells in their noses versus humans who have only 5 million. Although neither can compare to the impressive 200 million odor-sensitive cells that dogs have!

VIDEO

I wanted to add this video at the end of the post of two cats playing in one of the rooms together. The cat on top of the chair is playing with the one under the blanket and I luckily caught it on video :) I apologize for the poor video quality, I recorded it from my phone. Enjoy!

Pet Names and Tapeworms

Today I got to start off my day by finding worms in the feces of one of our dogs. What a wonderful way to start the morning...not! I had to move both of them into Isolation once I got the fecal tested and made sure they were going to be treated. One of my favorite dogs, Asima, happened to be one of the unlucky ones to have the worms. Throughout the day I've been giving her the special treatment and giving her lots of love every time sneak back to Iso (I'm going to have a post dedicated just about her later). After a fecal (exam), we found that it was tapeworms that they are infected with which look like long, thin grains of rice embedded in the poop. I honestly can't look at rice or noddles the same anymore...although that doesn't stop me from eating it ;)

Tapeworms are transmitted to the animal when they accidentally ingest a flea that has tapeworm larvae. Luckily it doesn't make them sick and is not contagious to other dogs, and it's fairly easy to treat with some anti parasite medication.  I have the privilege of giving them the medication in the morning along with the other dog meds :) I've seen a bunch of other parasites and worms since I've been here, such as hookworms and roundworms, but I'll write about those next time I see them again.

Her name is what???

One of the things I can't get over at the shelter is pet names...I have seen some of the funniest and quirkiest names since working here and it never gets old! I read an article on Vetstreet that had the "Top 10 Trendiest Pet Names" as well as as the least trendiest and I posted the pictures here to share. Interestingly enough I have seen every single one of those names used (the trendy ones) at the shelter, and some I have seen multiple times. While the ones on the least trendiest list I have seen only a handful of those names used.

It seems to me that people have been going from those common pet names such as "Lucky" or "Tigger" to more short and cute names like "Lulu" and "Thor". It's fun to see the large variety of names the animals come in with! We keep the names the animals come in with although there have been times when we do get those that cross the line and we have to rename. We had one puppy that had the unfortunate name of "Stoner" and another that had the nickname "B.A.", which stood for Bad Ass.

One of the names that has been growing in popularity in cats AND in dogs that has made all of us get confused at the shelter is....BELLA! Oh my goodness has this name been driving me crazy! We had at one point around 5 dogs named Bella and 4 cats all with the same name. Can you imagine how confusing it would get when someone would ask about a dog named Bella when there were like 5 others? I get it Twilight, you have grown into a cult like movement that everyone has become obsessed with but this is getting ridiculous!


Anyways, now to end with post with pictures of puppies! These Doberman Pinscher mixed pups got adopted yesterday but I wanted to share these pics anyways. We also got 2 pitbull and 2 other terrier mix puppies today, so I'll probably post pictures of them tomorrow if I can snag pictures of them.