Geez it's been a while
Well...next month will mark my 1 year anniversary as full time staff at the Kitten Nursery! Exciting huh?! It's been so crazy!
In Utah, since we have extreme changes in weather, we have what is called Kitten Season. Kitten Season runs March-Nov typically. That means that generally kittens are just born in the warmer months. Which makes the nursery CRAZY in the summer time!!! Now, you may be wondering, what do you do in the off season if there are no kittens? Well, work becomes much much slower, but not by to much.
Now in the winter, like I said, we don't have kittens meowing from every which kennel. Instead, we have adults! Our awesome team goes to our partners and pulls usually 10 adult cats at a time from these shelters. Once they are in our care, they are put on a 2 week health quarantine. This allows us to make sure that they are healthy enough for adoption.
Unfortunately, some shelters just don't have the funding or resources to take care of/ diagnose health problems with some animals. That's where we can help luckily. Some of the adult cats we get can be healthy as can be and some just don't feel very well when they come to us. This season alone, I have witnessed some pretty crazy turn arounds. A lot of them, we've discovered need special diets due to urinary/kidney issues. Some had ear mites, bad URI problems and more.
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| Gus Gus |
One particularly, was a cat named Gus. When we pulled him out of the carrier, he was grumpy and did not feel good at all. He had a yellow tint to his skin and fur. Turns out he had pancreatitis, which is an inflammation of the pancreas. It can cause loss of appetite, dehydration, weight loss, and jaundice.
He was so grumpy that when we tried to give him his meds, it took 2 of us to administer them because we was not having it! He made me nervous. But once he started to feel better, his personality changed dramatically! He was like a whole new cat. He loved, and I mean LOVED being brushed. We ended up just leaving a brush in his kennel because he loved it so much. He definitely became my favorite and most special memory from adult season. On the day he was going to be picked up to go to the adoption center was bitter sweet for me. I gave him a good 20 minute brushing on the table. Curling up in my arms, he was so happy and so content. He even fell asleep <3
One of my favorite things is going to the adoption center and seeing how happy they are in that environment. I went to see Gus only a few days later and it made my day. He came out of his little cuddle hole he was in and got up on my lap and just loved life.
And to think, who knows what would have happened to him if he hadn't of come to us. That's why I love my job. To know we are saving lives and to see transformations like Gus.
This kid will forever have a spot in my heart.
<3
Adult season is now coming to an end and kittens will be here before we know it. Before the crazy begins, my boss wanted to make sure I had the chance to go Shadow over at the Pet Adoption Center or the PAC as we call it.
So on Saturday, instead of going to work at the nursery, I got to spend the day seeing how the adoption center runs. Our adoption center is a pretty nice facility. Basically there are about 10 dog kennels that make an L shape on one side of the room and then we have 2 cat rooms on the other end with free roaming cats. In the middle, we have cat towers. Those are for cats with medical conditions, special diets or behavioral issues. The cats live there, but the dogs do not.
So when I got there, it was pretty interesting be cause they just let the cats roam free and stretch their legs while cleaning is happening.
This threw me for a surprise because I come from a completely different world. At the nursery since we deal with sickies and babies with no immune systems, it's strange enough to pet a cat without gloves on while working. And then to come here and see cats I can just pick up and cuddle. Blows my mind but I was pretty much in heaven. As I always am when I go there to visit cats.
As we continued with the cleaning and playing with cats, it was time to go pick up the dogs. Every morning, the opening person is in charge of going to the shelter of the day and picking up those dogs.
First on our list was Ziggy. Ziggy has just recently become an official Best Friends dog. Since dogs don't stay at our facility and we usually get them from the shelters, Ziggy has the fortune of staying at an awesome doggie hotel until he is either adopted or they find a foster home for him.
Now, I was wondering how we transfer all these dogs. Well, I got my answer. I've always seen this old transit vehicle around town that best friends turned into their own. Never knew what it was for until now! Turns out they completely renovated the inside with kennel banks so we can transfer dogs. Cool huh?!Now that we had Ziggy, it was off to the shelter of the day. This was an interesting trip too because I
literally drive by this shelter everyday and wonder what its like inside. One cool thing was there was an entire row of tortoises! From small to huge! I guess there was a kind of hoarding situation going on where they came from. Poor guys.
Any who, we picked up 6 or 7 dogs from this shelter and headed back to the PAC.
Once we arrived at the PAC, there were dog walkers ready to take them on a quick walk before we opened the doors.
Once those doors opened we just waited and chatted until potential adopters came in the doors.
It was slow in the beginning but by noon, the place was swarming! There were meet and greets going on left and right and adoptions being processed. It was madness! But so cool at the same time.
By the end of the day, there were 7 cats and 4 dogs adopted! It was pretty great to see the cats I knew at the nursery finding their humans as well as knowing those dogs were not going back to the shelter. All the feels <3
One cat that has my heart (you remember Gus from above) still hadn't been adopted. I found out that people can donate the adoption fee towards an animal to help their chances a little more. Well of course I decided to do that for Gus! Seriously, if it was a possibility, I would adopt him myself. Since I can't,this made me feel like I was helping and made me feel so good! <3
It was a pretty awesome day. I learned a lot, had a blast, and got to know more work people outside of the nursery. And what better way to top off an awesome day? Well, with an amazing sunset <3
Oh and one reminder before you leave. ADOPT DON'T SHOP!
Peace, Love and Bomb ♡
