Updating Cat Photos at the Shelter

Normally with my time at the shelter I am working with the dogs. Interacting, playing, training, and taking photos to update their intake photo. Today was one of the rare days in San Diego that it was raining and as the shelter is an outdoor shelter I wasn't keen on walking around in the rain all day.

Lately there have been a few people teaming up to get better control of the Petfinder pages and we have a goal of having a page up for every available animal. That's a huge task, considering how many hundreds of animals are at the shelter I volunteer at which is just one of the three county shelters! So today with the rain I thought I'd go check out the cats. We have about 50 available cats. In two hours I was able to photograph 22 cats (one of which isn't available yet) and I only stopped because my camera battery died. It was a lot of fun and a great change of pace!

Here are the updated intake photos, showing the intake photo and the cat's new photo(s).

Zoey already had a good photo!

 

Some cats are more cooperative than others.

 

This guy was sick so I didn't want to open his kennel.

 

This guy was also sick with some nasal discharge. Look at those pretty eyes!

Another adorable, uncooperative cat.

This cat is unavailable, she has a microchip and her owner has been notified that she
is at the shelter. Hopefully they come for her!

Here are some of my favorite photos of the day. Click to enlarge!

Mama Mia

Cairo

 

Tori

Lola

Boo Boo. Even though it's out of focus, it cracks me up!

Tabitha

Daffodil

Waffle and Pancake

Holly went for a check up last Monday the 8th and her skin looked great, so she was cleared to stay! It's always hard leaving a dog in a kennel after having them at home, but for Holly I knew it was coming and I know it's the best way to keep her visible to the public- meaning it's her best chance at being adopted. I got her out to play on Tuesday, and Thursday she was spayed so I couldn't take her out but I plan to see her this Tuesday when I'm in.

The day after returning Holly when I was in on Tuesday, I sought out a new foster. Any medical foster that is good with other dogs and good with cats. There were no really urgent "please take this one" dogs so I settled on two young puppies. No rescue is able to take them as they need a dedicated foster home and there are none available, so the plan is for me to foster them until a rescue can take them. I named them Pancake and Waffle. They are brothers, about 6 weeks old.

^-- Pancake -- Waffle --^

Kaytu immediately bonded to them and is so gentle, sweet, and playful with them. Denali doesn't really care about them, she tries to play some but mostly leaves them alone.

^Pancake --- Waffle^

Pancake

Waffle

Waffle in back, Pancake in front

Pancake

Their setup inside

Everything on Wednesday and Thursday was great. They were playful, whining and screaming and howling for attention, active, becoming more cuddly and trusting of people.

Waffle

Pancake on top of Waffle

Waffle eating Zebulon's ear

Friday it was raining all day, and they didn't eat much food all day. Saturday morning when I woke up I noticed their water dish was still full and usually they drink it during the night. The food dish was also still barely touched. They seemed a bit drowsy but I went off to work. When I got home a few hours later, instead of getting up and coming to greet me and screaming to be held, they barely even lifted their heads. They didn't get up. I crouched on the floor and made kissy noises and called to them. Barely any response. These were not perky playful puppies. This was not normal. I contacted the shelter and said I was worried and wanted to bring them in. They were both very listless and lethargic. The vet did a parvo test on Pancake, which takes several minutes. Meanwhile Waffle was given fluids as both puppies were a bit dehydrated. Slowly the blue dots showed. Parvo. Pancake and Waffle have parvo. My heart sank. I stood there watching as the team gave each puppy 4-5 shots, different medicines, Pancake's turn for the IV fluids...

There was a question I had to ask but worried what the answer may be. "What's the survival rate?" The shelter has treated many puppies lately. The vet looked me in the eye and said "One hundred percent." They haven't lost a single puppy. Every puppy that they've treated has survived and thrived. I breathed a sigh of relief but the breakfast boys are not out of the woods yet. Parvo is still very serious.

When I came home empty handed, Kaytu ran to me. She sniffed my right hand. My left. My right. My left. She looked up at me. Her normal greeting to me is a quick nose bump if anything, and to jump on me if I invite her to do so. Sometimes she'll flop over for a belly rub. This was her checking my hands and searching for the puppies. She could smell the puppies on my hands but I didn't have them with me. I told her I was sorry and rubbed her face.

The cleaning process began. Parvo can survive in the soil for at least a year. It doesn't die on its own. I threw away everything from their pen. I threw away about 5 towels. A cardboard box and some crinkly papers and bags they had to play with. All the toys. They gray rubber mat. The crate pan. The crate and pen are wrapped in trash bags and sealed, and I'll soak them with bleach spray and rinse, soak and rinse, soak and rinse. The puppies pooped outside once- I remembered where because I made a big deal of praising them. I dug out the dirt to throw away and poured bleach around the area until a small puddle formed.

The gray mat and the pen are both borrowed supplies from the Humane Society from when I fostered Shelly back in April. I emailed them to let them know the situation and that I threw away their mat (they cost about $40) and that while I would be sanitizing the pen I wouldn't feel right giving it back so asked if I could reimburse them for those two items or offer some other kind of compensation. I took the opportunity to ask about Shelly as I didn't know what became of her after I had to return her for ringworm. She was just recently adopted on November 26th!!

A silver lining, I discovered Shelly was adopted!

I emailed all my clients with puppies I had met with over the last few days to let them know that I could have possibly been contaminated and exposed their puppies to parvo. Fortunately my puppy class on Saturday morning was all puppies about 4 months old so they've had a couple rounds of vaccines. The risk to my clients' dogs is extremely low, all things considered: Their dogs are vaccinated. Waffle and Pancake were well contained (as was their poop). I bleached their mat at least once a day anyway as a standard sanitary practice. This is why vaccines are so important, and also why standard sanitation is so important. You never know! Pancake and Waffle had parvo before they even came to the shelter, it takes up to a week for puppies to show symptoms.

And now we wait. At one point during my cleaning I had to pause and turn to my husband, admitting that I was trying my best not to cry. We talked. I know their chances of survival are very high. They're in great hands, and we caught it very early- they didn't even have diarrhea yet which is usually the telltale warning sign. I expect them to recover, I believe they will be fine, but I also have to be realistic. It's possible that they won't make it. I have to accept that as a truth. It's a possibility, however unlikely, and it's important for me emotionally and mentally to understand that. At the vet we discussed it and while we all expect them to be fine, I said that I understand that parvo is serious and if they don't make it they don't, and I'll cry and I'll move on. To my husband I simply said, "I don't want them to die."

By Golly Miss Holly

Current foster dog is a Siberian Husky mix we named Holly. She was found as a stray on November 22nd and has demodectic mange- the not contagious kind. I believe she has one parent that is a Siberian Husky, and one parent that is Siberian Husky mixed with German Shepherd. She has a shepherd face and ears, and her movement, behaviors, and play style are all much more shepherd than husky. Through the holidays I'm only wanting short term medical fosters and she fits the bill! I picked her up on Tuesday. In medical at the shelter they shaved down her big spots, removing scabs and sloughing skin in the process in order to clean everything well. This left her raw and bleeding, but soon enough she'd gotten crusty again! She's been healing very quickly. Yesterday she got a bath at the shelter. I took her in for a re-check and a rescue was looking at her, they ultimately took a different dog (who is absolutely amazing) but Holly is still on their list. The vet did a skin scrape and didn't see any mites which was great news however there may be some hidden spots in her fur that could still have mites so she'll be on medication for another few days just to make sure. During her bath, her scabs softened up and mostly came loose revealing nice healthy pink skin underneath. The plan is to put her back in a kennel on Monday, so starting Tuesday she'll be in public view and can hopefully find hew forever home soon!

Holly is a very nice dog but is not my "type"of dog and is driving me crazy. She paces, whines, steps on my feet, knocks things over and breaks things, she's incredibly clumsy, she has no self control, she jumps on the back door, is terrible and jerky on leash, she likes to shove her wet cold slimy nose into my bare arms or face, she's a little mouthy and a little jumpy, has no attention span, doesn't know any basic cues including sit (she does know "shake"), she chews the palm trees, can't even be still long enough to eat her meal or chew up a 6" bully stick without taking short breaks to pace around, and in general is a clingy spazzy impulsive pain in my butt. She desperately needs mat training so she can learn to settle and relax. It's not fun to be so revved up all the time. The moments when she is more calm she is lovely. At her core under the stress, anxiety, and untrained crazy adolescence is a dog who is unbelievably trusting, bonds closely, and is happy just to be a dog. She is wonderful with other dogs and has impressive social skills. She is great with my cats. She is always excited to see us. She'll be a bit of a project for whomever adopts her but with dedication, patience, and time, she's going to blossom! She needs a home with someone who wants a very clingy Velcro dog, not someone like me who can't stand a dog being glued to their side. It's personal preference, and a big annoyance of mine.

Ride home, she's fantastic in the car! Lays down and enjoys the ride.

Introductions

Nali says, "Oh, you have an ouch!"

Play invitation

Healing

Right side of her neck