Do I Judge Thee?

So a woman calls to inquire about surrendering her cat. Long story short, the indoor/outdoor cat with no cat door or litter box peed in a potted plant, therefore is no longer welcome in the home. After taking about 8 minutes to explain why she can no longer keep the cat, she asks me if I judge her harshly. I very cheerfully tell her that yes, I think she's a moron.  Her cat is far brighter than she is. After all, he reasoned that if he is supposed to do his business outside in plants and dirt, but the outside is not available to him in his time of need, then this nice pot of plants and dirt is a more viable alternative than the rug or pile of laundry.  (Ok, so I *politely* told her she was a moron, and didn't actually use the word "moron."  I do have *some* customer service skills!)

Jack Skellington.  Came into the shelter as a stray, thin and in poor condition.  He was a resident of my Hello Kitty room for a time.  Things were looking up here at the time of this picture when he decided to start eating, but ultimately he didn't make it.

Raggedy Andy came to us with a pretty nasty face wound.  I was so focused on the open drainage on the side of his face that I didn't even notice his jaw was broken at first.  Sweet cat, super thin.  So we ran him into the vet to have a feeding tube inserted.  When they insert the tube, they snap a quick x-ray to make sure it's placed correctly. What they found on the films surprised them!  Poor Andy had been shot in the head, and had numerous bullet fragments still in there.  So they cleaned out the ones they could get to, and reset his jaw.  Well, without wiring the jaw shut, the reset didn't hold, so he still had a crooked face.  Oh well...

This is Andy all set up in my Hello Kitty room with his feeding tube.  He was a delightful patient and guest, although he never lost his appetite, so he always wanted to eat the food out of the syringe instead of getting it squirted in his tube.  But we had to keep his mouth relatively clean to let it heal.  He was with me for a couple weeks, until he was able to eat sufficiently on his own and the tube could be removed.

After he returned to the shelter for adoption, he was quite a celebrity, and a volunteer favorite.  He was a TERRIBLY messy eater, since that poor jaw never quite worked the way it should.  He also never grew out of the name Raggedy, because he wasn't able to groom himself either.  So, he was a messy, greasy, but oh-so-affectionate kitty who eventually found a tolerant person to adopt him.

Sigh

We are a fully functioning animal shelter. Contrary to popular belief, we are not an animal theme park who's sole purpose is to provide entertainment and community service hours to students and sorority girls. If you ask why a dog is leaving, and I reply "it's been claimed by an owner," you should not be surprised. Or disappointed because it was cute and you wanted to play with it. Some areas of the shelter are purely functional, and of no interest to visitors or volunteers. There are no cats needing attention in the laundry room closet, nor will it provide you with access to other areas of the shelter that you cannot see an immediate and obvious path to. We also share a parking lot with a public dog park. If there was a dog out there that is now gone, it's because it went home with it's owner. I promise you it is not behind the "quarantine" sign.

Lousy January

Can I just get drunk, pass out, and not open my eyes again until the month is over?

So my grandma went into the hospital end of last month, and has been very ill since. She passed away last Tuesday. Yesterday, a dog in very bad shape came into the shelter, and promptly went to the vet clinic and spent the night. He died today, a couple hours after I euthanized my own dog, Toad. 3 out of 4 kittens that we've had for a very long time tested positive again for FIV and had to be euthanized. Another dear friend and co-worker had her grandma hospitalized today, as well as had to euthanize her own dog, Noel.

Tiny bright spots for the day: law enforcement plans to follow up on the neglected-to-death dog, and our little pregnant rat terrier cross gave birth to 3 live puppies, 2 of which are expected to remain alive. (Puppy number two is half the size of the others, and somewhat resembles a hydrocephalic ferret. Newborns, regardless of species, aren't cute at first, and this one is a particularly weird example. And mom got a little carried away while cleaning her, and chewed a couple toes off.)

So who's joining me for whiskey shots tonight??

Edit:  The misshapen puppy died as expected.  Another puppy also died, seemingly of an internal congenital defect.  The remaining puppy survived and is healthy, happy, and totally spoiled in the home of our newest employee. 

Fox Trot Kittens

Just another of my many adorable bottle babies.  This picture was actually taken during an interview with the local news channel.  My babies got to be stars!

Top Cat

Young lady frantically enters the shelter.  She has two newborn kittens in her hands, both nearly dead.  She heard faint mewing, and found these kittens, along with another dead one, in a small garbage can.  On the curb.  In the summer sun.  Waiting for trash collection.  Three days later.  Someone's cat had kittens, and when they found the babies they tossed them in a garbage can and set them out as trash.  The kittens were just about cooked.  I've never seen a newborn pant.  It shouldn't be possible.  I warned her that heatstroke victims have a poor prognosis, and I've never seen newborns in this condition.  They were unlikely to survive, but I'd do my best.  One of them died within the hour.  The other one, amazingly, recovered!

Top Cat made it about two weeks before weakening and dying.  I can't be sure that it was a result of his near death by heatstroke or something else, as there was no obvious reason for his decline.  It was the dreaded "failure to thrive."  He was such a tiny thing, but had a huge purr.  Even before his eyes opened he was an affectionate, responsive, snuggly kitten.  Once again, people are irresponsible and heartless.  When I lost him I thought my heart was broken for good.