Third Day!

Today was a lot easier than the previous two days working at the Humane Society, mostly because Wednesday the center is closed to the public so there is no rushing to finish cleaning. This was also an exciting day because it was the first time I got to interact with the animals!

I began the day shadowing Melissa, who I had yesterday, as well, and we set to cleaning the "Cat Cafe". This is the room where some adult cats can go and be social, and visitors can step inside and spend time with the cats. We shook off their bedding and cleaned the toys off of the floor before we began to clean the litter boxes. We began in the outside enclosure, and worked our way inside to the other cat boxes in there. After that was done, I swept the floor and brushed off the cat towers to remove any fur. Melissa and I then filled the food dishes and water bowls, and spent a little time petting the cats.

When this was done, Melissa and I began the awesome job of transporting the new kittens in the Kitten Isolation to the main Kitten Room to get ready for adoption. Before moving them we took out their bedding, bowls, and toys and arranged them in their cage in the Kitten Room, so the move wouldn't be so stressful. There were four kittens in total, and we each held two as we carried them down the hall into the front room. Just as we settled them into their new home, the door to the cage broke off, and one of the mischievous kittens kept trying to escape as we scrambled to fix the door. Melissa called in another worker to help, and I was given the task of keeping the kitten occupied, which I didn't mind at all!

After we had fixed the door and the kittens were all settled in, Melissa and I shared a doughnut before we prepared to clean the guinea pig and rabbit cages. The guinea pigs were first, so we removed their bowls, beds, towels, and laid out new newspaper. We then went into the kitchen and filled their boxes with Timothy Hay and shredded paper, and prepared salads of lettuce, peppers, carrots, apples, and herbs for the guinea pigs and rabbit. After we set the salad in for the guinea pigs, we moved on to the rabbit. We had to remove the old newspaper, and sweep his cage before laying out more newspaper and covering his chewed cardboard with Timothy Hay. The rabbit seemed to really enjoy the elaborate salads we made for him. Melissa then set me off to clean the old cage in Kitten Isolation so it would be ready for the next litter.

I started by removing all leftover litter and fur from the cage floor and putting it in the trash can. After that I wiped the entire cage down with a wet, soapy rag like I had done previously in cleaning cages to remove any bacteria. Once it was soaked, I dried the cage with a dry rag and Melissa helped me use the Trifectant Disinfectant. While we waited for ten minutes to elapse, we began taking out the trash in the front desk and the kitchen. We wheeled out carts carrying garbage bags and things (cages, kennels, etc) for storage. We made two rounds of trash/storage duty, and deposited everything in the back near the Barn, where the farm animals are kept.

That ate up a chunk of our time, but I went back to the Kitten Isolation and wiped down the cages yet again to remove the residue from the Trifectant. Melissa then collected me and we made a few runs to the kitchen to gather all the items we would need for the Cat Quarantine Room.

Cat Quarantine is for the seriously sick and contagious cats that need extra attention or that could spread their disease to others if they had contact with another. There are currently four cats in Quarantine, and most seem to be making improvement. This room has it's own set of supplies because it is essential that no contamination be spread to the healthy animals, so gloves and gowns are also a must. Today I observed Melissa as she cleaned the cages and interacted with the cats, and did runs for her back and forth from the kitchen or storage if anything was needed.

As well, the chapters for the book are beginning to piece together and that is great news!