Hold on a sec. Let me have another sip of my cup of morning Joe. Okay, that’s better. Yum.
Allow me to explain how I got to my niche at the shelter. It took me twenty years to find it. Hopefully it doesn’t take me that long to explain it. One of the best things I ever did for myself and still continue to do, is to never stop trying. Never give up. It is a life practice that can be utilized in all areas of life. What I didn’t realize then was how strong I am. I hope all of you find the source of your strength. It is a great place to be. Wait a minute. I am writing a blog about shelter life, right? Turns out shelter life doesn’t exist in a bubble. Once you start volunteering at a place that gives cats (or anything for that matter) a second chance at a good life, it affects all parts of you – emotionally, spiritually, and if you do the “grunt work”, physically as well.
“You have to leave now. You cannot stay here. You didn’t follow the path!”
We had been volunteering for a few years, when my ears heard those words. It was a crushing blow. It must have been around 2006 or so, and I only know that because our last “resident” cat Max had come into the shelter. What’s a resident cat? Well, more on that later. That is a whole different blog! My spouse and I had been the “work horses” every Saturday morning. We did the usual morning duties, then us being as courteous as we are, always asked if there was something else we could do. We did everything from filling the hand soaps in the bathrooms to yard work. We would be at the shelter for hours and hours.
Let me take a step back here. I am taking for granted everyone knows what the “morning duties” are and how the shelter is setup. In our particular shelter, there is a daily routine. Granted, it has slightly changed over the years, and this was the routine back then. The volunteers come in, get there mop buckets ready with the proper chemicals, a couple of rags, and off to the room you were assigned to do. Whereas there were two of us, we did almost the entire basement.
Shelter Description
My shelter started decades ago as a network of foster homes. At a certain point, they decided to establish an actual “shelter”. But not just any shelter, you see. The founding members of my shelter wanted to make it as “homelike” as possible for the kittens and cats under its care. When one of the members had passed away, the rest of the members purchased her house from her estate. Hence, the birth of our “physical” shelter. As you can imagine, it is a real house. Not some institutional-like building. It is a ranch home (meaning one floor) with a full basement. The house was broken up into several rooms, and as time has passed by, each room has a name. The room names in the upstairs are:
- The Kitchen (Yup, it is an actual kitchen)
- Sue Ellen’s Room (Named after the first president of the organization)
- Tawney’s Room (Named after the first FIV cat that was adopted out)
- The Office (Yup, it is an old bedroom transformed into the office)
- The Kitten Room (A room next the office that is usually used for, you guessed it, kittens)
- The Hall (the hall between the kitchen and the office)
- The Bathroom (volunteers transformed the upstairs bathroom into a small room for one cat)
- The Medical Room (Kind of self-explanatory? Now named after the veterinarian that has volunteered her time and expertise to examine and treat the cats)
- Back Room (a room next to Tawney’s Room)
The room names downstairs (the basement) are:
- Room 1
- Room 2
- Room 3 (now the “Resident Room”)
- Room 4
- Genny’s Room (Named after a long-time volunteer)
The basement also stores most of the shelter’s supplies and is where the sink is located to fill buckets, clean litter boxes, etc. After you get your bucket and rags, you feed the cats. Each room has it’s own supply of food, plates, brooms, mops, utensils, water jugs, paper towels, and other necessities. Then you clean the cages, change and clean the litter boxes, clean food and water bowls, refresh blankets and beds, sweep and mop. Some volunteers socialize before cleaning, some after. My spouse and I tag-teamed each room. One of us would socialize the entire time, and one would clean. Both tasks are equally important.
The Path
“The Path” was created to reduce the transmission of contagious diseases, and of course, the dreaded Ringworm. More on that in another blog. Transmission of upper respiratory disease, ringworm, giardia, and other communicable diseases happens in all shelters. It is inevitable. Every shelter does it’s best to reduce it. In our shelter, we follow the Path. A list of the rooms in order from the healthiest cat to the unhealthiest cat can be located throughout the shelter. The concept is easy — don’t go into Genny’s Room first if it is at the bottom of the list, then go to another room that is higher on the list. Allow me to reiterate:
“You have to leave now. You cannot stay here. You didn’t follow the path!”
Simple, right? Well, one Saturday, we blew it. When we arrived on that fateful Saturday, the shift supervisor told us there were kittens in Room 2, and we were so excited, we went right in to visit with them. I remember thinking kittens will be healthy, right? Well, to our dismay, Room 2 was on the BOTTOM of the list. We didn’t even look at the Path. We came out of the room to have the shift supervisor rather harshly tell us to leave. And not in private either. Right in front of the rest of the volunteers. I was humiliated, embarrassed and ashamed. It took me years to get back to the shelter. I couldn’t bare the thought of how the volunteers would look at me that next Saturday. I was devastated.