6:15-6:45 : Wake up/reset alarm, depending on when I went to bed, and if today is a hair washing day or not. Open the bedroom door and try to catch 2, sometimes 3 cats that dart in and straight under the bed, so they don't wake Josh up by meowing and climbing on him.
6:45-7:30 : Trip over Desmond as he meows and weaves in and out of my legs. Say hi to the other cats. Eat breakfast, shower, get ready for work and all that stuff.
7:40 : Leave for work. Depending on traffic, usually takes about 20 minutes on the highway.
8:00 : Start work. Usually I work in one of four places at the shelter-Front Desk, Incoming Desk, Incoming Cats, or Incoming Dogs.
If I work at the Front Desk, the mornings consist of taking care of the animals that are in cages/rooms in the lobby, cleaning the lobby, checking in animals that are coming in for low cost spay or neuter surgeries, and answering phone calls and returning messages from the previous day.
If I work the morning at the Incoming Desk, I usually stock up on supplies like paperwork, vaccinations, syringes, etc, before the first appointment at 8:30 gets there. The ID is where people who are surrendering pets or bringing in strays to the shelter check them in. We have appointments every 15 minutes, depending on how many animals someone is bringing in. (Ex. if someone just has one animal, we block off one slot for 15 mintues. If they have multiple animals, like a litter of puppies or kittens, we block off a larger block of time). So, I have to put the animals information into the computer, have the owner sign the relinquishment contract, vaccinate the animal, and set it up in its new cage. Many times there are delays, like if someone is late/early for their appointments, there are no clean cages and I have to clean it first, or if the animal is squrimy and difficult to vaccinate, so a lot of times I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off.
If I work in Incoming Cats, I have to clean the cages and feed the cats that have recently come in to the shelter. They live on the Incoming side of the building until we make sure that they are healthy, nice, and have adjusted to being at the shelter. Once they are all vaccinated, evaluated, and heartworm and feline leukemia tested, and there is room on the adoption side of the building (where people walk through and look at the animals to see if they want to adopt them), they are moved over. Until then, however, they live on the Incoming side. Depending on the time of year, this can be a big job or a small job to clean all of the cages. In the spring and summer, we have an explosion of puppies and kittens (because of all of the litters being born this time of year-another reason why we are such huge advocates of spaying and neutering), and, especially with the cats, use every single cage we have available, even temporary wire stand up crates. One time, when we were especially full, we counted how many cats were just in that room, and the count was around 80. That's not including the cats on the adoption side. Yeah, that's a lot of cat cages to clean. In the fall and winter, though, we have way less cats in the Incoming Cat room, usually anywhere from 5-20 at most.
For the dogs in Incoming, we have 3 rooms-one for smaller adults, one for larger adults, and one for puppies. Usually we have 2 or 3 people working on these. For the puppies, they cannot go outside on walks until they are 6 months or older, because of the risk of contracting Parvo. So we have to put them in a holding cage, clean their cage (which is usually not a pretty sight-trust me), and then put them back in their own cage with fresh food and water, a clean blanket, and a toy or two to keep them occupied. For the older dogs, we have to take them for a walk, which is usually pretty pleasant, except for when it is extremely hot or cold outside. Then we bring them back in and clean their cages.
11:00 : We start rotating for lunch shifts. We get hour lunches, which are very nice. I am a pretty slow eater, which I think is mostly because I have to take a drink after every bite. Which is weird, I know, but that's how I roll.
12:00: The shelter opens to the public.
If I am at the Front Desk, I continue to take phone calls, schedule appointments for people to bring their animals in to surrender them, schedule low cost spay/neuter appointments, and direct people back to the adoption area, depending on what they are looking for. When someone has decided they would like to adopt a certain animal, I do the paperwork for the adoption, pass on any information to the adopter, such as vaccination records, and retrieve the animal from the adoption area, and take it to the vet's area. The animal has to stay overnight, gets spayed or neutered the next morning, and goes home that afternoon.
If I am at the Incoming Desk in the afternoon, I continue to take appointments, and get the new arrivals set up.
If I am working the Incoming Dogs in the afternoon, I usually do random chores like dishes, laundry, or extra cleaning of the facility, or I help with evaluations, which involves drawing blood for heartworm tests. I have an issue with veins (they freak me out really bad!), so I am usually the person who restrains the animal while someone else draws the blood. The tests only take a few drops, and the cat tests will test for feline leukemia and FIV as well. Sometimes it takes just a second, but if the animal is struggling and is hard to restrain, it can take longer, as well as additional people to hold the animal. I can't really blame them, though. It's not like with people, where you can explain what you are doing, that you mean them no harm, and that it will all be over in a second.
4:00 : (Front Desk)-Continue to do paperwork for adoptions and take phone calls. Also assist people that are picking up their animals that were adopted the previous day, and people who are picking up their animals that were spayed or neutered for a low cost.
(Incoming Cats)-Make sure all of the cats have clean food and water, and have not dumped their water bowl onto the newspaper covering the floor of their cage (I always think of making paper mache, lol).
(Incoming Dogs)-Take all of the adults for another walk, and make sure their cage is clean and they have fresh water and a clean, dry blanket. Make sure the puppies cages are clean, and that they have fresh water and a clean blanket.
5:00 : Tell all of the animals goodnight, and head home!
5:20-6:00 (Depending on if I had to stay late or not) : Arrive home. Attempt to make it inside the door while blocking Desmond and Moo from running out into the hallway. Sometimes they succeed and I have to chase them down. Say hi to Desmond and Moo, and attempt to make it to the bedroom, where Willow is probably sleeping in my dresser drawer (her favorite spot), all the while trying not to trip over Desmond, who is again attached to my legs. Say hi to Willow.
6:00 : Make something for dinner, which is usually something like a scrambled egg sandwich, pasta from a packet, or a bowl of cereal. Josh works most evenings, so I usually don't cook much, if anything for dinner. While eating my dinner, try to keep Desmond and Moo from pulling my bowl or plate down so they can help themselves, or from sticking their heads in my glass.
6:30-9:30: Watch tv/get on the internet/nap with the cats until Josh gets home.
9:00-9:30: Try to spend some quaility time with Josh, talking or relaxing or whatever, and trying not to fall asleep. Usually do fall asleep on the couch during this time.
12:00 : Josh wakes me up to get ready for bed. I'm usually really grouchy, and fall back to sleep a few times, until he can finally get me up, and I get ready for bed, and go to sleep.
So, my life right now is far from exciting, but I still enjoy it. It's funny because while in college, all I wanted was a set schedule. Now I have one, and I love it, but it makes me even more excited to take advantage of not being on a schedule while overseas, and just living life.
Here is a video of the shelter where I work. This is from when we finished and moved into our new, beautiful building. The video was made before I worked there, but we are all really proud of the shelter, and of the upstanding adoption facility it has become.
