Assessment.....

For the past year Tim and I have been volunteering a couple hours each week at the SPCA: Tim in the Dog House where the adult dogs live and I've been in Vet Care in the hospital wing. As I've said before we absolutely love working there; it's a serious morale boost each Monday afternoon. :)

A couple weeks ago I just happened to find out that another Vet Care volunteer was moving out of Wellington and so her shift would be available. She worked in a special area of Vet Care, Assessment, where all new animals come when they first arrive at the facility. This is where their details are entered into the computer, they are vet-checked and then taken to the appropriate area of the hospital wing (e.g. for an animal with a contagious disease they would be moved to "Isolation" until they recover).

This was very timley because, over the last two years, I've developed a keen interest in animal ethics/welfare. As you know I work in an animal lab at Victoria and I sit, as a student rep, on the Animal Ethics Committee that overseas all animal research conducted on campus. With that said I've wanted to increase my understanding of how facilities (like the SPCA) actually facilitate animal welfare for the critters in their care. After learning that an Assessment shift was opening up I ran around to find a manager and asked if she would consider letting me have the shift. I explained my interest and she said that, for learning about animal welfare, within the facility, Assessment would be the best place to volunteer. In the end I was awarded the shift!! Last week was my first time working it and, despite lacking experience, I jumped into the fray and had an absolute ball working with the nurses and vets. :)

When I arrived, one of the vets, also named Bridget, was processing a "surrendered" cat. Her owner was unable to care for her and now she is in the care of the SPCA until she is adopted. Reaching into the carry cage Bridget scooped up the biggest, fluffiest grey and white Himalayan cat I've ever seen. Bridget recommended that I give her a brush as the cat's fur was easily over two inches long. While it didn't look tangled upon closer inspection I saw that the tangles were at the base of the fur. So, having never brushed a cat in my life, I set to work. To my great relief this particular feline was used to being brushed and so didn't put up a fight. After twenty minutes I had brushed out some small sections of her fur when one of the nurses came in to say that they had a cage ready. Back into the carry cage she went and I walked her into "Quarantine" where newly admitted, healthy animals are kept short term to make sure they are completely well before moving them to the other areas of the center (e.g. Dog House, Puppy Run, Cat Run, Bunny Bach, etc.). I scooped her up from the carry box and placed her into her cage all the while she was peering back at my through ice blue eyes. I thought to myself, "She'll be adopted immediately". :)

After that one of the vet nurses-in-training came into Assessment where we were keeping a kid. A baby goat. Standing just 1.5 feet tall this little cutie was still young enough that it needed to be bottle fed. Five times a day. This particular trainee had been tasked with feeding the kid but they had soon learned that it was easier to have someone hold it while feeding. You guessed it, I was the one to hold. So that was another first; holding a baby goat. We did this routine twice during my 2-7pm shift with varying levels of success. The first feed went well but the second we were only able to get about half the bottle down. The rest of it ended up on me. :) This is why I wear old clothes because you never know what might get on you when working with all these animals.

Next we processed another "surrendered" cat. After the vet-check we examined it for the presence of ring worm. The way they do this is a test called Wood's Lamp. In a dark room you shine a black light on the animal to detect the fungal infection, ring worm. If the animal has ring worm you will see the area glow fluorescent green down the entire hair shaft. Since moving to the new facility the SCPA is short on rooms that can be completely dark because most of them have high windows. So where did we go to do the Wood's Lamp test? A closet in one of the Consult rooms. :) I had to laugh. Toting the cat in a carry box I followed the vet into the closet and squeezing in so we could close the door we turned the light off. Next she flipped on what looked like a black light wand and with the top of the carry box propped open she started to pass the wand over the cat. We didn't see any fluoescing green at this point. Then she asked if I could pick up the cat so she could scan its undercarriage. Now you should know that this particular cat was quite scared so I wondered if I was about to get scratched. I'm happy to say that I was able to pick up the cat without scratches and without any green fluorescing. No ring worm! We then extracted ourselves and the carry box from the closet and made our way back to Assessment to gather up this cat's paperwork and move her to a quiet cage in Quarantine.

Towards the end of my shift I had the rare opportunity to play with a puppy. The majority of the animals coming through Assessment are cats, kittens and rabbits. But that day there was a puppy in our room and like all puppies he needed some play time. I was actually "assigned" this task. So after all the animals were processed and moved from Assessment I opened the puppy's cage and let him have free run of the room. I got him to chase me round and round the examination table in the middle of the room. With a semi slick floor he spent most of his time slipping and sliding around the corners as he tried to catch me. Adorable!! Then I found that he liked to chase the tennis ball I found in his cage. He wasn't so good about bringing it back to me but he reliably would track it with his eyes before I threw it. Then he'd spring into action tearing after it. And because of the slippery floor on his little puppy paws he would over shoot the ball, sliding past it as he tried to stop and catch it. I was laughing my head off because it was so cute!! After 30 minutes of this I wrangled him back into his cage where he greedily slurped up water. I nodded my head hoping that I'd worn him out and that he would soon crash and have a good rest. After the big drink he plopped down on his purple stuffed bunny that was bigger than him. He turned those big puppy eyes on me saying, "Aren't I ADORABLE?!". It's tough being so cute. :)

All in all the Assessment shift was amazing and I'm very excited to be working so closely with the nurses and vets. It also gives me more hands on contacted the animals that come in I'm excited to gain that kind of experience and the confidence that goes with it. Now I'm looking forward to my next shift. Who knows what kind of things I'll learn then?! What can I say? I'm a sucker for new learning experiences. :) Nerd.