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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / May 2005Update - Help! I need to save a cat
I do have someone willing to take Blossom into foster care, my friend's mom who is very cat-savvy. She has a psycho cat on Prozac and is experienced with difficult cats. Now the problem is, dealing with shelter politics and getting the OK to put her foster, if you can believe that. At first we were told no, now it's a limited time of one month, but are not Ok'ing Prozac. My friend (who also is with the shelter) and I are very frustrated. We are trying to help a cat and are getting resistance. Plus, like I said before, Blossom is in the AC kennel with the dogs, and we just had a BYB who decided to give up her 70+ dogs, so we've got about 15-20 of them in the kennel right now. I want Blossom out of there ASAP. Shelter politics sucks. It's the worst part of volunteering. Keep your fingers crossed for Blossom, and me that I don't end up quitting. -Kelly > I do have someone willing to take Blossom into foster care, my friend's mom > who is very cat-savvy. She has a psycho cat on Prozac and is experienced [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > -Kelly Oh Jesus. If it isn't one thing, it's another. Can't they see that declawing this cat made matters worse and don't they take *any* responsibility for adopting out to someone who'd declaw an adult cat? /me bangs head on desk. Hang in there, Kelly. I have BTDT and it isn't fun. -L. >>I want Blossom out of there ASAP. > Shelter politics sucks. It's the worst part of volunteering. > Keep your fingers crossed for Blossom, and me that I don't end up quitting. I hate to hear this--it is such a shame. I hope they will let her go. Kelly, Is there an email address we can send something to, or a mailing address to encourage them to help Blossom? Sort of a "Save Blossom" campaign? Maybe it would help to get a few letters from the outside world... Rhonda > I do have someone willing to take Blossom into foster care, my friend's mom > who is very cat-savvy. She has a psycho cat on Prozac and is experienced [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > -Kelly > Kelly, > > Is there an email address we can send something to, or a mailing address > to encourage them to help Blossom? Sort of a "Save Blossom" campaign? > Maybe it would help to get a few letters from the outside world... Actually, I'd rather not let it be known that I've been publicly talking about this. I appreciate the sentiment though. Things are looking up, I think Blossom will be going to her new foster home :)  Signature-Kelly > I do have someone willing to take Blossom into foster care, my friend's mom > who is very cat-savvy. She has a psycho cat on Prozac and is experienced [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > -Kelly Poor Blossom. Poor you. Shelter politics do suck. For some reason, the shelter environment seems to attract control freaks sometimes. You've got to have a workable Board who understands the big picture and will vote for exceptions when it's for the benefit of the cat. And your frustration isn't limited to volunteers. I get frustrated too. Even Board members are only 1 vote. Sherry > Poor Blossom. Poor you. Shelter politics do suck. For some reason, the > shelter environment seems to attract control freaks sometimes. OMG, Isn't that the truth! >You've got to have a workable Board who understands the big picture and >will > vote for exceptions when it's for the benefit of the cat. And your > frustration isn't limited to volunteers. I get frustrated too. Even > Board members are only 1 vote. Our shelter is divided into camps right now, including some of the Board. It makes getting anything done a real PITA. I'm supposed to go to a big Board meeting tomorrow because I'm on a committee that's reporting to them, but I think I'll skip it. I need to keep my blood pressure down. Signature-Kelly > Poor Blossom. Poor you. Shelter politics do suck. For some reason, the > shelter environment seems to attract control freaks sometimes. You've > got to have a workable Board who understands the big picture and will > vote for exceptions when it's for the benefit of the cat. And your > frustration isn't limited to volunteers. I get frustrated too. Even > Board members are only 1 vote. And sometimes the politics and ego-stroking bullshit make frustrated volunteers quit. I know that's why I quit. It's bad enough being subjected to the depressing feelings aroused by the entire shelter environment. The political garbage just makes it worse and the satisfaction of helping the poor animals just doesn't quite make up for the times your hands are tied because of someone with an overblown ego because they get paid and you don't. Shelters might have even more knowledgable people instead of a bunch of high schoolers looking for volunteer points if they'd quit that crap. / why, no, 6-7 week old kittens really shouldn't be eating only dry cat food, especially when their ribs are showing Signature-- ~kaeli~ Is it possible to be totally partial? http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace > Shelters might have even more knowledgable people instead of a bunch of high > schoolers looking for volunteer points if they'd quit that crap. No kidding. > / why, no, 6-7 week old kittens really shouldn't be eating only dry cat food, > especially when their ribs are showing /me rolls eyes. Don't even get mne started n the Silicon Valley HS. bastards. -L. >And sometimes the politics and ego-stroking bullshit make frustrated >volunteers quit. I know that's why I quit. It's bad enough being subjected to >the depressing feelings aroused by the entire shelter environment. The >political garbage just makes it worse and the satisfaction of helping the >poor animals just doesn't quite make up for the times your hands are tied >because of someone with an overblown ego because they get paid and you don't. I think there are at least an equal number of volunteers who don't understand the reality of shelter and rescue work, the safety of all, and responsibility. Hard decisions get made in shelters, every day. "Loving animals" is not all there is to it. Loving animals enough to make those decisions. When someone volunteers at a shelter, they should be fully aware of policies, and they can either choose to accept those and volunteer, or choose to pass and look elsewhere. Volunteers who are always bucking the system (or worse) are not a good thing. Exceptions snowball and often wind up with some really poor decisions being made. As far as getting paid, the policy makers at most shelters are a BOD, who definitely are not paid. SignatureJanet B www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfriendsobedience/album > I think there are at least an equal number of volunteers who don't > understand the reality of shelter and rescue work, the safety of all, [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > As far as getting paid, the policy makers at most shelters are a BOD, > who definitely are not paid. Well, when I went for orientation I wasn't told "this person and this person are friends, so they are always going to side with each other" "so-and-so is a bitch and will question every decision made by X,Y. and Z". That's what I mean by politics. The shelter I'm with is all-volunteer, so we don't have the paid/not paid conflict. What we have is sometimes too many people wanting to be in on everything. And yeah, we do have some clueless volunteers who have no idea why we have to do some of the things we do, like 10-day bite holds, not keeping a FeLV+ cat with the general population, etc. Signature-Kelly >Well, when I went for orientation I wasn't told "this person and this person >are friends, so they are always going to side with each other" "so-and-so >is a bitch and will question every decision made by X,Y. and Z". That's >what I mean by politics. I understand. Policies should outweigh politics, and if those policies don't exist, shame on the organization. >The shelter I'm with is all-volunteer, so we don't have the paid/not paid >conflict. What we have is sometimes too many people wanting to be in on >everything. Especially if there's no clear chain of command or policies. >And yeah, we do have some clueless volunteers who have no idea why we have >to do some of the things we do, like 10-day bite holds, not keeping a FeLV+ >cat with the general population, etc. Nobody said it would be easy! ;-D SignatureJanet B www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfriendsobedience/album > Well, when I went for orientation I wasn't told "this person and this person > are friends, so they are always going to side with each other" "so-and-so > is a bitch and will question every decision made by X,Y. and Z". That's > what I mean by politics. The main problem I have always seen is the kennel director isn't listened to by the director of operations or the director of the HS. So if an animal NEEDS something sometimes they are told to put the animal down instead. I ended up paying for dental/antibiotics for a very sweet, beautiful, red purebred sharpei one time because they were going to put her down for a tooth infection. How freaking stupid is that? I could go on and on. They just don't make any sense sometimes, but I understand they are working with limited funds. -L. > The main problem I have always seen is the kennel director isn't > listened to by the director of operations or the director of the HS. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > that? I could go on and on. They just don't make any sense sometimes, > but I understand they are working with limited funds. Yikes! That's awful. Ours is pretty lucky in that the Dog and Cat program heads get to make the decisions for their respective animals. Only time something has to go to a committee is if the vetting cost is over a certain amount, I'm not sure what it is right now. Emergencies get blanket authorization. Signature-Kelly > > The main problem I have always seen is the kennel director isn't > > listened to by the director of operations or the director of the HS. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > -- > -Kelly You're lucky that you have separate program heads for dogs & cats...it seems at our shelter the cats always get the short end of the stick, and I always felt like I had to advocate for the cats. > As far as getting paid, the policy makers at most shelters are a > BOD, who definitely are not paid. What's BOD? Signaturemonique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca >What's BOD? Board of Directors SignatureJanet B www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfriendsobedience/album > >And sometimes the politics and ego-stroking bullshit make frustrated > >volunteers quit. I know that's why I quit. It's bad enough being subjected to [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > As far as getting paid, the policy makers at most shelters are a BOD, > who definitely are not paid. I was making a comment based on my experience. I am pretty sure you didn't see that post by me so long ago. Take a gander at it and then tell me about policy and rocking the boat and paid vs volunteer. See what shelter politics do. Long: http://groups- beta.google.com/group/rec.pets.cats.health+behav/browse_frm/thread/3af41ddfd1 193e9c/ea6e7086a6456ae0?q=kaeli+shelter+problem&rnum=12 &hl=en#ea6e7086a6456ae0 Short: http://tinyurl.com/degyc Signature-- ~kaeli~ A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace >I was making a comment based on my experience. >I am pretty sure you didn't see that post by me so long ago. Take a gander at >it and then tell me about policy and rocking the boat and paid vs volunteer. >See what shelter politics do. I think I'm really fortunate that I work with a shelter that has qualified staff who treat animals as needed and appropriately! ;-D SignatureJanet B www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bestfriendsobedience/album > Shelters might have even more knowledgable people instead of a bunch of > high > schoolers looking for volunteer points if they'd quit that crap. Our shelter does not allow volunteers under 18 (considering making it 21) unless they are occompanied with a parent. We don't need a bunch of kids compromising the animals', and their own, safety. Signature-Kelly |
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