20100628

And I have a job!

Started my new job.  I don't want to post on the blog where that is for privacy purposes but I have a job and that's the main thing.  I definitely am breathing a little easier.  Today is my first day and have learned quite a bit.  I'll be working Monday through Thursday, which is great because that means I can volunteer at Best Friends on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Speaking of volunteering, I was able to get to Best Friends last week.  I worked in parrots on Tuesday morning, feral bunnies on Tuesday afternoon, cats on Wednesday morning and back to parrots on Wednesday afternoon.

Working in parrots was awesome!  Most of them are there because the owners didn't know what they were getting into; whether that refers to the noise level, messiness, or amount of attention needed.  It's really sad.  These guys have so much personality and are so smart.  A good portion of them are self-pluckers.  This is usually due to stress.  Charlie is a very, very pretty girl.  She has to wear a sweater over some bandages to keep her from continuing to pluck her chest.  She usually greets people with a smile and a head tilt that says, "Love on me please."  Cody is a type of African Gray and has a really extensive vocabulary.  He also has a sense of humor.  I got to give the birds that were outside a shower on the afternoon that I worked there.  As I started Cody's shower, he started "coughing" and when I was getting ready to finish, he gave me a good, "ACHOO!"  The environment at the parrot garden is wonderful.  The birds have cages on the inside but usually get to go outside during the day.  Those birds that don't have as many issues get to hang out in aviaries with their buddies.  These aviaries are really big and are equipped with misters.  Remember, the natural habitat for these birds is usually a humid jungle or rain forest.  The cages on the outside are around a fountain and have their own shade.  There's also a gazebo in the middle of the aviaries and outside cages.  All of the birds have plenty in their homes to keep them busy.  I even got to make some foraging toys while I was there.  If anyone is interested in helping, they could always use foraging toys.  You can get ideas if you google foraging toys for parrots.  Just make sure to use unshelled raw almonds.  Let me know if you're interested, I'll get you an address.

The feral bunnies were interesting.  They came from a hoarding situation where a woman not only had a whole lot of bunnies, she wasn't taking care of them.  They were not interested in being pet but some were curious and would come check me out while I was helping clean one of the runs.  I found out that all bunnies have a parasite that attacks their nervous system; it just lays dormant until triggered.  Most bunnies can go through life and never trigger this parasite.  The most common trigger is stress.  So, needless to say, some of these bunnies had triggered their parasite.  The way this manifests is a head tilt or loss of control of their back legs.  The head tilt causes problems with balance and being able to see where they are going.  The loss of control of their back legs means they usually are dragging themselves through their own waste.  These bunnies along with some of the other medical-needs bunnies are in a yurt while the others are outside in runs.  The runs are actually pretty cool.  They're set up so that the bunnies can be as normal as possible but they can't dig out (they try) and they have things to burrow under like straw bales, little igloo doghouses, etc.  They get fed very nutritional rabbit food but they also get fresh vegetables of some kind each day.  These guys are separate from the other bunnies but are still adoptable.

I got to work with two different rooms of cats.  There are several building in Cat World.  Each has indoor and outdoor areas for all of the cats with a centralized kitchen/laundry area.  These areas are all equipped with lots of comfy beds, plenty of things to climb on, and even rafters for the cats who aren't ready to socialize.  The first room in which I worked was the cats with "special" personalities.  Really, they're just moody cats.  I fit right in.  :)  I helped clean but got to help socialize the cats as I went.  Some were more vocal than others.  Miss Dot usually has to be the first to be loved and gets upset if she's not.  She's not quite blind but pretty close.  You would never know.  She is so pretty and has these huge eyes.  You just have to look for the telltale tail switch to know when to stop petting.  After I was there for about an hour, some of the other cats decided I was ok and asked for some attention.  Kyra is this dainty, mostly black cat that looks like the cats in the Egyptian hieroglyphics; long, thin face with this amazingly long tail that is usually straight up in the air.  She meowed at me from a cat tree.  As soon as I got close enough, she was climbing on my shoulder.  I sat with her for about ten minutes and meanwhile, even the shy kitties were coming up to get loving.  Kyra was VERY upset when I put her down.  I also noticed she was an instigator.  She knew each cat's buttons and was not afraid to push them.  There was another cat, I unfortunately don't remember his name, he had no control of his back legs.  This did not stop him at all.  As a matter of fact, when we were playing, he was faster than most of the others.

Next, I went to the "incontinent" room.  These cats either can't make it to the litterbox or choose not to use it. That's fine, that's their choice.  We just have to clean a little more.  Anyway, I went outside and immediately Pounce decided I was going to sit down and pet him.  He almost made me cry; he could not get close enough to me even though he was in my lap and on my chest.  He had his paws around my neck and his head on my shoulder.  After about 15 minutes, it was time for his medicine.  About the time I put him down, I was told he sometimes pees on people when he's being pet.  I kind of had expected that but luckily, he did not pee on me.  :)  All of these cats are so special and all they want is someone to pay attention to them.

I figured out that I can hit each section within three days of each week.  I learned that it's best to work in dogs on morning and cats in the afternoons (air-conditioning).  So, that's the plan for the next few weeks at least.  I'll hit dogs, cats, parrots, horses, piggies, and bunnies.  I'm very excited.  There are no pictures right now but be sure I'll post some soon.  That's it for now.  Talk to everyone soon!!

1 comment:

  1. That sanctuary sounds amazing! I'm happy that you've found such a fantastic place to help animals!

    ReplyDelete