Rescue Journal

freaking out again.

Carol  ·  Jan. 13, 2009

i hate the turnarounds from afternoons to day shift...i want to stay in bed like those suction cups currently looking pretty darn comfy.

the whole cat thing is bothering me...how do folks properly care for 100-200-300 cats when i am freaking out over 40 with paid staff during the day and me here all and every night to keep an eye on things?

cat rescue sucks...there just are too freaking many. i am on the look out for a good quality single bed and frame so i can periodically sleep with them and multi-task doing double cuddle duty while i sleep.

rescue is not just warehousing bodies and making sure they eat, drink, pee and get their meds..a quick word and a pet here and there is just not enough for their emotional wellbeing. they need sustained and consistent, personal and one on one time. we can't take the cats for group field runs to brighten and add fun to their day. they are stuck where ever we stick them and it becomes up to us to ensure that each of them feels happy, valued and loved...individually.

that's tough.

Comments

Marianne

Lots of wonderful soul searching thoughts here! Kudos to you all that posted.

For me personally, it is always heart wretching that although there is room in my home for more, I try to limit it to 10.(special needs and ferals) It's a matter of logistics, time , finances, ect...
Carol, I think adding the bed or futon if you can find room is a good idea. I haven't visited SAINTS so not sure of your layout. Here's what I did. My cats had a winter room - a large bedroom in my home - just for the cats. Commercial tile on the floors, climbing aparatus and perches for window watching. Eventually I added a futon, and a cheap vhs/tv combo(no cable in that room) and made a point of sitting in there for a few hours each day and watched a movie. VHS tapes are available for next to nothing as second hand stores. If I needed a nap I'd choose that room. Over time even my ferals started curling up on my legs or sitting beside me.
As time progressed I wanted to improve the quality of their life and started using another room which was much cooler in the summer. That room faced the back of the house and it was ideal to have a large outdoor cat room built attached to the house. While most people lounge in their yards on nice summer days (I've heard people not in rescue get to do this Ha!). I would lounge on nice cushioned ones in my outdoor cat room, read a book, with cats perched,or lounging on me. They enjoyed having outdoor access which was completely enclosed - yet allowed them fresh air, bird watching and enjoy the smells of summer. The dogs became accustomed to viewing the cats and they in return became used to seeing the dogs.

I'm not saying that's the answer for everyone and depending on the layout of their home may not be possible. I just thought I'd post as it may give someone ideas as to what may work for them.

Keep up the fantastic work everyone.
Marianne

Carol

lol...like i am not all doom and gloom (and half crazy to boot sometimes too!) myself much of the time...rescue has a way of beating the hopeful optimist right out of you once in awhile too.

if you ask me, what is really amazing is that we can actually manage to be cheerful sometimes too. and you are right jenine...sterilize everything and everyone til at least we stop killing them.

Tracey

So sorry to be all doom and gloom on the SAINTS blog -- not fair!

I am usually a hopeless, hopeful optimist (really!)

Jenine

Gosh guys, heavy thoughts. Maybe the best/future/
hopefully not impossible solution, is for PEOPLE TO SPAY/NEUTER to stop the "reproduction" of unwanted/
unhomed animals. "Good luck to all of us on that"
It is better now than it was years ago, I can only
hope it continues to get better as more people become
AWARE>>>>

Carol

ahhh tracey...give yourself a hug for me...those of us that do everything we can to help all we can effectively and compassionately and respectfully...never contribute to the deaths of those we can't help...that is someone else's burden of responsibility. not to say we don't feel the fear and anquish and our own limitations for those beyond our means...but the ultimate responsibility?...that is not ours til they come into our hands....it belongs to someone else, let them carry that burden, we carry enough.

Tracey

I agree... it absolutely has value! I guess the challenge is trying to put ourselves in their paws and estimate that they would want.

Is their existence incomplete if we humans are not a part of it? I dont believe it is. I believe they can exist in their very own world that humans are not a part of, or are on the periphery.

On the flip side, it is very sad for an animal who has decided that they would indeed like a relationship with humans and a home and family of their very own without have to share with dozens of other animals, but them never, ever receiving it because there are simply not enough homes... so while we (as in the collective "we") may be doing the best we can, the animals still end up settling.

The Ideal World vs the Real World... Using every available resource to save as many as we can vs crossing that oh-so-dangerous line we all know about... it's a constant battle.

Do we kill the others because while we can attend to all their physcial needs and provide them with compansionship of their own species, but we dont have enough lap time to give them? No. But in a way, whether it is our intention or not... whether we hate it or not... whether we have nightmares about the animals we had to say "No" to or not, we (again the collective "we") are contributing to their deaths. Even when we are doing and giving everything we possibly can to help them, we are still killing them. And I believe the burden of that responsibility must remain our constant companion if we are ever going to make real change for them.

And... just to keep things really interesting (sarcasm intended) we have to carry the burden whilst simultaneously looking for ways to make things better for them; not just the ones lucky enough to end up in proper care, but for those languishing out there waiting to get in...

Sucks. Sucks. Sucks.

carol

i guess for me rescue has to be a partnership that i am content with too...not only do they have to be ok with being rescued and cared for...but i have to be ok with how i rescue and care for them.
for me the relationship part is so critical...not that it has to be this happy warm and fuzzy cuddle thing...but there has to be time spent on developing and maintaining whatever type of relationship is of value to them...kissy face cuddle with sadie or just a quiet talk and smell my face with conan (he loves to smell mouths and faces) or catering to dixie chick's absolute loathing of me while i give her her treats.
if rescue requires that i become detached or seperate or just out of their personal life loop and i am no longer able to invest personally in each and every one of them, then i don't want to do it.
if i take too many...none of us get this part of the rescue thing...i don't want to lose this, i think it has value to both them and to me.
for the ones i turn away...i will never be able to help them all...i help who i can and concentrate on that and leave the others in god's hands i suppose.

Tracey

With the thousands and thousands of cats being killed in our Province every year, what is the solution?

Assuming that physical suffering is not permitted (i.e. every animal receives enough good quality food... enough water... clean conditions... proper vet care... proper space... varied and stimulating environment, no abuse of any kind), and the only thing missing is sharing their lives with humans, where do you draw the line?

Would you rather save the lives of 1000 lives who receive all of the above but no human interaction?

500 cats who receive all of the above and some human interaction?

200 cats who receive all of the above and a fair amount of human interaction?

100 cats who receive all of the above and the perfect (assuming such a standard could be qualified) amount of human interaction?

If the cats themselves were faced with the above, I think I know what the 101st cat would say... or the 201st... or the 501st or the 1001st.

When the numbers are so overwhelming and their deaths are staring you right in the face, it is a fine, fine line.

Constant dilligence... not operating in a vaccuum... continual effort to come up with creative ways to do better... fighting the status quo... and learning to live with the the horror of doing all of the above and still they die the thousands... sucks doesnt even begin to describe it.

Sandi

I agree wholeheartedly that it is bad for the cats to be warehoused. I adopted 2 of the FF cats last fall and, putting aside their major health issues (these were 2 of the 'healthy' ones!), they were absolutely starved for attention & affection. They are, to use one of Carol's terms, suction cups and, when I am home, are no more than a few feet away, making sure to keep me in sight.

This warehousing is not rescue, it is incarceration.

Mo

I have a bed Carol... but just where in the world are you planning on putting it ???