Join the Peninsula Friends Of Animals Team

I worked as a Cat Caregiver at Peninsula Friends of Animals from 10/21 to 5/23. PFOA is strictly a no kill, cageless cat shelter. Unlike many animal shelters, PFOA presents a very pleasant environment for the animals and their staff. Cats have ample room to roam and are only caged for the first two weeks after their intake to prevent the spreading of diseases throughout the shelter. Cats are only euthanized if their quality of life continues to suffer after the utmost of veterinary care. During my time there, I obtained ample knowledge of cat care, simple veterinary procedures and cat behavior. I also gained skills in animal emergency response procedures through a pet first aid and CPR course which was funded by PFOA. The specific skills I gained included recognizing the signs and symptoms of an unhealthy or sick cat, learing about the various diets cats require based on their medical needs, administering subcutaneous fluids, administering medications to cats safely and effectively, recognizing the various parasites commonly found in cat stool, trimming claws, weighing cats, and learning how to conduct these procedures with as llittle stress as possible for the cat. These are all necessary skills for anyone wanting to work in the fields of animal care or veterinary medicine. My day to day tasks would include feeding and medicating approximately 35-40 cats, administering fluids as needed, changing water, scooping litter boxes, sweeping, mopping, cleaning quarantine cages, laundry, restocking and inventorying cat food, and any other cleaning or organizing that needed to be done within the cat rooms. I worked independently most of the time and had a schedule of four 10 hour days with breaks as a full time caregiver/technician. My favorite parts of working at PFOA were that I worked directly with cats daily, that I had creative freedom with cleaning and organizing, and that my suggestions for improvement were considered. My least favorite parts of working at PFOA were that work days could be very long and physically exhausting. Additionally, when cats were sick or because of quality of life issues had to be humanely euthanized, it was mentally and emotionally taxing. However, this is the price of working in the wonderful field of animal care. I would have continued to work at PFOA, however I wanted to pursue my career in wildlife biology further. I am eternally grateful for my experience and time working here.