Sammi's life at the RSPCA

This is a blog dedicated to sharing my experiences working at Gonsal Farm RSPCA Centre for my one-year student work placement. Expect cute photos, heartwarming stories and insight into life with the UK's biggest animal charity!

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Black, White and Boring?!

There's been a lot of stuff in the news recently about how more than 70% of the cats in RSPCA care are black or black & white. This percentage pretty much matches with our centre, and it's not exactly a surprise to me. Most of the people who come into the centre want a cat that is pretty and unique, and gravitate towards tabbies and tortoishells.

We have around 60 cats at Gonsal Farm at the moment, so standing out to a potential owner can be an issue. When it comes to black and black & white cats, because we have so many of them they tend to 'blend in' with each other. The ones that tend to go are those with something a bit quirky about them; particularly unusual markings, or an attention-grabbing personality. As expected, kittens are much easier to rehome than adults.

I've also found that photographing black and black & white cats can be much more difficult than the other colour types, and this really stands against them in this online age where most people probably look online for a cat before coming to the shelter. If the photograph online doesnt stand out, and the person cant see the cat in person to see their personality, how are they going to make themselves seem like the unique and wonderful cat that they are?

Because they ARE all unique and wonderful. Even if they don't necessarily look it, they all have very individual personalities that would bring joy to any owner.

Fernando is a black kitten that's been at Gonsal Farm for a while, and while he's a little on the shy side he can be so playful and affectionate, purring like a little black Ferrari when you stroke him!

Priscilla is an insane bundle of energy, and such a huge character in a tiny package, who will leap into your arms as soon as you open her pod door for a cuddle and a kiss.

Kitty is a gorgeous, affectionate softie who loves nothing more than snuggling onto your lap and will always greet you at the door by rubbing around your legs. She's spent a long time in RSPCA care, but has taken it all in her stride and is desperately looking for the perfect owners to give her all the love and attention she deserves!

Pele is a really chilled out little boy who will happily lounge in your arms or roll onto his back for a belly rub, but like any kitten will also race around after a toy if given the chance.

Whereas his sister Favela is a bit more of a princess, parading around and always wanting to be the centre of attention!

Every cat in our shelter has so much to offer, no matter what their colour. And many of these so-called "boring" black/black&white cats are perfectly stunning in their own right!

So if you or someone you know is thinking about getting a cat or kitten, why not adopt a black or black & white cat and see for yourself what incredible companions they can be! And please share this post to help spread the message! All these cats and more can be found on the Gonsal Farm website, or why not come in and meet them for yourself?

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Faith in Humanity

Something that I've realised since working at the RSPCA is that I'm quite cynical of humanity in general. Years of watching, learning and hearing about the awful things people have done and continue to do to animals has left me with very little faith in the general public to provide the care and love that animals need and deserve.

This is something that I see in a few of my colleagues, and certainly in those working with animal charities on a whole. We are confronted on a daily basis with the worst kind of people, who see the animals we devote our lives to as little more than an inconvenience.

Since I've started work two months ago we've had kittens dumped in a cardboard box hoping someone else would deal with them, a queen with hugely swollen infected mammary glands that had been brought in while her kittens were likely kept to sell on, animals abandoned in properties when their owners moved on, animals removed from horrendous living conditions, a cat that came in with huge infected wounds after being used for airgun target practice (Abe, pictured at the top), and even some kittens tied up in a plastic bag and left to die. And thats only what I've seen so far. Listening to the stories of some of my colleagues who have been working here for years can turn your stomach and bring you to tears. How on earth can you keep your faith in humanity when you see so much suffering as a result of it?

For me, its the happy endings. Our shelter happens to be quite popular, so we get members of the public coming along quite frequently to find their new companions, and we have a pretty good turnover rate with the cats coming and going (although we are constantly full!). There is nothing that makes you happier than seeing someone come through that door and fall in love with one of our cats, then fill out the paperwork to take them home. Especially with the ones we've had to work hard with, who've come from those awful situations and against all odds have become these incredibly resilient animals who can still trust and love after all that's happened to them.

We help to restore their faith in humanity after it's wronged them, and in their ability to continue to love and trust strangers despite it all, they restore ours.

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I'm tired! >.<

This week has been really tiring for me. I've not been sleeping particularly well and work has been draining all of my energy. I think a lot of people underestimate what a physical job this is! I have a pedometer app on my phone, and I walk at least 8000 steps in a working day, which equates to approximately 4 miles walked at work every day. And I was amazed at how knackering cleaning can be! I'm sure the longer I'm working here the less tired I'll get, my body should be able to adapt to this level of exertion, but having previously been a pretty lazy and sedentary student, its quite a big change!! And this is only in the cattery, when I move over to kennels in a couple of months and will be exercising dogs ontop of everything else that'll be even more exhausting!

But really, I love it. I come home tired, sometimes collapsing onto the sofa and refusing to move for the rest of the evening, but I come home feeling fulfilled. I spent my day and my energy doing something worthwhile that I enjoy, and that will make a difference. RSPCA centres are often pretty understaffed, and as well as what I'm doing for the animals, I'm making a difference to the staff, being able to take some jobs off their hands and assist them with others so they're not spread so thinly. As for the cats, knowing that I'm helping to keep them healthy and happy, and in some cases improving their chances of being rehomed, that's possibly the most satisfying reward I can get out of this job :)

Sometimes though I do wish I could climb into their pods and curl up for a snooze with them! Lucky buggers get to sleep whenever they want! ;)

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The Story of Will (Feral)

A few weeks ago, we were brought in two tiny, feral kittens whose nursing mother had been killed in a road traffic accident. One of the kittens died, but the other, later named Will (Feral), survived.

Will began his time at the centre as a bit of a demonic little shite; he was hissy, scratchy, bitey; about as feral as they come, and had flown at staff members on a couple of occasions to sink his sharp little teeth in. Ultimately, he was terrified of everything too. He would huddle in the corner of his pod, hidden beneath his bedding, fighting or flighting at any human approaching, barely eating. At one point we thought he would never be able to be rehomed, and may have had to live his life as a feral farm cat, assuming anyone could ever take him.

But for such a tiny kitten, it seemed sad to give up on him so soon. My own cats were practically feral, and I know the value of patience with untrusting cats. Of course the other staff do too, but in a busy centre like ours it can be difficult to find the time. So I used as many spare moments as I had, including my lunch breaks, in an attempt to bring him round.

It really didnt take as long as I expected. Progress was slow to start with, sitting and reading my book quietly in his run, coaxing little Will out with treats for him to hiss and run away again. Eventually I managed to get him to play with a ping pong ball with me, batting it between the two of us. My attempts to stroke him were often met with running away or turning and hissing, but not once did he try to bite or scratch me. Soon, he was enjoying being stroked and fussed, and soon after that he would climb onto my lap.

The golden moment came one day when I was talking to him a little absentmindedly, him sitting on his ramp meowing back at me. He leaned forward towards me, and touched his nose onto mine. Leaning back, he looked me in the eye, then leapt into my lap and began purring loudly. After that he was a changed cat, loving his cuddles, climbing onto my shoulder, meowing through the glass for attention. Initially I worried he was only bonded to me, but that wasnt a problem, he loved everyone and everyone loved him.

And so it was that a family came along and fell in love with him just as much as I did! He went to his new home over the weekend and I'm sure he is going to be so happy and loved for his whole life.

I miss him, and I had a little cry when I got to work after the weekend to see he'd gone, but I feel so proud that after the work I did for him he was so quickly adopted. I like to think I made a difference to his life in a positive way, and I'm sure he'll forget all about me if he hasn't already, but I don't know if I'll ever forget little Will. My first success story; and hopefully the first of many.

Goodbye my baby boy Will, have an amazing life <3

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Being a cat can be tiring work!!

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Today I’d like to introduce you to a gorgeous lady named Poppy. She is a very pretty tortie-and-white shorthair girl, and is still relatively young at only 5 years old, but for some reason keeps getting overlooked here at Gonsal Farm.

Poppy was originally taken into another RSPCA shelter in...

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Awesome news!! Beautiful Poppy has found a new home! She will be joining her new family on Saturday. We're all so pleased for her. :)

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Poppy: Our cat of the month!

Today I'd like to introduce you to a gorgeous lady named Poppy. She is a very pretty tortie-and-white shorthair girl, and is still relatively young at only 5 years old, but for some reason keeps getting overlooked here at Gonsal Farm.

Poppy was originally taken into another RSPCA shelter in February as a welfare concern, and after a while of not finding a home was transferred to us in April to see if she'd have more luck here in Shropshire. Sadly, she's still here waiting.

Adult cats are easily lost in the fuss surrounding all our kittens, and as Poppy is a pretty chilled out girl who doesnt cry out for attention or rub up against the glass for people, I think she just gets missed. Quite an independent young lady, Poppy is more than happy to accept fuss and loves a good stroke and a cuddle once she gets to know you, but at the same time she's pretty happy just doing her own thing. Perhaps a downside in a shelter when its stopping her from being noticed, but this would be a huge benefit once adopted as she would be able to be left longer than a more needy cat/kitten; making her perfect for a working family who would still love a friendly cat to cuddle up with in the evenings.

You can read more about Poppy on the Gonsal Farm website: http://www.rspca.org.uk/local/gonsal-farm-animal-centre/petsearch/details/POPPY/107381/rehome

If you or anyone you know would be interested in giving this lovely girl a new forever home, please come and meet her (and us) at the centre! And maybe give this post a share for a little boost!

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The Daily Routine: Cattery

Life is easier with routine, especially when you have a full-to-bursting cattery and plenty of things to get done every day! Below is the basic daily routine we have in the cattery and we do our best to stick to it.

8:45: This is the time I usually arrive at the centre. When I get to the cattery, we feed all the cats using the meals prepared the day before and have a quick check of all the animals. Most of the cats will be on the RSPCA brand cat food appropriate for their age (kitten, adult, senior). Any cats on wet food will need this prepared and given to them as we only leave dry meals overnight. These will include young kittens, lactating queens, fussy eaters and any with health problems that may require a higher-calorie/fat diet.

9:00: We prepare a trolley (like a surgical one, not a shopping one) with paper towels, disinfectant sprays, hand sanitiser, gloves, a watering can, a bucket of cat litter, litter scoops in a bucket of disinfectant, a few clean litter trays and some pens. We take this to the bottom end of the cattery with a bin and some clean brooms in order to start the morning cleaning.

Every cat enclosure is cleaned. We generally lock the cat flaps to keep the cat inside or outside depending on which bit we're cleaning. On the indoor pod we wipe down the surfaces and glass with Safe4 disinfectant and give bedding a shake to remove cat hair. The water is emptied and replaced and empty food bowls are removed. Moving round to the back we clean the litter trays (we use a wood-based cat litter making it easy to remove faeces/urine) and sweep up any mess.

On Wednesdays the morning clean is more thorough; all bowls get changed and we spend a bit longer getting the pods clean. It can take an extra hour to clean on a Wednesday!

We also carry out morning observations while cleaning, and fill in a sheet on every cat's enclosure that allows us to record if the cat is behaving normally, eating, drinking, urinating, defecating (using a faecal scoring system to monitor any changes) and anything of note such as noticing any blood or vomit, if Feliway is being used or any unusual behaviour.

Once all the enclosures are clean, we sweep and mop the hallway.

10:45: With a few of us working, we're usually finished and can go for a short morning break about now to chill out after all that cleaning!

11:00: We return to the cattery and give the second feed of the day to young kittens. We'll also have a look at the two diaries with our tasks for the day and formulate a plan of action.

12:00: More feeding; second daily feed for older kittens or underweight cats.

1:00: Lunchtime! We take an hour for lunch somewhere between 12:30 and 1:30 depending on what needs to be done that day.

2:00: More feeding! Third feed for young kittens.

4.00: More feeding! Afternoon feed for all cats except young kittens. It's important to get this one done quickly, as the cats can become quite stressed waiting to be fed when the food trolley is making its way down! We'll also prepare feeds for the morning and leave these on top of each cat's pod so we can quickly put them in the next day.

4:15: We sometimes manage to sneak an afternoon break in around this time. Sometimes there's too much still needing to be done, but we can all appreciate even just five minutes to have a cup of tea!

4:30: Once the cats have all had time to eat, we start our afternoon litter tray cleanup and observations. We remove any mess from trays and fill in the observation sheets again.

5.00: More feeding! Young kittens have their final of the four feeds at 5pm.

5:15: This is generally when I get to go home! Sometimes I can leave earlier, sometimes later, depending on how busy the day has been; it's very easy to get backlogged when the diary is full up with things to do!

Outside of the normal routine, the days can be quite varied! Some cats (particularly kittens) need weighing on a regular basis (every 2-3 days) to check their weight gain. We might need to vaccinate or give routine medicines. There may be cats leaving the shelter, which will be followed by a full "Q-Clean" of their enclosure to have it disinfected and ready for a new cat that will usually fill it the same day! New arrivals will have health-checks on intake. Cats will need assessing for suitability rehoming every 10 days until they can be put up for adoption, at which point we need to do a full write-up for them and take photographs. The vet visits on a Thursday which can take hours out of the day if there are a lot of cats needing to be seen. And then of course there's the fun part; socialisation (also known as "cat cuddling!").

Every day is busy, and it can be hard work to get everything done! But its a very rewarding job with tons of contact with some really wonderful cats. Hopefully this post has given you some insight into what a normal day at the RSPCA is like :)

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About Me!

I think if you're reading this you probably already know me, so hello to all you lovely people <3 But just in case you don't, I should probably introduce myself before we get started :)

My name is Sammi, I'm 21 years old and I'm a student at Harper Adams University studying BSc Bioveterinary Science. I live in Shropshire with my fiance and my two rescue cats; Sansa and Arya.

I've wanted to be a veterinarian pretty much my whole life, but unfortunately my A Levels didnt work out as well as hoped, so I figured I'd take the long way round and take a different undergrad degree with a view to Veterinary Medicine as a postgrad; which led me to my current course. And I love it, and I'm good at it, so it's not all bad really! A compulsory part of my course is a one-year work placement (between second and fourth year) in a relevant industry, which is where I am now. I originally hoped to spend my year in a veterinary hospital, but was encouraged to broaden my horizons and go for something different that might give me some options outside of veterinary medicine, which led me to apply for the RSPCA where I'm currently working.

The RSPCA is a charity I've always taken huge interest in, watching their TV shows, following their campaigns, supporting their events, and working with them in one way or another was always a goal for me. So I'm incredibly excited to be able to spend my year working for this fantastic organisation alongside some brilliant people and animals.

Before starting university in September 2012 I'd already amassed around 48 weeks of work experience in a variety of animal-based industries such as veterinary surgeries, rescues, kennels, stables, zoos and farms, so this sort of work isnt exactly new to me. However I'm hoping (and already finding) that being in a longer-term placement with more knowledge under my belt from my degree will make this one of the most rewarding and valuable years of my life, where I can put what I already know into practice and learn more to develop my skills for my future career.

In my spare time I enjoy sleeping (so far this job is pretty tiring!), writing, watching TV, playing video games, cosplay, LARP, playing guitar and painting my nails. :)

So now you know a little about me, what about you? What's your story ;) ?

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Hello and welcome to my new blog!

Having just started my one-year work placement with the RSPCA, I figured it would be fun to start a blog to document my time with the charity. Here I want to share as much of my experience as possible; from my daily routines, to animal profiles, happy endings, funny stories and the things that I've learned. While it is primarily going to be a bit of a diary for myself, I hope that any followers will be inspired to think more about animal welfare, maybe supporting charities like the RSPCA, adopting an animal from a shelter, or even volunteering their time like I am.

It's sure to be an exciting year for me, and hopefully for anyone following this blog too!

So to kick off, here's a picture of tiny bunny boy Echo. At only six weeks old he was found as a stray, hopping around a town having escaped from his home and sadly not microchipped! As he's a little too young to have his vaccinations yet he can't go out with the other rabbits, so we get to play with him inside instead. He's so cute <3