Trying out for a volunteer position tomorrow!

[kathryn]

It's basically a job, but without the pay

I'm a shelter volunteer at the Animal Welfare Association in NJ. It's a really great shelter. Recently I was asked to take pictures of the cats and kittens for Petfinder. The lady emailed me back yesterday and said most of my pictures are really great and have already helped out a bunch, so she asked me to come back in and get pictures of the new comers!

So tomorrow I am trying out for

-Cat/Kitten Photographer
-Cat/Kitten personality evaluator (like the lady on Animal Planet who evaluates the dogs... I do that except for the kitties!!)
-Vet Assistant!!

Wish me luck!! I'd have alot of stuff to do but hey atleast it gives me something to do. For the vet assistant I would be giving medications (not prescribing though obviously), helping to hold animals down for injections, nail clippings, ear cleanings etc. I'm basically trying out to be a vet tech, but without doing any actual medical stuff because obviously I don't have a degree or anything to be qualified for that.

Wheeeeeeee I hope I make the cut for all this stuff. Then every Saturday I'd still be an offsite volunteer so I'm going to have my hands full.

[Frenchy]

woohoo good luck kathryn that would open lots of doors for you if you ever want to work in the animal field

[TeriM]

Woohoo, sounds great . Good luck .

[hazelrunpack]

What an excellent opportunity!

and for a great interview tomorrow!

[kathryn]

I have only been talking to my interviewers online. The persons username is

'Keryl'

How is that pronounced? I'm supposed to be meeting that person and a lady I already know named Jessie. I guess I should just ask for Jessie and let them know what I'm there for? And they can find the 'Keryl' person for me.

Oh and it's a good deal for me, I want to get all my cats microchipped and the fee is normally 25$ and only available certain days of the week, but if I'm working in the clinic and microchipping cats and dogs anyways, I can probably do it myself and save 5$ per cat. Plus I can get it done whenever I feel like it vs. specific appointment.

I think I'm legally allowed to microchip the animals if I am trained.

[hazelrunpack]

Looks like a variation of Carol to me, but I've never met a Keryl, so I don't know for sure. That would be a good deal on the microchipping

[Luvmypitgirls]

congrats!

volunteering is a very rewarding experience, I hope it all works out for you.
Just think of all the wonderful fuzzybutts you will get to help...

[kathryn]

I had to come home to grab some lunch.. I'm leaving for the shelter in a couple minutes

I hope I'm not there too long because I'm sooo tired from some stupid thunderstorm waking me up.

[kathryn]

OMG I almost puked I just got back from some training for the vet assistant and looks like I got picked! I almost hurled everywhere though because I screwed up TWICE giving the poor 'test' kitten it's microchipped! They said it's okay and that some people get really nervous their first chipping. We had 2 little kittens, one for me and one for the other girl to test out our skills on. Obviously we didn't hurt them but we felt bad trying to learn to how do all this medical stuff on the kittens.

Me and the other girl learned how to
*Vaccinate for rabies (I did really good on that!!!)
*Distemper vaccine (Erm, not so good. I stabbed threw the skin and it came out the other side.... but the lady helped me correct it and the kitty was fine!)
*Microchipping (failure at this... need more practice. Its really hard!!)
*Deworming (already knew this)
*Flea treatment (knew this)

And we learned to do an overall body check like a real vet would do.

Hooray for me not puking! The microchip only went halfway in the two times I messed up. I didn't stab the kitty hard enough.

So apparently I am now just a vet tech who doesn't get paid??

And I saw 2 of my kittens I had brought there about 2 months ago! They are sooo sweet. It was 2 of the 5 that I had to take to the shelter cause the one was crippled. anyone remember me talking about him? Well the crippled one is still in foster care and goes to an orthopedic doctor for free. The dr. is nice and volunteers his time.

[Frenchy]

Well congratulation ! Of course you'll need practice , you can't get everything at the first try , you'll do just fine !

[kathryn]

The microchipping needles are REALLY big though. And the way you inject it is you screw the needle into the syringe, take the cap off, stab them in the back and you push this spring loaded plunger forward to inject the microchip. I just kept getting nervous and didn't push the needle in far enough and so the microchip didn't really get injected.

I have to go back for training on being the cat personality evaluator. I never found Keryl today. And it is pronounced Carol.

Oh and there were some Neonatal kittens there and I bottle fed them !!

[Frenchy]

I think you are very brave kat , I couldn't do it. When we're at the vet for the dogs vaccines , I have to look the other way when vet gives them their shots

[hazelrunpack]

Congratulations, kathryn!!

Good job! Practice makes perfect--probably the first time, they're happy if a volunteer is able to insert a needle at all! It's not something that comes easily to a lot of people! So you did great!

[kathryn]

Well, considering I think the other girl stabbed herself with the needle by mistake, both of us still did pretty good for our first time as being a vet tech.

I'm not sure how I'm even allowed to do all this. Maybe since I'm not getting paid that's how.

They invited me to come to their rabies clinic in like two weeks or something to I guess practice vaccinating kitties and doggies. I dunno if people are going to want me jabbing their poor critters though

[allymack]

Congrats Kathryn! they dont offer any vet tech type jobs at the shelter near me, i really wish they did, i would love to be one. It sounds like you did pretty good for your first day! So this kitty you were practicing on..i'm assuming its a stuffie?

[kathryn]

Erm, no they were real. I totally did not end up hurting it though, and there were 2 trained ladies there teaching us. The kitties kept purring though atleast so they knew we weren't trying to hurt them.

When I messed up on the microchipping, the lady took the kitten from me and showed me how to do it properly and it was all good.

We gave our kitties hugs afterwards and they were cool with it. They never once cried out or squirmed or anything. They were basically getting impatient 'cause we were getting nervous.

I can't remember their names though or I'd find their petfinder pages.

We didn't hurt them though, so that's all that's important. I mean I know getting poked by vaccination needles isn't a kittens favourite thing... but I think me and the other girl did a really good job since it was our first try.

So probably tomorrow those kitties will be out of holding and going up for adoption!!!

I'm going to see if after I get some more training if I can sit in on a spay and a neuter to see how it's done.... AFTER I get all my kittens done so I don't get all squeeemish about it.


Does anyone know how it's legal for me to do this? Me and my mom were trying to figure out how I was allowed to fill needles and deal with all that stuff. I'm not even allowed to drive a car by myself yet but I was sitting there messing with needles

[allymack]

I didnt have any worries that you would be hurting the kittens anyways, i agree getting poked by needles probably isnt their favourite thing, but it might help them in the long run.

I'm not sure if its legal or not. Although i dont think that they would allow you to do things you arent aloud too.. i mean giving needles is a fairly easy process ( if you arent squeemish) and you have to have a good eye to make sure you draw the right amount of vaccine. This is such a great opportunity for you! this could help get you in to being a vet some day!

[glasslass]

I couldn't do it because I'm too squeemish, but I have to give you credit. Years ago the vet made me hold Den-Den2 while he gave him a vaccination. I passed out! At least I don't do that anymore. I now can hold them for the toenail clippings AND shots. I hope ALL vet assistants are avid animal lovers and not just in it for the paycheck. If you have volunteering on your resume, they know you're in it because you love animals.

[kathryn]

My vet tech friend Tara used to let me read her vet books when she was still in school. I remember seeing the page with the worms on it and going GROSSSSS cause I was like... 10 at the time

I don't think I'm going to be a vet tech or a vet when I get older. Well, the thing is I don't want to work at a vets office because I get emotionally attached to animals fast and would seriously cry every time someones old dog had to get put down or something. I think if I were to do anything in that field, I would continue to work at the shelter. It's no kill... and I would work in the intake room where there would be no chance of me coming into contact with any kitties or doggies having to be put down like at a vets office.

You're squeemishness is appropriate though...


I'm not going to go into any detail as to why though... but I have no problem with needles but the poking part does actually feel a bit weird.