More Responsibility at the MSPCA

Today, I feel as though I made a lot of progress working at the MSPCA. I feel as though my independence and responsibility as an individual grew a bit, because I didn't rely on my partner as much as I usually do. I think that every week, my role helping out grows a bit, because I am starting to feel more comfortable in my surroundings, while realizing that I have the capability to help out. I enjoy going there, and showing love and affection to the cats, while before I simply couldn't wait to get out of there. I used to hate holding the cats, because I was afraid, but today I felt a certain love for them, where I knew they weren't goin to hurt me, because I knew I could transfer them on my won without the help of my partner. I hope that next Friday I will feel even more accomplished, and I'm hoping that soon I will be able to go work with the dogs, and take on new positions there, although the cat room is quite difficult, because it takes more time than doing dishes, etc. I think that the MSPCA is definitely helping to increase my awareness of what I am capable of, and I'm very happy for that.

A Good Day At The MSPCA

Today was another day at the MSPCA, I cleaned the kitty room again. I think I showed a lot of improvement, as I transfered almost all of the cats on my own, without asking for help from the other person who was doing the room with me. I was a bit nervous at first, that I would drop one, or I would get clawed, but I let them warm up to me and was able to do it easily. I'm really proud of myself because I see it as a huge accomplishment. We also finished the asics of the cat room about a half hour early, so we were able to spend time cleaning up some of the fur that was on one of the cat-climbing things. I worked from 8:15-12:00, like a normal day, but I feel as though we were able to get a lot done because we worked together more than usual. We helped each other out a lot, and it allowed us to get things done in time before the shelter opened.

An Inspiring Day at the MSPCA

Today, I went into the MSPCA to volunteer, as usual. I did my usual duties: cleaning the cat room and their cages. For some reason things seemed to be going a lot slower than usual, probably because it was a hot day outside. However, there was a group of men outside who were powerwashing the outside of the MSPCA, to make it look more presentable to the public. These guys were amazing, they volunteered all of their work, and they didn't get paid a dime. Then, they noticed that everyone was a bit down at the MSPCA and they brought over donughts and coffee for everyone. It was so sweet of them, and it definately got everyone's mood up. While I cleaned the cat cages, I tried my best to show love to all of the cats, rather than just throwing them in and out of their cages. I'm not a big animal person, but I really think that this experience has made me become more attatched and caring towards animals. I also think that I have grown a bit as a person, because usually, I hate getting dirty. And every week, I walk out of the MSPCA, covered in dirt, and gross things from the cats. It makes me feel good about myself that I can actually do that, because normally I would be like "ew, this is discusting. There is no way I'm doing that or getting sweaty."

Also, I cleaned the cage of a cat who had gotten sick and thrown up everywhere. I think this was a big step as well, because I had to push myself to do this. Normally, I would have asked another volunteer to do it, but I wanted to do it myself and prove to myself that I could.

Another Day at the MSPCA

Today, I had another day of volunteering at the MSPCA. I was put in the same kitty room as I was the first day, and I sort of trained another volunteer in the cat room. But then, another lady who works at the MSPCA came, so we worked on the cat room together instead of the new volunteer. It was kind of neat to be able to show someone else what to do, because it made me feel as though I had learned something, and had the authority to do that. So, I spent four hours working and cleaning the cat room, and I felt very accomplished in the end. there were much more cats today than there were last week, and several new ones. I did a lot more handling with the cats that I had been nervous to touch last week, and I realized that they were actually nice and loving cats. I also cleaned a cage while the cat was still in it, because he didn't want to come out. Last time that the cat didn't want to come out, I had another volunteer clean it for me, but this week I did it on my own. I felt accomplished, and I was glad I could help the cats. Maybe next week, I will improve my skills even more.

The Kitten Adventure; MSPCA

Today, I helped out at the MSPCA again, and I worked cleaning the cat's cages again, except in a different room that wasn't for the public to see. I cleaned the cages of the "holding room." There were about ten little small kittens there, and then many more large adult cats. Today was a bit more challenging than last week however, because I had to work alone. I think that I did a pretty good job though, although a few of the cats were hard to transfer into different cages. One baby black kitten, which was about 3 months old, was very frisky and kept trying to get out several times. One time he did get loose and I had to catch him. But other than that, I had a very good day at the MSPCA, and I was glad to help.

MSPCA... the kitty room

Yesterday was my first day volunteering at the MSPCA, and I really enjoyed it. I worked from 830 until 12, and I was placed in the kitty room. I spent the first half hour or so acquainting myself with the cats, so that they became familiar with me. Then, after a little while, a lady named Mary came in to show me how you clean the cat cages and basically the room. She explained to me the procedures that you have to do, and where to find all the necessary supplies. Then, it was time to get to work. We took ever cat out of the cage, and put them into a holding crate while we cleaned their cage. We had to take the dirty linen out, and then scrub the cages. Then, we would dry them, put clean linen in, and food, water, and a new litter box. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, and I definitely got much more dirty than I thought I would have. We also had to clean the kitty room itself, because there are six cats who are free to roam around without being in a cage. There were litter boxes, food dishes, and toys which we had to clean in the room as well. Once all the cages were cleaned, we had to mop the floor of the room, because we had made a mess with water and cat litter and food. This part was pretty easy, and it made everything look resentable to the outsiders who were coming in to look at the cats. Overall, I would say this was a fun experience, and I can't wait until next week to help some more.

More help with Gabe

This morning, I spent about a half hour going over the same LAQ with Gabe. I think he understands it a lot more, because he was able to identify the basics very quickly. We worked mostly on evaluating strengths and weaknesses of the experiment that he chose to do. We also started to outline a different answer to the LAQ, but he decided that he felt more ocmfrtable with the one we had originally been working on. I think that I have seen a lot of improvement with Gabe, because I remember when I first started to help him, he struggled to identify simple basics, and now he is able to go much more in depth, and gain higher marks. I think that he feels a lot more confident in answering questions, because he says what the thinks the asnwer is, rather than hesitating.