Spay/neuter clinic

I volunteered at Rochester Animal Services' spay/neuter clinic a few weeks ago. Each clinic within the Monroe Veterinary Association does one a year. The vets, techs, and ACAs can sign up to volunteer.

I was in charge of the recovery room. De-tubing the spayed cats, making sure all the cats woke up okay, recording the amount of meds given to each cat. Checking the incision site to ensure they had been altered, giving them a towel or pee pad to lay on in case they went to the bathroom in their cages.

I liked helping out. A lot. It was nice to see 30 cats' lives forever altered. I only wish they had allowed more cats in. We were done before noon - it seemed like we could have easily done ten more.

There was one cat, drooling up a little sea in his cage. I made sure everyone checked on him, just in case the drooling wasn't normal. I had to change his pee pad three times - it was soaked! They said it was just a reaction from the meds. Every other cat seemed pretty normal, though. The spayed cats took a bit longer to wake up, as was expected, but otherwise, nothing out of the ordinary.

Except for the chicken. When we first walked in to the surgery area, looking at all the cats in their carriers, getting ready to start taking them out and weigh them, we noticed the chicken. In a cage with some newspaper shreds. It had been found on the streets of Rochester, supposedly, and was brought to the shelter. I found out when we left that they had euthanized it.

That poor chicken.

There were a couple of cats in the cages in the surgery room. Above the chicken. It hurts to think that they may have been slotted for euthanasia, like the chicken.

T wanted to show us the dog she liked as we left. He was a big, beautiful Mastiff sort of dog. I hope he finds a home. And doesn't scare potential adopters off with his booming bark and jumping up on the cage in excitement.

On a side note, today has been the most boring and aggravating day. So much so that I just want to go back to bed right now. *sigh*