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No More Homeless Pets Forum
May 5, 2003 Shelter Health Care |
What can you do to keep shelter animals healthy? Best Friends veterinarian Dr. Virg Clemans, and Mary Martin, clinic manager of Maricopa County Animal Care and Control in Arizona, offer expert advice on caring for animals in shelters.
Introduction from Dr. Virg:
It's always an adventure and a challenge at the Best Friends Clinic. I never know what the day will bring -- a stray dog with a gunshot wound, a stray cat that's been hit by a car, an older dog who's been diagnosed with cancer and needs special care, a cat with kidney failure or Feline Leukemia. There's never a dull moment with over 1,500 animals under my care. Our very able team includes seven vet techs whose efficient care is matched by their great kindness and dedication to all of the animals here.The days are full for me at the Best Friends Clinic. In addition to attending to the medical needs of all of the sanctuary's animals, we also offer low-cost spay/neuter services to the surrounding communities as well as a very active trap/neuter/return program for feral cats to make sure that there are never any homeless or unwanted pets in our local region.
To be able to give top-notch medical care to animals that would otherwise go untreated is indeed rewarding for me and for all of us here at the sanctuary. I feel fortunate to be able to help so many animals.
I'll be happy to answer your questions about caring for the animals in your shelter.
Introduction from Mary Martin:
The largest challenge facing most animal shelters is keeping the animals in their care healthy. It is a germy world out there and any time you put a bunch of mammals in close proximity the germs will have a hay day.Mitigating the spread of disease must be a priority for shelters because our reputations depend on it. Adopting sick animals can cause the shelter to appear sub-standard, poorly run and uncaring. The general public does not understand that disease is spread among animals just as easily as it is among people (SARS for example). The blame is generally placed on the shelter and no number of excuses eases the pain of a child who has just witnessed her puppy in the throws of distemper or wasting away from parvovirus.
Disease control must be an ethical imperative and that is so much easier said than done.
From a community perspective spay-neuter is the number one tool we have in controlling pet-overpopulation. As I walk through the shelter each day I look at the animals and wonder, if these dogs and cats had been afforded the veterinary care they needed early in life would they be in our shelters?
If the big pit boy in kennel 20 had been neutered when he was a baby would he have had such a desire to leave his home now? If the mommy cat with 7 kittens had been spayed would her owners have felt so overwhelmed and turned them into the shelter?
As disease control is an ethical imperative, in a shelter environment spay-neuter is a moral one. No animal should be adopted from an animal shelter unsterilized and no one should have to face euthanizing healthy adoptable pets because there are too many pets and not enough homes. No one!
Questions
Spaying pregnant cats
Minimizing upper respiratory in shelter cats
Problems with parvo and distemper
Fostering FeLV positive cats for a shelter
If a cat gets FIP will other cats get it?
How often should shelters vaccinate animals?
Reducing stress on animals at off-site adoption events
Socializing and exercising animals without risking the spread of disease
Fixing animals before adoption
Isolation areas
How long is too long to keep an animal at a shelter?
What type of food to feed shelter animals
Temperament testing
Spaying pregnant cats
Question from Katy:
Can you comment on spaying pregnant cats? Some shelter policies allow for this as long as it doesn't harm the mother cat's health. Is there a set time as to when this would be the case (how far along she is)?Response from Mary Martin:
I have to answer this question from two perspectives.From the medical perspective, a healthy pregnant cat can be sterilized at any time during her pregnancy using proper anesthetics, fluid therapy and appropriate intra-operative and post-operative monitoring. At our shelter, any cat who is over 30 days pregnant is held for recovery (in a foster home if possible) for at least 4-5 days to give her a chance to recover with as little additional stress as possible.
The other perspective to look at is the trauma of aborting full-term pregnancies to the animal and the staff. We evaluate each pregnant animal on a case-by-case basis. Do we have foster care available? Are we faced with euthanizing kittens due to lack of space? How many mothers and babies are in foster at this time - will we be able to find homes for all the kittens currently in foster? To avoid this situation entirely, we try very hard to have spay/neuter services available to everyone who wants them. This is one of those subjects that are a cause for concern to everyone. Good luck with formulating your approach to this difficult subject.
Response from Dr. Virg:
For an experienced surgeon, the spaying of pregnant cats presents no additional risk than spaying non-pregnant cats. If the cat's pregnancy is very far advanced, I usually give sub-cutaneous fluids to compensate for the fluids lost with the pregnancy. This seems to help the cat recover more quickly from the surgery. I have spayed cats at all stages of pregnancy with no ill effects.Minimizing upper respiratory in shelter cats
Question from Janet in MO:
What suggestions can you give for minimizing upper respiratory infections in shelter cats? The regularity with which we see these viruses is very frustrating. Sometimes it gets to the point where it seems like nothing helps. Any information you could give would be greatly appreciated.Mary Martin's response:
Controlling upper respiratory infections in shelter environments is, as you know, one of our great challenges. Knowing your "enemy" is key. There is so much information available to shelters to help you set up protocols to mitigate the problem. It is controllable, but impossible to eradicate (I'll explain why in a minute). U.C. Davis Shelter Medicine website is a fantastic resource, as is the ASPCA and the AHA websites.You need to know how each URI is transmitted, how long each one remains alive in the environment, what kills the pathogens the most effectively and how to control stress levels in your cats and dogs. For example, feline herpes virus can stay active in an unoccupied kennel for days to weeks. If a cat is put into a cage with this pathogen, the pathogen will most likely infect the cat. Cats with herpes are generally infected for life. The virus will stay quietly up in the nerves until a trigger occurs to allow the virus to raise its ugly head. In most cases there are no more stressful environments than animal shelters. So the big healthy spayed girl who has never spent a night off wall-to-wall carpeting is now sneezing after only a day or two in the shelter- most likely a recurrence of the herpes virus. Stress levels can be controlled by affording cats the little things that make them feel more comfortable. Things like something soft to lie on, low noise levels, a warm environment, clean litter boxes, clean water and decent food. Studies are being done with pheromones (Felaway is one product name) that seem to reduce stress levels in cats. Sprayed into kennels before the cat's arrival, the studies show that cats will act normally much faster than without the pheromones. Vaccination is another weapon but not a very good one- URI vaccines do not prevent infection just reduce the severity of disease so vaccinated cats will still get the sniffles in many cases. As for cleaning products, the only product that will kill all the pathogens we are dealing with is bleach at a minimum of 1:32 dilution. The quaternary ammonium products (Roccal for example) do a good job but are not effective against calici virus (there is some argument about this so we'll have to wait to see if a good study gets published soon) So cleaning very well, first with a detergent and bleaching after the cleaning seems to be the way to kill most germs. And lastly get control of your staff and the public- wash hands, wash hands, wash hands. Put signs up encouraging hand washing, and make the sanitizer stations easily accessible. If someone has to go to the bathroom after touching a cat before he can touch another, it isn't going to happen. Hand sanitizers are usually the easiest way to achieve this. The Purel Company loves us because we have a sanitizer mounted every three kennels and we have over 600 kennels.
I know this is a tough problem - hope this helps.
Dr. Virg's response:
This can be a very costly and frustrating problem in shelters. Most stray cats haven't been vaccinated, are very stressed (nutritionally and emotionally), and are stressed further by being brought into a shelter environment. The key to preventing the spread of these viral infections is ISOLATION. Keep new cats isolated from healthy cats, isolate any cats the minute they start showing clinical signs (i.e. sneezing, runny eyes, fever, etc.). Early treatment with antibiotics (to prevent secondary bacterial infection) and fluids if the cat stops eating and drinking helps them to recover faster.Problems with parvo and distemper
Question from a member:
Our shelter is having recurring problems with parvo and distemper. We receive a large number of stray dogs and abandoned pups a day and have no isolation facility. In addition, we have a 5-day hold...which seems to be an incubation period...Do you have some ideas about disinfecting? (i.e., which disinfectants...how to handle the animals? What can we do?) Do you have procedures you can share?
Response Mary Martin:
I completely understand your dilemma because we do not have isolation either. Here's what you can do. Know your enemy and take time each week to stop putting out fires and create a strategic plan. Know how the virus you are dealing with is transmitted, know how to recognize the early stages of the diseases, know how long the pathogens remain alive in your environment, try to keep susceptible animals as isolated as possible - leave a kennel space between animals if you can. Provide enough hand sanitizing stations that staff and the public will be willing to clean their hands between handling animals from different cages. Cull (remove from the population) any animal showing signs of illness- hard decisions have to be made if you are an open admission shelter with no quarantine or isolation areas. Vaccinate on impound (controversial and expensive) but I'm being asked so that's my opinion. The vaccination and the diseases will race for control and if you're lucky the vaccination will win. Control the stress levels in your shelter by keeping small animals away from aggressive large scary animals. If I were a poodle, staring at a Rottie all day who was barking at me, I might be a little stressed. Be sure to clean your kennels before disinfecting. No disinfecting agent works in the presence of organic material (hair, feces, body oils). Get the kennel clean then disinfect with bleach at a 1:32 dilution rate. Leave the bleach on the cage or kennel for at least 10 minutes. It is your cheapest choice and kills all the pathogens we deal with. Quaternary ammonium (Roccal for example) products are good but must be diluted at higher concentrations to get parvovirus and panleukopenia. It has been reported they do not get calici at any dilution. Do some research. UC Davis Shelter Medicine program has a website full of information. Dr. Lila Miller from the ASPCA has in-depth information available on the ASPCA website. The American Humane Association has tons to offer too. If you can afford to attend conferences that have a shelter medicine track, the money spent is well worth it.We are studying distemper and possible treatments at our shelters. Please feel free to contact me for more information if you think it would be helpful. (www.maricopa.gov/pets)
Remember that parvo is transmitted through the fecal oral route and distemper is airborne and found in other bodily fluids. We call distemper "the great pretender" because it mimics so many other diseases. Don't be fooled by it - get to know it well.
One last thought- get out and get to know the veterinarians in your community. Beg for help if necessary- we did and we have a small but dedicated group of volunteer veterinarians who help us with all kinds of projects.
I feel for you and wish you luck!
Response Dr. Virg:
Parvovirus and distemper can be devastating diseases especially in a shelter situation. As you know, these viruses are spread by contact between infected animals, so isolation of infected animals from healthy animals is a must to prevent the spread. Also, care taken by shelter personnel between handling animals (i.e. hand washing, foot baths, protective clothing) is necessary as well. The best (and least expensive) disinfectant to kill viruses is household bleach. The bleach can be used to clean surfaces and can be used in footbaths to enter and exit contaminated areas. Allow only a very limited number of people to handle infected animals. Be especially careful about exposing healthy puppies as they are the most likely to be infected since their immune systems aren't fully developed. I feel, in addition, that a 10-day quarantine (holding period) of healthy animals is better, especially if there is disease in your facility.Fostering FeLV positive cats for a shelter
Question from a member in MO:
I am hoping to become a hospice foster home for Feline Leukemia kitties. I am hoping to tie in with a shelter in this area so that I can get the support of a 501 c 3 org. I do currently have some vets helping and supporting me. Do you have any advice and does your facility support such homes?Response Mary Martin:
Our facility does not currently have the resources to re-home or foster feline leukemia positive cats except in one circumstance, when healthy cats test positive. We make every effort to find foster for those cats in hopes that the cat will not turn persistently viremic (sometimes kitties can fight off the infection). We recommend confirmatory testing if the funds are available. That's the medical answer.Now my personal opinion: When you use the term hospice, I think of cats that are terminal. I have been in two "hospices" for feline leukemia cats and in both cases the caregiver was overwhelmed and consequently the conditions for these cats were horrendous. I have seen one nice facility but those cats were not actively ill and dying. I would ask myself what my goal is? What my physical resources are? Your house will fill up quickly as the disease is often slow to progress and, with proper veterinary intervention, can be controlled. Will I only take in cats who are ill and dying, or healthy infected too? How will I separate them? Do I have the funds, or resources to raise the funds, to pay for the expensive drugs used to maintain these cats or will I be true to the tenets of hospice and just make the cats comfortable while they are dying?
One of the worst moments for our staff is when that second "blue dot" shows up on the feline leukemia test so I understand and applaud your desire to work with these kitties. Best of luck!
Response Dr. Virg:
There is no reason why kitties positive for the Feline Leukemia Virus cannot be fostered in a home setting. Since stress plays a role in the development of this disease, a low-stress home environment would actually be ideal. Foster homes must be chosen that have no FeLV-negative cats residing in them since the virus is contagious. Even vaccinated cats should not be intentionally exposed to positive cats since no vaccine offers 100% protection in all cats. Here at Best Friends, we currently have no FeLV positive kitties residing in foster homes since the number of suitable foster homes is so limited in this area. When these kitties are fostered, the foster parents should be made aware of the sometimes-short life span of these kitties and the need to seek veterinary care at the very first sign of any illness.If a cat gets FIP will other cats get it?
Question from Kathy in OH:
I do a lot of TNR in my area for my non-profit group and take in feral kittens for placement through our adoption program. At a recent spay/neuter clinic, one of the females I trapped had to be euthanized because of advanced FIP. She was not lactating. When I went back to release the cats, the caretaker presented me with a 4-5 week old kitten we'd seen while trapping. He seems healthy other than a very slight URI and is eating moistened kitten food. I do have him isolated.Should I be concerned this kitten could be carrying the FIP virus since one of the cats in his colony had it? It seems FIP testing results are often vague but would you suggest it and at what age? Keeping him separate will become difficult as he gets older/bigger since space limitations and quality of life are a consideration. Euthanizing him before all avenues were exhausted would be devastating, yet I'm painfully realistic if that meant not risking cats and kittens in our adoption program. We do not have a shelter and all felines are in foster homes. What are your recommendations?
Response Mary Martin:
Boy, am I glad I just came back from a veterinary conference that spent quite a bit of time on FIP. I chatted with Dr. Levy from FSU on just this subject and have listened to Dr. Foley of UC Davis discuss it too at earlier conferences on shelter medicine. According to some experts, cats who live in multi-cat environments (unless each cat is tested before being added to a controlled environment) will be positive for enteric corona virus. Cats with enteric corona virus can live with the virus remaining quietly in the gut with no sign of disease for their entire lifetime. In some cases, the enteric corona virus can "mutate" into what is known as FIP. This is why you rarely if ever see an "outbreak" of the disease, because it is a mutation that occurs in only some individuals. It is believed that the mutation occurs in cats that have some genetic pre-disposition. So if you tested the cat for FIP, you would really only know the cat has enteric corona virus or not.Based on the notion that most cats in multi-cat environments are positive for corona virus, I would not test this kitten but would assume that the kitty is positive and so are all the others coming to you from similar environments. I would allow the kitten to be adopted just as I would adopt any kitten from our shelter without testing. If in the future testing becomes less costly and more specific, we would reevaluate this position.
Response Dr. Virg:
FIP is a disease in cats caused by a Corona virus. The disease is probably develops due to a mutation in the virus within the cat's system, and the cat's immune system response to the disease. Therefore, just because the individual cat has the virus in its system, the cat may not develop the disease. In other words, just because the kitten of which you speak comes from an environment that produced a positive FIP cat doesn't mean that this kitten will develop the disease. I would, however, isolate this kitten and observe for the development of the signs of FIP (weight loss, stunting, gradual increase in the size of the abdomen, persistent fluctuating fever, and non-response to antibiotics). If you can isolate this kitten until 3 months of age, with no signs of illness, that would probably be a good indication that disease will not develop from this "exposure".How often should shelters vaccinate animals?
Question from Jamee:
Our group has read quite a bit about the tendency to over-vaccinate pets. The schedule we currently use is: For dogs under one year...we immediately (upon intake) give the combination vaccination (DHLPP) and do two others at three-week intervals, then of course a one-year rabies vaccination (at 6 months or older), updating them after one year. Dogs older than one year get one combination shot and a two-year rabies, updating the combination after one year and rabies after two years. Is this too often?Also, regarding vaccinating puppies...we have also read that the leptospirosis vaccination seems to have the highest incidence of allergic reaction in young puppies. Should we use a vaccine without this?
Response Mary Martin:
Using the latest information we could find we decided to do the following: For puppies we recommend vaccination with distemper, hepatitis, para-influenza and parvovirus every 3-4 weeks until the puppy is 16-18 weeks of age. Be sure to understand why you are vaccinating puppies over and over again when they are less than 4 months of age. Maternal antibody interference is the issue. If a puppy presents to us at more than 4 months of age, he only needs two vaccines (rabies and Dhpp). In our shelters however, we boost the Dhpp a second time even if the puppy is 4 months old or greater only because we are unsure as to whether the high stress levels in our shelters may impact the vaccines ability to work and because we see very high rates of distemper in our communityWe recommend boosting that vaccine in one year and then consulting with their pet's veterinarian for his or her recommendation.
Yearly shots do not seem to be necessary any longer for some diseases but for others more frequent vaccination may be appropriate (lepto and bordetella for example)
We do not vaccinate for lepto as it is not an issue in Arizona. We vaccinate for rabies at three months, again one year from that time and than every three years (this is the law in Arizona).
In adult dogs vaccination decisions should be based on the risk of exposure to disease versus the risk of adverse events associated with vaccination.
Response Dr. Virg:
There is a great deal of controversy today regarding vaccinations. There are as many opinions as there are veterinarians and studies are widely being conducted to determine what is best. The only changes made recently in vaccine frequency are in the feline, where now vaccination for respiratory viruses, distemper, and feline leukemia are only recommended every three years. In dogs, the current recommendation by the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) is to vaccinate with a combination vaccine yearly and rabies vaccine according to the local law in your area. Until more studies have been done, I feel that this still should be the standard for adult dogs. You may hear talk about testing the dog's antibody titer (antibody level) prior to vaccination to determine whether re-vaccination is necessary. These antibody titer tests are very expensive and therefore cost-prohibitive to most shelters and rescue groups. Also, testing the antibody level may or may not indicate the level of active protection present in each individual dog. Here at Best Friends, we vaccinate with the combination vaccine every two years, and rabies according to the local law. Puppies are given a series of three combination vaccines three weeks apart (an extra fourth booster for "black and brown" dogs--Rotties, and Dobermans and their mixes). Regarding Lepto, the decision needs to be made by your veterinarian according to the prevalence of this disease in your area. Remember, all dogs should be kept up to date with a rabies vaccine. This is the law.Reducing stress on animals at off-site adoption events
Question from Michelle:
Do you have any tips for shelters and rescue groups that do off-site adoptions on how can we keep the animals healthy when we take them off-site? Also, some people in our community believe off-site adoptions are too stressful for the animal. Do you think that is the case? If so, how can we reduce this stress?Response Mary Martin:
Off-site adoptions can be stressful, and so can long term homelessness. A little bit of stress that affords pets a greater opportunity at adoption seems well worth it to me.With respect to keeping pets healthy, try not to let the dogs go nose to nose with other dogs and provide hand sanitizers to use between handling animals (staff and potential adopters). If you want to try something a little different, try using dog and cat pheromones sprayed into kennels and cages before the pets go into the cages. Studies seem to show that animals relax a bit and stress levels go down in the presence of pheromones. Felaway is one brand used in cats. Ask your veterinarian about the dog product.
We really love bringing animals from our shelter to the people at off-site adoptions - good luck with your program!
Response Dr. Virg:
Yes, it's a fact that some animals don't do well on mobile adoptions. Cats are especially hard to take out because they seem not to travel well at all. Some animals, of course, will be better suited than others. Try to choose animals to take on mobile adoptions that will "show" the best. Try taking the animals on "practice runs". Take them for a car ride (for cats), or an "over-nighter" (for dogs), to see how well they behave. I have also found that a product called Rescue Remedy is sometimes useful, especially for cats. Rescue Remedy is a homeopathic remedy containing flower essences. It is manufactured by Bach and is available in health food stores. Check with your veterinarian to see if this remedy might be helpful for your animals going out on mobile adoptions. I do not approve of traditional tranquilizers for these animals. Not only are they harmful with prolonged use, but also the animals will appear "drugged" at the adoption and will not be attractive to potential adopters. Remember that keeping the animals routines as constant as possible helps combat stress. This means same food, same water, same bedding (washed of course!), same handlers, etc. to eliminate as many changes as possible. Good luck with your work!Socializing and exercising animals without risking the spread of disease
Question from a member:
How can the shelter staff best provide exercise and socialization to the animals in its care given the potential disease transfer risks and spay/neuter issues?Response Mary Martin:
It is so hard to balance disease control with positive programs that allow dogs and cats to socialize and exercise. There will never be a perfect answer but I'd say be as careful as you can. If you have the luxury of a quarantine area, animals that have passed quarantine (10 days ideally) should be relatively safe to interact with other animals. Allowing unsterilized animals of the opposite sex to interact can be dangerous for obvious reasons. I'd say try not to do that. In Europe, unneutered male dogs are permitted to socialize without ill effects and in fact with very positive results. I thought uncontrollable fighting would occur but it appears that is not the case. If quarantine is not available, it is very dangerous to allow animals to mix. Deadly diseases take days or weeks to incubate and disaster can result from wonderful intentions.From a disease perspective, walking dogs away from direct contact with other dogs would be the safest thing to do. Be sure to keep all feces cleaned up and bleach any areas that you are able to with a 1:32 dilution. If you have good vaccination history, strict quarantine is not as vital.
Response Dr. Virg:
Animals in their quarantine period should not be exercised until that quarantine period is over. In the life of the animal, this short period has no significant impact and is necessary to protect their health and the health of the other animals in the shelter. After this quarantine period is over, then the animal can be deemed "healthy" and can be walked, exercised, and socialized with a clean bill of health. Also, animals should never be allowed contact with other animals until they are fully vaccinated. Intact animals should never be allowed free roam or to exercise off lead until they have been neutered/spayed.Fixing animals before adoption
Question from a member:
Do you fix all of your animals before adoption (including puppies and kittens)? If so how do you manage that? We have issues with space for recovery and don't want to put the dogs directly back in their concrete kennels but have no choice and there is no place to get the puppies away from the public who try to pick them up right after surgery even when we put signs on their cages. I know this adds additional stress to the animals.Response Mary Martin:
No, we do not fix all of our dogs and cats before adoption except at our Pet Adoption Center and any off-site adoptions. We try to model our program much like a "normal" veterinary hospital. We send our pets to surgery after adoption so they can recover in their new homes, one on one, with their new guardian. We send them home the day of surgery just as most private veterinary hospitals do and for that matter, human hospitals (out-patient surgical units). We do this for several reasons.Our clinic staff counsels the new pet guardian, one on one, as to proper post- surgical care reducing the number of post-surgical complications to less than 1% of our patients.
No animal is put through surgery unnecessarily. We still face having to euthanize animals and I believe it is inhumane to sterilize and than euthanize when no home is found for a pet in our care.
Many animals do not feel good for several days after surgery and therefore do not "show" well.
Surgery, vaccination, and the shelter in general can cause great stress in many animals leading to greater levels of disease.
We try to reduce the risk by reducing stress as much as humanly possible.
I would be happy to give you more detail. Please feel free to email me at martin@mail.maricopa.gov.
Response Dr. Virg:
Every dog or cat that goes out for adoption has been spayed or neutered. Puppies and kittens are generally spayed/neutered at 8 weeks of age (large breed puppies can be done at 6 weeks of age). These youngsters recover quite rapidly from surgery. They can be safely handled and adopted three days after surgery. I do feel that this three-day recovery period is necessary for animals of all ages. Any complications from the surgical procedure generally shows up by then, and the animals are recovered enough not to feel pain from the incision. So if you can provide a comfortable, quiet resting place for just three days post surgery, then that would be ideal.Isolation areas
Question from Deborah:
Our facility has a new building that houses our cats and has 3 dog isolation pens with a very small outdoor run. Healthy dogs are in a separate kennel area. The isolation area has an open doorway and thus is not truly isolated from the rest of the building. Since there aren't any other dogs in the building, do you feel it is necessary to put up a door to totally isolate this area? Should there be a concern about spreading any diseases to the cats and/or humans? The entire building is on the same ventilation system and the dog walkers may feasibly handle a dog from isolation and then move on to healthy dogs in the other building. Should this be a concern? There has been some protest to putting up a door and turning the small area into a "cave" and causing undue stress on these dogs. We are concerned that sometimes the dogs aren't secured properly and may cause damage in the building or attempt to get into the cat area.Response Mary Martin:
If I understand correctly, you do not have a true isolation because your ventilation system is shared throughout the building. From a disease perspective, if people are careful to use bleach foot baths, wash their hands and keep healthy dogs away from the isolation kennels, I can't see why a door would make that much difference and could hurt if fresh air is limited. There is always danger of disease transmission when people and animals are exposed to diseases but if you're careful the spread of disease can be controlled. As for the risk of dogs getting out and injuring the cats - that is a different issue entirely, maybe a screen door would help.Response Dr. Virg:
Dogs don't need to be isolated from cats because of contagious disease issues. Dogs have their own viruses (Parvovirus, Distemper) and cats have their own viruses (i.e. FeLV, Respiratory Viruses, Distemper). Other than the stress imparted when cats are kept in the close proximity to dogs, it should not be a problem. I do think, however, that the stress (especially for the cats), can be significant and separate facilities should be provided. Regarding isolation dogs and healthy dogs, dogs under quarantine should have NO contact with healthy dogs and people handling isolation cases should NOT then handle healthy dogs. Footbaths should be provided for in and out of quarantine areas, strict hand washing and clothing changes if possible should also be implemented. If the same personnel are to handle quarantined animals and healthy animals, then healthy animals should be handled first.How long is too long to keep an animal at a shelter?
Question from a member:
At what point is it inhumane to keep an animal at a shelter? We are a no-kill facility but have had some animals for over 1 1/2 years. They seem to be happy and not cage crazy, but that seems so long to live in a cage. We have tried to get them adopted, but they keep getting passed over.Response Mary Martin:
From my perspective, it becomes inhumane to keep an animal in a shelter when their quality of life is so poor they begin to display "kennel crazy" behaviors: spinning, chewing on the chain link, self- mutilation, lack of appetite and energy to name a few. Many shelters are able to keep dogs and cats mentally and physically healthy by keeping the dogs and cats mentally and physically occupied. Exercise, behavioral training, grooming, play time, interactive toys, all of these things can help. Try hard to find new and interesting ways to "market" your long time residents- tell their story. Every dog and cat in your shelter has a story: endearing traits, goofy behaviors, something that sets that dog or cat apart from the others in your shelter. Find new venues to showcase your longtime residents- offsite adoptions, newspaper, newsletter, maybe the Best Friends Network. Keep up the good work. I know how hard it is sometimes.Response Dr. Virg:
Of course, ideally, no animal should live in a cage. Trying to get these animals in foster homes is an option. Even over-night "sleep overs" or "field trips" to a park can help break up the monotony. Try networking with other groups in your area and organize trades. A particular dog may be passed over in your shelter, but be adopted right away if taken to another venue.What type of food to feed shelter animals
Question from a member:
We get a lot of donations of different types of food in. Our Director will not let us use any of this food because he says we should only feed one brand and it should be high quality. I feel that it is wasteful not to use these donations. Do you ever mix in different foods? And how do you handle feedings for special needs animals or overweight animals? Do you have different types of food for them?Response Mary Martin's:
If your shelter is able to afford high quality food, I think your director is right. Mixing foods can cause gastrointestinal upsets (diarrhea, vomiting) but wasting food makes me crazy too. So to combat that waste we have created a program called Project Safety Net. This program includes several services that help people keep their pets when otherwise they would have to relinquish them to the shelter. One of the components of this program is providing pet food to families in need. We also spay or neuter any pet belonging to a family that is in need of food. Maybe developing a program like this would be a way to use the food that is donated to you.It is a good idea to have some special diets available to the pets in your care if they are going to be with you long term.
Response Dr. Virg:
Of course we all know that good nutrition is very important for good health. Feeding a high-quality diet can become quite expensive. In fact, next to medical care, food is probably going to be the most costly part of keeping shelter animals healthy. Dogs especially are very sensitive to changes in diet. Cats don't seem to be as sensitive. Abrupt diet changes can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and poor appetites. If you are receiving donations of food, then that is wonderful. To utilize this food variety, simply mix the foods. Dry foods should be kept in plastic bins so new foods can be mixed as they arrive. The bins should be emptied and cleansed at least every two weeks because there is an oily residue left behind from the food that can become rancid. Remember to see a veterinarian if any dog (or cat) has an upset stomach, diarrhea, or is off their food for more than 24-48 hours.Temperament testing
Question from a member:
At our shelter we are having a major disagreement over what is a good temperament test. What kinds of temperament testing do you use, who does it, and do you re-evaluate animals if they are there for a long period of time?Response Mary Martin:
Arguments over what temperament tests should be used to evaluate animals in shelters are common and emotional. The thing to do is evaluate several different methods and modify them to fit your needs but get a policy and stick with it. When temperament evaluation policies are moving targets, staff gets extremely upset.We are in the process of developing our own test (a modified "Sue Sternberg") and we use many of Suzanne Hetts recommendations as well (for cats). We will be training kennel and clinic staff to do these evaluations.
Yes, we re-evaluate animals after they have been with us for awhile. For example, all small scared dogs are moved out of general population once their legal holding time is passed, to have "chill time" in a peaceful environment. Our "No E" program is built completely with small, scared dogs in mind. This policy takes into consideration that small dogs become terrified in our shelters and display uncharacteristic behaviors because of this fear. When we relocate them to comfortable offices or our clinics, the vast majority calm down enough so that adoption is possible and those that still are too scared, or only bond with one staff member become candidates for our New Hope (adoption partner) program. This has been one of our most successful programs. I cannot tell you how much we all agonize over this issue, patience is key - just take the time to develop a program everyone can have faith in.
