I love my job

I've just caught myself by surprise, and just heard my brain saying, "I love my job". I'll be honest, I haven't felt that way in such a long time, not because I don't, but because I am too often overwhelmed by it all.

This morning I received a wonderful email update on a very timid kitty we had called Tiger. To see him now, in his new home, just made me feel so proud and that we really can achieve the impossible. It prompted me to go and look at the other updates listed under 'success stories' on our website (www.rspca-manchesterandsalford.org.uk)and it provoked the unconscious response of my brain saying 'I love my job'. I feel quite relieved to be honest, I think sleeping in until 10am for the first time in months has probably had a lot to do with it but hey, don't knock it is what I say!

So, midway through the week I still hadn't had time to upload my latest pic of kitty Oscar and now it's Sunday again there's two to share with you. He is a fully fledged tiger now, using a litter tray and nearly almost entirely on solids, and next week he will be moving to his new foster home and getting a play mate too. We aren't out of the woods just yet but we're not far off!

On Wednesday evening my lovely friend and trustee Jemma asked me how the week was shaping up. I took stock and realised that actually, we had been very busy once again. By Friday my friend Mark, who is also a home visitor (big up to the home visitors please!), asked me how I was and I said "stressed" to which he replied, "Forgive me if I'm not surprised". So, let me tell you about our week.....

Weirdest bit of all is that the phones have been dead. The only calls we've had through have been misdirections for the RSPCA vets in Eccles, it really has been weird, and of course means less enquiries about adopting an animal. But we have admitted 9 new animals, which is an awful lot for us. I know it doesn't sound it but when you consider we shouldn't really have much more than about 40 in our care at once and we don't have an animal centre and we usually only take in around 25 a month - 9 equates to quite a lot really.

Monday saw Holly dog arrive, a beautiful, if not overweight collie x lab. Her owners had had a baby and couldn't cope any more and at 8.5 years old I worry how easy it will be to get this girl a home. Thankfully she is a lovely all rounder but at the moment she is subdued and bewildered as to why her who world has been turned upside down and to make matters worse she has come into season in kennels. Can't surely get much worse for her, can it?

Monday also saw the arrival of Robbie, an RTA victim who had been taken to a vets 5 days previously, given pain relief on admission but nothing further and Monday morning was the first we learned about him. I'll say no more about this, as I'm still grinding my teeth about it, but thankfully after admission and assessment by our vets he is up for rehoming and I do believe someone is going to see him today.

Wednesday saw the arrival of Olive (you can meet her and Robbie on our website). Let's just say we all know she has arrived. She is a ginger and white 4-5 month old bonkers, mentalist kitty! She is a true Susie kitty but has been palmed off on to Mel, one of our new staff, and she may never foster again at this rate!

Olive was found stray and struggling to walk. X-rays revealed she had multiple fractures to two legs and very poor bone density, which led the vets to conclude she'd had a poor diet that caused her to have fragile bones that would damage easily. Olive has clearly had several weeks of cage rest to allow her fractures to heal. The result? A completely mental kitty that behaves like a rocket has been shoved up her arse and then lit. She is brilliant.

A stray rabbit from Moston was the next admission, a gorgeous albino with a lovely temperament and very easy to handle. I got sent a picture of him sunbathing yesterday and it is so lovely and reassuring to see bunnies relaxing after going through such an ordeal. But that wasn't the end for our admissions on Wednesday, oh no. I had a moment of weakness and said 'yes' to Inspector Paul who'd responded to an abandonment report and found 2 bunnies and 2 guinea pigs dumped in a tub in Wythenshawe Park.

With me being horribly allergic to guinea pigs my mate Hannah scooted up to the boarding place the next day to check them all over for me. It seems that we have 2 very elderly underweight pork, one manky underweight male bun and a potentially preggers girl (cos she was in the box with the lad who wasn't neutered, so we doubt she was neutered either). I'm at the vets with them all Monday so we'll get the complete low down then and I shall embrace the allergic reaction too!

The last admission of the week was 3pm on Friday afternoon. Inspector Jason chose his moment to ask if we would hand rear a kitten that "isn't likely to make it". Of course my gob went on automatic pilot and said 'yes', to which Jason said he wished everyone was as helpful as us. Yeah, no, it's just everyone else places their brains in gear before speaking and remembers it's 3pm on a Friday afternoon!

The story is odd, but in a nutshell 2 kittens (approx 2-3 weeks old) fell out of a second floor window last weekend, of which ours is one of them. I am, of course, being cagey about sharing the full story, but that perhaps gives you enough of a flavour. Our little kitty is very poorly, nothing broken, but very poorly and has been hospitalised all week but the vets could find nothing wrong with him/her. Kitty is obviously the runt of the litter, desperately underweight and has no appetite at all, so our foster mum is having to really encourage him to feed. I went to see him 24 hours on and he looks fragile, but still has a set of lungs on him like you wouldn't believe and was capable of running around and going in the litter tray, but he is not right. I've told his foster family that as soon as they feel it's time to give up I'll go and get him, but they are keen to fight on and do all they can. Our volunteers are amazing.

So yes, it's been a busy week. I have ever mounting guilt for not being able to blog more often than on a Sunday morning, but then I think you'd rather we were helping these animals than pissing about on the tinterweb. The best news of the week is without doubt the fact that our long stay dog Prince (been with us 8 months) has found a couple who have fallen in love with him. They came down from the heart of Lancashire on Saturday to see him and they feel love with him even more.

The not-so-good news of the week is that my home bunny count is 10 and rising! The bunny girl I told you about last time is indeed with children. They are now bursting to get out of her and in the last 24 hours they seem to have moved into the 'engage' position so it's really any time now. When she was examined at the vets on Thursday they found 3 skulls and I got to feel them! It was so amazing, but with it taking me an hour and half each morning to see to the existing 10, more furry feckers is just what I need...roll on Glastonbury Festival, please!