New Job, New Cats

I worked three days this week and my new job and it went great. I'm not going to go into lots of details and specifics - I need to respect my boss' privacy, and that of her clients too. The Kennel is not in the same town that I live in... or is it? I've also modified Nay's name (it's not really "Nay".)


I will tell you vague things though - how could I disappoint my audience?

It was really different from working at the SPCA. Working at a shelter is emotionally draining in a lot of different ways. The animals aren't in the best situation, the people we see are often neglectful idiots, and dealing with disease prevention among stressed out animals while a million crazy (and sometimes heartbreaking) things are going on each days is just... well, it is what it is. I loved working at the shelter. I would have stayed there forever if we hadn't moved away from Victoria.

As it is, we are getting deeply involved with the animal rescue group here, and Nay is very involved as well. So I still get to work with animals in need, and she does too, so we understand each other in that respect.

The Kennel is a nice place to work at. There are dogs that go there for the day, and some that stay for a week or so, and often at least one CAPS dog who stays there until he is adopted.

I'm not focused on that aspect of the job as much as I thought I would be - Nay mainly needs help with the dogs and cats who come in for grooming. I've been brushing/bathing/cleaning dogs and that is basically the majority of the job. It's pretty cool. She might start teaching me to groom dogs after I get the hang of everything else. I was tired at the end of my first week, but I love working with the animals and it's very nice to have a somewhat physical job.

I feel like a bumbling fool at times though. Now that I am working for a friend, I feel like I've contracted Asperger's Syndrome, and I'm not sure if anything that comes out of my mouth is appropriate any more. There are parts of the job that I know I'll need to practice at, and things that I did that I wish I had done better. Hopefully I will feel less stupid soon, and hopefully she's happy with my progress so far.

Alright, so I also wanted to give you an update on the new cats in our house - the ones we inherited when Mark's Gran went to live at an assisted living place early this week.

They were previously named Toby and Puff. I have issues with both of those names. We will call them Stogie and Snuff instead. (NOTE: We will not be telling Gran we changed the cats' names. There are people who read this who also speak to Gran - please don't tell her. I think it will make her sad.)

Here's Mr. Stogie, a quiet and stoic sort of guy:


And Snuff, who is normally a friendly and affectionate girl, but is still a bit out of sorts from the move:


They are slowly settling into life here in Bridgetown. It takes cats a really long time to adapt to change, and these two are no exception. We've done this a few times before though, and they're actually adapting at a pretty normal pace. It's going well - they've met the other cats and I don't think there are going to be any problems. They've met our dogs before, so I already know they are capable of dealing with those two brats.


Man, it's been an eventful week! Hopefully there will be one more happy event - Fezzik the foster dog is likely getting adopted today - EEEEK! Wish him luck.