Today, while volunteering at my local animal shelter, I was asked to clean the cat room. This entailed taking each cat out of its cage by hand and cleaning the inside. They forgot to mention that some of the cats were feral. I now look like I belly flopped into a cactus. FML
hamiltonma tells us more.
hamiltonma 22
OP here! The people who were running the animal shelter literally put me in a small room with around 25 cats in cages and told me to clean them. I asked for gloves, and they had none. They also didn't mention that most of the cats in the room were caught off the street and were waiting to be spayed, and then re-released. I went to grab the first cat from the cage and put it into a carrier so I could clean the cage, and it literally went crazy. It grabbed ahold of my hand with it's teeth and started scratching all up and down my arms. After I showed the person in charge, they shrugged and told me to keep cleaning! I went home with scratches everywhere! Needless to say, I will not be returning! Thanks for all the comments everyone! I am feeling better today, and have been religiously applying hydrogen peroxide to me wounds! Thanks again!
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Top comments
Awesome1a36 9
You should "forget" to mention that you are done volunteering there.
Jowisee 29
Wow, sounds like a health and safety nightmare. Is there a service you could contact to complain?
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Comments (70)
Helluuuu 16
That's so funny that exact thing happened to me yesterday! Except it's was the tiniest kittens with the sharpest of nails. My hands look like I work in construction or something. Feral cats are fun aren't they?
BeccaSedai 7
Not to be alarmist, but cat scratches can actually get pretty nasty. You might want to see a doctor about getting some preventative antibiotics.
hamiltonma 22
OP here! The people who were running the animal shelter literally put me in a small room with around 25 cats in cages and told me to clean them. I asked for gloves, and they had none. They also didn't mention that most of the cats in the room were caught off the street and were waiting to be spayed, and then re-released. I went to grab the first cat from the cage and put it into a carrier so I could clean the cage, and it literally went crazy. It grabbed ahold of my hand with it's teeth and started scratching all up and down my arms. After I showed the person in charge, they shrugged and told me to keep cleaning! I went home with scratches everywhere! Needless to say, I will not be returning! Thanks for all the comments everyone! I am feeling better today, and have been religiously applying hydrogen peroxide to me wounds! Thanks again!
Jowisee 29
Wow, sounds like a health and safety nightmare. Is there a service you could contact to complain?
ArtemisRwill 22
Glad you're okay OP, the people running the shelter need to get better heads on their shoulders. On another note, stop using hydrogen peroxide. It will take the wounds longer to heal because the peroxide also ears healthy flesh. Use soap and water or a diluted alcohol. It keeps everything clean and helps everything get healed faster.
SPN_lover666 27
I hope you feel better OP. Put neosporin on the scratches too, it will make scarring less noticeable. I have very faded scars where my cat scratched me all up when she was a kitten since she was feral.
Matheo_fml 21
Was this before or after they got their vaccinations?
flare0 5
OP Its their loss really, most animal shelters can really use volunteers. They should give the people they actually pay the crappy jobs like that, not a volunteer like you. By giving the crappy jobs to volunteers and treating them like crap they are literately asking for the volunteer to never return. They can't tell you what to do.. you're not getting payed for anything, if you don't want to do something just say you wont do it and ask for something else or you wont help anymore and just walk away like you did. OP you really seem like a kind person if you're willing to volunteer for an animal shelter, its just sad to see that people like that would just use you for the crappy jobs they don't want to do. You did the right thing by never returning, these people don't deserve your help. I hope you'll be able to find a better place to volunteer at where they won't just use you like that.
Rkikkas9713 25
Hey OP, you need to contact animal protection services ASAP, what they're doing there is probably considered animal cruelty and the fact they didn't care about them scratching you or giving you any protective gear means they could have a law suit on their hands!
KelseyDaBoyz 21
Don't apply hydrogen peroxide to those areas for too long! If applied too long, it can actually end up being worse. Apply neosporin! :)
jbuckets_404 39
Are those cats tested for rabies or any other diseases? You may want to consult your family doctor....
dragoongirl90 34
Good job with the peroxide, OP. Stuff is the best for disinfecting wounds.
Catdragon 40
bites are worse than scratches because cats carry bacteria in their teeth. if you were bit and it drew blood, you should consider being seen. when I was bit by a cat, my whole hand swelled up for a week. I had to go to the hospital and they gave me some pills to take. it can be very serious and even fatal. please don't blame the cats. they're just scared and want to go home. the best thing for ferals is to trap neuter and return them to the wild. feral cats are no different from wild cats. thank you for volunteering though and I hope you get better.
Paksenarrion 24
Actually do not use hydrogen peroxide on the wounds it will make it take longer to heal. Just use plain soap and water or Neosporin and keep the wounds covered.
RealSuperSand 21
Volunteer with dogs next time. They're nicer to be around and usually the worst thing they do to anyone in their immediate vicinity is try and lick them to death.
SPN_lover666 27
#51, A dog in an unfamiliar place, with an unfamiliar person can develop fear aggression. Lets not forget that some of them can also be feral, and not used to people.
gjsmo 5
For next time you encounter an unfriendly cat, pick it up by the back of the neck. They seem to mind much less. Sorry that happened though! Two cats was enough for me, I would never try to take on 25, much less 25 feral cats.
annie_zoo 27
Polysporine works like magic too
DoomedGemini 38
I agree with others, go to higher ups IMMEDIATELY. If they do this regularly they are scaring off poor volunteers and they could get diseases. The animals and people are suffering, they need new management. Not to mention feral cats around pets shouldn't be around each other. Cats can fight through cages stacked on top of each other and feral cats could spread many diseases
Calingaladha 21
What do you mean, animal cruelty?
vanaathiel 13
As someone who works at an animal shelter I am sooo sorry this happened to you! It sounds like this place is run by total morons! I hope it won't discourage you from seeking out actual, properly run places and volunteering! I'd also call the ASPCA and report this place, they're putting their staff, volunteers and animals at risk. And I don't know how it works in the states but in Canada if a cat bites someone Public Health has to be notified and the animal put into quarantine for 10 days while a report is done up.
geekpower_fml 28
Are those cats vaccined? If not please make sure you get rabies shots!!!
leafynitemare 24
Stray cats that have been caught, fixed, and released, also have a slightly clipped ear. They do that so they can identify them a lot easier.
iHyperModz 22
Good
The_Podfather 16
That's a job for someone who works there, not a volunteer! Sorry OP
worldclassrager 41
Comment moderated for rule-breaking.
I find it odd how transferring that cat would piss it off that much...but still as always the last day is either the worst or the best...
SPN_lover666 27
Feral cats aren't used to people, so of course it would attack OP for trying to move it
Catdragon 40
feral cats are no different from wild cats/animals. of course they would attack.
Mibby 11
That's awful! They aren't running that place right. You don't throw an untrained volunteer alone into a room with feral cats with no help and no gloves! Complain to the shelter manager. And it sucks because now they're losing a volunteer who actually gave a crap.
EsteriGermaine 16
Has that shelter considered setting up a special room for ferals? That is what my shelter did and nobody has gotten attacked yet. (Animal control officer handles them instead of us)
Bragi 12
You couldn't figure that out, OP? YDI.
the_steven 6
that's what they call a "bought lesson" OP. In the future, if the cat's got bad body language, grab it by the scruff of the neck, and strike like a snake when you do it, hold it at arms length from your body while transferring it. if you want , and have the time, some of these cats can be coaxed into accepting human contact. it's not your job to acclimate them, but it's probably not anyone's; you'll be doing them, and yourself, a service by going in, armed with treats, and a gentle hand if possible. hope you're healing up!
kerenalizza 14
I do that all the time XD you kind of deduce that they're feral when they're hissing at you and giving you an evil eye.
FlutterLoud 29
I volunteer as well, never had that problem where I go Seems like a violation of health and safety Cat scratch fever is a very severe things (it's rare but it does happen) Keep you're self safe, and the scratches clean :) So sorry that happened to you :(