Tag: Connor

Deep cleaning at the ARL

Volunteering at the Animal Rescue League of Des Moines (ARL) is always refreshing. You are always assigned new tasks. This week, we get to take apart the cages at the Clowder House (a housing for cats that are not ready for adoption) to “refresh” them. We would unscrew the cages, spray out any cat litter or debris trapped between the separation walls and provide the cages with a deep sanitizing with ringworm disinfectant solution. Based on the debris and stain we had to scrub, this may have been done every few years. It is a much needed procedure. We are excited that new cats will get to stay in a cleaner environment.

Christmas Performance

This year’s Christmas Performance takes place at Northcrest Community in Ames, IA. It has been four years since the kids have performed a piano duet together. They enjoyed their performance of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Connor likes the piece “Polish Dance” by Severn and was looking forward to performing at Northcrest. I love the kids’ collaboration.

Family Pet Emergency

This is our cat, Henry. He’s a flame point Siamese cat which we adopted from the Animal Rescue League 6 years ago. He is the most affectionate cat you will ever meet. More than a week ago, the kids noticed that Henry was having trouble at the litter box and suspected he was constipated. After examination, the vet diagnosed that Henry was suffering from blockage; he was unable to urinate. It is a life threatening emergency that required immediate attention. The vet had to insert a catheter into his urethra to unblock him by flushing out any mucus plugs or crystals that were causing the blockage. The process usually takes a few days to ensure all the obstruction has been completely flushed out and the cat has to able to urinate by itself before the vet sends it home. Unfortunately for us, our vet released Henry the next day. When he came home, he was still unable to relieve himself, so we had to return him to the vet. They had to reinsert the catheter. We were later informed that Henry had pulled the catheter out overnight and they had to put it back in. The process of catheterization is painful and there were concerns about the multiple insertions causing infections, urethra injury or other complications. On day 6, the vet had removed the catheter and Henry was still unable to use the litter box by himself. We had to transfer him to a pet hospital. They had to re-catheterize him and kept it in for 48 hours. After 2 days, we finally received a confirmation that we were able to bring him home.

Having a sick pet going through a life threatening event is excruciating for the family. Urinary blockage is common in male cats and it has a high rate of recurrence. This was Henry’s second blockage. His first blockage occurred 4 years ago. We tried to do everything to prevent another occurrence and it can be discouraging not knowing what had gone wrong. The kids also played a part in deciding whether to opt for a perineal urethrostomy surgery to prevent future blockage. They had do a lot of research to understand the risks and benefits to help us make the decision. Understanding how the surgery can alter Henry’s personality and cause depression, they have decide to opt out of the surgery this time. While we are happy to have Henry back home again, we are also apprehensive about future recurrence.

Homeschooling in the car

This year we were unable to get back-to-back classes at our local public school for both children. Connor has an empty period between his Art and Algebra 2 class, so he comes out to the car in the parking lot every day and we would do either his Biology or French lesson, depending if there is a Biology lab scheduled. During the winter, we would usually warm ourselves with blankets instead of keeping the car running.

Sculpture Design

This year, Connor is in 9th grade and he is enrolled in Art at Northview Middle School. For his sculpture project, he designed a grim reaper trick-or-treating. He used wire, plaster, spray foam and spray paint. It turned out well. Good job, Connor!

Connor’s violin rehearsal

Yesterday, Connor attended a violin rehearsal with our accompanist, Amanda, to prepare for his recital next week. What a soulful delivery of the piece, Czardas! This kid is relentless. He was disappointed that he did not make to All State this year, but that did not break his spirit. Here he is back on his feet and ready to perform.

Sunday at the ARL

Today at the ARL (Animal Rescue League), we got to work at the adoption area. We cleaned the kennels and litter boxes, and fed the cats. Sometimes the kids are so focused on getting the work done, they would forget to play with the cats. Cats are such social animals, like humans. We put so much effort in fulfilling their basic needs that we sometimes forgot to address their social and emotional needs. We see that in our cats at home. They can go through feelings of anxiety and depression when their “friend” is away.

The kids have been doing this for a couple of years, and are very well-versed in the operations at ARL. They are able to see through the tasks independently. For instance, after taking care of the cats, they would clean and mop the area. They would know where to get the equipment and how to safely dispense the chemicals for sanitizing the floor. The task they are unable to do independently is operating the trash compactor, as it is a safety requirement that an adult has to be present to operate that machinery.

ARL Clowder House

We worked at the Clowder House at the Animal Rescue League (ARL) this morning. We have been working at the Clowder House since we started volunteering. It is a 2-story cat housing unit built in 2017 to provide additional space for long term housing for cats who are not ready for adoption. Volunteers have to receive special training to work here as they may be dealing with cats with behavioral issues. While there may be more challenges working with cats at the Clowder House than the adoption area (taking precautions not to get bitten or scratched), we also learned that much of what affected the cats’ behavior come from their unpleasant past experiences (being abused or neglected, living in feces-filled homes etc). Thanks to the caring staff and volunteers, some of the cats do develop trust and become calmer over time, and they are moved to the adoption area.