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Should we vaccinate on intake animals with a recent history of vaccination?
May 7, 2012
Our shelter operations  protocol  states that if an intake animal has been vaccinated at the source shelter within a week before our intake- we should hold off on all vaccines with the exception of Rabies. I understand that giving the same vaccine would not be effective (i.e. DHPP 1 week apart) but some of our source shelters do not give Bordatella vaccines.   So we are getting animals that have a recent DHPP vaccine - no Bordatella on board and we hold off on the Bordatella IN for a week.  Then the dogs get KC and we start Doxy so by the time our protocol allows for the IN vaccine, it wouldn't be as effective as the dogs are on antibiotics. I've just never heard that there is a contradiction to giving a Bordatella vaccine less than a week after DHPP.  Can you direct me to any papers that address this?  I really feel like our dogs should be getting the IN Bordatella vaccine on intake.  Thank you.
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How can I decrease the spread of feline uri within my shelter?
May 7, 2012
I work at a shelter - usually as the cat supervisor and cat kennel cleaner. I work seven days per week. I have been active in finding new ways to contain and prevent the spread of upper respiratory infection. In the next month I am going to try to talk in the board meeting and give ideas to my boss on how to combat it more effectively. At our shelter the new bedding, bowls and new litter boxes are within one foot of the shelter cats. They are on a shelf in between two rows of cats to be more exact. Some are on top of the isolation cat cages. Since our facility is small - we usually do not have room to isolate sick cats and they usually stay on the adoption floor. We still try to isolate as many as possible. So in essence, this might be counter-productive since the new supplies are so close to sick cats. Same with the new litter boxes and bowls and newspaper. I have enclosed several pictures for you to see. If we were to change location of all the newspapers, bedding, bowls and litter boxes - where would you suggest moving them to? And is this a problem I need to be worried about? I was thinking about a specific supply room and only putting what we need for the day in a basket to bring into the cat room after I have found a place to move them to. I have also thought about bringing up the idea of gowns since I have to deal with a lot of the cats myself. Any ideas you can suggest? 
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Should we vaccinate on intake animals with a recent history of vaccination?
May 7, 2012
Our shelter operations  protocol  states that if an intake animal has been vaccinated at the source shelter within a week before our intake- we should hold off on all vaccines with the...
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How can I decrease the spread of feline uri within my shelter?
May 7, 2012
I work at a shelter - usually as the cat supervisor and cat kennel cleaner. I work seven days per week. I have been active in finding new ways to contain and prevent the spread of upper respiratory...
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Suspension liquids for antibiotic administration
April 24, 2012
We use doxycycline to treat feline upper respiratory infections at our shelter. We dissolve it in V.A.L. syrup to administer.  Is there a better suspension liquid to use?
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Can lactation be induced in postpartum bitches/queens who have not nursed in a few weeks
April 12, 2012
 It is the season to be getting anonymous baskets and boxes of orphaned kittens and puppies.  Recently we got a box of puppies approximately 2 weeks of age.  We had a nursing mom dog...
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How can we reduce our number of in shelter case of canine infectious respiratory disease (CIRD)?
March 29, 2012
We have been podding our dogs according to date of intake which has worked well through the winter when we were at half capacity.  As we increase our intake, the podding does not work as well....
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How important is it to clean a surfact prior to disinfecting it?
March 27, 2012
I’ve always told shelters that virtually every sanitation product on the market requires a prior cleaning step in order to remove organic material. There are always a few shelters who want to argue...
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Question about our feral cat spay/neuter protocol
March 23, 2012
I am thinking about updating our feral cat spay/neuter protocol. Currently, the cats are brought in the night before or (preferably), the morning of, induced with butorphanol/ketamine/dexdomitor IM,...
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Problem with Feline URI not responding to treatment
March 26, 2012
Like other shelters, we see enough upper respiratory disease in cats, although we are usually able to keep it at a minimum. We have several community rooms and several rooms with cages (isolation and...
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Cost effect parasite treatments for use at a feral cat spay and neuter camp.
January 13, 2012
I am a vet and I work with a small animal welfare group in Athens (Greece) that spays feral cats. I wonder if you have any good suggestion for anti-parasitic treatments. I usually put a spot on of...
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Do you reccomend performing spay or neuter on heartworm positive animals?
December 20, 2011
Do you reccomend performing spay or neuter on  heartworm positive animals?
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