I'm so exhausted right now, that I'm going to let the pictures tell the majority of the story of my day. I spent my morning in Quincy House, which is an amazing building in Cat World. All the cats have special needs. Many are FIV+, some have neurological disorders, there's even an entire suite called the "Incontinental Suite" for those who need it. From the moment I got there, I hit the ground running and did not stop for a moment until my shift was over. So many cats with so many needs = a ton of work. I felt like I'd put in a whole day already, but it was only lunch time. In the afternoon, I was working at Bunny House. There are tons of adorable bunnies and I continue to learn a lot about them. I socialized the bunnies all afternoon, as many of them are frightened of humans and have come from hoarding (or other equally bad) situations. It was really nice to have a calm afternoon with the animals as a balance to my hectic morning. Here are some pictures from the day:
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| Quincy House Cats enjoying a beautiful morning |
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| Quincy House Kissing Booth! |
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| Montana, possibly my favorite cat in Quincy. Only one back leg and it doesn't work, but he does great! |
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| Adorable new addition to Bunny House! |
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| Socializing bunnies |
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| Trying to reach the cilantro without having to socialize to get it! |
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| Much better socializing! |
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| I thought this rabbit had awesome "eyeliner" |
When I come home from work, I'm exhausted and I am quite dirty (you can only imagine the things that end up on my clothing!) So usually I just feel like crashing. I take a much-needed shower, try to knock out a blog post, eat something, and talk to my loved ones from home before falling asleep. Luckily, when I come home after a long day of work, I have an amazing "family" waiting to snuggle with me. Today, I just lay down on the floor and was swarmed by seven animals, who all wanted snuggles. It was bliss.
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| Scuba can never get close enough. Half the time he lies fully on top of me. |
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| One dog on each side of me and a cat headed to lie down on my belly. |
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| Me using Mama Rosie as a pillow (Yes, my hair is a mess and I look tired & gross, but Rosie doesn't care!) |
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| Me snuggling with Scubes. I swear I'm going to take this dog home with me in my luggage! |
Tomorrow should be another long, but fun day. I am in DogTown all day and I get to go to training with my project dog, Pepsi. I also have to decide by tomorrow where I want to focus the rest of my internship. I'm hoping to find a way to balance a few different areas of interest, while devoting enough time to a couple areas to gain further insight and trust with the animals. Wish me luck on the decisions!
Also, as a side note, as much as I love it here and am super grateful for this experience, I am definitely still homesick. I love the people I'm getting to know here, but I miss my family. I adore every animal I meet, but I miss my animal. My heart aches every day for Lincoln! (And others that I love). I guess I'm just a very family-oriented girl!
Those are great pictures of you Jill and I love Mamma Rosie especially! I love the kissing booth - how does that work with the cats?? I am excited for you to spend loads of time with Pepsi. I have been telling Josh all about your adventures! So jealous. You know I love you - but I am oozing jealousy.
ReplyDeleteIsn't Rosie just precious?! She's so affectionate and snuggly. She is definitely the mama of the house for all the other animals. I'm not sure how the kissing booth with the cats works because no cats were in it while I was there. I think if they are, you can approach for a kiss, but you better pay up! They've actually made quite a bit of money so far (it was sitting on top of the booth). No need to ooze jealousy :). You will be here yourself someday! If it's what you really want, make it a goal and work at it and joyfully anticipate it! That's what I did. It took me about a decade to actually make it out here to work from when I first fell in love with this place! I just always knew I wanted it and eventually worked to make it happen!
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