Shelter Medicine for Veterinarians and Staff

The overall success of any animal shelter can be determined by several guidelines. First of all and foremost, the cleanliness of the shelter and attention to detail. Second of all - the driving force to expand guidelines and cleaning protocols (this includes the staff consistently to enforce them.) Third, the level of communication with the public and the community focus on saving animals. Finally, the level of care provided to the shelter animals which includes but is not limited to behavioral enrichment, and the care of wild life/sick animals.Below I give an outline of a few very important chapters I like. Not all of them are listed and there are a total of 40-50 chapters in the book.--Cat/Dog (Behavior, Medicine, Age and Sex, Shelter Design)This book will teach you how to age and sex animals. Provided also is some basic breed descriptions and traits that can be associated with certain dog and cat breeds. This book lists some fantastic ideas on behavioral enrichment such as toys that can be made for less than a dollar and shelves that can be made next to nothing.This book will also teach you how to determine anxiety or aggression and instructions to curb it without escalating the situation. One example is the idea of tier shelves for cat cages while cleaning as compared to the stress that is associated with cat cage moves.Adoption is a very happy time for the shelter staff and also a time that the eyes must serve as top notch radar sensors. Some adopters might seem but would not pass a background check. Having a staff that can help access an individuals background without being too invasive is just one must.One more important thing to add is that shelter design strongly encourages adopters to come in. A cage that is easy to clean and a shelter that provides the tools, equipment and storage space to maintain a clean shelter is common practice. This book lists possible shelter designs for cats and dogs, and ideas for making even the smallest cage into a stress-free living area.--Diseases--If you are looking for information on specific diseases such as calicivirus, rhinotracheitis, parvo virus, leptospirosis, etc... than this is a fantastic reference. This book will teach you what dilution of disinfectants to use and protocols that need to be followed to contain the disease.It is note worthy that is it not enough to know what a disease can do. One most know what elements helps the virus thrive, how long it can live on surfaces, and dilution of disinfectant needed. Still, there is more such as some disinfectants are labeled effective against parvo but might not be. But you don't have to be in the dark.This book accurately accesses each type of disinfectant (Quaternary Ammonium Compounds,, Potassium Peroxymonosulfate, Calcium Hypochlorite) and a few others. Listed alongside how effective the disinfectants are - is the safety of the disinfectant, dilution and the main use of them in relationship to the shelter environment.--Wild Life and Sick Care--Heard health and disease monitoring is very important in the shelter. There is very many statistics, studies and pie charts to show the prevalence of upper respiratory and parvo in ideal conditions. One sick cat could become many. The deciding factor between 1 sick cat and 10 is the level of attention that is paid to isolating animals that have been exposed and the treatment of said animals. A carefully chosen antibiotic and disinfectant is only one key factor. Of particular importance is to whom is allowed to enter isolation areas, protective clothing and more.Likewise, the health of wildlife and other exotic animals depends on the level of staff ability and education. A few other animals that might be cared for is Reptiles, Amphibians, and Avians. Wild life permits can be obtained and in such cases, knowing what to do serves of vital importance. In the wildlife and exotic animal chapters the book goes out of its way to lists the diet, size of enclosure and daily maintenance that might be needed for each species.Also posted in the chapters are safe ways to handle wild life and exotic animals. Some wild life will be scared or prone to inflicting injury to staff. Some may need vaccinations or specific care tailored to species as mentioned above.--Importance of of Volunteers, Foster Care and legal concerns--It is not a secret that the level of communication with the public - including shelter relationship with law makers is a crucial part of shelter success. Laws need to be in place to protect the shelter, shelter staff, the handler of the animals and the public who may enter the building.Volunteers spread the word of shelter by mouth, social media such as Facebook and other outlets and attract even more volunteers. That said, volunteers can come in many and make waves in how the shelter does on time and budget. A few things that volunteers can help with is behavior, take pictures and movies, run the website, bath and groom animals and more. Recruiting volunteers has never been easier with the level of care cats and dogs need everyday.My favorite chapter is about foster care. Foster care for animals can serve a a safe haven for injured, sick, or not adoptable animals until they are healthy or healed. I foster feral kittens and cats and this chapter has helped me immensely. The best perk about foster care is that it can help decrease shelter stress by giving animals a break from the shelter.Along with accepting help comes the possibility of injury and legal concerns. While many have the goal of saving animals in mind, there are those that will take every advantage for monetary gain. EX: Transmitted roundworm can result in complete vision loss. Can you imagine the law suit? Just little things like having specific agreements in adoption contracts, volunteer and foster care contracts can prevent this. A list of potential laws to have in place, people to contact and resources are included in the chapter regarding animal laws.--Disasters, Animal Fighting, Animal HoardingA shelter staff member that has worked in the animal shelter for a few years knows what to expect when it comes to disaster, animal fighting and hoarding. It is always a stressful time when usually the emotional state of everyone is on the line. Fortunately this book will provide you the step by step plan to minimize risk to the shelter and come out on the winning end of cruelty cases.Animal hoarding is often paired with animal fighting when people try to gain the top profits possible. Animal hoarding is also prodigious in the mass accumulation of felines. One alert: be prepared for the most outrageous cases. Sometimes the mental state of the person processing the animals is not inline with what is considered normal. As such the person might not be as easy to deal with and the house holding the cats might not be sanitary.A few disasters that can occur can be floods, tornado, earthquakes just to name a few. A specific plan for each situation is a basic must. Just a few ideas that are listed is the storage of more cages and a emergency contact number to get help with transporting animals to a temporary safe place.--Conclusion--Shelter care is not only limited to feeding, watering and scooping out litter boxes. Shelter animals need more care and attention to thrive and retain their adoptable status. Just how successful the shelter can be is determined by all the factors I have mentioned and the many more that are listed in the book. You will not get better information on running a shelter like a champ for the price that you are paying.

I'm teaching a section of this course at the college where I received my AAS in Veterinary Technology. I think it's fantastic to show students just how much of veterinary medicine and behavior theory goes into keeping our unwanted population happy and healthy until they find permanent homes. Working in a high volume shelter (30-35,000 a year) is a shell shock compared to book education but I hope that this is one of the puzzle pieces to help my students understand my world.

If you work in a shelter, in any capacity, you will benefit from this book. If you are a shelter manager, director or anyone making big decisions you should have a copy of this highlighted and memorized. It's written at a level that non-medical staff can understand. The second edition is a step up from the first. I had the first edition but found the new chapters in the second edition helpful.

This is a great resource if you work at an animal shelter of any kind either municipal or private. It has so much information it is hard to consume it all.

First book arrived printed upside down ,off the page. Second one had glue stuck to the pages, bent.

Helpful book, great delivery. The first part was mostly common sense after which they have very helpful and practical chapters.

I bought copies for everyone I work with. It seems very comprehensive and easy to read. Great guide. I would suggest everyone working in a shelter read it.

I bought one copy for our shelter vet and two for our vet tech - all were very appreciative and glad to have a copy of their own

ma molto utile, dalle malattie infettive alla gestione del rifugio, purtroppo col limite di "essere americano" con le differenze legislative ( e di mentalità) conseguenti. ne servirebbe uno scritto da noi italiani per le nostre realtà! consigliato.

Excelente libro sobre Medicina de refugio, los contenidos abarcan desde la creación de un refugio, legislación, las necesidades de distintas especies animales. El libro es un apoyo para la práctica en refugios.

El material es muy interesante. Me lo recomendaron, lo busqué, lo encontré y lo compré... en 48h lo tenía encima de la mesa!

Nice book for someone who work in shelter