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From all of us at Maddie's Institute, thank you for all you do for the animals, and for sharing your thoughts with us today!
Is that cat in your shelter who won't let you look in her mouth suffering from stomatitis? And if she is, can you deal with it given most shelter's limited resources?
Stomatitis can cause ulcers and inflammation in the mouth, and can be so painful it often inhibits normal eating or drinking, as well as being difficult and costly to treat.
At the 2014 ASPCA/Cornell Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Conference, Santiago Peralta, DVM, DAVDC, reviewed the current knowledge regarding the pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of chronic stomatitis in cats, along with recommendations to manage the condition in animal shelters.
After viewing the presentation, click here to take the quiz and receive a Certificate of Attendance!
The next time someone surrenders a cat with litter box problems to your shelter, consider using a 'litter box blues' intake form to give that cat the best chance at being successfully adopted. Here are some suggestions for what that form should include from Maddie's Fund consultant Susan Krebsbach, DVM, of Creature Counseling.
Urinating and defecating outside of the litter box is a common behavioral problem seen in cats – perhaps the most common. Most people who answer the phones or staff the desk at a shelter will have had some experience trying to counsel these owners, but it's not always successful or even welcome.
When that’s the case, having the person surrendering the cat complete a separate form with a history of the inappropriate elimination can be very helpful. This form should include questions about medical/physiological issues, the home setting and the litter box environment, allowing you to be better prepared for the role of elimination detective.
Medical/physiological issues
It is essential that medical issues be ruled out as a cause of, or a contributing factor to, the inappropriate elimination prior to implementing any behavioral therapy. All the behavior modification in the world isn’t going to help a kitty with a medical problem!
For example, inappropriate urination can be related to kidney disease, bladder stones or lower urinary tract disease, while inappropriate defecation can be associated with colitis, parasites and intestinal disease. Ask if the cat has ever been diagnosed with a medical condition, in particular a urinary tract infection. Then schedule the cat being surrendered to be evaluated by the shelter veterinarian.
Be aware that even when a physical diagnosis is made, behavioral therapy may be needed in addition to medical treatment since behavioral problems can arise as a result of negative conditioning by pain, fear and discomfort associated with the underlying medical condition.
Another physiological factor to consider: What is the neuter status of the cat? C
ats communicate indirectly by leaving messages in their territory, which can be in the form of urine marking. The urine serves as an environmental tag, providing information not only about the presence of the individual cat, but also his or her reproductive status. Consequently, the incidence of urine spraying is higher in intact animals as a way of advertising their reproductive availability. Thankfully, spaying/neutering is very successful in curbing spraying behavior at any age.
Home setting
What other pets share the cats home? Was the cat allowed to go outdoors and if so, how often, and was he or she supervised?
How long was the cat typically left alone during the day? How often did episodes of urinating and defecating outside of the litter box happen? Were the episodes related to any particular event or stimulus?
Answers to the above questions may be integral in understanding the problem better. You might find out the newly obtained puppy was chasing the cat being surrendered whenever he would go by the litter box, or the episodes of urinating outside of the litter box took place only after the cat returned from outdoor adventures, or the cat would soil in the hallway right outside of the laundry room where the litter box was kept (could the soiling be related to the cat being scared by the sound of the washer and dryer?).
This information can guide you to finding an appropriate new home, but can also reassure the adopter that the problem is not likely to happen in their home.
Litter box environment
Start with the litter. What type and brand of litter was used? How long was it used? Was it scented? Where there any types of additives used, such as baking soda?
Then expand your questioning to the litter boxes. How many litter boxes were in the house? Where were they located? What was the style of the litter boxes? Were any of the boxes covered? Were liners used?
Once you get the answers to the litter and litter box questions, inquire about litter box hygiene. How often were the litter boxes scooped out? How often were they changed completely and cleaned? What was used to clean the litter boxes?
Finally, query about the soiled areas. What areas of the house did the cat soil? Were the sites vertical or horizontal? What type of surfaces did the inappropriate elimination occur on (carpet, wood, tile, etc.)? Were particular objects sought out? What was used to clean the soiled areas?
All this information will help your shelter team beat the litter box blues and get that cat adopted. Start creating your litter box blues intake form today!
Resources
Great photos of our available pets have long been the secret sauce in adoption groups' recipe for success. Are those days over on Facebook?
If you believe the results of data collected by social media agency Socialbakers and reported in "Posting a photo is the worst way to get people to see your Facebook post," yes.
But if you listen to Shelter Pet Project and Maddie's Fund social media manager Christie Keith, not now and probably not ever.
"The Socialbakers report looked at Facebook performance of different content types across a number of businesses," Keith said. "They weren't looking specifically at nonprofits, nor at pet adoption pages. The chances that people are going to get sick of sharing great pet photos is, frankly, pretty much zero."
That doesn't mean shelters and rescue groups shouldn't pay attention to the report. "What I did find compelling is the identification of video -- not links to YouTube, but videos uploaded directly to Facebook -- as the number one content type," Keith said.
"On the Shelter Pet Project, links to YouTube videos have not done well, not even close to as well as photos. But for some of my other clients, directly uploading short videos to Facebook has been very successful. I think shelters and rescue groups should try it."
Will you be testing this out for your available pets? Tell us on our Facebook page!
Have skin problems got you itching to find a solution for the pets in your shelter or foster program?
Itching, other skin problems, and chronic ear infections are some of the most common reasons cats and dogs are taken to the veterinarian, and shelters and rescue groups, with their limited resources can have trouble diagnosing, treating and preventing these dermatological problems.
In a series of free webcasts that began February 12, 2015, and will run through May 21, Dr. Karen Moriello, Clinical Associate Professor of Dermatology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, will help shelters and rescue groups address these challenges.
Get more information and register for the presentations here -- including on-demand versions for those that already took place:
How to Stop Itching in Shelter and Foster Home Dogs
Thursday, February 12, 2015, at 9 PM Eastern
How to Stop Itching in Shelter and Foster Home Cats
Thursday, February 26, 2015, at 9 PM Eastern
What to Do About Ear Problems in Shelter and Foster Home Dogs
Thursday, May 7, 2015, at 9 PM Eastern
Stopping the Scales, Greasiness and Odor of Seborrhea in Shelter and Foster Home Dogs
Thursday, May 21, 2015, at 9 PM Eastern
Few feline diseases are as frightening and confusing as feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). What can animal shelters do to prevent it in the cats they're housing?
Elizabeth Berliner, DVM, MA, DABVP, gave an engrossing presentation on the latest in FIP research, management and prevention at the 2014 ASPCA/Cornell Maddie's® Shelter Medicine Conference. She covered an overview of the virus, disease transmission, clinical signs and diagnosis, as well as providing an update on new research that may lead to improved diagnostic testing and treatment in the future.
Her focus throughout was on cats in animal shelters.
You can view the presentation, read its transcript and take a quiz to receive a Certificate of Attendance, on our website.
The pet you're trying to find a home for may be the greatest companion in the world, possess a wonderful personality, be well-behaved, and have a compelling story. However, if you're trying to get them adopted through social media, none of that's going to matter very much if you don't have a good photo to share.
Now, before you get scared because you're not a professional photographer, relax. "A great photo in social media terms, and a great photo in professional photography terms, are not the same thing," advises social media consultant Christie Keith, who is social media manager for the Shelter Pet Project.
"Yes, the photo should have some of the same elements as a pro shot, such as being well-lit, reasonably well-composed and in focus," she says. "But you don't need advanced skill with a camera to take a photo that will 'sell' that pet on social media. In fact, you don't even need a camera; your cell phone shots will be fine if you follow some basic tips."
In fact, she says, sometimes professional photographs miss the mark. "In managing the Shelter Pet Project's social media, I've seen tens of thousands of pet photos. Those shot by pros are always great images, and would be wonderful portraits of someone's pet. And naturally, we love to see professionals putting their skills to work helping homeless pets.
"But in terms of inspiring social sharing or adoptions, they're often too busy, taken from too far away, and focus on something other than the pet's eyes and face, such as a costume or the pet doing something like jumping or swimming." Those images, technically excellent as they are, don't perform as well on social media as a simple close-up on a pet's face.
Keith also warns that a great story can't overcome the problems of a bad photo. "The reality is, words are less important on social media and online adoption sites, and photos are more so," she says. "If you want to catch the attention of adopters, a photo that drives the viewer to feel a connection with that pet is more valuable than all the words in the dictionary."
What characterizes a good pet adoption photo? Here are her tips:
1. The eyes have it. In a great pet adoption photo, you can clearly see the expression on the pet's face, as well as his or her eyes, which should be looking directly into the camera. "On the Shelter Pet Project Facebook page, photos that are a tight close-up on a pet's face, with the pet appearing to look right at the viewer, almost always get more shares and engagement than photos that don't -- even if those other images are technically 'better' photos," Keith says.
2. Get on their level. "I know pets are shorter than we are, but we have to stop taking photos from above, looking down on them," Keith says. "Get on your knees or belly, stand downhill of them, put them on a bed, cat tree or table, do whatever you need to do to get these shots from the same level as the pet's face!"
3. Skip the text. "At least on Facebook, photos with text on them will usually be shown to fewer of your followers than those without text," Keith says, adding that a small photographer's watermark doesn't appear to hurt reach or engagement. Other social platforms such as Instagram or Pinterest don't penalize reach for images with text, but distracting from the power of the image itself is not a great idea.
Antibody titer testing isn't just for pets in homes -- it's an important tool to combat disease and save lives in animal shelters and foster homes, too.
If you want to get up to date on the latest information on titer testing for pets, this Maddie's InstituteSM learning track is what you need. Many of the presentations have corresponding quizzes offering a printable Certificate of Attendance for completion!
And if you do check it out, please fill out our evaluation survey after completing it.
View the complete learning track here.
Pet photos are one of the greatest tools we have to get pets adopted online. Between Pinterest and Instagram, which social photo sharing platform is best?
Since no animal organization can be present on all social networks, let alone do an equally good job on all of them, it's important to focus on the ones that will work best for the pets you're trying to re-home. Here are the pros and cons of Pinterest and Instagram for pet adoption:
Pinterest pros:
Pinterest cons:
Instagram pros:
Instagram cons:
So, which gets the nod? It's close, but probably Instagram, if for no other reason than its massive audience.
Has your shelter or rescue group been using either of these platforms? If so, has either of them worked in getting pets adopted? We'd love to hear more about your experience on our Facebook page!