Petfinder.com forums :: View topic - August 24- 30 Safe Animal Handling [ ]

Last edited by Petadmin on Mon Aug 24, 2009 6:11 pm; edited 1 time in total

This month we have the pleasure of Bill Brothers from Animal Care Equipment and Services, offering his expertise on safe animal handling!

After graduating from Cornell University, Bill taught school and worked with handicapped adults before being drawn into the animal welfare field. He headed three different humane societies in New York and California before deciding that the animal care and control field needed a company to research and bring to market humane tools to help animal caregivers do their job. Twenty-five years ago this year Bill started Animal Care Equipment & Services, Inc which has become the worldwide premier provider of humane animal care, housing, transport, and capture products and services. ACES specializes in providing products and services to animal care and control organizations as well as other animal caregivers. Bill has developed and continues to teach various courses in animal care as well as provide consulting services to shelters worldwide.

Bill will be happy to address any and all issues relating to products used in shelters including care, housing, capture, transport, disease control, board function and relationship, as well as questions relating to feral cat handling, animal handling in disaster scenarios and various "hot button" issues.

So please join us starting August 24th with your many animal handling questions! See you in August!!

Posted Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:36 pm:

We would like to take a moment to welcome everyone, especially Mr. Brothers to this moderated forum. Starting today, August 24th bring your love of animals and your many questions for a week of learning!!

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 2:25 pm Post subject:

A few months ago I had a tornado touch down not to far from where we live. I was keeping tabs of the weather and when it looked like it would be in my area, I attempted to grab my cats, put them in carriers and place the carriers in a closet for safety.

The first couple (I have 5) were easy goings. But once the others saw what was going on, it was a pain just to catch them. Is there a better way to catch and crate cats? Most of my cats were feral at some point in their life before coming here.

Answer:

Catching cats - especially formerly ferals - during stressful situations can be a huge challenge (ever heard the old saw about being "as difficult as herding cats"?). If you can't quickly, easily, and safely capture them by hand, it may be necessary to utilize a net. There are several on the market that are specifically designed for use on difficult-to-catch and to-handle cats or you might find an inexpensive fishing net to be adequate. One problem with a net is you still have to extricate the cat from the net to get it into its carrier. This may be dangerous to the cat owner if the cat is frightened. I strongly recommend a pair of protective cat-handling gloves in this situation or at least to use a towel to help calm the cat.
Some cat capture nets employ what could more properly be called a bag that you can just leave the cat in. I'm thinking specifically of the Cat Bagger sold by ACES which has a canvas bag snapped on a frame. The bag can be removed and another bag attached after you catch each cat. Typically, a cat in a darkened bag is much calmer than one in a carrier. If you want to put the cat from a bag into a carrier, it is very easy to just peel back the opening of the cat bag until the cat is freed.
[Bill Brothers] Another thought: If at all possible, be sure to have a collar on each cat with a personalized ID tag on. This is very important if you are transporting any animal and especially so under stressful conditions. And of course a microchip is equally as important.

Next question, I was honored to have done my very first transport for a shelter a month ago. What are some recommendations on transporting many cats in many carriers for long distances? Stops, food, etc.

Answer:

Congratulations on doing your first shelter transport! Transport of shelter animals is not truly an area of expertise for me so I hope others will join in. The most important thing is to provide secure housing with plenty of room for the animal and as much a sense of security and comfort as possible. The next thing is to stop frequently enough to allow them to go to the bathroom. Feeding during transport is a bit tricky; some animals will tolerate it well but some will get car-sick and tend to vomit. I would suggest not feeding immediately before transport or during unless your trip is more than ten or so hours. I just finished a cross-country trip with my dog and found that giving him a tablet of L-tryptophan before we headed out each day really helped him relax while we were driving but didn't inhibit his energy level during our potty breaks every two hours (L-tryptophan is the amino acid in turkey that makes Thanksgiving turkey eaters sleepy.)

Last question. What is your recommendation on handling sick cats? I'm pretty sure I made my life tougher when I adopted my Bumble Bee (who passed away 1 week ago) but I loved him none the less. He had to have multiple medications, force feedings, liquids, etc. I will admit that it did take me forever to get things into him and I was bitten twice in the process.

Answer:

Again, not an area of expertise for me so I hope others will weigh in who have had more experience. Certainly the types of medication required will de termine a lot how they are administered. For pasty or liquidy medications, a 3ml Monoject syringe with no needle on it might help you get the meds toward the back of the cat's mouth. ACES also sells Feeding & Dosing needles which can be helpful for liquid force-feedings. And the ACES Cat Bagger mentioned above has several zippers in it that permit you to just have the head out for safer handling or allow a leg or other body part to be exposed for localized treatments.

Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2009 10:42 pm Post subject:

I have a polydactyl cat which I have to bring to the groomers every couple of weeks to get his nails clipped.

He used to put up with getting his nails done, and even let the first groomer do him one-handed, but when we had a different girl do them, she hurt one of his nails, and now he is more than a handful. I have to hold him, and I always get bitten. He is a rather large cat, 19 pounds, and can move heavy objects easily. I think he bench-presses my cabinets when I am at work.

His many many nails are shaped like this, including the small in-between one that he doesn't like having cut:

Is there any nail clipper product on the market that would make cutting these easier, especially the little in-between ones?

Also, what would you recommend for cleaning a bitten hand? It was peroxided at the groomers, and then cleaned with soap, peroxide and vinegar at home. (Looking better now.)

Answer:

This inquiry is a bit out of my league. I have tremendous respect for groomers and their skills in handling such awesome creatures. My company - ACES - does not handle grooming equipment so I can't recommend clippers (hopefully, somebody can). And as to cleaning a nasty wound, I'd better stay away from medical advice though I've certainly cleaned a few on my hands and arms! I still use peroxide but deeper wounds can get very serious and may require medical attention to stave off deep sepsis.

Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:00 pm Post subject: catching cats during a fire

A friend of mine recently lost her three cats when a fire in her apartment building destroyed her home. She tried desperately to catch them but they hid and eventually she had to get herself to safety.

What is a good way to catch multiple cats during an emergency, and what are the components of a good emergency plan?

Answer:

Emergency preparedness is so important! By definition, it's too late to get prepared once the emergency starts so it's critical that each of us has a pre-plan that will enable us to care for our animals once an emergency starts. Where you live will help determine the types of emergencies you are likely to face. Think through any eventuality and consider what you'll need to do to react and get you and your animals to safety.

All pets that can be should be both microchipped and have a visible ID tag on them - at all times! Neither one alone is adequate. Be sure to have appropriate carriers for your pets. For emergency evacuation of cats, ACES (800-338-ACES or animal-care.com) has the Freeman ZipnGo cat bag carrier that is quick to load, calms the cat, and is easy to carry. The ZipnGo is designed for rapid evacuation in an emergency.

Sometimes capture nets are needed if your pets become frightened and difficult to catch. ACES has a variety of nets and nabbers that would be appropriate.

In your pre-plan make a list of everything you might possibly need then get these items and put them in an accessible place. Be ready to move FAST when that fire alarm goes off!

Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 3:57 pm Post subject:

I once found a stray dog that had been hit by a car and was injured Sad

He was a bigger breed, probably about 50 lbs and I had some difficulties getting him into the car to take to vet. Do you have any suggestions on moving larger injured animals and minimizing the stress it causes them?

Answer:

This is a great question and one of the first ones I encountered when I first got into the animal care field. As a Humane Officer, I was called to rescue an HBC (hit by a car) dog. It turned out to be a St. Bernard and I could not lift that poor fellow into my vehicle (I had to flag down a motorist to help me). I figured there had to be a better way. Eventually, I designed and developed a wheeled Animal Rescue Stretcher now sold by ACES (800-338-2237 or animal-care.com) for $109.00. This permits one person to completely immobilize any animal up to about 200 lbs. and wheel it to their vehicle. Complete immobilization is important because most HBC's involve pelvic fractures which can be further exacerbated by moving a non-immobilized animal. The full size of the stretcher may be too big for most sedan-type vehicles. It is designed for animal care & control vehicles but will also work well in most station wagons or vans. If you are an individual alone that encounters an injured animal, I recommend you first try to contact the local animal care and control agency. Only if none is available on short notice, should you attempt the rescue alone. Many injured animals are in great pain, frightened, and are more likely to bite or scratch. Using a blanket to calm them and protetct you can be helpful. If you have to move an injured animal, take every precaution to minimize further damage in the pelvic or other injured area.

Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 9:29 am Post subject:

A big thank you to all who posted their questions and especially to Mr. Brothers for his wonderful participation last week!

Please stay tuned and join us next month for What to do When a Pet Goes Missing!

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