cats protection dilema {help}

[smudgley]

As most of you know I am very involved in my local CP branch.

I have been asked today if I will become the fostering officer as the couple who currently do it have decided they no longer want to do it. It is looking after all the fosterers, assesing potential new fosterers,ensuring they are all happy & are sticking to the guidelines set by CP & that they all have supplies etc.

I have said I will think about it, but that if I do it, I will have to give up something else.

I have already said I want to do less fostering this year as I don't feel I have the time needed for all the cats, but more-so I don't have time for all the people who view them/adopt them.

What shall I do?

I am the neutering officer, I do all the microchipping for all the cats in our care, deal with some calls about found cats, although not that many now as I gave up the "lost & found" line before Christmas. And obviously I have 4 cat pens of foster cats. I aslo do some running around with cats and supplies too. I like doing the neutering vouchers as I'm quite pro-active in promoting neutering. I don't mind doing the microchipping & noone else will do it....

What shall I do?

I thought about suggesting that I will continue with the neutering & microchipping, but to cut right down on the fostering & just have one pen in use.

Any thoughts?

[dandysmom]

Quite a dilemma! You are spread pretty thin, aren't you! What does John think? My personal choice would be reducing the fostering to one pen and see how that goes....

[alexgirl73]

It's a hard one Kel, but at the end of the day, you need to have a life too. It's so easy to find that CP stuff creeping into every minute of the day and I think you seriously need to take a break before you end up becoming disillusioned with it all. I think your idea of cutting back to one or 2 pens is a good one, and that will give you a bit more time to yourself. The fostering officer role is a big one though so any time gained will probably end up going to that. Surely there must be someone else within the branch that can do some of these jobs!

[smudgley]

I think if I reduced the fostering to one pen, that would free up loads of time & give me chance to do the fostering officer. Noone can believe just how much time it takes when people adopt a cat. If I have 4 litters of cats in & 4 moms. Say that's about 20 cats in all. Well that's 20 folks co come & view the cats and ask lots of Q's & then 20 folks to come & collect their cats & do all the paperwork etc..... I think all of this time could be much better spent helping in another way & I think I'd be more chilled out too! The fostering officer is more of a contact for people. We also have 3 new fosterers awaiting pens which means we'll have more fosterers soon. One of them works at a vets & I'm not sure if she's a VN or receptionist. But I'm going to see if she's trained / would get trained to do some of the Microchipping.

[Kazz]

Can I speak freely....I think when you post nowadays you sound stressed and rushed off your feet.

I do think you should cut down on the fostering. Maybe one emergency pen but no regular pen.

Try the fostering officer job. If you want to and think you can do it do the neuturing and microchipping too. Not sure how much time they take, but maybe see if someone wants to take part of the responsibility of microchipping maybe (ie cut the area in half or something) take half each.

But I think if you carry on as you are you will become disillusioned and that would be sad.

Take care and whatever you decide has to fit in with you and the family not the other way round. And enjoy life.

[Kazz]

That will teach me to go the loo before posting I replied when there was just your inital post now I am reply number 5....

[dandysmom]

Another thing you didn't mention was the wasted time when people say they are coming by to look at a cat and you wait and wait and they don't show up! I agree with Kazz, you do sound stressed lately, and need some "me" time!

[smudgley]

Do I sound stressed? Well I am a bit peed off at work as well at the mo, but that's because we are so busy.

The microchipping isn't that time consuming really. There were 3 other people from the branch trained to do it. One has left. One won't do it as she doesn't like it the other sits back & lets me do it all. Maybe I should request that she starts doing it again. after all CP paid for their training (They didn't even pay for mine) . DM is so right about the time wasting people too. I really feel that if I just have one pen for fostering, I will be refreshed & able to liase with the fosterers, it's not a big role by any stretch of imagination, just making sure things are ticking along nicely.

[babycakes]

I think because you are so good at what you do and they are thin on the ground they are relying on you doing it. But there is only so much that everyone can give to...ie doing everything asked of you versus giving 100% to a few things and doing them well. If you wanted you could offer to do it for a fixed term til they found someone else and then you will help ve the potential new comers?? maybe

[smudgley]

that is very true BC.

Do you know that's exactly what I said to my old boss about my new boss last Friday? We are supposed to be sharing a big project, but she takes on so many things / won't say no & won't delegate, that she does none of them at all well. I said to my old boss that she'd (new boss) be much better off doing half the things & doing them properly - than all the things & not actually achieving any of them.


I will continue pondering over the CP dilema.

thanks for all your thoughts.