Every Saturday, there are people hard at work at the brand new SPCA center off of Bradshaw Road on Highway 50. These people are there every week to spay and neuter feral cats. When I can get a break from my studies, I volunteer at the clinic and help induce, and prep animals for surgery as well as administering vaccines, flea and ear mite treatment. Many volunteers help pull this thing off every week and we usually spay and neuter about 40 cats each week free of charge to Sacramento county residents. The clinics were funded by a grant to help stop the feral cat population problem in Sacramento county. Working with feral cats is entirely different from working with your average house cat. They are wild, unruly and not usually friendly. Volunteering at the clinic has given me valuable experiences working with these types of cats that will greatly benefit me in the future. Although I plan on becoming an equine vet, I plan to volunteer at clinics like this one when I can. If I can help make less cats in the world, there will be less hungry and sick cats dying in the wild, less cats in shelters and in need of homes. I encourage everyone to volunteer at your local pet shelter and always adopt animals instead of buying purebreds. You will often find purebreds in shelters that were rejected by their breeders for various reasons and some of my family's best animals have been those adopted from shelters.
Me holding a little kitten someone brought to the clinic, but he was too young to be neutered.
Me "restraining" a young feral kitten for a neuter. He was totally asleep, didn't feel a thing!
This last picture is me carrying my cat Oliver to recovery after completing my first ever neuter surgery. Usually only third year veterinary students get to neuter cats at the clinic, but since Oliver was one of my own, they showed me how to do it. It was a great experience and I thank Oliver for giving me the privilege of neutering him!
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