-Alberto
Hello Furiends,
As my regular readers may have noticed I did not write my regular Wednesday feature last week. The world has gone insane and our Female Human has been working hard to keep up. It’s been a bit confusing because, just when we thought we were going to have full time staff at home, The Human found out that since she has clients whose businesses are deemed essential so she has to go to work. Frankly, as frazzled as she looks I think she should just stay at home.
And speaking of frazzled there was a bit of a scare at our house this weekend. Jasmine was not feeling well (she was having “plumbing problems” if you get my drift.) This is a serious issue with kitties and especially kitties like Jasmine with kidney disease. There we were, with our sister Jasmine howling in pain and our Human in a situation where she and the other humans are told to “social distance”.
The good news for us is that we have a veterinary practice (or as I like to refer to them “a stabby place”) that is open 7 days a week. Yes, you heard me right, EVERY day of the week. Why is this? They are attempting to make themselves available for sick kitties (and other pets) as much as possible while also caring for themselves as well and looking to avoid something called “compassion fatigue”.
What is Compassion Fatigue?
When The Female Human went to the Cat Writer’s Association conference last year she attended a very interesting presentation about Compassion Fatigue given by Beth Stultz-Hairston from Pet Sitters International. The presentation focused on compassion fatigue for pet writers but also included information on compassion fatigue in the veterinary industry as well.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no big fan of those stabby, stabby places but , whenever I have to go there I get kisses and ear skritches and, if I wasn’t feeling great, I always feel better after the visit (don’t tell The Human I said this).
Compassion Fatigue, according to Dr. Charles Figley and Professor Paul Henry Kurzweg is, “… a state experienced by those helping people or animals in distress; it is an extreme state of tension and preoccupation with the suffering of those being helped to the degree that it can create a secondary traumatic stress for the helper.”.
Vets have two times the stress
Those people in the stabby places have to deal with 2 patients, we felines who, for the most part are less than thrilled to be there and our humans who are worried about us. If your humans are like my Human, sometimes there are even tears involved. As a feline who rarely worries about anything except being stuffed in my carrier, a loud sneeze or humans I don’t know coming into my house, I’m no expert on stress but I did have my Purrsonal Assistant find some information about compassion fatigue for me.
Reducing Stress For Patients
My stabby place built a whole new building to keep stress to a minimum and enhance wellness for all of their patients. Oliver and I did a review about this. Ever since we’ve been to the new place our visits have been much better and the rest of the Tribe never even knows where we’ve been when we get home so there is no hissing festival when we’re released from our carrier. It stands to reason, when the felines are less stressed, so are the humans and the stabby people but still, it doesn’t stop compassion fatigue for those folks who take care of us.
How Our Vets Manage
In addition to the fantastic new stabby place they built and offering after hour emergency services they also changed their business days to 7 days a week. This has been great for the human cat parents but it was taking its toll on the people working there. They decided that they would not do after hour emergency services but would still do the 7-day a week schedule. Those folks are doing all they can to mitigate compassion fatigue.
Good News For All
Even during these stressful days, and without after hours emergency service, Pend Oreille Veterinary Service managed to help our Jasmine this past Sunday. As I mentioned she was having some “plumbing issues” and was yowling in pain.
The Female Human called the stabby place, they said to come over and so Jasmine and The Human sat in the “outdoor waiting room” (translation, the car)
-Jasmine
Before she knew it, The Female human’s cell phone rang and someone came out to get Jasmine. She stayed there most of the day and the good folks took great care of her. I’m thinking without the nervous Human hanging around it must have been much easier for them. By late Sunday afternoon, Jasmine was delivered to the car and sent home with medications.
-Jasmine
Jasmine is doing much better and, thanks to the fantastic, compassionate folks at Pend Oreille Veterinary Service it looks like we’re on the road to beating this infection before it gets to her kidneys.
So folks, during these stressful times, The Tribe wants to remind you to be kind to all the people at your stabby places. Compassion Fatigue is a real thing. We felines know that all you humans are stressed right now but the humans who care for us kitties are pawsome, they deal with so much and we should give them a little love (from a safe distance and without touching, or course!
Firebox
Tucker Opines
Well, I am still living in the human’s bedroom but things have progressed. If you’re wondering why I live in the bedroom, you can read about it in 
There is much in my two-room environment to keep me interested, the automatic red dot thingy 
that twirls and spins and throws red dots down the hallway, huge windows and wide window ledges that look out to the woods around the house. I often have visitors come by. Some are felines, some are birds, some are squirrels and there is the occasional raccoon as well.
It’s been a good year. I’ve been in the human’s bedroom many times and I’m thinking Jasmine and I may be friends after all (as long as I don’t forget myself and chase her).
I would say that I probably had the most exciting year as I threw my hat in the ring as the
It was a great year. I was the 
stroll through the front garden 
Fall was a bit dicey. First the humans tried to put some ridiculous thing on me that they called a 
the male human to do this). Once I calmed down and figured out she was not cat-morphing I became a bit annoyed. Was she mocking us? It was a terrible “faux paws” and one, I am fairly certain, the female human will not repeat.
This photo array of a feline and a squirrel is awesome! Our squirrel/bird feeder is on the upstairs deck and we don’t get so close to our wildlife visitors. I am considering having my purrrrsonal assistant make a poster from these fantastic photos and hang them over one 
of our litter boxes. Also, I must say that the “press feline” looks quite dapper here and I am reconsidering my attire as official
Now here is an idea whose time has come. We felines (and my canine friends) have a lot to be stressed out about like door bells, vacuum monsters, thunder, well you get the idea. One would think that a feline’s humans (particularly humans who pride themselves on keeping a “fear free” home would have better sense than to put on cat ears and paint their face like a feline. I kid you not, 
this is what the feline human did on their Howl-o-ween holiday. Nearly gave me a heart attack. Suffice to say there will be no more of that in our house. The photo is of her trying to apologize.
change our names from the shelter names right away but wait awhile to get to know us better. My name, for instance, is because of my sleek physique and my penchant for running around the house like a speed demon. The male human loves bicycle racing and so they called me Alberto Contador. I know, pretty dumb huh?. I can say that I’m a bit annoyed that my brother, Oliver’s name appears as number four on the list. Seriously? We many need to renegotiate this naming thing.
are located or what they look like. Just keep ’em clean and easy to get in to. Period. but the female human spends much time and money on litter boxes that don’t look like litter boxes and ensuring they are placed in areas where company will never see them. So humans, enjoy.
One of these tavern cats is named Venkman and you can read about the great new life he and other cats have thanks to 
We bring animals into our homes with the intent of offering them love and a forever home. Love isn’t always enough and forever isn’t always forever. Despite the heartache of Amelia’s story, we believe that the journey of love and adoption of an animal is a risk we will always be willing to take.
Without access to Jasmine, Amelia’s frustration grew. She went from my sweet, funny and mischievous little cat to an upset and angry cat. She exhibited her unhappiness by peeing all over the house. Each morning and evening became a black light excursion with long cleaning sessions. We spent hundreds of dollars on pheromone plug-ins, air cans, moving furniture, buying new area rungs and even new furniture. We spent extra time with Amelia, playing with her and loving her, attempting to calm her aggression. We also made numerous visits to the vet to ensure there were no underlying health issues.
masks and even big dog-like creatures that the humans call “coyotes”. I would like to get in the middle of all this action but the humans are having none of it. They did note our restlessness though and a few weeks ago the female human came home with a black thing that had a long tail.
The female human sat down on the floor, holding the black things. I’m always interested in new stuff and so I walked toward her. As soon as I got close I noticed that the black thing smelled great and I wanted to get closer. (I heard the human say she sprayed the black thing with something called 
sense she was relaxing (fear free applies to our humans too!) . She let me roam in “the garden” and as a reward, I decided to pose for her next to the cat planter. All the time I was out there, Oliver was sitting in the window, meowing and pacing. It looked like the little scaredy cat wanted to try this harness thing too.
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