diving deeper into the million cat challenge: capacity for care
TRANSCRIPT
The Million Cat Challenge: Diving deeper with Capacity for Care
Capacity for Care (C4C)“Match the number of cats
cared for at any one time with the capacity required to
assure the Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare for every cat.”
Problem
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Minimal disease control…treatment is poor….employees do not scan animals for
microchips…
Still a problem almost 10 years later
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Solution?
Reality check
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Staffing for care relative to inventory
Non-Foster Inventory (left axis)Min. Recommended Care Staff Hours (right axis)Current Minutes of Care per CatCurent Staff Hours for Cat CareActual staffing
level: 2.5 minutes per cat
Recommended staffing level
for number of cats
SolutionI may not be a good photographer, but this is what a panorama shot of empty cat cages looks like! We have 3 cats in our adoption building. Fast track, transfers, and adoptions make
the world go round!
No win situation
Working within the limits of our superpowers
• Thoughtfully admit cats that truly need shelter
• Manage length of stay to maintain capacity at a level staff can reasonably handle
• Use the resources saved to better protect/mitigate the vast majority of cats that will always remain in the community
• Better serve cats, stakeholders and staff
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Theory into practiceI am a dedicated advocate for C4C. I have noted a significant increase in LRR (last year 86%) and we have not seen URI at the shelter for a couple of years. With the reduced LOS, less illness and reduced euthanasia cost we are now able to help cats we previously would not have had the budget for. We have also been able to turn our resources towards the local feral population and have begun a TNR project that has received overwhelmingly positive public support.
Capacity for Care basics• Matching the number of
cats in the system with:– The number of good
quality housing spaces– The amount of staff time
available– The perfect number to
move each cat to the right outcome as fast as possible
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Opposite of a vicious cycle• Keep cats healthy and
reduce stress to minimize length of stay
• Identify and stay within your optimal number to maximize adoptions and staff time for care
• Present cats well so they fly out the door
• Good housing is the foundation
Good housing basicsDouble compartment with at least ~ 9 ft2 of floor space or
at least 18 ft2 of floor space in group housing
http://www.sheltermedicine.com/library/handy-dandy-group-housing-calculator-for-cats
Housing, health and LOS• Adequately sized,
double compartment housing for newly admitted cats reduces risk of URI
• Reducing URI reduces Length of Stay (LOS)
The biggest surprise with C4C was going from isolation being full all the time…
To Isolation looking like this – ALL THE TIME
Kim Monteith, BC SPCA, Vancouver, BC
Housing, stress and LOS• Adequately sized,
double compartment or group housing reduces stress and encourages friendly, active behavior
• Adopters respond to friendly, active behavior
• Reduced stress and friendly, active behavior reduce LOS
“Everyone is less stressed…euthanasia is down 40%...we
can now take in more surrenders and strays”
BC SPCA, Quesnel Branch, BC, Canada
Housing, staff time and LOS• Adequately sized,
double compartment housing takes less time to clean and helps reduce disease spread
• Staff that spend less time cleaning and more time interacting with adopters will reduce LOS
“Adoptions are up, sickness is down, staff
have more time.”
BC SPCA, East Kootenay Branch, BC, Canada
Number of animals housed and LOS
More individuals waiting does not change the rate of outcome For a given rate of outcomes, length of time waiting is determined by the
number of individuals waiting Self sustaining at any level Fewer, better quality housing units means fewer individuals waiting
Decreasing the # in line at any one time is the most powerful way to decrease the length of time in the
line
“Euthanasia down by 15%...length of stay
decreased by an amazing 63%”
BC SPCA, Kelowna Branch, BC, Canada
What’s your magic number? • Determine your optimal
average LOS pre-adoption and in adoption
• Obtain for last 2 years:– Monthly intake – Monthly on-site adoptions– Cats versus kittens
• Multiply daily average for the month by target LOS
• Create a monthly plan
More details
http://www.millioncatchallenge.org/resources/capacity-for-care/adoption-driven-capacity
Yet more details
http://www.animalsheltering.org/resources/magazine/, May/June issue
for more help
Impatient with math? • Average LOS to adoption >
14 days? You can almost certainly do this!
• Invest in good housing and see how far you can get– Create a safety net as
needed– Managed admission– Foster care for healthy
adults – Doors that can close
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Dear Million Cat Challenge...If you have a lot of cats in the shelter, how do you
bring the numbers down to get started without
euthanasia?
Getting started• One or more of:
Hold an adoption special Limit intake short term Fast track/slow track to C4C Wait until winter
• Self sustaining at new level
• Serve and save more over time
• Repeat on smaller scale if you get out of whack
Pick your timing• “We are always low on
cats this time of year and do not have kittens on site. So, for us, we did not really have to do much to reduce population except limit intake and move cats to other locations. I only stopped intake on two days to make this happen (12 cats total).”
Kristi Brooks, Cat Adoption Team, Portland, OR
Ask for help
http://catadoptionteam.org/news-events/stories/cat-adoption-team-reduces-adoption-fees-to-empty-the-shelter-for-constructi/435/
Fast track your way to C4C Fast track score assigned
based on pre-determined criteria
When 1 cat adopted, left condo open
When another cat adopted, opened portal between two condos and moved up fastest track cat by score
When all fast track cats moved up, moved up slow track cats
Placer SPCA, Roseville, CA
Results• All cats moved up
within a month with all portals open
• Adoption ↑ from 66% to 71%
• LOS ↓ by ~ 25% • Cats on meds ↓ 40%• 49 fewer cats in the
shelter daily
WOW!!!
More details
33http://www.aspcapro.org/webinar/2013-10-08/fast-tracking-save-lives
“Take that leap of faith and START. ”
THEN you can evolve and make it your own. Monica Wylie, Humane Society for Tacoma-Pierce County
Dear Million Cat Challenge...
I still don't see how we can keep fewer cats on hand
but still save more cats... it seems like magical
thinking. How does it work?
The math behind the magic• Most adopters want a friendly,
healthy-looking cat• Good housing keeps fewer cats
at a time, friendlier and healthier
• With fewer, healthier, friendlier cats to choose from, each cat has a better chance of getting chosen, so they leave faster to make room for the next one
• Super bonus: volunteers love happy healthy cats!
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It worked and our cats are so happy! We all wanted it to work, but we didn’t know how it was all going to happen. We have fewer cats on-site, more adoptions, and our cats are so much happier.
Kristi Brooks, Cat Adoption Team, Portland, OR
Surprise
From: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, January 21, 2015 3:34 PMTo: [email protected]: [SAWAnetwork] Anyone want to send us cats or kittens? Hi everyone, No, this is not a cruel joke. It is the real deal. We are looking for transfer partners who have young cats and kittens who are healthy and friendly that you would like to transport to us in Oregon. If you are interested and have a way to get them to us, please let me know, and I will send you our guidelines. Happy Wednesday!Kristi Kristi BrooksDirector of OperationsCat Adoption Team
About a year later…
Matching housing with C4C• Fine housing but too
many cats:– Drop the number of cats
in each group room to the recommended max or below
– Open existing portals– Repurpose extra for
special needs cats, small animals, reading rooms…
Matching housing with C4C• Plenty of too-small
housing: – Portalize side-to-side in
holding areas, up-and-down ideal in adoption
– Closable doors for maximum flexibility/no risk
– Make your own or purchase pre-made
Portals!
Want to try this at home?• Learn to make your own at: http://
www.sheltermedicine.com/shelter-health-portal/information-sheets/cat-cage-modifications-making-double-compartment-cat-cages-
• Order premade portals at [email protected] or call 530-752-3369
Still not enough housing?
• Condos/cages with 30” compartments with up/down, side/side portals for maximum flexibility• Kittens per 30” compartment
at peak• Cat per double or quadruple
at trough• Open-ish fronts for interaction
and ventilation
Not enough slow track housing?
• Break large group rooms into smaller groups – 3-5 cats ideal– Periodically adopt down to
zero• Create some large single
units, e.g. repurposed dog runs
• Use a good disinfectant and feel free to use coated wire, wood, other cost effective, lightweight material
Other elements of great housing
http://www.sheltermedicine.com/library/how-to-make-partial-cage-covers-aka-curtailments http://www.sheltermedicine.com/library/building-an-elevated-bed-for-use-in-shelter-cat-housing
Dear Million Cat Challenge...
We’re a small shelter with a budget to match…how can we afford better
housing?
You can keep it basicWe were able to keep our costs for implementing C4C to a minimum. Our biggest expense was the actual purchase of the portals which was roughly $700.00. We had wonderful volunteers install the portals; our only installation cost was the rental fee for the plasma cutter which was $100 over 2 weekends. Our “curtails” ― curtains that curtail cat stress! ― were made by a neighbor who works in a fabric store, so our only cost was for notions. We used bed sheets that we already had for the material. Total cost for curtails was $15. In total it cost us less than $1000 to implement C4C.
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Let the community step up to help
Can you afford not to get to C4C?
“The investment we made was well worth it. Our length of stay in itself and reduced URI has saved the
shelter thousands over the years.”
- Kathie Johnson, Animal Humane Society, Minneapolis, MN
Our neighbors to the North
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Our cats are happier and healthier in body, mind and spirit. Our isolation room is now being used more as extra space than for sick cats. Our costs
for medications have decreased, also. Our chubbier cats use the portals as exercise
equipment, getting in their daily workouts. - Guelph Humane Society
An 84% decrease in URI meant the savings on medication were considerable. We have also saved almost $40,000 in labour costs due to the decrease in intake numbers. – Kitchener-
Waterloo Humane Society
http://cfhs.ca/athome/capacity_for_care/
Dear Million Cat Challenge...Other than better housing,
what are some of the things you can do to shorten length
of stay for cats and get to C4C?
Keep cats moving! Limited or no intake
quarantineCareful exam and daily monitoring insteadMaximum 3 days to verify health and allow for vaccine protectionDon’t wait for booster vaccines
Keep cats moving! Place adoption candidates
straight into adoption– Owner surrendered and
friendly unidentified strays– Allow interaction and adoption
holds– Fast track to outcome
Promote adoption early and often – Population: don’t wait for
crowding– Slow track cats: don’t wait for
long LOS
Keep cats moving!Minimal or no stray hold
to live outcome for unidentified catsEspecially litters of kittens, return to field candidatesSupport microchipping and identification to help pets get homeDouble check your local hold requirement for cats; advocate for change if needed
Want to try this at home?
http://www.pawschicago.org/news-resources/news-features/paws-chicago-news/paws-chicago-news-item/showarticle/new-chicago-stray-animal-ordinance-saves-lives/
“Key benefits include prevention of disease, quicker release for life
saving, no increased speed for euthanasia, and
promotion of microchipping”
More support
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http://blogs.bestfriends.org/index.php/2016/01/19/why-shorter-hold-times-save-lives/
http://chewonthis.maddiesfund.org/2015/06/decreasing-shelter-length-of-stay/
Keep sneezy cats moving too
Consider leaving occasional, mildly sneezing cats in placeFlag cage, handle last, wash
hands after If antibiotics needed,
isolate and treat to resolution of signs
No need to treat for set time for routine URI
Keep cats moving! Consider spay/neuter/adopt
for kittens at robust 1.5 poundsNo scientific basis for 2 lb traditionKitten socialization different than puppiesWeight/week rule is not exact – 1.5 lbs often 8 weeksCapitalize on max cuteness factor and bypass foster in some cases
I’m so cute I can hardly handle
myself!
Seriously?Our Vets have been going down to 1.3 lbs on a healthy robust kitten for the last couple years. We have not had additional compilations as a result. I've told our vets that at this rate they'll be doing these in the womb before long 😉
Jon Cicirelli, San Jose City Animal Services, San Jose, CA
Stay on track“A month ago things slipped. In the madness, we didn’t do our monthly numbers for the half way point so we didn’t know when to stop taking in cats; we just kept accepting them. We got totally backed up. Cats started getting sicker. The energy in the Shelter was of slight panic with a twinge of running around like a chicken with your head cut off. I couldn’t keep up and every day, more and more were starting to present with behaviour issues stemming from kennel stress. The volunteers were beside themselves. The treatment room was getting overworked with constantly rechecking sick cats. Surgeries got backed up due to this, and cats that were adopted had to wait for their surgeries before they could leave the Shelter.”
Stay on track“It felt like old times all over again, and it was not a good feeling. Honestly, looking back, how did we ever get by like that? And really we didn’t. We worked day-to-day with no bigger picture to aim for. Every day was a crisis. Every day was stressful. Every day cats were being euthanized. Every day the staff left exhausted. Without a doubt, hands down, in my seven years here, Capacity for Care is the best program that has ever happened to the Shelter.”
Back on track!
More questions for the Million Cat Challenge?
???http://www.millioncatchallenge.org/resources/dear-million-cat-challenge#cat5 [email protected]
#ThanksToMaddie!
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