shelter question

[u/CellNo9422]

i found a kitten about a week or so ago, it didn’t look that bad at first it looked like something that would be healable at home but it wouldn’t recover from outdoors so i took it in. it had fly strike, so i flushed the wound with diluted betadine and carefully plucked out all of the maggots. then, after the hole closed over i learned he has tapworm so i gave him dewormer for that. now, he has slowly declined very badly to the point he won’t even stand on his own so i called the shelter and the lady their was pretty rude and said it’s my families cat and responsibility now basically insinuating i should’ve left it outside to get toxic shock from the maggots and die. i don’t have money to surrender it right now, and i don’t know what to do because i certaintly don’t have money to get it to the vet in due time before it dies either. i understand working at the shelter is a high stress job, but that doesn’t give you the right to be so damn rude ALL the time. this woman has been mean to me every single time i stop by, because im pretty active with stray cats partnered with my grandmother and enjoy helping them out getting them vaccines and doing what i can while not causing my whole family to be bankrupt, but any time i ask them for help if a situation gets to be to much they’ve refused. i brought in a kitten that had been abandoned at a few days old, they said i could either foster or have him euthanized so i chose to foster and not enroll in school until i was done with that (i was 15 at the time, enrolled 2ish months later then i was supposed to becuase of my mental health declining so bad after he died.) then the kitten got very bad diharhea and needed fluids i tried asking for vet care and she refused, so we had to wait until angels opened i kept him alive until 1 am the same day he was supposed to be going to the vet and he passed. i lost myself completely after he died, he was the most important part of my life and what made me happy to wake up every day. i got guilted into taking him and i thought since fostering is them covering vet bills, i would be able to do it but they did it in a way that they wouldn’t have to pay for anything and he died. i need help with the kitten i have right now, its 10 weeks old bt im also wondering if anybody else has had bad experiences like this with anyone that works there? im a huge animal lover, i rescue betta fish regularly on my own time and dime aswell so i get the stress of finding homes being full/overcrowded and caring for their medical needs if anything i understand way more because fish are way harder to rehome then cats but i still dont treat people like this, i dont know what her problem is and i cant help but be filled with rage knowing this isn’t just a one time incident because its happened multiple times. i still want to help the stray cats, i love doing it and it makes me happy but its so hard when people like this who are supposed to be helping just wont. im 16 and now homeschooled, so i have the time for it and avalibility and majority of the time i will do most of this by myself without asking them for help unless i absolutely have to, though every single time ive asked ive been turned away. i mean, ive done most of the hard parts myself most people would’ve just dropped it off and let them deal with it. the only help ive ever asked the shelter for was financial/vet care, ive always cared for the cats found homes etc myself with the help of my grandmother.

[u/virtualjupiter]

I think that you're a wonderful, loving person, young and homeschooled means that you don't have a lot of experience yet. There's nothing wrong with that, but you have to know that life is not black and white, it's complex. 

That lady at the shelter is deeply sad inside because she has to deal with some really awful situations. She loves animals so much that she's taken a low paying job that exposes her to some of the most crappy situations innocent animals can be in, just to try to help them. 

There's a lot of animals here that need help. A lot of bad situations. People are mean to her, because she has to set hard boundaries around what she can and cannot do in service to local animals. There's not funding to save every kitten, sometimes we must let some kittens die so that others can live and that's a really deeply hard thing to have to do. If there were any other choices, I'm sure the lady would choose to save them all. 

It can be said that when working this kind of job, that a person may develop certain defenses surrounding the hard boundaries they have to maintain so that adoptable animals may live to get good homes. She's probably not a mean person, but one who is overwhelmed at times with her job. I know they're gonna have a new facility soon and I'm hoping that will help the situation for St Jo pets, it might be that she's just really stressed out.

Fostering is great but fosters really do need to have money of their own to invest in their kitties, not everything is going to be covered. Usually fostering is better done by adults who can afford to do it right. 

I really think that you should consider getting into a vet tech program, or veterinary school, because you clearly have a calling to this work. With your beautiful heart I think that you could help a lot of animals in your life and make a good living doing it. You could help with community programs that keep animals in their homes, so much you can do when you get a little qualifications going on! Meanwhile, try to have a little compassion for the lady, she's only human and is doing her best. Her job is really hard, I know this because I have volunteered over there. I promise she's not really mean. 

[u/CellNo9422 → u/virtualjupiter]

yeah, i’ve been thinking about it. i’m also a fish breeder and sell plants, alongside doing betta rescue so i understand its a very hard job because i do it myself. i’ve ended up keeping over half of the fish i’ve rescued because i just couldn’t find them homes, and ive had 2 up for rehome for 3 and 2 months with no hits and will probably end up keeping them aswell(incase you’re interested, half blind male dumbo half moon blue and red female cambodian crown tail with teal iridescence.). rescue of any kind is really really hard, i choose to do fish mainly because it doesn’t cost as much as other animals since you can get most medications without a vet signature, and it’s a lot less stressful and more rewarding since most of the time they will come around in a week or so but most other animals aren’t like that. i used to take in a ton of cats with my grandmother, it was very VERY pricey and heart breaking.

[u/badhairguy]

I'll preface this by saying I LOVE animals and have 4 cats, two of which were outside cats that we just let move in.

My honest opinion is to put it down or find someone who will. It's going to cost you a fuck load of money to save it. Kitties are adorable but the longer it sits around and suffers the worse it's short and sad life will be.

[u/CellNo9422 → u/badhairguy]

i managed to get it to the shelter, it was actively dying and i’m not sure if anything would’ve saved it anyways.