A day in the life of Operations Director Tracy…

For those of you who know Tracy, she is an absolute angel and we honestly don’t know where the charity would be without her help. To really give you an idea of how incredibly mental it can be supporting The Cat Welfare Group, Tracy has shared with us what it’s like in a typical day…

0600 Feed my own cats before they report me for cruelty as they think it’s been far too long without anything to eat! Whilst drinking first coffee of the day check messages to ensure nothing urgent (Messenger, WhatsApp and emails). Check bank account and send daily statement to Lorri.

0630 Feed cat/kittens in both pens, clean and tidy after their overnight party (litter everywhere with poo paw skids from running through the litter trays!)

0700 put Rally’s first drop in his poorly eye (he has three different types of drops that need to be administered four times daily with 40 minutes between each drop! - see pics of Rally and his eye drop chart below!)

Continue the clear up operation, wash up food and water bowls, pop in clean water/bowls and fresh dry food.

0740 put Rally’s second drop in. Spend some time with the Tennis kittens and their new sister Laurel (feral, 6 weeks old).

0800 Sort out feral food for colony at West Wellow and leave by gate ready to be collected.

0820 put Rally’s third drop in. Spend some time with the newly arrived mum & kittens (Babs, Sid & Kenneth) in the other pen.

0840 get changed and take Rally for his 0900 vet appointment.

0945 arrive home, Rally given all clear so no need for any more eye drops. That also saves another nine drops today!!

‘Skip out’ after breakfast poo & wee from both pens.

1000 sort out float and take card payment terminal off charge ready for Pets at Home Guildford fundraising event (Jacqui (our wonderful fundraising volunteer) who is collecting and picking up van early afternoon, answered a few messages from fosters & other volunteers.

10.30 leave for meeting at Lorri’s with Fiona & Tracey about how they can help us with grant applications, funding and a plethora of other things (picked up Emily, who helps with the website, calendars and social media, as she has also offered more time to assist us). Really productive and enjoyable meeting, lots of ideas shared and plans for the future day to day running of the charity in the pipeline.

1250 left in a rush (sorry Fiona, Tracey & Emily!) as running late, refuelled van ready for Pets at Home Guildford trip, stopped at Locks Heath centre as desperate for a wee (sorry, too much info?!), picked up a pasty & cake from Soothills (would have been rude not to!), then home.

Vicki H was at mine and had already popped Babs & kittens into carrier (moving them to Heather). Put float, card terminals and a couple of other bits in the van, updated mileage log from the morning ready for Jacqui to collect. Gave my own cats their lunchtime snack, quickly fed the kittens and skipped out litter trays, it’s now 1350 and I have a teams call with our accountant at 1400 to go through the draft accounts for 2023. Cake demolished in 10 seconds flat!

1445 call finished. Replied to a few emails and messages. Rang Lorri to discuss the morning and year end accounts meetings and catch up with each other about cats in care movement/adoption.

1530 back into pen to sit and socialise the kittens, particularly Laurel (who is starting to turn)

1630 Zooplus food delivery! Unpack, sort and put in garden storage containers.

1700 feed my cats because they are clearly starving! Take dog out for a bimble around the park.

1730 feed kittens, skip out etc.

1745 check a couple of vet bills (17 invoices from one vet and invoices for now ‘owned’ cats that had pre-existing medical conditions that we continue to fund for life). Email vets with the queries, enter the rest onto our accounts software, enter details of adopted cats vaccinations & neutering on adoption spreadsheet and then pay via bank transfer.

1900 reheat pasty and bung chips in the Ninja!

1930 Answer messages.

1945 back out to the pen, sit and play with kittens while answering some messages and emails.

2030 get my cats in before it gets dark!

2100 back out to pen to give the kittens their supper, skip out litter trays and replaced water.

2130 sort through paperwork and electronically file adoption forms. Go through amendments to draft accounts for 2023 following meeting this afternoon.

2245 make a cuppa, feet up and cuddles with my boys and dog watching tv.

Midnight - bedtime!

Do you feel exhausted reading that or just us?! And that’s just one single day, imagine what a week is like! Our dedicated volunteers work day and night to ensure the welfare of the cats and kittens in our area. But we can’t do it without your help. If you would like to donate towards our cause, you can do so by visiting our justgiving page or if you’d like to order us some goodies from amazon, please visit this link. Thanks so much!