Bits 'n Pieces
cat basket checklist for feeders
Going on your first feeding trip? Below are the recommended items to bring along with you for your cat feeding sessions.
A sturdy bag, basket or shopping trolley large enough to hold:
Essential items
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| a few large tins of cat food with pop-tops (approx. half a tin for 1 cat) | spoon | empty plastic bags for refuse | your volunteer ID card | feeding dishes or paper plates | newspaper or glossy magazine |
Optional items
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| plaster/ gauze | at least 1litre of water (most sites will not have water) | an old towel |
insect repellant |
hand sanitizer/ Dettol or disinfectant wipes |
disposable plastic gloves |
umbrella or |
raincoat (compact, foldable) |
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an electric torch |
500g of cat biscuit | backup phone numbers - your alternate feeders, Cafe-in-charge's number, OFPM number, campus security number |
It is a good idea to have a hand phone with you, fully charged. Keep important backup phone numbers in the quick-dial directory.
DO REMEMBER:
Food is obvious. Usually a big tin will serve 1-3 adult cats, but some cats have enormous appetites. Pop-tops are useful, and can-openers help if the pop-top ring breaks off. A swiss army knife is better, actually.
While most cats prefer fishy cat food, some like the dry food better. This also draws pests less rapidly.
A spoon is a lot easier to work with than the lid of the tin.
Empty plastic bags should be on hand for rubbish disposal, separating wet and dry things (e.g. the rain from your head, if nothing else), keeping food clean, etc.
Your volunteer id card should be carried whenever you feed or attend to the cats in case people try to interfere with your work.
Choice of dishes, paper or leaves is a matter of what works best at the site. Dishes must be removed and cleaned. Paper must be removed and discarded appropriately—and must be thick enough to prevent wet juices from leaking onto pavement—but it’s multi-purpose! Leaves, from non poisonous plants, are inconspicuous in planted areas and don’t need removal if you do not over-feed. In other words, the cats must finish food up promptly. Otherwise you are littering and encouraging rats and insects. This is a strategy for people who can’t wait and can’t return to clean.
Water. Very important. You will get thirsty. You may want to leave clean water for cats to drink, though they usually go to puddles and drains. You will need to wash your hands. You may well need to wash the feeding floor. You may need to break up fights and discourage bullies.
Hand sanitizer, wipes, plasters. Minor accidents will happen. If you lose or forget your spoon, you will want to get the cat food off your hands. You may also have minor cuts and scrapes dealing with hostile shrubbery in the dark, sharp tin lids, etc.
Disposable gloves let you handle obnoxious things more cleanly and safely. If you should have to remove cat-poop, gloves are a must as toxoplasmosis is transmitted through ingestion of fecal matter from infected cats.
An old towel can be used to mop up, dry yourself after rain, keep your head dry during a storm, restrain a panicked cat more safely, cover a carrier or trap to reduce panic and struggling, line a carrier to make a cat more comfortable, etc.
Insect repellant will be useful in sites with shrubbery, near water, etc. (That’s 1, 2, 3…) Cans, sticks or patches, depending on what works for you, can save discomfort and mosquito-borne sicknesses.
An umbrella or raincoat, preferably the latter, with a hood, can increase your comfort level and help avoid sickness, esp. during rainy season storms.
An electric torch lets you see what you are doing, avoid falls and tangles with undergrowth, and refrain from putting your hands or feet in any place that you cannot see. Better add your nose to the list, too!
Backup phone numbers, preferably stored in a hand phone let you call for help or advice readily, and let you alert other volunteers to problems. Also, since SARS, you may have noticed the number of payphones decreasing—and being located in spots where you are not.
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Some safety precautions and useful information
NTU is a green area, full of life. Some of it bites or stings if stepped on or accidentally touched. Some of it may just grab your wallet or hand phone.
This document is organized as follows:
Generally, we will not try to kiss the cobra or the viper, but most snake injuries arise from accidental contact - not looking before you step over a log or stick your hand into a bush.
So look. Carry a torch so that you can look meaningfully if you are working in the dark. Vipers are sleepy during the day, but hunt at night by sensing the body heat of prey animals like rats.
Kraits usually stay out of the way in the woods.
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The python is not usually a hazard to adult humans, but it is to cats. We have to expect that homeless cats will simply disappear from time to time, but if the cats in your feeding area start disappearing at intervals of a few to several weeks, suspect snake predation and alert the other volunteers. It is possible to trap pythons, which prey on domestic pets too. |
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Cobras are not aggressive, but they will defend themselves and can spit venom accurately about 5 to 6 feet. They aim for the eyes. Of course, they can also bite. They will be active after a rain shower, which brings out frogs and toads, one of their food sources, and they will seek out paved areas around sun up to warm up after a cold night. |
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Ants, which constantly scout for food, will flock to cat food and leave a pheromone trail for all their friends. They can give very annoying bites. If frequent bites cause you to become sensitized, you will find that it takes days for the itching and blistering to stop. We have some “ant-proof” dishes, and you can improvise your own by bringing a plastic tray, setting the dishes in it, and pouring water in to form a moat. |
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Other insects, arachnids and arthropods can be a nuisance or a real health hazard. The fuzzy-wuzzy caterpillar may seem harmless until you find out that the fuzz contains stinging hairs. Centipede stings can produce a very severe reaction requiring hospitalization. Use insect repellant liberally; mosquitoes are present wherever there is shrubbery. It’s good to prevent bites with protective clothing and repellant. |
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Most feral dogs are about as threatening as one of the Queen’s corgis! :P Just don’t look like a lady-in-waiting! (One of HM’s dogs had to be sent to the farm in disgrace after biting a royal attendant.) Feral dogs are sometimes seen late at night on the campus or very early—3 or 4 am . One or two dogs will usually be timid and avoid human beings, but if a female is in heat, she’ll attract a crowd. More permanent packs form around females and their grown and growing children (sorry, puppies). If a pack is present, it should be considered dangerous both to yourself and to the cats. Socially cohesive, packs work on the principle that the family that preys together, stays together. Report them to campus security without delay and alert other volunteers through the Cafe-in-charge. Do not turn your back on an aggressive dog or group of dogs. Do not raise your hand to it or stare at it. Speak quietly, walk calmly toward it, and summon help on your hand phone. If you have a car with you, get into it. If a dog jumps up on you, raise your knee to knock it away rather than raising your hand to it. Some experts suggest using a rattle made by putting stones in an empty softdrink (or catfood?) tin. One person I know was attacked while jogging in the early evening by feral dogs in the Bukit Timah area. She saved herself by jumping into a deep storm drain. |
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Our clients, the cats. Unlike the other animals mentioned here, the cats are animals with whom we seek enough contact to take them in for vet care when needed, or for adoption if possible. But etiquette must be observed. The best general rule on touching a new cat is to let it decide when and whether to approach you. If you don’t know how to read cat body language, contact the Cafe-in-charge and ask for training. If there is demand, we can arrange it. DO NOT attempt to touch a strange cat, especially if it is frightened or angry. It will treat you as a threat to its life and react by biting and scratching. Dumping water on quarreling cats usually breaks up the fight without hurting anyone—especially you. If you are bitten, flush the wound with soap and water, apply antiseptic and arrange to see the doctor. You can wait a day if you know that your anti-tetanus shots are up to date (they last 5 – 10 years, so know when you had your last one.) If there is any swelling or redness after several hours or the following day, go to the doctor for a course of antibiotics. Keep a supply of antibiotic cream such as Fucidin on hand to apply to wounds. It may save you a trip to the clinic. Avoid direct contact with cat feces, since ingesting it from inadequately washed hands can cause a serious illness, toxoplasmosis. This advice is especially pertinent to pregnant women, since serious injury to the developing infant will result. |
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24-hour campus security number 6790 5200. Enter it to your hand phone’s quick dial directory.
The campus security advice page is at:Human beings could be a bigger problem than any of the campus critters.
Most people are neutral, if not well-disposed, toward the Cat Café idea, but there are a few animal-haters in the sea of the generally indifferent.
Carry your volunteer id card to show that you have a right to be where you are, doing what you are doing—feeding the cats, catching a cat for sterilization or vet care, etc. Be polite, be friendly, but do not invite bullying and do not put up with abusive behavior.
If working late at night, go in pairs or have someone on call. Do not volunteer information about the places and times of feeding; refer people who want to know things to NTU_cats@lycos.com. If people abuse you verbally or threaten you, say that you will call security, and do it . An officer can require the harasser to produce identity documents. If someone touches you without your permission, say that you will make a police report, and DO IT.
You must be given a copy. Be sure to inform the campus security.
One of the other volunteers can accompany you to make the report. Inform the Cafe-in-charge of untoward incidents and give as much information as you can. People who would like to beat you up may decide to target the cats instead. If they know where and when feeding takes place, they may interfere with food or water or do something to poison the Cat Café environment. This is another reason why you should wait until the cats have eaten, clean up after yourself and maintain low visibility.
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If you find an animal trap near the café site, contact the coordinator so that Estates can be informed. Traps set by us will not be left unattended, and they will not be of a type likely to cause injury. The trap in the illustration has a sharp hook for attaching bait, which can cause injury. CWS-supplied traps do not use hooks. If you cannot reach anyone immediately, consider springing the trap. If you have a car with you, consider loading the trap into the car and bringing it to the Estate Office. If a campus resident has requested a trap from the AVA, we can find out about it easily from the AVA. Residents are not allowed to place traps outside their own property to deal with nuisances; if they do, the trap can be confiscated and returned to AVA. People who borrow traps generally have problems with animals invading their homes and gardens. Sometimes, however, they just hate the sight of their neighbors’ pets, and intend to harm an animal after luring it into a trap. Cat Welfare Society is experienced in mediating disputes, and mediation works well if the complaint is a rational one. |
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