Of Whiners And Squawkers

I just learnt a new word today – squawker! I was looking for synonyms for whiners for the subject of this post.

Right now, Ginger is whining all over the house again – I think he wants his dim sum, but no, I’m not giving it to him since he has already eaten breakfast. I got up at 3.45am today because I have so much to do. I need to finish marking test papers, I have to work on the next blanket and there are claims to pay out.

This morning (that’s at 3.45am), Vincent happily trotted down the stairs with me. It’s truly a joy to see him trotting again.

He is still licking rocks, but at least he isn’t eating soil anymore.

Ginger has issues with Vincent.

Normally Vincent doesn’t eat much so early in the morning. He prefers having a proper breakfast at around 7am.

But he came into the kitchen, so I tried his favourite Duck, but he didn’t want it. Homecooked? No.

He only wanted Cindy’s Tender Chicken (canned) so he got that. I slowly mixed some homecooked into it. Cindy’s canned is a supplementary food, not a complete food, whereas my homecooked has supplements added to it, so that makes it a little more “complete” though raw is still the best in terms of digestibility and nutrition-wise.

Remember the time when Vincent was only eating muscle meat (chicken fillet) and chicken liver? He wasn’t putting on any weight even he was gorging up so much food. Cats cannot survive on muscle meat alone. They need nutrients from bone, organs (not just the liver), etc. Our senior vet always warns us that while homecooking is a good effort (with good intentions), we have to ensure that it is balanced. And do we know enough to ensure this “balance”? For that, we have to rely on the experts (in nutrition) to teach us.

Tabs is never not ready to eat. LOL!

So, Tabs, Heidi and Ginger have already eaten, and surprisingly Indy didn’t ask for food, so I’m pushing it till later. Really, 3.45am is too early for breakfast, isn’t it?  But Vincent was here, so how could anyone say no, right?

Anyway, it’s been a very tiring week. And it’s not only because of the two days where Vincent didn’t look good, it’s also not because there was so much “proper” work to do, one of the reasons was…the whiners.

Ginger?

No, not Ginger. That whining, I can cope.

The whining applicants – this one is rather painful.

Let’s see….we have the one who always submits late (post one day before the deadline and expects Pos Ekspres to guarantee delivery on the next day – nope, that doesn’t happen, ma’am) and then whines to say that I must “understand” how busy she is in her rescue work.

We also have the one whom I think is just plainly selfish. Never gets the receipt or form right. Never. Even though she is applying for the umpteenth time.  How I wish I could just reject the application and not have to give her a chance to resubmit within the deadline. In the time taken to deal with one non-compliant application, I probably can pay out 5 (or more) compliant applications.  No wait…it sometimes takes me more than one hour to deal with a non-compliant application, what with all the whining (please, you have to understand, I’m a bigtime rescuer, I have so much to do, etc.).

The most annoying would be the emotional blackmailers. But that’s an old story. Still happening, of course. The latest one was that I will be held responsible for the wellbeing of unneutered animals if I don’t approve their (non-compliant) claims. Yups, apparently, I will be the one at fault. Not them.

And what about the one who has been claiming from us since Day One (yes, since 2009) but still doesn’t know what to do now, keeps getting everything wrong, and keeps whining (please help me, please help me)?  And the one who insists on using Poslaju? The one who still uses nicknames on the receipt?

So, I made these yesterday:

Going to send these out to every single applicant, no matter how many times the person has claimed.

And yes, I do allow whatsapp these days, simply for convenience (but that turned out to be a “mistake” now because the whiners are hounding me through whatsapp).

And for those who think that we are asking for too much, please allow me to explain why we need these four things.

(1) Photo collage – as proof of course. And if your animals look alike (same markings or colour), please provide a photo of them taken together.

Let me show you what our dedicated “aunties” who cannot read and write, provide (without me having to remind them), take a look:

Enough proof that there are two of them, right?

Is that so difficult, really?

(2) Why we need the short write-up – We are accountable to our donors. Our donors would like to know to whom their hard-earned donations go. Who is this recipient, what does she/he do for the animals? Or, for that matter, what will happen to this cat/dog? Will s/he be released or adopted? Our donors deserve to know this. So yes, we need the short write-up. In fact, donors have written to me asking for more – they want to know who these rescuers are.

(3) Form – We need the applicant’s declaration on the form. We need the bank account number and details. We need the vet to sign on the form as an added confirmation.

(4) Receipt – We need all details on the receipt (full name of applicant, date, surgeries done, vet’s signature and stamp). We need to keep the receipt for our audit process.

So yes, we need these four things – is that too much to ask for?

I don’t think so.

But to those who think it’s too many things, then please, go apply somewhere else, please. Nobody is forcing you to apply from us, right?

And I can certainly do without the whining. Honestly, I don’t have much patience with whiners.

Hey, Ginger has stopped whining! Now, I can go mark my test papers and later, work on the next blanket. Have a great morning, everyone.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2018/10/21/of-whiners-and-squawkers..

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AnimalCare is a registered society that promotes caregiving to street animals and helps in their neutering and medical needs. AnimalCare has a Medical Fund, Food Fund and Education Fund.

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