Cattery Assistant (Saturday Mornings in County Durham) in North East

Do you have a passion for cats? Are you calm, patient and understanding? Many of the cats in our care have never experienced life in a loving home. Whilst they wait for that special someone who can give them a second chance of a forever home, they get lots of love, care and attention from the staff and volunteers at our animal centres. Our cattery assistants play a vital role in looking after the cats in our care until they find a new home.

They assist with the feeding and cleaning of the cattery, ensuring dietary requirements are met, records are updated and any concerns are raised to the staff member on duty. They also spend time grooming and playing, providing stimulation and helping cats develop the socialisation skills which can aid a successful rehoming. You’ll be working as part of a team and have some experience and knowledge of the behaviours of cats; however, we’ll provide you with full training. You’ll also need to have some level of physical strength to be able to pick up cats, again full training will be provided.

What your shift would look like:

• Arrival at 8:30 - we start the morning with a quick meeting to know what the day has planned
• 8:30 to 9:30 – cleaning cattery pens to ensure the cats have somewhere clean and safe to live
• 9:30 to 10:30 – helping with daily cleaning tasks such as laundry and dishes, and making enrichment for the cats to keep them happy throughout the day
• 10:30 to 11:00 – break, tea and coffee facilities on site and a shared break time
• 11:00 to 13:00 – cat socialising, play time, and assisting with grooming if required

You’ll make friends and meet new people while caring for cats that are waiting for a new home. You may have lots of experience with felines, or maybe you would like a cat but your lifestyle or home doesn’t suit cat ownership at the moment. This could be the purrrrfect role for you. Click apply to tell us more about you. Please note some centres may require you to be 18 years or over.

What you will be doing:

• Preparing and providing food and water for the cats in the cattery as directed by the centre staff
• Cleaning, disinfecting and maintaining cat pods in the cattery to a standard of cleanliness as required
• Attending to the exercise and coat care/grooming needs of the cats
• Following current administrative health and safety procedures in place at the centre and ensuring they are observed in all aspects of work
• Liaising with colleagues in the centre

The skills you need:

• Volunteers must be aged 16 or over (some centres may require 18 years or over)
• Knowledge of cats and ability to read their behaviour
• Must feel comfortable around cats and have a patient and understanding nature
• Able to carry out physical tasks
• Able to work within a team but also capable of working with minimal supervision

What’s in it for you:

• Meet new people and make new friends
• Learn great new skills to add to your CV
• A great induction and training relevant to your role
• Volunteer in a fun environment at the heart of the local community
• You’ll be making a huge difference to the welfare of animals
• We are happy to reimburse any reasonable travel expenses you may incur whilst volunteering with us

Disclaimer: Our voluntary roles are subject to an informal interview and trial period. We will ask you to provide contact details for two referees. Before you can start volunteering you’ll need to complete our simple online Health & Safety assessment. At the RSPCA we don’t want you to be out of pocket by volunteering, so we are happy to reimburse any agreed out of pocket expenses you incur whilst volunteering.

Tetanus is a life‑threatening bacterial disease caused by an infection in an open wound. In view of this everyone should be vaccinated to prevent infection and we require that all RSPCA staff and volunteers must be suitably protected. Tetanus vaccination is carried out in infancy (3 doses), at pre‑school and in adolescence so everyone should have had 5 doses by the time adulthood is reached. This is considered to give lifelong protection, although a booster might be considered if an injury is deemed to be high risk. We request that volunteers must check their vaccination history with their GP’s and if fully immunised no further action is required. If a volunteer has not had the required doses, the GP should offer them free of charge as part of the UK vaccination schedule.