By: Kezzie Paxton
Hi, my name is Kezzie. I’ve been a part of the Cats Protection family for five years now. My journey started back in 2015 when I got my first job working for Cats Protection as a Cat Care Assistant at Ferndown Homing Centre in Dorset. Before getting this job, I had completed lots of volunteer work at my local Cats Protection branch. My role as a volunteer consisted of helping to feed, medicate, groom, take cats to the vets, socialise and desensitise the cats, clean the cat pens and help with adoption paperwork. I also helped with updating the branches Facebook page and even did some fostering for a while.
My time at Ferndown was brilliant, I learnt a lot.
Working as a Cat Care Assistant was so rewarding. I was involved in getting photos of cats in care and writing information about them for the sponsor a pen. I started as a volunteer educational speaker while at Ferndown and did my first cat talk to a community group with one of my colleagues.
During my time there I did some fundraising for the Centre. I ran the Bath half marathon in a cat mascot costume and cycled from London to Paris to raise as much money as possible for the cats and kittens at the Homing Centre. I sold Malteser crunch and other baked goods from reception and had a stall with baked goods (including homemade cat treats) and guessing games like guess the weight of the cake and guess how many Dreamies in the jar at a few different events. I also organised a cat talk with Trudi Atkinson about the history of cats and cat behaviour at a local village hall. While at Ferndown, I attended an International Cat Care Talk about feline behaviour and a conference on lots of interesting feline related things (i.e. how to assess pain in cats).
At Ferndown, the Cat Care Assistants took it in turn to restrain the cats during the vet run which was interesting to hear what the Vet had to say about each cat. I gained lots of experience of caring for cats, the reservation and adoption processes, veterinary processes and feline behaviour.
Cats Protection Ferndown Adoption Centre
In 2017 I decided to move back North to be closer to my family.
The change in scenery wasn’t the end of my Cats Protection journey; I was lucky enough to get a job at the York Adoption Centre as a Cat Care Assistant. I really enjoyed my time at York but felt the cold a lot more in the winter! York was a lot more outdoors compared to Ferndown. It was interesting comparing centres. After learning about how important scent transfer for cats is while at Ferndown Homing Centre, I talked to my manager about giving the cats in care a knitted blanket at point of reservation for the cat to go home with. At York myself and another colleague took charge of updating the Centre’s social media which was fun. While at York I got my microchip certificate and started gaining confidence in microchipping cats. In my spare time I continued being a volunteer educational speaker and delivered many talks to community groups (i.e. rainbows, brownies, guides, beavers, cubs, scouts and school groups). I fundraised for York Cats Protection by running 50km along the London Thames Path.
Cats Protection York Adoption Centre
At the end of 2018, I joined the team at Tyneside Adoption Centre.
During my first few months at Tyneside I continued gaining confidence in microchipping cats as I was one of the only staff members who had got my certificate so far. I was able to assist with restraining cats during the vet run every so often. I continued delivering cat talks in my spare time and the first ‘Kiddy Cat Funday’ was held at Tyneside Adoption Centre which I was involved with. I attended my first CP conference at London Gatwick and was able to visit the National Cat Centre which was great.
In 2019 I then managed to get my dream job as Senior Cat Care Assistant at Tyneside Adoption Centre. I have enjoyed having the extra responsibilities this new role involves and have learnt a lot so far. When I first got the position, I had a day at the Veterinary Surgery that we use to see how different operations are carried out and what a day there is like. I also got the chance to go to Warrington Adoption Centre for a day of shadowing the Senior Cat Care Assistant there which was great for seeing how similar another Centre runs on a vet day. There is so much to learn about cats! I have recently started an online course with International Cat Care in my spare time on the Advances in Feline Behaviour which has been super interesting so far.
Cats Protection is a fantastic charity and I am very lucky to be able to work as a team with my colleagues at Tyneside doing what I am passionate about; helping to improve the lives of cats and kittens that don’t have a home and providing them with a second chance at a better life.
Me and some of my new team!
Kezzie has channelled her love and passion for animals into her work since 2015; she has been a dedicated member of Team Tyneside since 2018. After completing a BTEC in Animal Management at college, Kezzie went on to study Zoology with Animal Behaviour at university. When Kezzie’s not hard at work, she enjoys baking, exercising and hanging out with her lovely cat Amber.
Cats Protection Tyneside Adoption Centre 
One thought on “My Cats Protection Journey”