Being that we are both a little weird, Santa Cruz was a great fit for Animal Balance. Our team recently partnered with the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter to host our first clinic in this gorgeous coastal Californian town. Instead of setting up in a regular clinic like normal people, we decided to hold the clinic in a 1920’s era 900 sq.ft. house located on the shelter property. Aptly nicknamed “The Spay House” this old house actually made for a pretty good clinic space! We filled the living room with 35 dog crates, stacking them on top of one another to make enough space for all of them. The dining room was transformed into a recovery area for post surgical patients, while the kitchen became the one stop shop for instrument cleaning and sterilizing. Induction was posted up in a hallway closet for the first day, but realized that there was a tiny spot in the corner of the kitchen that worked better for the next two days. There were three bedrooms, one of which was used for surgical prep, one for surgery and one to hold cats pre and post surgery. The flow went in a circular direction through the house and was quite efficient!
The drawbacks to working in an old house? The space a bit tight once we got 65 animals in there and 15+ people and despite the lovely Santa Cruz weather, it was also a little warm in there! On Saturday the toilet backed up and the power went out, but never fear, we dealt with each crisis as it arose and continued doing surgeries with no problems! Overall this first time clinic went fantastic! Our team had a blast exploring beautiful Santa Cruz and we are looking forward to returning to the Spay House to work with all of our new friends again in November!
Megan Gram
Animal Balance
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