Cats living at PAWS need our help 365 days per year and how many cats PAWS can help is directly related to how many regular Cat Care Volunteers we have. Cat Care Training goes over the basics of the entire cat side of PAWS including cat handling, volunteer and cat safety, feeding and basic cleaning. Our Cat Care training goes over cat and volunteer safety, sanitation, proper feeding, cage and litterbox cleaning procedures, laundry, and other essential information. In addition, our cat-care volunteers help with properly socializing the cats. Providing our cats individual attention is an important part of reducing their stress and helping them find forever homes.
Shifts Available
Care training allows you to work our AM/PM shifts as well as participate in PAWS special events. The average AM shifts run from about 8:30-10:30. The average PM shifts run from 4:30-6:30 pm.
Cat Care Training Process
- Part 1 - Watch our virtual training class. This is a playlist of videos that runs about 1 hour total.
- Part 2 - Take our training class quiz. Once you've completed it and have scored at least an 8/10, email us at catvolunteertraining@centrecountypaws.org to move forward in the process.
- Part 3 - Complete an Adult Volunteer Application. If working alongside a youth volunteer (13 yrs+), you must also complete a Youth Volunteer Application.
- Part 4 - Complete a mentoring shift. Your in-person training consists of working with a more experienced Cat Care Volunteer in order to gain "hands on" experience. Please wear close-toed shoes and clothing you do not mind getting dirty. You can sign up for additional mentor shifts, or begin volunteering on your own once your mentor shift is complete. Pre-registration is required for all mentor shifts. You are not registered for a mentor session until you receive a confirmation email from PAWS.
Additional Information
- The minimum age to volunteer is 13 years old. All youth under the age of 18 must volunteer alongside a trained, responsible adult 21 years of age or older. Both the youth and the responsible adult must attend all training classes and must volunteer together.
- The minimum commitment expectation for volunteers is 30 hours per year (1 shift per month on average). Weekly (regular) volunteers get the most out of their volunteering experience and tend to form close relationships with the animals in our care and with the other volunteers.
- If you are interested in volunteering for community service and are completing less than 30 volunteer hours, please visit our Community Service Volunteers page.
- If you have special needs considerations, please visit our Special Needs Volunteers page.
Alternative Cat Training:
- We also offer Cat Adoption Helper Training, scheduled monthly and by appointment. Adoption Helper Volunteers escort people through the Cat Wing when we are open to the public, answer basic questions about the cats and PAWS adoption policies & procedures, and generally assist in helping our Cat Adoption Counselors pair adopters with cats. For more information, please visit our Cat Adoption Helper Volunteers page.