Jim
the Spyderlites might be a good alternative to strobes. Especially with the shelter animals. Like Julie, I've not had major issues with my studio lights but I've not done as much work as you are with the shelter guys. That's a highly stressful situation for them to begin with and to put them into a strange situation with lights popping doesn't help.

Years ago, I built a studio above my garage that had a huge skylight for daylight shooting and track lighting running down the middle into which I placed photofloods which I just aimed at the white walls and ceiling for my portrait lighting. It worked fine and gave me the ability to actually see the shadows before I started shooting.

Jim