Sassy

Just a heads up - this blog may be making a very slight shift.  I love writing instructional or informative posts, like ones on medications, foods, litters, etc., but I only get around to that so often.  I'd love to start including posts related to rescue, veterinary stuff (I'm really loving the vet tech courses and would love to share some of that with you guys!), and sometimes a bit more about my critters, since my experiences shouldn't just teach me - they should help others, too.

So anyways, here we go:


Penny Update!
     We have about $380 right now, and are slowly but surely working our way up to that $900 number.  I know $1,000 was our goal, but the second we have enough to get her in, I want to.  The longer we wait, the more it scars over, and the less chance we have (if we had any to begin with) of repair.  If you know ANYONE you can pass her story on to, please let them know.  You can donate to her cause on the right-hand side of the page or at her website.  In the meantime, she's being her typical, goofball self.  :)


Sassy
     Let me start of Sassy's story...not even with Sassy.  Actually, it really begins with my mum.  My mum went to the hair salon a couple of weeks ago and noticed a cat with a collar but  no tags desperately trying to get into the salon.  The employees were quite annoyed with it and said it had been coming around for a few weeks.  They told her she was declawed.

Well, my mum went back the next day with a carrier and kitty hopped right in.  She was extremely affectionate, and my mom did everything right trying to find her home.  No takers.  So my mom watches as the vet bills stack up with all the things that go along with rescuing a lost or stray cat - tests, shots, tags, and the big S - Spaying.

BUT...kitty puts on a little weight and my mom starts to wonder if she's preggo.  My mother wants to get her spayed anyways, but I convince her to determine for sure if she is or not first, offering to help if there are little ones on the way.  We get everything set up and await the call.  Turns out she's not preggo after all, though my mum is still complaining about the cost.  :\  Welcome to the world of rescue, mum!


Now, a few days after that cat's surgery, I see a post on Facebook from a woman I know at the rescue that we're working with for Penny, explaining an emergency situation.  A woman in town with SIXTY-FIVE CATS IN HER HOUSE is moving to Tennessee and stopped by the shelter to ask if they'd take in the 57 she didn't want.  28 are fixed, none have vet records, and one is pregnant and going to pop any second now.  No.  No shelter will take 57 cats.  Heck, our animal control/humane society can only take 50 per day, and that's from everywhere in the county.  When do they have to be gone by (because her landlord doesn't know about them)?  WEDNESDAY.

Look...I have worked with that many cats before.  I worked in a shelter with about 50-60 cats per house spread out over two houses and a barn.  That took about 50 or 60 litter boxes EASILY, isolation was hell, records were complicated, and it took about 3 or 4 employees plus the owner to take care of that many cats every day.  Boxes were scooped twice daily and it took a few hours.  Imagine filling that many water and food bowls (and yes, they HAD water and food bowls).  Just imagine that many cats for a second.

This woman had 65 in her house WITH her and her husband.  Neither is wealthy and the house is no mansion.  For litter she used dirt.  Half the cats have upper respiratory infections and no attempt at medication or isolation has been made whatsoever.  The fact that only one cat was pregnant was a damned miracle.  They must have done some strategic fixing, or maybe that's why they HAVE so many cats.  Ages between 2 months and 8 years.  The cats were flipping out in the house, but the second they were removed?  Calm.  They were dying, literally, to get out of there.

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, I really do.  Things get out of hand sometimes, even to very good, normally responsible people.  But if it were up to me, that woman would not be allowed to take any of the cats with her on the move, let alone eight, no matter what that means we have to do with them.  She's only taking one that's fixed.  Next thing you know, Tennessee is going to be handling a woman with 60 or more cats in one home.  Pray someone smells it and reports her to the authorities before she hurts or neglects anymore cats.

Since we were all prepped and ready to go for my mom's cat, my fiance and I had a brief talk and I contacted her to volunteer to foster the mom and her litter.  I spent the entire night and morning re-cleaning the room she'd go in, moving the other critters out so she'd have peace and quiet, and setting up a big wire kennel filled with soft blankies and towels, a shallow litter pan, a water dish and a bowl full of kitten kibble.  I readied the KMR, covered half the kennel for privacy and security, and went to pick up momma cat.  It was a lot of work, but hopefully she'll have a little less stress and be able to have a safe, healthy delivery when the time is right.

This was about an hour ago.  I now have momma cat (ready to pop any minute now, according to the woman who pulled her from the hellhole house) all tucked into her new home.  It took me a long, long time to get her to come out  of the carrier - she was practically catatonic with worry.  She explored her new home and settled in quickly.  She is a beautiful, black, young kitty with gorgeous eyes, and I hope with all my heart that she didn't catch a URI from the sick cats of the house.  No more dirt litter boxes for her.  No more crowded homes, no more litters after this one, and no more neglect.  Sassy is going to have real meals every day, vet visits, tags, and paperwork, she and her babies are going to find amazing homes.  Let's just get through this pregnancy.


I'll keep you guys updated on both Penny and now Sassy, and when the little ones come along I'll share the experience with all of you.  :)

This is a happy ending!

-Miss Mouse
<:3 )~~

The Holidays!

Hey guys!  Hope you're having a great start to the holiday season!

Penny Update:

Penny's doin' great.  She's gained enough weight that she looks like a normal dog now!  Except for the limp, of course, heh.  We go on longer and longer walks every day to build up her other muscles, and she's still on high protein food so her body will have all the resources it needs to compensate.  She's already turning pit bull haters into pit bull lovers!  She really seems to think of us as family now, too - she's only content when both my fiance and I are in the room (and when she's on the couch!).  She and the cat have progressed to sitting near each other and sniffing, but I still don't trust either of them enough to turn them loose around each other.  It's a start, though!

The weather is getting cold and it seems to really affect her - she doesn't want to move around as much when it's chilly outside, instead opting for laying down and chewing rather than running around and wanting to play.  She also displays a lot of really subtle pained body language on colder days, which seems to be independent of anything else, so I'm guessing it has to do with her leg.  Her surgery is tentatively scheduled for January 3rd, so hopefully in just one month's time we'll have started down the path to a normal puppy dog life - painfree!

If you can help Penny, please give anything you can spare using the paypal button on the right, or check out her own little blog space here.

Anyhoo!

It's gettin' holiday time, and with the holidays comes a lot of food and festivities.  Here's a neat article I just found with ten toxic items and foods to keep away from your pets.  There are of course more than mentioned, and some of the things pointed out are a little more complex than covered (like houseplants, heh), but this is a great spot to start so I wanted to share.  Remember that if you need to know if a houseplant is toxic to your cat or dog, you can check the ASPCA's list here.  For other animals, you can do a google search to determine if something is toxic or not.  If you AT ALL suspect your pet may have gotten to something dangerous, don't take any chances!  Call your vet or local emergency hour vet hospital and ask any questions - nothing is too silly to ask when your pet's life may be in danger.

Now that we've covered what NOT to share with your pets this holiday season, how about a link to something you can?  Yeah?  Yeah?  While looking for ways to fundraise for Penny, I found a huge collection of recipes for baking your own dog treats.  Wouldn't it be sweet if while you baked holiday cookies for friends and family, you could make some for your furry friend, too?  That's not the only place to find them, either, there are dog treat recipes all over the internet - just do a Google search.  I haven't tried any of them, so use judgement when picking out one that is healthy or appropriate for your pet.  You can probably find just as many recipes for cat treats, bunny treats, bird treats...just about anything!  Tis the season to bake!  Did you keep any of your seeds from your pumpkins or squash this Fall, by the way?  Rodents go nuts for pumpkin or squash seeds!  :)

While we're on the topic of the holidays, I found yet ANOTHER article here  (I can't write original content today, can I?) about how to pet-proof your Christmas tree.  I'd write about it, but I haven't risked getting a Christmas tree the past few years BECAUSE of my pets, so I don't have any experiences to lend!  With Penny needing all of our spare...well...pennies...I may have to give some of the suggestions a shot next year rather than this one!


I hope everyone's having a good start to December!
-Miss Mouse
<:3 )~~


P.S. - I was also going to talk about vaccinating your pet at home and what to do if your pet has an allergic response to a vaccine (which can happen even when it's done at a vet, so it's a good thing to know!), but it's sort of a big topic, so I think I'll cover it next time.  Maybe I'll do a video to go with it, yeah?  :)