"And the stockings were hung..."

Merry Christmas (Happy Holidays) Everyone!!! My mom got me a new camera for Christmas so you can expect all sorts of great new photos for the website. This was Mr. Hope and Peach's first Christmas with us, and it was a very special one. Especially since noone expected Mr. Hope to survive this long (I believe his prognosis was a few weeks to 2 months...and that was way back in MAY!). The tree even managed to survive Peach's onslaught, which has subsided now that he's opened his own gifts and has mice and noisy balls all over the house. In the photos you can see the dogs' stockings (the cats shared one and it didn't have a picture on it like these), as well as our outdoor Christmas lights (our townhouse is the one to the right in the picture).

Dangers to a Christmas Pet

We are well into the holiday season now and I feel the need to write about the problems with giving a “living Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanzaa/etc gift” (we celebrate Christmas, so that is what I will use for the examples; just know that it can apply to any holiday, including birthdays/anniversaries). Boyfriends want to give their girlfriends something cute & cuddly, and many parents (and Santa!) will be barraged with requests for a puppy/kitty/pony for Christmas. Misty and I obviously believe in the joy of caring for animals given that we have 6 of our own (3 dogs and 3 cats). However, pets NEVER make a good gift! Let me explain why…

1. Training. Many people choose a young animal when it is a gift. They may pick an older one for themselves, knowing that old Rocket may not have much time left and they want to make it pleasant, but it is still true that most pet gifts tend to be puppies and kittens. Young animals require a LOT of care.
1. For puppies, you have to worry about housetraining (which generally involves taking them out every couple hours and/or cleaning up lots of messes), as well as other training for temperament and obedience. If you neglect the temperament/obedience training, the puppy may one day bite you or go for a run and bite a neighbor, which could mean the puppy/dog ends up euthanized. And it will be your fault for neglecting his/her training.
2. For kittens, you have to worry about them getting into everything. Kittens love to play and have much more energy than even a small child. Plus, they are tiny and can get into all sorts of nooks and crannies. We still haven’t figured out where our newest, Peach, takes his toy mice (he carries them off in his mouth and we never see them again). Luckily, most kittens have an inert sense of using the litter box, but if you introduce a kitten to an older cat, your older cat may decide to forget his/her litter box training.
2. Attention. New animals need LOTS of attention. That may work well on Christmas morning when the kids are excited and the puppy is running around being cute. But what happens later than night, when everyone is tired and sleepy from food overload, but the puppy still wants to play? Or the next week/month when the novelty has worn off and the puppy is now a nuisance needing to be walked and taken out or cleaned after?
3. Parental Involvement. This is a biggie. When we helped at the shelter, we HATED seeing people come in and return an animal because “the kids didn’t take care of it”. News flash, parents, YOU are the adult. It is great to try to teach kids responsibility, but the age-old “take care of the puppy or I’ll take it away” is a cruel punishment not just to your kids, but also to the puppy. Who knows where that puppy will end up: a new, better home (you hope); with a bad, abusive owner; with an owner who discards it on the side of the road; or euthanized? Any of those could and does happen. Please think about that before returning a pet because you want to punish your kids.
4. Holiday Health Dangers. This is applicable even to pets you already may have. Some seasonal plants are deadly to dogs, as is chocolate. Let gift givers know that you have pets that could eat a food present and ask them not to wrap such things (our Doberman, Sierra (RIP), ate a box of Whitman’s Samplers once; my mom now sends any food items unwrapped when she sends gifts). Table scraps can mean diarrhea and vomiting. And trust me, you do not want to have to pull that pretty icicle stuff out of your dog/cat’s butt. It is gross and it can cause them a good deal of pain. This is Peach’s first Christmas with us and we’ve already had to yell at him for biting the Christmas lights, trying to climb up the Christmas tree, batting at ornaments, and opening a couple gifts a little too early. Luckily, we prepared properly: the lights are never plugged in when we aren’t in the room (to avoid electrocuting him); we removed the hooks from all the ornaments so that they are only hung by string (to avoid skewering his innards should he swallow them); the few glass ornaments we have are up high and placed very carefully so they can’t fall (also to avoid dangerous ingestion); and Misty and I have a pact not to look too closely at torn gifts if they are addressed to us – we just hand it over to the other one to be re-wrapped.
5. Adjustment to Surroundings. A new pet always requires an adjustment period. The holidays can be the worst time to try this as there is usually a lot of chaos – extra people, possibly children or other animals that may not be nice to the new pet; tantalizing arrays of food left within potential reach of an untrained pet; loud noises from new toys or fireworks; etc.
6. Personal Preference. You may think that a nice big dog that can go hiking with you is the best kind of dog out there, but your significant other/child/friend may not necessarily agree with you. Pets are very personal and in order to ensure that the pet stays with the owner, it is important that there is a bond, a connection. Many shelters will not allow someone to adopt an animal for someone else; ours insisted that every member of the household (including other dogs, if applicable) meet the perspective pet.
7. Other Pets. Since I brought up other dogs that may be in a household, let’s talk about that for a moment. Dogs and cats are just like people when it comes to socializing – they may generally like most others of their kind, but there is almost always someone who will rub them the wrong way – often without probable cause. You don’t want to bring home a new pet and have a huge dogfight on your hands. Even when the two animals seem to tolerate each other, it is important to introduce a new pet slowly. My husky, Tasha, takes about a month before she’s accepted a new kitten/cat as part of the pack and will stop chasing them. That means, we don’t allow them in the same room without supervision for about a month. Give the resident animal more space by locking the new animal in a bedroom or other spare room (a baby gate works well if you are introducing two dogs). That way, the new animal’s smell enters the house and the old animal can get used to it. Eventually, do some introductions under your supervision (with dogs, it often helps to have two people with each person holding the leash of one of the dogs in case tensions flare up). Later, you can do short spurts with them together unsupervised and, ultimately, you can have a very agreeable situation. Just be cautious and on the lookout for potential complications: Tasha is food-aggressive, so there is a certain order to feeding time and feeding time is ALWAYS supervised. Sierra was also food aggressive. There was one unfortunate incident where I’d left a tube of toothpaste in my bag (packing for a trip home). We went to the store and, when we returned, the toothpaste was eaten and Tasha’s ear had been split open. That was certainly the most expensive tube of toothpaste I never used! Those two ended up the best of friends (we almost lost Tasha too b/c she was so heartbroken over Sierra’s passing), so patience and training can do miracles. But the holidays are a tough time to try for one.

Living creatures deserve a long-term commitment. If you absolutely must have a new pet, please wait until after the holidays. Give a stuffed animal, toys for the potential pet, a gift certificate, a card with the promise of a pet that you will pick out together, etc. Just please, please do NOT give a pet for Christmas!

New Music

My good friend Joaquin is an amazing musician. He now has a band out in Tucson, AZ and they have released a few songs online at MySpace: ThreeFingeredJack - please check them out and share your opinions with them. I guess you would classify them as acoustic since nothing else really fits. One song, "A Busy Day," sounds very much like Donovan, but when I looked Donovan was merely classified as "altered-state-inducing music". From what I remember of time spent with Joaqo, that would fit. ;-]

My favorite song is "Intruder" - what a great love song. But they are all worth a listen. He has a beautiful voice and I'd love to see him get more fans than just little ole me.

Feline Cutaneous Asthenia

You are going to notice a decrease in photo-postings for a while (not that there hasn't been a decrease when we stopped fostering/volunteering with the Humane Society anyway). My digital camera broke, so we have to rely on taking REAL photos, finishing a film roll, processing, and scanning them into the computer before we can post.

So, the pictures here should seem a little strange to you. We've discovered that Peach has Feline Cutaneous Asthenia, the cat version of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (aka Rubber Man Syndrome; same thing all the pretzel people in circuses had). It is an extremely rare hereditary condition (don't worry, Peach is fixed and won't pass this on to anyone) that causes the skin on the cat's back, shoulders, and haunches to be abnormally elastic. It is hard to find good information on the syndrome as there are so few recorded cases (perhaps Peach has a destiny to be in a Vet Journal?). There does appear to be a defect in the collagen and most report that the skin is also excessively fragile, breaking even when the cat is simply petted. Thankfully, Peach's skin seems hardy enough, just super-stretchy. We're hoping it stays that way.

Nightlife of Doggie Daycare

Misty has taken a second job working overnights at the Doggie Daycare once or twice a week. It isn't a horrible job, but it is exhausting. There are perks, of course. I can visit her there and bring any of the pups along for exclusive playtime in the huge yard off-leash. And there is always a cute puppy or two that needs some attention and playtime.

Our Lovely Post Office

The above picture highlights the front door of our local post office. Small, tucked on the side of a random access road. But that's not the best part. Do you see the red & yellow sign on the store next door to our post office? It is probably easier to understand in the photo below, but it reads "XXXtreme Videos". The sign in the bottom photo also advertises "DVDs and Lingerie".

Yep, there are only two stores in this parking lot: our post office and a porno shop. What is really fun is when all the parking spots near the post office are taken (there are only about 3-4) and you have to park in front of the porno shop to mail a letter. It's been this way for years and someone only wrote a "letter to the editor" complaint about it last week.

Meet New Peach

This is "New Peach" (though we will probably just call him "Peach"). The "New" is b/c we had a foster already named "Peach"; we just really liked the name. A neighbor found this little guy all alone and brought him to us, since we're known as the little foster house. We aren't with the shelter anymore, so we're taking care of him on our own. The only problem with him is that he has ringworm. So now, of course, I have ringworm. Below is just ONE of the dozen or so spots that have popped up. I was also running a fever and had to see a doctor for it. It is never quiet around here, that's for sure!

Yes, I'm Late

This is a note to employers: sometimes your employee is telling the truth when they say they are late because there was a car on fire blocking their commute in. I took these pictures while sitting in traffic Monday morning (don't worry, my car wasn't moving when I took them).

Tasha's Broken Duclaw

So the picture above is of Tasha's feet. I'm hoping you can make out her duclaws (the nails that are on the side of a dog's feet rather than on the actual footpad; not all dogs have them on all feet). Her left duclaw (to the right in the picture) is normal; her right duclaw (circled on left) was broken last weekend while playing a little too hard with her buddy Sasha. It was sticking straight out. We kept an eye on it and the nail fell off a couple days ago. She's not in pain from it and there are no exposed nerves (a small bit of nail was left intact), so we are leaving her as is. For once (knock on wood), we managed to avoid a big vet bill.

News on Mr. Hope

As you can see, we have a harder time posting pictures every other day when we don't have tiny fosters growing up in the house. We did get some new, cute pictures of Mr. Hope though (we decided to call him MR. Hope b/c everyone thought he was a girl with the name "Hope"). He went to the vet Wednesday because he has been having a hacking cough lately. We'd been told to keep an eye out for this cough since it would probably be an early sign of heart failure. Which, I suppose it is. His heart has gotten ridiculously large and was pressing against his lungs, causing him to cough. They also discovered additional medical concerns: his trachea is not formed the way it should and he has back problems with his spine. He is on meds to help his heart for the moment, which is pretty much all we can do for him. We'll see how it goes.

Short Version of Big News

I simply can't resist putting up a photo when I have a new entry to write. This is Sati sporting her new collar - so far, this one hasn't given her the itchies like the last ones did (she'd scratched down to skin before we'd realized it was the collar that bugged her). AND, it glows in the dark so we can see little stealth one coming. *Mr. Burns impersonation* "Excellent".

So, the big news is Misty's job change. She got a new job at Abingdon Vet (yay!) and gave her two-weeks notice at the Humane Society here. They decided to be jerks about everything and fired her a couple days after she gave notice. We suspect they did so to try to get out of paying her for her remaining two weeks and her accrued vacation time. I won't say more about that or the shelter at this time b/c we may end up having to resort to legal action and lawyers tend to want to keep things quiet until resolved. Luckily, Abingdon Vet was more than accomodating and let Misty start with them early. We're still looking at a lot of Ramen dinners in the future, but it isn't as bad as it could have been.

As for fosters, sorry we haven't updated in a while. Peach & Bingo returned to the shelter after their neuters. I'm pretty sure they've both been adopted, but I guess we'll never know now (we're no longer welcome at the shelter). The Miestro, unfortunately, passed away about a week ago - probably the same thing that was getting all the other wee ones. Poor little guy. We're hoping to find a new group to volunteer for, so I doubt this is the very end of all our fostering.

SHEESH

My Tasha pup is sick. She got a bit of heat stroke last weekend and passed out for a few seconds at the dog park (we were sitting under this really awesome wooden gazebo that has a swing; with a nice breeze, it was heaven). She'd eaten some grass, which she loves to do at the park, and later started having a hacking cough in the pet store. It continued all night, so we made her vomit. She had some long pieces of grass come out and seemed a bit better, but the coughing continued the next day. Mostly when she ate or got up from sleep. She also became VERY clutchy, crawling into my lap, which is the #1 sign that she doesn't feel good.

So, Misty took her to the vet yesterday morning. He said she has a very bad case of tonsillitis (did you know dogs can get that too? I didn't). She got an injection and was sent home with antibiotics. She's due for a vaccine (but couldn't get it b/c she is sick), so we'll make a new appointment in a couple weeks to have that done when he can recheck her tonsils as well. She also had a lot of labwork done. The vet said he was ready to dole out bad news when he saw "very sick, lethargic 13-yr-old husky" on his list for the day, but he said her labwork was amazing. Healthy like that of a dog half her age. "Darned if she doesn't live to be 20!" he said. Yay! I certainly hope so.

Then, there are the fosters. The Miestro is doing well and should be off the bottle soon - he's already crawling; eyes are open; and he's craving human attention. Peach and Bingo have been neutered and returned to the shelter. They will hopefully be adopted soon.

Some updates on the other animals.

• Popeye the Pug was adopted by a nice lady from the news (but I won't say who or which newschannel!).
  
• Frosty (remember Frosty & Snowball; Snowball who passed away with Frosty curled up beside him) had some bad luck for a while. She kept getting paired with other kittens who she got totally smitten with, but they either died or got adopted without her (this is all at the shelter; we generally only keep them at our house until they are an adoptable age). She finally got adopted with another kitten and is doing fine.
• Eragon, little black furball who tended to hang out with Peach, got adopted. He also got adopted with a buddy to play with and I think that family had kids, so it was a great match.
• Freddy, the housegoat, got adopted by a petting zoo. He will eat that attention up like nothing else. Yay for Freddy. Oh, and the ponies are quite happy to have him gone as well. ;-]
• There are still about 4 dogs left from the Whiteford incident...well, plus Lucky's 5 puppies
  

I think that is it. Misty works this Sunday, so I'll probably go in to help out as usual and will hopefully be able to get some pics of Lucky's puppies. I saw them last week, but didn't have the camera. They are getting so huge and totally adorable!

Fostering

We've had some bad luck with fosters. Shrek (see last post) passed away while I was in Florida. The two neonates Misty had gotten while I was gone (named Sprite & Coke or Pepsi or something) passed away within a few days of each other after I got back. That left us Peach (picture below, with faux rabbit fur toy), Bingo (picture above, with ball & ribbon toy), Jerry Garcia (no pictures unfortunately), and The Miestro (last post).

We lost Jerry Garcia last night. He was a scraggly little thing that reminded us of Peanut...except his color, he was another black kitten. He was very shy, but liked to curl up on my arm and sleep. He grew listless over the last week and we were having to force-feed him. He died in our arms. We've agreed not to do any more small kitten fostering. Just can't handle the grief.

The Miestro is still doing well and starting to crawl around (he was a neonate when we got him & is still being bottle-fed). Peach & Bingo are little terrors and we constantly hear them knocking things around while wrestling. It is hard to get pictures of them b/c they are always running around too fast.

RIP Peanut / Foster Pictures

Peanut died tonight. The FIP test was indeed positive, but the vet assured us our other cats were unlikely to develop it. FIP is a mutation of the corona virus which many/most kittens are exposed to when they are very tiny - especially in a multi-kitten place like a shelter. Most kittens fight it off, but a few develop into FIP. The vet thinks Peanut had it when we first brought him into our house (it isn't something routinely screened for) and it just finally got to be too much for him to fight off. Sati & Boulder aren't too young, too old, or too sick where they are likely to catch anything...plus the vet doubts Peanut was "shedding" the virus by the time he was in our place - he would have already had it (and the kitten really only sheds it before he gets sick). Poor little guy. He never stood a chance.

I wish we'd had longer with Peanut: he was a great cat/kitten. It is good to know his 7 months were 7 months he wouldn't have otherwise had if we hadn't stepped in - and in those months, he slept next to a comfy husky dog, played with another cat every day, and bonded with his humans. Those are good things.

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I wanted/needed something happy to post, so here are our current batch of foster cuties:

Peach
who you've all seen before
(feral kitty when it comes to wet food; he's now quite the little hunter)

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Bingo

(Peach's long-lost twin)
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Shrek
photo is a little fuzzy - I was trying to show his cute, squished face
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The Miestro
(he came with another little one that didn't last the first night)

Crappy Holiday Weekend

I like this picture of Peanut - he always pulls his food out of his bowl before he eats it. Just a neat little quirk with him. We've gotten some pretty bad news over the holiday weekend.

My Aunt B, passed away Monday morning (well, "yesterday" for another 10 minutes). She was a smart, generous, amazingly loving person whose tiny frame could fill a room with her presence. I remember swimming in her pool every summer and she would show off what new plants she had growing in her yard. I remember a walk my mom & I took with her when we came across a snake. My mom froze and Aunt B just screamed bloody murder (who knew she had such pipes!). I remember her showing up to my college graduation and being excited that the people who were housing me for the summer gave her some roots to bring home and plant. I have a lot of great memories of this woman and I will miss her dearly.

The same day I lost my Aunt B, we got some bad news about little Peanut. Our little fighter, who struggled to come back from the brink of death at mere weeks of age, is sick again. He gets a kitty cold almost every month, but he fights it off with meds each time. This time is different - he isn't sneezing so much, but he won't eat and is very lethargic. We took him to the vet on Monday and he had to stay the whole day. He's lost over a pound in a month (and he only weighed about 5lbs to begin with!). The vet is pretty sure he has FIP and gives him at most 2 months to live. Given his quality of life is deteriorating daily, we may have to make that awful decision a lot sooner than that. Poor little guy. I really hate it when life decides to kick you when you're down.

Paintball and Walkathon

Despite the rain, we did the walkathon. Tasha was thrilled, Shelby was okay but not happy about being wet, and Hope tolerated it all in confusion. We found a baby wagon on Friday to put Hope in so we could just pull him on the walk. We originally thought Tasha & Shelby could pull him, but they were too fast & nonlinear.

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Right after the walkathon, we had paintball with some of the staff (& friends) of the Humane Society. It was SO much fun....but SO painful. We all have huge welts on our legs, backs, head, etc. At one point, these little kids challenged us to a game against them. Considering they had all their own gear (outfit, gun, paintballs, etc.), we were a bit wary. Misty, of course, accepted the challenge on all our behalves. Four of us ended up hiding behind the same structure and got picked off one-by-one. Once two were gone, I started muttering "I want out; I want out", meaning I wanted to get out with the least pain possible. I got nailed in the wrist, which is now swollen. But I was out - hooray! We obviously lost - the hustling little twerps. It was suggested the next staff-bonding event be something like an inner tube float down a nice, calm river.

Freddy the Goat

Why, yes, that is a goat at the Humane Society. His name is Freddy and he was a house-goat if you can believe it. He LOVES people, but was getting terrorized by dogs so he came here. He is very friendly and gets taken out for walks each day (especially since he's out with the ponies who hate him for some reason). He's a pretty fat goat too, so he could do with some more walking. Anybody that needs a goat should contact the shelter.

Oops, we did it again...

Well, we are back to fostering. Only in small quantities, though (yeah, right, we'll see). We took back Peach (remember kitten that goes feral over wet food) and his new buddy, Bingo, who looks just like him. We have them in a nice crate in the cat room. They're doing well so far.

We also have the little cutie above. He is a 4-week-old pug who was surrendered and will need an eye removed. Yet again, I come away from the shelter just hating the human race. Misty and the staff have named him Popeye - they are just sick! I'm still not big on keeping puppies, so hopefully he'll get a real foster home soon. He doesn't like our wet food or our KMR milk replacer or anything - I think he wants his mama. Poor guy.

Shameless Plug for Walkathon

The Humane Society of Harford County is having a Bark in the Park 2006 Walkathon. They are especially in need of monetary donations after the Whiteford Hoarding incident that I've talked about on this blog, but which also made national news. Misty and I are taking part in it and would really appreciate some sponsors. Our Hope is a rescue from that incident - we are looking for a wagon so he can join the walk too (if we find one, there will certainly be photos here).

If you can help out, it is easy and secure - you can donate online by credit card and receive a record of your donation (donations are sent directly to Humane Society of Harford County, NOT to me). Here’s our page:

***** http://www.firstgiving.com/hope_peanut *****

Please support this fabulous cause! And if you would prefer to walk yourself, please visit the Harford Humane Society website for details: http://www.harfordshelter.org/

Hope's Swim Therapy

Part of why Hope has been doing so well lately is probably a result of his swim therapy sessions. He has to do his swimming in this horse trough right now because his heart wouldn't be able to handle the full-on swim therapy at an actual center. The first time he went in, he didn't really understand and just floated. But now, he gets his little legs going and will swim from one side to the oter quite willingly. The shelter is also doing swim therapy for several other "Whiteford Dogs": Monroe, Flo, and Nugget (I'm pretty sure on those anyway). They also have heart problems and/or muscle atrophy bad enough that regular walks are difficult.

Why, Hello There!

Hope is coming out of his shell more and more each day. There is hope for Hope! He's a much bigger fan of the dogs than they are of him, but Shelby and Tasha tolerate him. He likes to sniff a lot, but hasn't mastered "playing" yet. He's not even sure what treats are for and was very cautious about eating a small piece of cheese quesadilla the other day (special treat & I was full). But he is a cutie!

Doggie Daycare Again

Tasha had another day of Doggie Daycare yesterday. There were at least two other huskies there with her (numbers show 3 of them, including her). She is a bit of a snob and usually doesn't like to hang with her own breed, but she seems to have found a friend in these two. Maybe because they were also slow and wanted to stay in the shade just like her.

Lucky's Loss

Poor Lucky has lost two of her seven puppies. They were smaller than the rest and a bit listless. The techs put them on heating pads while letting Lucky continue feeding them (mama's milk is always better than formula). Unfortunately, they just weren't meant for this world. RIP, little ones.

NOTE: the puppy featured above is one of the ones that didn't make it, but it is merely sleeping in the photo. I have not and would not ever put a picture up of an animal that is dead.

Hope doing well

I'll try to get a better, more active picture of Hope soon. He is still pretty slow (what Misty and I call a "dum-dee-dum-dum dog", NOT dumb though!), but he's been showing some spurts of energy. Last night, he wandered around in circles outside for nearly 1/2 hour while I was chatting with neighbors.

And he is starting to get more involved with things happening around him. A problem with a lot of dogs in his situation is "hoarder syndrome" where he stares off into space or at a wall. It is a result of so many days/months/years with no stimulation, sitting in a crate; basically, they retreat into their own minds and it can be hard (sometimes impossible) to bring them back out of it. But Hope is doing better on that end and he even jumped up for his bowl at dinner time. We couldn't believe it! He recognized the bowl and what it meant and got excited! That seems like nothing for most dogs, but for Hope this is something we weren't sure he'd ever do.

Peanut is probably Hope's biggest fan. It may be because Hope is even more decrepit than he is and, thusly, the one animal Peanut could actually beat up. He was playing with Hope's tail the other day and he rubbed up against Hope last night. Hope responded by licking Peanut's ear. I think they may end up good buddies.

Lucky and Her Lucky Seven

Lucky is another of the Whiteford animals. She looked quite emaciated when she first arrived and it was obvious to the technicians that she had been overbred (in case you didn't know, puppy mills = very bad!). What they didn't realize what that she was pregnant again. I saw her and trust me, you don't think puppies when you see a dog's belly that sunken in. But she was pregnant and gave birth to 7 puppies last week.

Amused by the connotations of Lucky Number 7, the staff wants to name the puppies after card hands. Somehow I don't think Flush or Straight has that special ring to it though. Maybe after games of chance? Poker, Blackjack, Craps....hmmm, maybe not.

Ferdinand's Recovery

BEFORE

Ferdinand is only one of the 69 dogs that were recovered alive from Donna Lee Bell's hoarding houses on May 12th. As you can see above (the arrow shows his eye, barely visible, under the matted fur), these animals came to the Harford Humane Society in quite a state. Through the help of lots of volunteers, these animals are beginning new, happier lives. Donna Lee Bell faces 118 counts of animal cruelty which could mean up to 29 years in jail and $118,000 in fines. Believe it or not, she originally filed an appeal to have the animals returned to her. She has dropped that claim and the animals can begin to be adopted next week.

Aussie Pet Mobile, a mobile pet grooming group that has worked with the Humane Society many times before, was there when the animals first started arriving. As you can see from Ferdinand's photo above, grooming was more than just a nicety, it was necessary for them to be able to even eat. Ferdinand was the first on the line and I wanted to share how well he turned out (see below).

AFTER

Meet "Hope"

This is Hope, as seen on his television debut. He's even smiling for the camera! Hope is one of the many "Whiteford dogs" that Donna Lee Bell was hoarding in Harford County, Maryland, that were rescued and began a new existence at the Humane Society of Harford County a couple of weeks ago. They've been staying in what we refer to as "the Bunkhouse" which is not ideal, but all we could give them at the time. The animals (just a reminder, there were 69 dogs and 4 cats) had to remain on the premises until something happened in the way of Donna Lee Bell's case. You see, as far as I understand it, legally they belong to her...until she either surrenders them or is found guilty of the animal cruelty. Unfortunately, court cases can go on for months and we really wanted to get these animals into foster care. Our hands were tied and it sucked. Thankfully, we have had an incredible network of volunteers coming to walk these dogs day after day. Really, the people/companies donating and the volunteers helping out have made this enormous task actually manageable.

Well, luck finally went in the shelter's (and the dogs') way: Donna Lee Bell agreed to surrender the animals. The "official" word from the news channels is that she did it "for the animals", so that they could get adopted into homes faster. Supposedly, that is also her excuse for the appeal that the animals were unlawfully taken and should be returned to her. The animals won't be available for adoption until next Wednesday (well, they will start taking applications on Wednesday; I think actual adoptions won't start until that following Saturday or something), but they can begin going into foster care. For the blind chihuahuas and other needy little guys, this is fantastic news. And it brings us to Hope...

Hope is our newest foster, but he will probably end up an official member of our clan when adoptions start happening. The reason is he has been deemed "unadoptable". He is roughly 8 years old with cataracts and partial deafness. He was one of the worst cases of muscle atrophy (meaning his legs had forgotten how to work because he'd been in a tiny crate for too long) and has been re-learning how to walk. But the worst is his heart. He has a leaky valve with backflow, also probably a result of being immobile for so long. The vets give him between a few months to a couple years left to live. We've agreed that he should spend that time, short as it may be, in a loving home. So Misty brought him home last night.

Hope is very slow and mostly just hangs out and watches everyone go by. Which is great b/c our relatively old dogs don't like jumpy puppies much. He seems to really like Shelby and follows her around. Everyone has been sniffing each other (even the cats!) and there has been no hissing or snarling or anything. Very chill. We won't leave them unsupervised, of course, but it is great to see how they are all getting along.

Good News and More Bad News

George & Trevor and Frosty & Snowball (pictured) went to an off-site event on Saturday. George & Trevor were adopted together and are hopefully enjoying their new home. Frosty & Snowball, also a package deal (i.e. you take both, not just one or the other), did not get adopted and returned to the shelter that night. Snowball (the one with more black on his forehead; head down in picture above) passed away Saturday night. We found out when we went to the shelter on Sunday to volunteer walking the hoarder's dogs. Frosty & Snowball were so bonded that they always slept together, played together, ate together, etc. When they found Snowball that morning, Frosty was sleeping on top of her buddy. It just breaks your heart.

And now, we are paranoid that some illness made it into our kitten group. The only two left, Peach and Eragon, have been having a little bit of loose stool and not much of an appetite. Eragon also has a lump on his lower abdomen that the vet will be checking out on Wednesday (the vets come to the shelter only on specific days). Misty is going to give these two an appetite stimulant and she took them back to the shelter this morning. They will stay in ICU until we figure out what is going on. We had to do it and feel horrible about leaving them there (they are so clutchy with people), but we have to think about our own pets. If there is something going around, we can't risk having our cats, and perhaps even the dogs, start dying. We've already started the massive clean-up and disinfecting of the house. We vacuumed and swept floors; we got a steam cleaner yesterday (amazing how fast these things quit working when dealing with pet hair) and started steam cleaning the carpets; this afternoon, I'll bleach the bathroom floors and walls, as well as the litterboxes and toys the kittens had used.

Rest in peace, little Snowball, and I wish little Frosty peace without her brother. I desperately hope the rest of my posts on these kittens will be happier ones.

5-year Reunion and Bad News

Misty and I traveled to Bryn Mawr College on Saturday for part of my 5-year reunion (reunion is actually all weekend, but we couldn't afford to "officially" attend, so we only went up for the day). Campus is still gorgeous with new additions like that above (I think those buildings are multi-cultural centers used by various clubs for meetings and such). We got to meet some wonderful alums previously known only online and via phone calls. We also saw quite a few members of my class, most of whom I was happy to see.

Unfortunately, when we returned home that night, we found that Hasana had passed away. She had been doing much better that morning - even eating a fair amount of KMR formula and Clinicare. Whatever got to her siblings got her as well. Rest in peace, little Hasana.

RIP Zami and Nuru

These were the last three kittens we took in. From left to right, you see Nuru, Zami (smaller of the twins), and Hasana. Zami passed away while I was visiting my parents last weekend and Nuru was gone this morning. They both appear to have died in their sleep, which is some comfort at least. Hasana looks pretty sick though. She has diarrhea and is walking very slow, just wanting to sleep most of the time. I don't think she will make it. Peach has actually been refusing food, which is very unlike him since he usually goes feral over wet food (see earlier photo). He doesn't want to play and I am worried about him as well. Eragon is the only other foster left in the house (George & Trevor, Snowball & Frosty, and Motka all returned to the shelter, healthy, in the hopes of being adopted - I'll let you know if/when they are). He didn't go with the rest b/c he seemed a bit skinny. We've been feeding him wet and dry to fatten him up and he is still interested in play, but I think we'll send him to the shelter soon in case the little ones had something that he could catch. And we'll just keep hoping and working to keep the itty bitty ones alive.

Adoptions!!!

Fostering is so worthwhile when you've managed to get them into good homes. River, Saphira, and my baby Serenity all went back to the shelter last Wednesday in the hopes of being adopted. Not only were they all adopted by the end of the week, but they were all adopted the same day (but to different owners). Misty got to meet Serenity's new owner and is very happy with the match (have to admit, we felt a bit picky about who got our wee one).

After getting neutered, Denver was ready to go back to the shelter on Saturday. There was an off-site that morning, so they decided to take him along. Well, that little firecracker was adopted before he even got taken out of his transport carrier! And, he gets to go home with another couple month old kitten - he needed someone to match his endless supply of playful energy.

We think our "adoption bios" are helping to get them adopted. For each kitten, we print off a picture with a paragraph describing their very best traits. The only hard part is keeping up with doing them before we have to send the kittens back (they are all roughly the same age, so we only get a few days off in between...and those few days have been spent working on the hoarding dog situation).