Black Friday & Animal Transport

We are not just in the fostering business; apparently we are now in the "animal transport" business of animal rescue. Black Friday afternoon, after getting up at 3:30 AM for the deals, saw us headed out to pick up some "exotics". One of Misty's coworkers, MF, is fostering exotics for our friends' rescue, Luna's House. We picked up an iguana named Homer and two to-be-named chinchillas. The chinchillas were happy and cozy together in their transport cage, but poor Homer had had a rough time at the shelter. He is blind in one eye, will probably lose part of his tail, and was cold. We ran the heat on thermal blast and sweated all the way to the MF's house (Homer, on the other hand, was quite content - as you can see by his happy tongue sticking out).

We got a call the next day from MF. The chinchillas were doing great, but she'd had a scare with Homer. She woke up and saw him not moving in his cage. She watched him for several minutes and didn't see him breathing. She gently picked him up and said he felt stiff. She started freaking out and yelled at her husband "how could you not notice that he's dead?" Her husband pointed to Homer, who was now awake and moving around in his cage. Apparently, he's a very heavy sleeper.

Starsky the Beagle

Well, we have a foster dog...bringing us to an even split of dogs and cats (3 & 3). We agreed to foster the 1-year-old because he is a rescue who was scared out of his mind in the kennel. We figured he would need lots of confidence boosting to come out of his shell. Errrr...he really just needs some good training. He is a bit skitish and scared - you look at him and he cowers - but he is also basically a puppy. He wants to play with our dogs, but they don't want to play with him. He even tried playing with the cats. When left alone, he destroyed the house, so now he is getting crate-trained. We think he is really a good dog, but he would be better off in a foster home with more space (so neighbors don't hear him howling in his crate) and younger dogs that want to play with him. For now, we're all stuck with each other.

Happy Thanksgiving and a little remodeling!

Well, we had another feathered visitor in our walls last night. He fluttered back and forth, pocked his beak through the hole in our ceiling (from the leak from the bad water heater), and then got stuck between the walls (I think the walls are too close together for them to spread their wings enough to get out). And, of course, he got stuck in a DIFFERENT wall than the other bird...so we drilled a NEW hole! He got stuck about halfway out and started banging the back of his head against the wall trying to wiggle through. Once he got back inside the wall, we opened the hole a little bigger and he got out. Flew into the closed window and then right out the opened back door (too quick for a photo). We also have a new foster dog that arrived yesterday - pictures of him will come later this weekend. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Baltimore Thanksgiving Parade

I know, it is a little early for a Thanksgiving Parade, but Baltimore does it the weekend before Thanksgiving apparently. It was a very cold day (of course, temps were still mild until about Thursday - the same day my car broke down AGAIN). Tasha loved the weather, but I'm bundled up in two pants layers (low-weight backpacking fleece under the sweats) and two long-sleeve shirts under the Pets on Wheels logo t-shirt. I had gloves as well, but had to keep taking them off so I could get photos.

Since we were walking for Pets on Wheels, everybody had dogs and we were told to "work the crowd". The parade started and everyone split up so half of us took each side of the street and greeted spectators. Tasha particularly loves little kids and they got a kick out of her...especially with her antlers. There was also one guy who was off to the side. He was in a wheelchair and had some noticeable mental difficulty. I brought Tasha over to him and his friend placed his hand on her fur. The moment he touched her, his whole face just lit up with joy - that made the whole day for me. That, my friends, is what we and Pets on Wheels are all about...bringing that bit of joy to someone in need of it.

At the end of the parade, we all got together and posed with Fifi, from the Kinetic Sculpture Race. We couldn't resist having all our pups pose with a giant pink poodle.

Note: We also had a bit of scariness because I think Tasha may have had two small seizures that day. Once, when we were on the bus (everyone and their dogs rode a big schoolbus to the city for the parade), she fell over onto me like a stack of books when we entered a tunnel. Later, she fell against the couch in a similar fashion. She didn't appear distressed, her eyes didn't roll back into her head (which is typical for seizures), and she was fine seconds later. I'm keeping a log of them and we'll have to keep an eye on her.

Last Best Friends Post - Angels Rest

This should be my last post about the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary...at least for this year. During our visit, we spent some time at Angels Rest, which is a cemetary for the animals at Best Friends, as well as for those of the staff, volunteers, and donors. Some human ashes are buried there as well, alongside their best friends for eternity. It is a beautiful tribute to the lives of creatures that have touched someone's heart and seems to capture the "sanctuary" feel the Native Americans spoke of when they referred to the area ages ago.

There is a water fountain right inside the main gate that creates a lovely centerpiece and a sense of peacefulness. What is even more magical, however, are the wind chimes. There are "trees" of wind chimes of all shapes and sizes scattered throughout the area, each "branch" holding a set of chimes and a plaque for whichever animal it is dedicated to. The entire place is filled with their sound. When you close your eyes, you feel like you are floating away to visit those precious lost lives.

Dogs at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

My third post in two days - I'm on a roll! Last time I talked about the cats, so this time I'll talk about the dogs, since we volunteered with them as well. Best Friends also houses bunnies, horses, mules, birds, all sorts of things - but we don't have much experience taking care of the other animals and stuck to cats and dogs. The dog kennels are set up in octagons, making care-giving much more efficient (supplies are in a central location rather than at the end of a long hallway) and giving each dog "run" more space (the outdoor areas spiral out into a pie-shape, so they get wider the further from the building you go). The dogs are housed in groups and have indoor/outdoor areas with access between the two via at least one doggie door. The octagons are set out in pairs and each pair has its own set of walking trails outside the buildings. We walked geriatric dogs at "Old Friends" (like the sweet fellow above), so there were 3 options for the walks depending on their ability: short, regular, or extended. You could only have dogs on walks at the same time if they were from the same kennel since neighboring dogs don't always get along with each other.

There is also a "Fitness Center" building near the "Old Friends" octagons, which we got to visit since one of the dogs needed hydrotherapy. Hydrotherapy involves having the dog walk up a ramp into an enclosed box (no ceiling; see photo below), which is then filled with enough water to relieve the body weight off the legs. Then, they start a treadmill below that causes the dog to walk. It is a great tool for stretching and strengthening the limbs of dogs with injuries, hip problems, or simple arthritis. And the dogs love it because it involves lots of treats and attention.

We also did some of the drudgery type of work in the afternoon: washing dishes and cleaning runs. That part was interesting because we got scheduled with the feral dog octagons. Their handler could go in and visit with them, but we weren't to get too close. They had a part-wolf dog and a part-coyote dog in there! These dogs were also younger, so they had big caverns they'd dug up in the yard.

We decided to stay at the cabins at Best Friends next time we go. It was too cold to be camping in October (it may be warm during the day in the desert, but it is freezing at night) and car camping in an economy rental car was not that pleasant. Plus, if we stay at the cabins, we can "borrow" one of the Best Friends' dogs for a sleepover. It gets the dogs out of the sanctuary environment and gives the handlers a chance to find out how they react to things they are likely to find in a home, should they be lucky enough to get adopted. It was an amazing experience and we can't wait to go back!

Cats at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary

Aren't they so sweet? We have lots of pictures for Best Friends - I'll have to see if I can't make some sort of slideshow when I have more time. We volunteered in the cat area for our first and last days at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. The first day we spent a few hours cleaning the catteries, which are big rooms that house social groups of up to 20-30 cats per room. They have an indoor space about the size of a small living room or large den, with lots of beds and cubbies to play in:

They also have an enormous outdoor area, that is connected to the inside by multiple cat doors. There are tons of perches, toys, and beds outside. There is also a large rafter system for the cats that are more feral; this gives them access to food, water, litterboxes, toys, and beds (as well as their own up-high cat door) without having to interact with humans.

There is a lot of sunshine for the cats to enjoy and, every once in a while, they get a field mouse who makes the mistake of wandering into their cage. We were told that the wild turkeys in the area like to walk by the outdoor catteries and stir things up in the afternoons.

When we finished cleaning, we went to cuddle cats in a building for "special cats". It has a room for each of the various "problems", including one each for those that are incontinent, on special diets, geriatric, neurologically-damaged (often called "wobble cats"), and two rooms for FIV+ cats. Many are missing limbs like Scooter (below), who scoots his back end across the floor.

Dancer (not pictured) is one of the "wobble cats" and he leaps and falls all over the room, trying to catch a feather toy. Despite their difficulties, these cats readily come up to you and purr away while you pet them - no question that their lives are worth living.

Early Notes on Zion/Best Friends Trip

I have fallen remarkably behind in posting blogs - I'm afraid after being out for so long from my back surgery that I had a lot of work and school to make-up. We did have a marvelous trip to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary back in mid-October. We flew in and out of Vegas, though we didn't gamble much - just a couple quarter and dollar slots right as we were leaving. We had spent too much time walking The Strip the first night and then Misty had a migraine the last night (we were only in Vegas for the 1st and last nights).

Zion National Park was gorgeous, of course, and we hiked a lot. Much more than I thought I would ever be able to do. I hope we can scan a postcard of this one climb (I'll wait to talk about it later). I got some great info for my nature class since the bus drivers were all off-duty historians and professors. We learned all about sandstone formation, as well as the conservation efforts in place (such as cooling towers for the visitor's center and a free shuttle system throughout the park to reduce the number of cars). The picture at the top is of the "mule deer" common to the area. Their large ears help them regulate heat. The photo below is of this amazing rock formation I noticed on one of the big climbs. It was far from the trail, so we couldn't decide if it was man-made or just a trick of the way the sandstone fell.

Next time, I'll talk about the actual Sanctuary visit.