she was my friend, and she taught me many years ago-
 

http://www.community-paper.com/Archives/AnnYoung.html


:candle: :moonstars: (f)

any amazing woman. Thank you for sharing this

Update on my mamma and kittens situation
 

I've found a home for Mamma! A friend of mine is taking her and one of the babies. :) They're only 5.5 weeks old, so it'll be another 3 weeks until I can rehome them - but I feel a thousand times better knowing that Mamma (who I anticipated having a great deal of difficulty rehoming) is going to be safe AND with someone I have known for years and trust.

I've gotten quite a few calls and emails since I posted the kittens online last night, and one person sounds very promising for the one female kitten. She called from her workplace (which is a pharmacy) and she sounds trustworthy. She likes the female kitten because apparently she looks a great deal like the cat that she had for 18 years who passed away recently and who she is missing. She told me a bunch of stories about her old cat...and I figure anybody who tells total strangers "kitty stories" is probably a good pet-parent.

I haven't returned any of the other calls or emails yet, but will be doing that this evening.

I wish that there were (or if they do exist that I knew how to access them) services in my area that could have made this process cheaper for me. Total vet bills between Mom's initial visit when she was pregnant, and getting the kittens checked out, and first sets of shots and deworming for everybody is going to total to nearly $400. Add on top of that all the extra kitten food and litter and the trip I'm going to be taking to Toronto to bring Mamma and the spotted belly kitten to their new Daddy....oy.

Not that I am complaining. I am glad I did it - it needed to be done. And if I had to do it all over again I would - except maybe next time I wouldn't burst into tears at the vets office when she tells me that Mamma is pregnant. (Seriously, I was a sniveling mess.)

I seriously tip my hat to people who do this frequently. To foster families and people who do rescue work on a volunteer basis and pay for so much petcare out of their own pockets and with their own time.

Much love to you all. <3

Pictures of Mamma and Babies

Questionair Question
 

Get a load of this story. The local shelter had a "Doberman" up on their site. I called. She was on quarantine and I couldn't see her until 9/24. I called then. I still couldn't see her. I called four more times. No dice. Finally they called last Wednesday and said she could only be released to rescue and if I didn't come and get her by 5pm on Thursday it was all over for her. She came in as a starvation case. So at 4pm on Wednesday I got there and found this dog that was a lot of things but not a Doberman. Probably a German Pinscher. She's to their standard size wise. I couldn't leave her there to face the needle so I took this little shithead home. She's in heat. And she won't shut up and she's so damned cute, but Ike is intact so she can't roam free. And she attacked Rita so she can't roam free. Rita will kill her. If I don't first for the barking. Meet Sister, aka shithead.
http://pinkbunnyears.com/wp-content/...10/sister1.jpg

Dodge
 

About 5 months ago, I picked up what I thought was a black Lab mix puppy off the interstate. Turns out he is a full Lab. I named him Dodge because he was dodging traffic on a busy Monday morning. Lol! I hadn't planned to keep him, but fell for his big brown eyes. I have never had a Lab. Is it common for them to chew on everything? Yesterday, while he was in his pool, he decided to chew on it and almost "ate" one side. He pulls rocks out of the flower beds to chew as well as solar lights.Silly pooch even chewed a small tree in half and was carrying it proudly around the backyard. He has a plethora of chew toys and I give him rawhide dental chews every day. He's about 8 months old now, will this ever end?

With Hollywood once again glorifying horse racing I wanted to bring attention to what a cruel and inhumane sport it can be.




PETA on horse racing:

http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-i...se-racing.aspx

I'm not an expert on Labs or anything...but. My parents have had three labs (one yellow lab when I was in highschool, and currently they have two chocolates) and all three of them were big-time chewers up until somewhere between a year and a half and two years. And even after they stopped chewing stuff they never stopped stealing stuff. Shoes, whatever is in your purse, the socks right off of your feet, dish towels, rocks from the garden. I don't know what that is all about.

I am pretty tempted to think it's a breed thing, because none of my parents non-lab dogs have been chewers (so it can't be something that my parents were or were not doing). They've had German Shepherds, Dalmatians, Rotties, and a Doberman and none of those dogs chewed up everything on the planet.

Despite the chewing - the labs are my favourites out of all of the dogs my parents have had. Such lovers!

piggie went on to the next step today-
 

i have 2 rescue dogs and a rescue cat. they have been the greatest addition to my life. i volunteer sometimes at the humane society here. i really enjoy doing that. recently, my mom has adopted a retired seeing eye dog. he is a good old golden retreiver. i don't know how to get hooked up with that program. but maybe someone else does.

Best of luck to you, Sweet. You're doing a good thing.

I also found that the big shelters ("humane" society and the spca) were incredibly unhelpful. I get that they are overcrowded - but jesus!

What I found worked for me was I got everybody their first set of shots and THEN looked for homes for them. I advertised them on a local free classified site here and highlighted the fact that they had had their first set of shots, costing me $40 per kitten, and that I was asking for $20 for each kitten. My catchphrase was "It's a savings for you since you would have had to have gotten the kittens their shots anyway, and peace of mind for me knowing that they are going to live with someone who cares about them!"

The reason I did it that way is that it was stressed to me by both my vet and local rescue people that I spoke with that you NEVER offer up free kittens to strangers. Ever. People who take free kittens often treat them like free kittens. Having to hand over even $20 is a deterrent for anybody who has bad intentions (dog fighters, etc).

I just rehomed the last of the five who I was looking for homes for this morning (Mamma and four babies). It's absolutely doable, I promise.

EDIT - I just wanted to add that what I also found to be a smart move on my part was that I never let anybody come over right away. People would often call me and want to come over to see the kittens that very second - but I wouldn't let them. I always said that I was on my way out the door and made an appointment to have them come over the next day.

I ended up getting stood up a lot - but that was a good thing. I didn't want anybody to take one of my kittens on an impulse. I wanted them to be sure that this is what they wanted to do. If anybody still wanted a kitten after a day or two they would show up - the people who didn't end up showing up I know had thoughts things through overnight and had decided that they weren't really serious anyway. The woman who took the little girl kitten I actually started speaking with two weeks before she brought the kitten home (I had started advertising them before they were old enough to move out) and I felt VERY good about her because I had gotten to know her some and it was clear when she came to pick the kitten up that she was just as excited about it then as she was the first time she had called me.

People who impulse adopt animals are a big reason that we have the problems with unwanted animals that we do have. I didn't want to feed into that at all.

Try talking to Alley Cats they might be able to point you in the right direction. It's a good organization. I worked with them to Save Private Hammer. I'm the volunteer who met PFC Hammer in San Francisco, ran his little cat butt through Customs and handed him off to the volunteer who went to Denver with him.

Hi Sue.

I hope this helps some.
http://www.hdw-inc.com/tinykitten.htm

http://www.feralcat.com/raising.html

First try finding a foster feline mother; breeders, veterinarians and animal shelters may know of nursing cats in your area. Try calling any "cat people" that you know for leads as well. Cats will very often feed kittens other than their own.

Thanks for answering F.I.! Actually I guess I AM the cat person! lol Me and my partner and one of our closest friends. I raise kittens for both area shelters and my partner works at the vet clinic, so I guess I'm in touch with all the local expertise. :confused: The woman who has the other half of this litter is having a hard time getting them to suck too, and she's raised well over 300 kittens in the time she's been at this. So we're feeding them by syringe for now and will see if they take to the bottle tomorrow. Thanks for the links. I'll take a look at them tomorrow. For now - it's bed, cause that 4 AM feeding isn't far away. No need to set an alarm clock. Two of my dogs let me know when the babies are crying! Canine kitty-sitters, they are! :)

I was just going to say syringe...until they get nourshed better. poor babies.
Best wishes :stillheart:

subee how are babies doing?

Cleaned out linen cabinet to get rid of unlikeable towels and sheets this weekend. They are needed at Animal Shelter for the winter cold.

Cleaned out the kitty toy box so PeachesBoi and Tigger could donate some of their many unused toys.

Plus, Pillows I hate and two bags of stuff into my car to drop off at the shelter on way home tonight.

Now remebering I have throw rugs in the garage to get rid of. Will wash first then take them over.

Belle made me think of this thread again. Of the seven kittens in the litter, five have been adopted to really good homes. One went back to the original owner, and four went - in pairs! :) We were really happy about that. My partner is still fostering the two remaining boys, because we were afraid that they'd get stepped on by my dogs when they were really small. They are just little love bugs! :playingcat: Even when they play they like to do so right beside one of us. We're still making an "effort" to find them a home, but - uhhhhh - wouldn't it be a shame if they had to stay with us? :sunglass:

http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/r...s-Dec10016.jpg

I've been really busy since the last time this thread was active. Little Sister went to a wonderful home, then I pulled a big blue Doberman and got him a great home in Michigan, then I had an amazing black and rust who is helping a girl dog who is terribly fearful get through her days. And last but not least, I had an owner turn in of a 7 year old Doberman that I gave to my Mom who was still grieving the loss of my father. Duke is helping my mom through the grief, doing an excellent job!

http://pinkbunnyears.com/wp-content/..._5255963_o.jpg

in response to your link - photographing of factory farms
 

http://frankiethelawdog.com/tag/sb-1246/

http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill...246.pre.ag.PDF

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kurt-f..._b_835432.html

this says it:
 

http://hsus.typepad.com/

I can understand why factory farmers don’t want the public seeing images of their business practices. The images of almost featherless hens, so crowded the animals are living on top of each other, or pigs being struck with metal bars by workers coarsened to their duties are deeply disconcerting. The response should not be, as in some country ruled by a dictator or a junta, to have the strongmen grab the cameras and smash them to the ground or melt them in a fire, as the authorities do in order to hide the beating and shooting of pro-democracy advocates. It's the same principle at work for the strongmen in these state legislatures. Their scheme is a neater way to smash those cameras to the ground and hide what's going on. Ironically, they want to prevent their very own customers, America's consuming public, from learning about the production practices that bring food to their tables and plates.

Pet Insurance & The Veterinary Memorial Fund
 

I've got a puppy!!!
 

She's 4 months old, she totally has puppy breath and she's just a little tiny bit of awesome.



She's heading to the rescue on Tuesday.

I guess I should add that she was an owner turn in who is hanging out with us until Tuesday. I didn't breed her or give her up. I would never do either of those things!

dobes are the best !! gorgeous dog. :bunchflowers:

love these two sites!
 

http://www.srdogs.com/index.html


http://www.ddfl.org/education/dog-behavior-tips

other rescue groups/resources
 

CA:
http://www.feralcatfoundation.org/resources/


http://www.rescuinganimalsinneed.org/Shelters.htm

FL:
http://www.rescuinganimalsinneed.org/rescue_groups.htm

Hi, everyone,

My friend Alice is someone who works to place cats in permanent homes. Cats with a less conventional gender presentation are, like us, more at risk for being mistreated. Thus she asked if I'd post at our site, as she wants to maximize the chances that this cat finds a loving, empathic forever home.

Jennifer

See ad written by Alice below:

"INTERSEX CAT SEEKS WELCOMING HOME

Our differences make the world go round! My name is Bowie (yup, like David Bowie!) and I was rescued from the mean streets of Brooklyn this past April. When I went to be spayed the vet discovered I am a happy and healthy intersex kitty.

My anatomy includes a uterus, penis, undescended testicles, vagina, cute pink nose, loving eyes, adorable whiskers, a gorgeous set of chops, big lovable paws, and luxurious black and white fur that's nonstop! I am large and in charge at 14 beautiful pounds, and I'm one of the most sweet-natured, easygoing tuxedo kitties you will ever meet!

I would love to live in a home with at least 1 other cat, because I'm used to being around other cats, and I miss them! And since I am a self-sufficient type, I do not demand a lot of attention, but gladly accept it when offered. I won't be a lot of extra work, I promise.

In fact I'm still a little reserved with people, after spending the whole winter outside as a stray. But now, I'm inside and safe, and my foster dad has been bringing me out of my shell with scratches on the head and pets, which I LOVE. He just has to make the first move, and then I'm 100% mush! Then I follow him around a little bit, and we enjoy each other's company.

What makes me so great is that when you want my attention you can have it, but when you'd rather be left alone, I can do that too. I am a very mellow, easygoing cat. Would you give me a chance?"

If interested, please PM me or email the cat rescuer (my friend, Alice) directly at: alicealice5566@gmail.com

I went on a minor hiatus while I was training and then riding the AIDS/Lifecycle. I'm home and son of a gun if they didn't come up with a dog for me to pull. This guy is a 100 pounds of awesome. Literally. He's got a heart as big as all out doors and a calm gentle demeanor. Rita is teaching him the ropes, i.e. it's ok for me to sniff your butt but you must never ever sniff my butt. I named him Stormin' Norman because I name them all after Generals.

People can be sooooo cruel!
 

I recently rescued two guinea pigs from the TRASH! Yes, you're eyes aren't deceiving you, I said trash.

Several weeks ago, my dog Domino and I were on our daily walk and passed by a house a few down from ours. It was heavy trash day for our neighborhood and there's was a large pile in front of this house. Domino suddenly starts barking like crazy, which isn't his usual behavior. About that time I notice a cage and something moving inside it.

So with a little apprehension that it might be a wild animal rooting through trash, I summoned up my courage and peeked in. I live in Texas and even that early in the morning it's still above 90 degrees F. Imagine my anger when I realized my neighbors had thrown their pets away! They had no food or water and were broiling in the heat, poor things!

I marched up to the door and knocked, fully intent on giving these people a piece of my mind, only to realize the house was empty! These evil people threw these little guys away and moved without even a second thought!

I immediately scooped up the cage and headed home. After a call to my brother who is a vet in Houston, I had an appointment with a vet experienced with guinea pigs in Dallas. Other than being a little overheated and dehydrated the little critters were fine! After some water, hay, and fresh veggies they perked right up, and after grilling the vet about guinea pig care, I took them home.

The next day I did some research to find a suitable habitat and supplies as the cage they were in was way too small. The kicker of all this is, Dallas has a guinea pig rescue where these people could have easily taken these animals if they were no longer able to keep them! Arrrrrgh!

The GP rescue, Texas Rustler, also has a non profit store with everything needed to properly care for guinea pigs and the people there were very helpful in getting me set up. And that's how the furry piggies came to live with Me and Domino!

While I am a total animal lover, guinea pigs are not my typical pet of choice. However, I've grown quite fond of the funny little critters! They are very vocal and fun to watch popcorning and playing together in their new home!

Thank goodness my little Domino let me know they were there! :)