Puffy has been an Ottawa neighborhood cat for about a year now. Neighbors have been feeding him and keeping an eye out for him. However, he was an unneutered male, so, though handsome to the eye, a “baby-maker” nonetheless. And a bit of a rabble-rouser who got into fights with other cats in the neighborhood.

Recently, a concerned neighbor stepped up and befriended Puffy.

“…he let me pat him and cut some matts out of his fur. He had a huge tick on him, a big healing abcess and lots of smaller scabs and scratches.”

After talking to his neighborhood “watch group,” it was decided that Puffy needed to be caught and neutered. Then he could possibly be released back into his neighborhood.

So this week, Puffy got a full checkup, de-worming, vaccinations, FeLV/FIV tests, and a neuter. All went well except for the FIV test. He has tested positive for the FIV virus.

If you are unfamiliar with FIV, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a lentivirus (or “slow virus”) which is characterized by a long incubation period. An infected cat’s health may deteriorate progressively or be characterized by recurrent illness interspersed with periods of relative health. Sometimes not appearing for years after infection, signs of immunodeficiency can appear anywhere throughout the body — poor coat, gingivitis, stomatitis, various cancers and blood diseases; much like any other cat might experience. [source]

What does FIV do to a cat? Infected cats may appear normal for years. However, infection eventually leads to a state of immune deficiency that hinders the cat’s ability to protect itself against other infections. The same bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi that may be found in the everyday environment — where they usually do not affect healthy animals — can cause severe illness in those with weakened immune systems. These secondary infections are responsible for many of the diseases associated with FIV. [source]

In other words, FIV won’t kill him, but rather a secondary infection could. Therefore, to lessen the possibility of acquiring a secondary infection and for keeping his immune system as strong as possible, it is best for Puffy to live indoors now.

So we are looking for a home that can take Puffy in. He currently lives in Ottawa. Taking him to the Ottawa Humane Society would likely be a death sentence (read some of the reasons an animal is destroyed in a shelter) and rescue groups called are full at this time.

Per Judy who took him to the vet:

“The vet says he is young and seems to be in good health other than being a bit thin. He seems gentle and friendly. When he was at my house for a little while he was comforted when I rubbed his cheeks and ears.”

“I have a foster home for him only until Sunday, and then maybe another foster for a few days after that.”

If you are interested in fostering or adopting Puffy, please email me and I will connect you with Judy.

If you want to learn more about FIV — what it means, how it is transmitted, what you might expect — the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University has created this great page to explain. It needn’t be a death sentence. Puffy can live a long and happy life. Even in a home with other cats.

And please… SHARE Puffy’s story by clicking on one of the icons below so we can find him a new home.

Ciao,
Holly

Tradition has it in many countries around the world that the day after Christmas is Boxing Day, or St. Stephen’s Day. It’s a day when goods or money are wrapped in boxes and shared with the poor and the needy.

One of the earliest accounts of the origin of this day appears in the Christmas Carol, “Good King Wenceslas.”

“Wenceslas, who was Duke of Bohemia in the early 10th century, was surveying his land on St. Stephen’s Day, 26 December, when he saw a poor man gathering wood in the middle of a snowstorm. Moved, the King gathered up surplus food and wine and carried them through the blizzard to the peasant’s door.” [1]

Given that bit of history about this day, it seems quite fitting that today I tell you the rest of the story about one of our Canadian rescues who came to us in need.

Stray Guy had been left behind when his family moved away. He was on his own to forge out a survival. But from the scratch on his face, it did not look like things were going so well for him. A woman named Irene who lived nearby did all she could to help him, but because she had dogs of her own, she did not feel she could take him into her home. So she began her search for a home for him.

One of the people Irene contacted was Ginette, a Let’s Adopt member, who contacted me. We immediately sent out a request for a forever home or a foster home so we could get this boy off the street. This was in July, 2010.

A woman several hours away from Ottawa offered her home, but the lack of transportation became an obstacle.

That’s when Maggie stepped up saying she could foster him in her home. She had several cats of her own and was familiar with our needs having rescued and fostered cats on her own in the past. She had a bedroom she could keep him in while we went through getting him tested and neutered and on his way to a new life.

We had a plan! Irene caught Stray Guy one evening and put him in a carrier. Ginette picked him up and delivered him to Maggie. In the coming days, we got him vetted and neutered. At this point, Stray Guy became Stary. In making his vet appointment, Stray was misspelled as Stary… and it was discovered that he had a small white “star” on his chest.

During vetting, we ran into another speed bump. Testing revealed that Stary had FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus). Though that is not a death sentence, it does require a special family to adopt him. One that is aware of his illness and can provide for his needs. Simply put, he has a compromised immune system so he has to be treated quickly if a secondary infection occurs. Here is a link to the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine’s webpage about FIV.

In late September, Inessa and Paul came forward and asked about Stary. They were familiar with FIV and were interested in meeting him. Emails, Facebook messages and phone calls were exchanged; a visit was arranged; and it was unanimously decided that Inessa and Paul were perfect for Stary.

On the first Sunday in October, Stary was loaded into his carrier for his trip to his new forever home.

And the news is all good. He has since been renamed Vovochka (or Вовочка). His family describes him as a playful, friendly cat. In the beginning, he slept with his new family in their bed and never let them get very far from his sight. He has become more secure, but still keeps his eye on them. And from the looks of things in these photos, life is good in his world. Stray Guy aka Stary aka Vovochka is finally and forever home!

So on Boxing Day, we wrap the story of this once needy little guy who was left behind by his family, but was eventually adopted by a wonderful couple in a tidy box for you to enjoy.

It takes a concerted effort of caring people to rescue our homeless pets and find them the forever homes they deserve. I hope in the coming year, you will be a part of the efforts to find homes for them. Did you realize that if just 3.5% of a community adopted the pets from their shelters, the shelters could be empty?

Please be part of the 3.5% solution and opt to adopt.

Click the photos to enjoy all of Vovochka’s handsomeness.

Ciao, Holly

With the millions of cats and dogs killed each year across the world, the question is “can you love some more?” Can you open your heart and your home to adopt another cat or dog?

More than sharing their stories and their photos, THEY NEED HOMES.

Will you step up?

Think how the numbers would change if everyone who says they are an animal lover adopted a cat or dog from a rescue or a shelter.

Think of the impact and the lives saved.

Please… think about it, then step up and love some more.

If you compare the number of animals killed in a community shelter to the city’s population of people, it requires only a small percentage of people to empty a shelter of it’s healthy, adoptable animals.

For example: say you live in a city where there are 285,000 people. And say the average family consists of four people. 285,000 divided by 4 = 71,250 families.

Say your local shelter kills 2500 animals in a year. 2500 animals divided by 71,250 families = .035. That number represents the percentage of households needed to save all the shelter animals euthanized in a year in our sample community. — 3.5% of the community’s households.

This sample was generated from the actual numbers for 2009 from an actual Canadian city.

Add another percentage and I bet the area rescues will be empty, too.

When you look at it that way, you can begin to get your head around how needless the killing really is.

Please SHARE this post and let’s find that 3.5%.

I believe that inspiration is a release of positive qualities that already exist inside us. They are triggered by any number of things. One great inspiration for me is music. I can listen to a song for a long time and be moved by the rhythms of it without even hearing the words. Another day, the words come through to me and it’s a whole new song.

When you watch a movie, there is a soundtrack playing in the background throughout its length. So it only makes sense that we should have a soundtrack playing all the time in our everyday lives. Think how often a song intersects with an event and forever that song comes to serve as a reminder of that event or the feelings from that event. Even many years later. Powerful, eh? Yes, music inspires and instills.

This week, the senior dog at my house — Lacey — passed away. She had arthritis so crippling that she stopped walking on her own about three years ago and I became her legs. But don’t feel sorry for her because she did not skip a beat. I slid her onto a large piece of canvas and dragged her wherever she wanted to go: to the bedroom, to her pee pad, to the living room. I built a ramp for her so she could go out into the backyard. She would have expected nothing less from me and I did not even think twice about it. Dragging that 100 pounds of gentleness around as much as I did in a day was probably the most exercise I got some days.

The Eddie Vedder song, The Long Road, came on the stereo just before Lacey passed away. I was laying against her on the floor and could tell her time with me was getting short. Her soul had not left her body yet and I was telling her about everyone that was waiting for her: her brother Charley, her sister-friend Taylor, baby Paketo, lovely Layla… I was encouraging her to let go. I asked her to please keep an eye on us, but told her it was okay for her to let go now.

We all walk the long road. Cannot stay…
There’s no need to say goodbye…

Lacey passed with me beside her while it was playing.

For the history of it… I found Charley and Lacey as young pups, a couple months old. I saw them down by the old wooden bridge on my way to work one morning. Seems someone may have been aiming for the creek with them, but the creek was dry. Often when a dog is “dumped,” they stay where they were dumped waiting for their family to come back and get them. They were still waiting when I came home from work that evening.

I pulled over and started talking to them. They looked nothing alike. Charley was an orange-tan color and, in later years, I called him Charley Tan the Man. Lacey was mostly black with some Australian Shepherd ticking on her hind legs that looked like lace, thus Lacey. They seemed so happy to have someone to talk to — just two roley-poley balls of puppiness. After we talked a bit, I asked them if they would like to come home with me. They tilted their head sideways — as they had done through much of our conversation — then ran over and jumped in the car.

That was more than fifteen years ago. I lost Charley to cancer about a year and a half ago.

I am constantly awed by how moved we are by animals — our own pets, internet videos of birds mothering kittens, squirrels playing with cats, deer playing with dogs, and even mosquito fish and dragonflies frolicking in a spray of water from the hose.

One of my fondest memories is of a dog I named Walter that had been dumped on a corner near me. Long story short, he came to live with the woman next door who has a horse. We had a particularly heavy rain one evening and I felt so bad for Magoo, the horse, because he had no shelter except a tree to go under. I guess Walter was feeling the same sadness because he came out of his doghouse and stood outside the fence but as close to Magoo as he could get and the two endured the storm together.

With regards to animals, I see it as my responsibility to help them where needed. Sometimes I wonder if we have just misunderstood our place in this world all along. Perhaps we are here to serve them — and not vice-versa. But maybe at some point we mutinied to overcome that position and haven’t looked back.

But perhaps we should look back. We are all essentially climbing the same mountain, but from different sides, different angles and different perspectives. However each side, each angle and each perspective allows us opportunity to offer our hand to another in need. It is simply the kind thing to do and it is the right thing… even if there is nothing tangible in it for us.

The Native people of North America believe that it is the animals in your life that will decide if you enter heaven when the time comes. My joy is the thought that I will see so the many friendly faces whom I have known in my lifetime and miss terribly. Hopefully, they will invite me in.

Of Lacey’s passing this week, a friend wrote: she is not gone, she has just gone ahead.

I believe that.

I don’t know that I can inspire you as such, but I will ask you to open your heart to being inspired. And once inspired, follow the feeling, follow your heart. Then you are being true to yourself. And therein lies the good.

Please keep our homeless animals in your thoughts and do something for them everyday — SHARE their stories, ADOPT from a shelter or rescue, FOSTER a pet in need, VOLUNTEER an hour a week to a shelter or rescue, RECYCLE your gently used towels and such, DONATE a bag of food each month or every week, SPONSOR an animal in need, GIVE a monetary donation perhaps on a monthly basis. Step up. Every little bit does help.

Have a great weekend.

Ciao. Holly

ps… just curious. What song inspires you?

Stray Guy spent the night in a house last night. The first time since his family moved out and left him behind to fend for himself.

Thank goodness for the generosity of a kind woman named Irene who has been feeding him. Because she has dogs, she was not able to bring him inside, so she sought help to find him a new home.

From the photos we have received, it seems he was so excited that, after eating, he spent a lot of time cleaning up. Probably felt like he finally had a reason to.

Through a couple coincidences, Stray Guy’s name is becoming Stary. First off, many people may be feeling that Stray Guy is just too hard or odd to say when you are calling a cat… “Here, Stray Guy, Stray Guy.” Others may feel it’s just not personal enough. “Stray Guy? Is that really a name?”

One of the women involved in the rescue misspelled it in a message as Stary. Then it was discovered that he has a small white star on his chest.

So, now off the streets and no longer a homeless stray, I guess Stray Guy is evolving into Stary.

Our next step is getting Stary vet checked. And he has an appointment on Friday to be neutered — or as a friend says, “to lose his ‘twins’.”

We are again putting the word out that we are looking for a forever home for Stary. Someone to love this guy as he deserves.

If interested in adopting Stary, please contact me.

I leave you with a few more photos from Stray Guy/Stary’s first night inside. Click the images to see a larger version.

UPDATE: Bentley has been adopted!

There is a home out there looking for this handsome man.

I got one of those emails yesterday afternoon that I hate to read –

“Hello everyone, My friend needs to find a home for his Labrador. He is 6 years old, inside dog and very friendly/loving. He has two small children and they are just taking precautionary measures. If they do not find a home by Friday they will bring him to the SPCA. The dog’s name is Frank.“

How do you do that? How do you simply discard years of loyalty? For no seeming reason. Precautionary measures?

Like someone unable to turn away from a train wreck, I scrolled down through the various messages to see the photos of Frank.

And I have to say, it was worse than I expected. Frank’s posture was so confident. His eyes warm and so filled with trust. He’s even a little chubby from living a pampered life.

He hasn’t a clue that his family doesn’t want him anymore. And that come Friday, he was “pound bound” if no one else wanted him.

With a sigh, I deleted all the extraneous comments and sent the original email to everyone I could think of.

Shortly afterward, I received an email from Sandra: Do a mass email.

Yes! A glimmer of light! Maybe we can save a life!

The email went out around midnight to a couple thousand people. Forty-five minutes later came the first response:

“I’ll take this dog if you can not find a home for him….I’ll stay back and prefer to let someone else take him, but please do not let him go to the pound. I will step up and take him if no one else will.”

The email responses continued coming in — some had questions, some expressed their disbelief and some to offer help.

At 2 pm came an email that Frank had a new home! He was moving to a farm in the country. Thirty-five acres. Guess that may help Frank lose a bit of that pampered house dog girth.

Best wishes, Frank!

Here are some of the messages received:

“franks owners SUCK. the least they could do is give poor frank a chance to not eat the kids… i say put THE owners in the SPCA”

“She is beautiful and I would love to have her, but we just adopted a male chocolate lab, Moses (9yrs) and a mix pointer, ????, named Bella (about 4 we think). I will ask my friends here at the beach where we live if anyone might like to adopt her. Please let me know if you find a home for oops, not her, him; Frank.”

“He is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L~ We are going to look at him! ”

“Frank deserves smarter owners that should be able to figure out that this dog could be great for their children and not a THREAT. ”

“Precautionary? I say LAZY. It infuriates me that so many humans think animals are disposable. After six years??? Unbelievable!!!!!”

“And why the deadline? If they really cared about their pet, they would find a new home themselves versus threatening to take him to the SPCA—where he will more than likely be put down. And for what reason?????”

“If you want to do this poor dog a favor, please return this to Franks’ owners.”

“Do they not know that children that are raised with a dog have less allergies and are sick less that children with out a dog in the house. Tell them to read up on this. I do not know how someone who has had a pet for 6 years can just give him up.”

“Remind them that My little brother as an infant was saved by this type of Dog .. He ran out in front of a moving car and the Dog pulled him out of the way,.. so the family should rethink.. I would not worry about the dog but, the parents fear of the unknown.. the baby will be protected by the dog.”

“do they have an acre for mr ? I have no flees..”

And then came the one I was waiting for –

“Frank found a home. I had a friend call to retrieve him and the owner said he had been relocated. Great job.”

Thank you, Sandra, for opening your heart and your network to helping Frank.

And thank you to everyone who participated today. We saved a life!

How was your day?

Un beso, Holly.