Sanctuary animal updates:
Since our last update on October 16th the following animals were adopted: Honeysuckle, Sugar Ray, Boudreaux, Katie, Aaron, Riley, Kurry, Honey, Wally, Copper, Xavier, Suzy, Al, Kody, JamesBond, Butch, Jean, Billie Jo, Huckleberry, Sadie, Petey, Boone and three FIV cats – Mason, Budha, Sebastian! Wow. That is 25 animals adopted in 18 days! Way to go! This is just so impressive. We did get Tina back, but we already have four adoption applications on her, so I am sure she will be in a new home soon.
Upcoming Events:
Farewell
Sadly we lost Capi, a little nine month old lab mix, to complications from his heartworm. Please everyone – please put your dogs on heartworm preventative. This year we have had dozens of dogs with heartworm come to us. It is over $600 to treat these dogs and while the success rate is better now than it was years ago, there is still tremendous risk and a month of discomfort for the dogs. If your dog is not on prevention, please reconsider. This sweet little dog had no chance at life but for the cost of a monthly pill. We are all so sad about the loss of this darling little dog.
Additionally, we had to make the decision to let Sammy go this week. Sammy was a guest here at Pets Alive for most of his life. We know he was here at least eight years and Sammy could be aggressive. That, coupled with his neurological problems made him not very adoptable. He still enjoyed a wonderful life here at Pets Alive. He had staff that loved him and he had volunteers that loved him dearly. Linda would often take him out of his run and lay him on a puffy blanket under the shade tree in front of the kennel. She would pet and groom him and generally love on him. Linda dearly loved this dog, and he knew it. She is suffering tremendously at his loss…as are his other friends – Carmine, Lucy, Matt, and Cindy (who brought him here years ago). Cindy and her friend were called when we knew his time was near and they travelled all the way down here to be with him when he passed. We are always so touched by the dedication and love of the volunteers here. They are not just here for community service…they deeply love these animals and commit their time and indeed their hearts to them. I’m so thankful that Sammy had them in his life. I can not imagine what his life would have been like if not for these group of people that cared so deeply for him. Rest in Peace Sammy and Capi.
Tarzan Update
As many of you may be fully aware, Tarzan has been having an issue with his eyes which has only been worsening as time progresses. At first it appeared that he may simply have seasonal allergies, but meds to treat him did not provide much if any help. Broad spectrum eye drops also did little to improve his symptoms. We finally were able to have him seen by an ophthalmologist. After a good eye exam and several tests, the specialist diagnosed Tarzan with two separate conditions. First is a condition known as ‘Plasmoma’ which is a specific type of disorder called “Pannus”’. It causes a thickening of the third eyelid giving Tarzan that perpetual drunken look. The cause is unknown but certain risk factors, namely ultraviolet light, altitude, and breed are thought to be involved. Most patients respond to steroids or other drugs which suppress the local immune reaction, therefore we think that pannus might be an “immune-mediated” disease where the patient’s body is producing antibodies directed against the cornea. Control is the key word with this potentially blinding disease since most patients with pannus MUST continue with some frequency of topical medications for the remainder of their lives.
If this was not enough, Tarzan was also diagnosed with Progressive Retinal Atrophy which is an inherited disease in many canine breeds. The disease causes gradual blindness, first affecting dim light vision and eventually, resulting in complete blindness many months or years later. Since the vision loss is so gradual, most owners don’t notice a problem until the blindness has progressed to a severe end stage. There is no known treatment for PRA at this time, as there is no treatment with the similar disease afflicting humans. Tarzan is receiving several different eye drops presently and will be receiving a recheck in two months.
Thank You Volunteers
So many thank you’s. First of course to Marisol and Rob Thomas for the huge event they put on for us. They have also put us in touch with so many wonderful volunteers and sponsors. They are just amazing — the fruits of being associated with them just keep pouring in. Thank you guys, again!
Thank you also to Tom. Tom is always so handy and so wonderful to have around. He replaced all the light switches for us this week and fixed those broken front steps. Those things were an accident waiting to happen and although he says he doesn’t think it looks great we all disagree and think it’s FABULOUS! Thanks Tom for your continued support.
The guys did a great job on building a new run for Cam this week. Cam can’t go in the kennel, as he reverts to some old tenancies and doesn’t handle it well so we had to provide him with an area to live for the winter that could be heated. The guys managed to coordinate the move of a shed (thanks for the help Mike H!) and they built a divider in it (because Bindi or Meeshka might keep him company in the other half of it) and then put fencing all around it – thanks for the donation of additional fence Joe L!
Thanks also to all our regular weekly volunteers. You guys are the best. We could not do it without you. I hope you will all continue to come even through the winter.
Thank you to Steven Lutz who created a Linda Eder auction site to benefit Pets Alive. Steven has been so kind to us. Thank you Steven!
“It was Make A Difference Day” and boy did they! The volunteers from Orange-Ulster Boces worked tirelessly pulling weeds, raking leaves, mowing and planting flowers. They painted kennel floors, walked and played with the dogs and visited the kitties. They cleaned, washed walls, painted and reorganized rooms in the volunteer building. They constructed a walkway into the entrance of the kennel building, and created a run off for water away from the front door! Their most challenging venture was to remove and repair the ceiling in the boiler and kitchen area. We are so grateful to all the teachers and students that worked so hard to do this for us. There was a CLEAR difference when they packed up and left. Thank you all for your help! We really hope to see you again!
Thank you to all the wonderful people that attended the Fund Raising Event – “A Furry Tail Evening”, and scheduled time to also visit Pets Alive. We had people here from the UK, Australia (thanks for the treats El!) and Germany! Angela was here and we also had Bill and Colleen here. Everyone donated some wonderful things to the critters here and Bill and Colleen brought up the funniest cat toy. The cats have been playing with it for hours. (Pictured here). It was so much fun meeting people in person. Thanks everyone for stopping by and for all your continued support!
Special Needs
This month we could use AAA batteries, 3-lb paper trays (we really need these again – please help!), HP Ink cartridges (92,95), 100 foot hoses, panacur horse dewormer, Murphy’s oil soap, Libmann wonder mop mopheads, paper towels, bleach, garbage bags (black yard bags), Preventic collars and duct tape. We also are in need of some biotin for Francis. Francis is a retired carriage horse who has chronic hoof problems. Some people have suggested that this might help him. Thanks for your kind consideration on these items!
Please consider helping us continue our mission
of finding homes for animals in need!