Camera Clowns

After a long bout of sickness, Betty the foster cat is finally better. The other two cats, who were also sick for a while, got better much more quickly but Betty's cold just kept hanging on. It eventually got so bad that she required an overnight stay with an I.V. in at the vet.

Now they are all 100% and it's a huge relief. Neville arrived here sick and as good as cats are at hiding it, changes really do affect them quite a bit, and all three were new to our home and to each other. The stress was there, and Neville's cold was already there, so it just swept through everyone.

I did a little photo shoot to get some nice pictures for Petfinder but the cats did a few funny things. Here are the out-takes:





Ha!

I'll post the nicer pictures sometime soon but I thought you'd get a kick out of seeing these.

Conspirators

We ain't afraid of no dogs!


Well, Neville isn't, anyway. Betty is very comfortable around the dogs too, but in a different way. Neville is casual at times, but enjoys giving both of the dogs a good whack on the nose when he's in the mood. They are not allowed to get too close to him! Betty, on the other hand, is completely indifferent. The dogs can go tearing right past her in the hallway or on the stairs, and she barely glances at them. Oliver like to run up to her, tail wagging, and give her a good sniff. It doesn't phase her in the least.

Mrs. O'Hara is not so very fond of the dogs though. She likes to avoid them. She startles very easily, so I'm not surprised. With time I'm hopeful that she'll become as casual about the dogs as Betty is.

These days all three cats are a bit under the weather. Neville arrived here with the tail end of a cat cold, and it came back after a couple of weeks. Then he passed it on to the other two, so all three of them are slinking around the house with one squinty eye each from their colds. They look like a pack of conspirators who are in on a secret that they haven't shared with us... (Wink, wink, wink!)

We started medicating them all this week, and I don't think they're getting any worse. Neville seems to be getting a bit better, so hopefully the other two will do the same.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Neville has Mitts

Neville has a generous helping of extra toes on his feet. On his front feet in particular, they make him look for all the world like he is wearing a pair of woolen mittens.

I mean, look at this.


It's ridiculous.

All three cats are settling in and seem content with their new surroundings.

In the early morning hours of each day they have started to regularly have what sounds like a go-cart rally in the upstairs hallway.

CRASH!

(thumpa-thumpa-thumpa-gallop)

MEOW? MEOW!

bump, crash, repeat.

back at last!

So we have finally met up with the people who run CAPS, the local animal rescue group. They came to our house and brought three great cats with them for us to foster:

Mrs. O'Hara


Mrs. O'Hara is the most low-key cat of the three. She is quiet and affectionate and is still spending a lot of time under the bed in the cat room. I think as she gets more comfortable here she'll be out more often, but she doesn't seem very stressed out. She just likes to take her time about things.

Betty


Betty is a sweet and affectionate girl. She is bold in her own cute little way. She's a small cat - barely over six pounds, and has the most precious little "mew" that she uses when she want attention. We took her yesterday to get spayed and it hasn't fazed her one bit. She's still a purring machine!

Neville


Neville's personality is larger than life! This boy is extremely forward and extremely friendly. He likes to be where the action is and will butt his way into whatever you are doing if he feels like it. He has a great temperament and can be handled quite a bit without ever showing signs of irritation.


These three cats are settling into the household very well. Neville and Betty don't seem to be scared of the dogs which is great! Mrs. O'Hara is a bit more cautious, but will enter a room that she knows the dogs are in once in a while.

We are so happy to have these furballs in our house!

startin' up

I DID NOT expect to be absent from the animal rescue world for so long.

For those of you who don't know the sordid details, we took our months-long North American road trip and it was great. We did not adopt a Mexican street-mutt, probably because we mostly stayed in rural areas and only encountered Mexican dogs twice. The first time, I think it was near Mexicali, we saw a large mange-ridden dog that was not anywhere near us and ran away when we called to it. The second time, we made friends with two friendly and healthy-looking dogs that seemed to be owned by the people who owned the parking lot we were camping in. That was in Guerrero Negro on the Baja Peninsula.

We did not make it to Guanajuato, as we had planned, because the Mexican roads kept getting into fights with our truck and travel trailer, and the roads won, every time. I would have loved to have seen the sister-group for the Mex-Can Pet Partnership but honestly there was no way our truck would have made it. We retreated in defeat back to the Southern United States and eventually continued our trip north.

Once we reached New England we stayed on a farm owned by a fellow animal lover. She had three dogs and two horses - all rescues - and I made a very special connection with one of the horses. Beau is a very haunted and fragile boy, but very sweet. This is him:


Beau was sold at an auction a few years ago and was destined to become glue until his current owner was called by a frantic friend who was at the auction and saw him. An agreement was reached and Beau retired to our friend's quiet farm in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.

Beau is quite a challenge. He is young but not able to be ridden. He's very skitzy and nervous of most people. The big problem, though, is that he puts up a serious fight whenever it's time to have his hooves trimmed, to the point where his owner now requires a visit from the vet so he can be sedated to get his hooves done. This has to happen about every six weeks, so it's not ideal and is stressful for both him and his owner. Farriers won't touch him and it's a two-to-three person job to get his hooves trimmed even when he's sedated. I was there for one hoof-trimming session, and this upset boy kicked out the wall of his stall while sedated.

I worry about him. He's lucky enough to have a great home and another horse companion whom he adores, but he is so troubled. Ah well, we all do what we can do. I don't know what Beau's path in life will be but I hope he will find some peace.

Anyway, after our road trip, we had some long, painful, drawn-out house purchasing adventures. We finally moved into our own house in mid-November and we have started to familiarize ourselves with the nearby animal rescue groups.

S.H.A.I.D. Animal Shelter is a small but mighty shelter located about an hour and a half from where we live. It's in Mark's old hometown where his mother and grandmother still live, so we will be there now and again and may have some contact with these folks.

The Companion Animal Rescue Society is the only animal rescue group in our area, from what I can tell. They have no shelter facility but have a whopping 116 cats and 3 dogs in foster homes at the moment. We have submitted a foster application. I will let you know as soon as I hear anything - wish us luck!!

Goodbye Victoria

We’re taking a hiatus from our animal rescue work for about three months – until at least mid-May. Well, that’s not accurate. We’re going to be homeless and travelling the continent for three months so I don’t expect to update much, but there will likely be a stop in Guanajuato, Mexico, to drop off kennels used to transport dogs from Mexico to Canada for the Mex-Can Pet Partners dog rescue group.

Also, knowing us, there will likely be an “unexpected” rescue/adoption somewhere down south. We are not strong-willed enough to stop adding new dogs to our family – especially dogs in dire need. Will we rescue a Mexican street mutt? Will we stop in Florida and save an ex-racer from one of the Greyhound tracks? We will try to remain dogless, but I make no guarantees.

At the end of our three-month trip our rescue work, and this blog, will slowly start up again in Nova Scotia. Thanks to all my animal rescue contacts and friends in British Columbia, for doing what you do. We will miss you!

Julie & Mark

PS - Please feel free to follow our travels on our travel blog.

Odin the Explorer

Well, we didn't think we'd have another foster dog before we moved away, but today we found a little French Bulldog just sitting by himself in the park. Another park patron asked if he was ours, and said he was there by himself when she arrived.

The little guy was friendly and fairly placid, so I walked over and scooped him into my arms. He had no collar or leash attached, so there was no other way to keep him contained. We walked back home with him and gave a quick call to Animal Control to report him as being "found".


Meanwhile, he trotted around the house playing with our two dogs. He and Oliver were really well suited to each other and played well, but whenever they did, Arlo (ten times as big as both of them) would come running full tilt and playfully BARK right in the little guy's face, which made him stop playing every time. He also searched out all of the tennis balls lying around the apartment and put them all in a little pile together.

A short time after calling Animal Control, I got a frantic call from his owner. It sounded like we had found him about five or ten minutes after he scuttled away from his owner's mother on a walk, and they had been desperately searching for him ever since. She was glad to hear he was safe! A few minutes later, the owner's dad was at our door and took the little fella (his name is "Odin") into his arms with a smile.

Later that afternoon Odin's owner very kindly came back to our place with a sweet thank-you card and a bouquet of flowers for us. She also said she would be keeping a collar on him from now on.

He wasn't a foster, but he visited with us and his adventure has ended happily! He was a "bonus" dog that brightened our day.