Five Years On

Yes, it's been that long since my last post. A lot has happened since then, and compared to other folks, not so much has happened. All the pets I had when I first posted (Eve, Yin Yang, Mu Mu, Per Per, Pooka, and Sprite) have all crossed the Rainbow Bridge and are, I hope, waiting for us (me and Nicky) to join them one day. 

 

We now have seven cats (Puddin', whose story I have already told; Jo Jo; Pixie and Fae; Mister Bean and Mouse; and Lily. In between, we've had Pup Pup, a Corgi mix, who crossed the Bridge after the sudden discovery of prostate cancer; and Havana, a mature, one-eyed tabby, who died of an apparent aneurysm. In the next few posts, I hope to tell their stories, as well as the stories of our former cats (the original Cat Pack). I want to try to make this at least a weekly post, eventually morphing it into a more general blog that includes my love of books, my disappointment with aging, and other topics I feel like addressing.

I also want to talk about depression, fake friends, and why I watch CNN and MSNBC to cheer myself up because my personal mindset is so negative sometimes.

This is a short post, meant to let anyone who reads this know my future intentions.

Thanks for reading. If you enjoy my posts, please spread the word.

 

Fostering Elsa

Today is October 23, 2013, and it is well over a year since my last post about our foster animals and some additions to our household.

I will try to be brief about updating our foster roster. After we adopted Puddin', who was a Thanksgiving cat, we did not do any more fostering until March of 2011, when we got a call from Skye Kroman, who was the foster coordinator at the shelter -- and a more devoted, determined and inspirational one is hard to imagine.

"I have the perfect foster animal for you," she said.
"Oh?" I answered.
"Yes. I have a white German Shepherd."
(At this point, I'm repeating some of this out loud to Nicky and she is showing signs of panic. A German Shepherd?)
"A German Shepherd," Skye affirmed. "Her name is Elsa and she is absolutely beautiful. She has just had her heartworm treatment and needs to be in a quiet house and confined in her activity for about 6 weeks. I thought that since you didn't have any kids and had a fairly quiet household, you might be a perfect place for her. She can't get excited or be very active," she continued.
Before I realized it, both Nicky & I had agreed to take her on. With Skip's help, we installed a large crate in our computer room where we spend a lot of time and picked her up from the shelter.
And, yes, she was a beauty!

Now, to let you in on a little secret: I always wanted a German Shepherd. When I was little, I had an invisible German Shepherd I used to lead around on an invisible leash. Now, so many years later, I had one in my house as a temporary guest. It was March and when we brought her in, she still had her winter coat, and the "racing" stripes down her back where she was shaved for the two heartworm shots.

She was a lovely tempered dog, but obviously didn't feel good. To treat heartworm, a dog gets a series of two shots over two days (I think). These shots essentially inject a poison into the dog's bloodstream which kills the worms that are congesting the heart. It's a type of chemo, in many ways, and it really affects how the dog feels, not to mention that they have been laboring for a while with a really stressed heart. It normally takes about 6 weeks for the dead worms to be absorbed into the dogs system and eliminated. In the meanwhile, there are these large clumps of dead worm matter inside the dog. Any kind of activity that causes the dog to get excited or to make its heart beat harder has a likelihood of breaking up into a clot like lump and stopping the dog's heart. So it was really really important to keep Elsa relatively quiet.

She loved being groomed, so I would take her outside to potty (about all the exercise she was allowed to have) and then sit with her on the front porch and groom her, pulling out the loose clumps of hair and brushing her with a glove comb. As the weeks went by, we eventually tried letting her out of her crate and bringing her into the TV room to sit with me on the couch. She was just a little too interested in the cats -- not particularly to attack them, but definitely to chase them -- and that was definitely not allowed.

In the meantime, I was able to indulge my childhood dream for six weeks even as I realized that, at my age and with my mobility problems, there was no way I could handle a dog as active as she was going to be when she was over her recuperation period. It was with some sorrow that we did return her to the shelter -- and she was magnificent when we brought her back. Her energy was back and her winter coat was all gone (and our yard looked like a cotton field in full bloom as tufts of white fur stuck to all the grass and bushes!

Elsa found a home less than 48 hours later -- and I feel good about bringing her to the point where she could be someone's forever friend!

There is so much more to go, but that will have to wait for the next installment -- and I hope it won't be as long a wait. There is so much ground to cover...

Has It Been a Year?

I noticed my last post was around 11 months ago, last August, as a matter of fact. A lot has happened since then, most notably, the addition of two more creatures to our menagerie! We have also, since my last post, become foster "parents" for the Asheville Humane Society (www.ashevillehumane.org), the significant factor that led to the acquisition of our newest Pack Members.

Here's how it happened -- sort of.

In the fall of 2010, we finally broke down and agreed to act as fosters for the shelter, a decision spurred on by the enthusiasm and confidence in us of then Volunteer Coordinator Jim Fulton. We had finally, thanks to help from my brother, Skip, managed to clear the back bedroom/sitting room of most of its clutter (note: the clutter did not actually "go away" as get repositioned for future disposition.). This quickly became my brother's "reading room" and the foster home for Puddin', a little orange and white tabby female who suffered from an upper respiratory infection as well as some skin irritations.

Puddin' quickly became a favorite of my brother and vice versa. Whenever Skip would come over for a change of scenery, Puddin' would scrunch herself up between Skip and the arm of the comfy chair in the back room. We also discovered that she was an incredibly playful little cat, particularly fond of wands with long snaky cloth (see picture).

What also became apparent was that, although her URI was quickly taken care of, her skin issues were most likely allergies -- either to fleas (none were found on her or the other animals) or some other, possibly systemic reaction. The base of her tail and the tail itself had almost no hair and she had large lesions under her front legs and in the region of her neck. Skip had been through something similar to this with one of his cats, so we treated Puddin' (primarily with dilute peroxide and water along with topical antibiotic ointments.

The shelter was holding a huge Thanksgiving adoption event; people could adopt animals for no charge. (i.e. FREE!) Reluctantly, because we had grown fond of her, we brought Puddin' back to the shelter. Pam, the adoption center manager, told us that Puddin' would first go to medical (next door) for evaluation to see if she could be part of the adoption event. At that point, Nicky and I had talked extensively about adding Puddin' to our animal family -- both the pros and cons.

PRO: Puddin' had won our hearts.
PRO: Her skin condition might not make her desirable to potential adopters.

CON: We already had Eve and five cats, and our finances were strained pretty much to the limit.
CON: Her skin problems almost guaranteed incurring of more veterinary expenses.

PRO: We could adopt her for FREE!!! if we did it the weekend of the event.

We decided to invoke Fate, the Divine and whatever other powers and energies put forth by the universe to help us make our decision. We asked Pam if we could adopt Puddin' if she was not adopted by the end of the two-day event, and if we could do so under the terms of the event -- i.e., no charge. Pam agreed. The event came and went, I don't remember if either Nicky or I worked the event -- but I don't think we did.

There were 50 cats and kittens up for adoption; of those, 49 found homes. The only cat that was not adopted was -- yup -- Puddin'. So after signing a few papers and receiving a care package of goodies, including a free wellness check with a veterinarian of our choise, Puddin' became our newest member of Eve's Cat Pack -- and added a bright splash of color to a group of animals that consisted of 2 solid black siblings (Mu Mu and Per Per), 2 solid white siblings (Pooka and Sprite) one black and white cat (Yin Yng) and our glorious dark brindle Plott Hound (Eve).

 ...to be continued...

  NOTE: I've been fighting falling asleep for the last 20 minutes or so, and in the interests of intelligibility, I'm breaking off for now and will bick up whre I left off soon. Thanks for your patience with my very occasional blog. I hope I can do better from now on!

RVAS Pets: UPDATE: Story County Cat Hoarding

RVAS Pets: UPDATE: Story County Cat Hoarding

Story City Cat Tales

This is not a tale with a happy ending. It is bittersweet, because some animals were saved, but many died that did not have to.

Once upon a time, in Story City Iowa, there was a hoarding situation. Hoarding has become a very "hot" topic these days: Animal Planet has a series called Confessions: Animal Hoarding that explores the world of people who keep animals under unsanitary conditions while believing that they are helping them.

If you watch any of the Animal Cops shows that cycle through on Animal Planet (and I do), then you know that they regularly feature hoarding situations. And, as is all too often the case, many -- heck, most -- of the animals "rescued" from such a situation end up being "humanely euthanized" (don't get me started on the meaning of that oxymoron). Unfortunately, we have come to accept this as the norm. But it's not. There are many people who are rethinking the customary way of deciding what animals to save and what animals to humanely...you know. And the ones who want to save more than they kill are starting to pull ahead. But not in every case.

The Story City event really seems to have fallen through the cracks. In a big way. Even getting the straight facts is hard.

But here is what I know. Through the persuasion of the family, a hoarder agreed to surrender about 50 cats that had been living (along with the hoarder) in really horrendous conditions. The cats were being relinquished into the custody of a Story City Vet, Dr. Bright. She, in turn, contacted another vet, Dr. Deppe, for assistance.

At this point, I want to refer you to Dr. Deppe's Blog, Veterinary Rescuer, for her account of the travesty that happened at Story City. Here is the link:

http://vetrescue.blogspot.com/2010/08/cutting-through-red-tape.html

As you can see from what Dr. Deppe has said, the majority of the cats did not have to be carted away in red tagged carriers slated for euthanasia. They could have been saved. Dr. Deppe herself had arranged for homes with fosters or on farms for the feral cats, which would have been a perfect solution.

Instead, it seems that ego and proprietary behavior got in the way.

Now, it's hard to find out if these doomed cats even existed. People who have asked the ARL about these cats have been stonewalled. Some who have contacted the ARL's Facebook page about this situation have been summarily banned.

No one admits to being "in charge" of the situation. Not the Story City PD, not the ARL, not the Story City Vet...no one.

Maybe the cats didn't exist! That would explain why they disappeared -- but wait, Dr. Deppe was able to find homes for a dozen cats. So they did exist. But where did they go? Did ARL adopt any of them out? Did they euthanize them?

In Delaware, it is illegal now for an animal to be euthanized if there is any alternative -- an adopter, a rescue organization, a foster, whatever. What happened in Story City is now illegal in Delaware. There were people waiting for those cats. Dr. Deppe was going to treat the sick ones and perform any necessary surgery without cost or by raising funds from people willing to lend a hand.

In the end, 12 cats were saved, including one orange kitten thrown in at the last moment, according to Dr. Deppe, to appease her and giving her an even dozen.

The bad news, and the sad ending -- many of the cats who could have been saved, weren't. And apparently NO ONE was to blame.

The epilogue to this story: a group called Citizens for Animal Welfare Reform has launched itself as a means to lobby for passage of a law to protect animals from euthanization, to start with Iowa and get a law passed similar to Delaware's Companion Animal Protection Act. But CAWR doesn't stop there -- every state needs a law like this. This group has issued a call to action for people from all over the country to join them and help animals in the most powerful way they can -- by getting legal protection for them.

That's the real end of the Story City Story. I'm not a big proseletyzer, but I AM a child of the 60s, so I know the importance of grass roots movements.

If you want to know more about the Companion Animal Protection Act, see this blog entry by Nathan Winograd:
http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=3801

The End (of Euthanasia, I hope)

What the Blogger Saw

Drayton Michaels has another blog entry that goes beyond mere criticism of Cesar Millan. Here is his entry:

http://trainertails.blogspot.com/

Here is my response:

I am so sorry you have lost your perspective regarding Cesar Millan. Please read Malcolm Gladwell's essay "What the Dog Saw" from the book of the same title. In that, he relates a beautiful description of the real interpretation of viewing the DW with the sound off and it's not at all what most people claim it is. Cesar is not cruel, nor does he use pain in order to train a dog.
Cesar Millan is open to change and evolution. It sounds as if you are not. My experiences with using his techniques and his philosophy have been positive, and I have a well-balanced, funny Plott Hound to show for it.
There are real issues such as puppy mills, dogfighting, BSL and ending the practice of euthanizing healthy dogs that require our time and attention. You are wasting your apparently considerable energy and verbiage on someone who is, in fact, not only on your side but one of the strongest positive forces acting on behalf of dogs.

I could not leave a comment on his blog because comments are limited to "team" members, presumably people who agree with him.

This makes me very sad, particularly since he obviously cares a great deal about dogs, and is an advocate of the bully breeds.

To my way of thinking, he is wrong and wrong-headed on so many levels it is hard to know where to begin answering him. There are some people whose stand on a subject is so entrenched that they are immune to any kind of reasonable disagreement or rational dialogue.

I am so afraid that this is one of those circumstances.

I may begin counting to 10 now...

When Dog Bloggers Go Bad, Or Why Can't We Be Friends???

I posted a response to the following site that was highly critical of Cesar Millan, referring to both him and to Barbara Woodhouse (No Bad Dogs) as teaching others to train animals by abusing those animals. Here is the website:

http://tinyurl.com/yb8r839

Here is my response:

Jackie Cassada
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

I believe that you are doing yourself a disservice by labeling Cesar Millan (and Barbara Woodhouse, by the way) as abusive just because you have a different approach toward working with dogs to change their behavior. You speak as if Cesar were the only person in the field who is using the methods he uses that you object to, while in reality, there are many other dog trainers, dog rehabilitators, etc. who use similar methods.

Dog abusers raise dogs for the fighting pit — Cesar does not do this. Dog abusers murder dogs in ways that redefine the limits of cruelty — Cesar does not do this. Dog abusers maintain puppy mills — Cesar has cooperated with a number of groups to address the problem of puppy mills and has helped rescue dogs (mostly breeding dogs) from these hell holes. Dog abusers starve their dogs, deny them adequate water and shelter, spend little to no time with them — Cesar does not do this.

If you disagree with his use of physical touch (which is different from hitting or kicking), the alpha roll, verbal corrections, etc., then say that’s what you oppose. But don’t call it abuse, because it’s not. You are devaluing the term. Michael Vick abused his dogs — he murdered them by drowning, bashing their heads in, electrocuting them. That’s abuse!

Cesar does not criticize people who differ from him in their methodology. He says that all ways are good that do not harm the dog — and his ways do not harm the dog. Neither do yours. The fact that you denigrate him and charge him with abuse tells me that you respect only those people who agree with you, that you hate and fear those who believe differently from you. To my way of thinking, you should reconsider your own attitude toward people who are outside your comfort zone. You are liable to end up as a xenophobe who hates that which is “other.” I don’t think this is what you want.

Cesar bashing is “in” right now, and you have obviously joined that club. It is not one that speaks very highly of what you believe, however. I have many friends who are different from me — in race, religion, politics, cat person/dog person identity, etc. I respect their right to be different.

You speak of Millan’s and Woodhouse’s obvious love for animals, yet by saying they abused the animals they worked with, you are gainsaying your own comments. Please, if you are going to write about someone and criticize them, do so with clarity and sound reasoning — or else admit you are just out to get them.

To quote from “Living on the Edge,” a song by Aerosmith, who paraphrased the Yardbirds’ “Mister, You’re a Better Man”: “If you can tell a wise man by the color of his skin, then mister, you’re a better man than I…”

My respect and admiration for Cesar Millan, both for his methods and for his philosophy, has turned me into a passionate defender of him against the very vocal critics of his who apparently think nothing of calling him names in a public forum. Cesar, himself, has never, to my knowledge, commented adversely about those in his field who are opposed to his methods. His silence and refusal to be drawn into public feuds speaks volumes for his personal integrity.

His critics' eagerness to put him down, on the other hand, tells me that they can only win if someone else loses.

Give me a win/win scenario over a zero-sum solution anyday. Eve and the Cat Pack heartily agree!