Poor Mellie...

Normally happy, smiling Melody may look young, but she has the body of a little ol' lady. She often forgets and spends a great part of the day wrestling with Tess and Maverick. However she played a little too hard this evening, and like any weekend warrior, soreness warranted a little medication. We hope that with some Rimadyl, Healing Touch, and strict rest, she'll be back to playing in no time.

If you notice the blog's slowing down, it's not for lack of anything to blog about. Rather, it's because my "spare" time is focused on completing the final education requirements for my RVT application. Online courses are wonderful, but are truly as time consuming as standard college courses, especially when Scooter helps at the keyboard!

Spa Day!

The weather finally cooperated a little, with daytime temperatures actually above 50, it finally seemed reasonable to give Sparky a bath. We were afraid his thick undercoat just wouldn't dry without Mother Nature's help (plus our trusty blow dryer). He and Luna both had hypoallergenic baths with cream rinse, nail trim and ear cleaning too. Luna supervised as Sparky was brushed and dried, both pictured above with the "tools of torture" (brush, blow dryer, towel, nail clippers, & muzzle). He needs to wear a muzzle for grooming, it seems he doesn't feel like it's necessary to be brushed when he's already so handsome!

His New Name...

is Sparky! We thought long and hard about a name that would reflect his special spirit, & Sparky won. This is a picture of him out in the backyard, next to one of Melody's "caverns," enjoying the afternoon sun and breeze. He continues to improve daily, taking part in more and more activities with the other dogs, walking and moving slowly but steadily. He's on medication for hypothyroidism now, plus liver support, joint support and Rimadyl as needed. He has quite an assortment of medication, but it's okay, these are his golden years, right?

Buddha On Ice

In San Diego, we certainly can't complain about the weather, our extremes are nothing like those across the country. Our ponds froze over yesterday morning, and Buddha was frozen inside! The goats and the horses patiently waited for the ice to be broken out of their water tanks, and the geese were wondering where the sun was too. 15 & 20 degree temperatures are not letting us live up to our sunny southern California reputation!

Hey Fella, Nice Hat!

The lab results are in for our New Guy, who's still awaiting his new name. His bloodwork was pretty good overall, though his liver has been stressed (which could have been all the medication he was on at the shelter) and his thyroid is a little low, which should probably be supplemented.

He's starting to feel much perkier, Luna & I have been taking him on short walks, and it seems like the more he moves around the better he feels. He's hoping to slim down in time for summer swimwear!

Vet Day!

Today was vet day for some of the sanctuary residents. Our primary care veterinarian, Dr. Booman, came out to see everyone (much easier than asking 12 cats, 2 dogs to ride in the car!)

So much was accomplished in 3 hours ~

~ 7 kitties received their Rabies & FVRCP vaccines. We do vaccinate every 3 years, per the American Association of Feline Practitioners and American Animal Hospital Association's guidelines, those who aren't immune compromised, as so many of our residents come straight from the shelter to us.

~ Melody had the lump on her hip checked. It's a sebaceous cyst, which isn't a medical problem, just a cosmetic one. We'll watch it & remove it if needed.

~ Poppy had a steroid injection, since his IBD is beginning to flare again. I'm not able to find a can or dry cat food that meets his basic beef/potato requirements, so it looks like I'm home cookin' for him for quite a while! (And maybe he needs to quit getting into the trash can!)

~ Ballou had a urinalysis done as part of his exam. He has a low-grade kidney infection, so he's on antibiotics for the next couple of weeks.

~ Austin's exam revealed that he's not 5 - 6 years old as the rescue group was told. The iris atrophy in both eyes is consistent with a cat over 10 years old!

~ Pepper was told she'll need a dental unless she lets me brush her teeth. I'm hoping she agrees, since she doesn't need to floss.

~ The "New Guy" had an exam and bloodwork done. His ears have chronic infections, which will need medication for at least a month. He was treated for tapeworms & fleas; I'm hoping his chronic skin problems are tied into the fleas & will heal over time. His dental tartar isn't bad enough to warrant a dental at this point - I'll start brushing his teeth too. The changes in his eyes put him well over 10 years old, more like 13-14; his elbows, shoulders, hips and hocks are all arthritic. He's started Adequan injections, a medication to increase synovial joint fluid. It will take at least 4 weeks to see any improvement. He was a very brave boy, he even let us trim his toenails, which should help him walk better too. His weight loss program for now will be increased exercise (he follows the other dogs everywhere) and a good quality food (Natural Balance). We'll give him at least a month to see if he's dropped weight before initiating more drastic changes like prescription diet food.

Looking at it all in writing, no wonder everyone wants to go to bed early tonight, including me!

A Second Chance...

Really came to this handsome elder gentleman. The kind folks at the SD South County Animal Shelter plus the hard work of Penny Adams at the Foundation for the Care of Indigent Animals saved his life today.

Known as "Scooter" at the shelter (a new name's coming his way), this old-timer started 2007 off with tragedy in his life. He and his previous animal family found themselves in the shelter after their owner committed suicide. Scooter's huge list of medical problems unfortunately ranked him high on the euthanasia list, low on the adoptability list. His time was up, but Penny pleaded for an extra day; late last night she & I talked, and I agreed to go down to the shelter to meet him this afternoon.

So stiff he could barely get up, he greeted me with a half-hearted tail wag. His ears were oily due to the ear medication he's receiving, his eyes are cloudy, his teeth have some tartar, he's grossly overweight (a whopping 98lbs.!), and he has pressure sores on his hindquarters and his elbows. He also needs assistance getting up due to severe arthritis. How could I say no? If there was ever anyone who deserves a soft bed at the sanctuary....

He enjoyed a meal tonight of Natural Balance canned chicken, as he has difficulty chewing kibble. Introductions with the other dogs went very well, and he's learning about life indoors. It's 7:30pm, and he's already crawled into a bed for the night! He'll have an exam and blood work done on Friday with our veterinarian Dr. Booman, and we'll post the results here.

Happy New Year!

Here's wishing you and your family a festive but safe New Year!

We look forward to sharing more stories about the sanctuary animals in 2007!

Tess' Christmas Present

The animals received extra treats on Christmas day, the kitties had new fuzzy mice to play with, the goats had a special grain "casserole", and the dogs made out like bandits with squeaky toys and tennis balls. Tess goes wild for any ball, or anyone who says the word "ball" so it seemed strange to find her playing with a blanket. Well, there was a tennis ball in the blanket - so I thought, "Poor girl, your ball is caught, let me get that out for you." I pulled the ball out and threw it, went on about my day, and not 5 minutes later, Tess is back chewing on the blanket (with the ball in it). I pulled it out again and threw it, but watched her afterward. She was rolling the ball into the blanket, then working on getting it back out again. Who knew there were that many games to play with a tennis ball?

The Holidays...

bring time to celebrate and share with friends and family. It wasn't a completely quiet time this year, as Waldo began feeling poorly. He ran a low fever and didn't want to eat on Christmas morning, so he spent the morning curled up in a blanket on the couch. He also started antibiotics and received some subcutaneous fluids and baby food too! A little extra TLC had him feeling better by later that night.

Scooter still continues to have intestinal trouble too. We're watching him even closer than before, making sure he stays "regular". He enjoys the extra attention, and he really enjoys sleeping in his crate at night. We only use crates here at feeding time or when introducing a new kitty, but Scooter grew up sleeping in one as a kitten. He's gravitated back to enjoying his own bed complete with water and litter box at night. He really enjoys snuggling down in the blanket until just his head is sticking out!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours, we hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Lily Left Us Today

Sweet Lily quietly passed away today. It's still such a shock. She was a happy, apparently healthy kitty when we left for work this morning, playing with her toy mice. I found her this afternoon when I returned home for work ~ there was no struggle, no injury, it looks like she just lay down for a nap and didn't wake up. It's amazing how someone so young who's been with us such a short time leaves such an imprint on our hearts ~ we're really going to miss her...

Meet Sylvester

A bit camera shy, Sylvester is our semi-feral kitty, the only one who has the run of the property. I finally caught a photo of him, and as you can see, he's a handsome fellow, with beautiful white whiskers against his black fur. He started hanging around the property several years ago, making the mistake one day of investigating a storage room in the garage, which was my opportunity to nab him & neuter him! As you can imagine, when I released him, he left for quite some time.

When he returned and decided it was okay to stay around for mealtime, as I got closer to him, it was obvious he had an eye problem. He didn't seem painful with it, so with time and kitty tuna, we became friends & I was able to catch him for an exam. At some point in his adventures, he sustained a puncture to his eye, a nasty wound which caused the eye to shrivel up and scar over time. Ouch!

Blind in one eye, Sylvester spends his days pretty close to home now; his primary job is that of mouser, as we don't use rodent bait (or any pesticides) on the property. He also helps with watering plants and feeding the other animals too. As he gets older and slows down, he may even settle down enough to live with the Cabana kitties!

Oh, Hot Rod...

Has never had the best coordination, thanks to the neurological damage from early on in kittenhood. His love of heights and his lack of coordination collided 2 weeks ago, and resulted in a good wack to his head and spine. He's pictured above in a cat tree which is about 8 feet off the floor ~ we have since lowered all the cat trees to sit no more than 4 to 5 feet high to help lessen his chances of re-injury.

Medication is on the horizon for Hot Rod now as he's having petit mal seizures; he either stares off in space for long periods or decides to attack all other cats he lives with (even Rocky, who he grew up with). Phenobarbitol is the medication of choice, at a low dose to see how he responds. To his credit, he doesn't realize there's a problem at all, and it certainly hasn't slowed down his appetite!

Oh Those Stunning Blue Eyes!

With new camera in hand, now I can post pictures regularly once again! These are the latest additions to the sanctuary, a couple of handsome blue-eyed guys. There are some "hazards" associated with my job as a veterinary technician, both good & bad. Poppy is the result of one of the good ones - he has the chance for a new life while I have the opportunity to help a really cool kitty. He suffers from IBD (irritable bowel disease) which flares with stress. The household he was in has kitties who liked to beat him up, and with multiple cats his family found it difficult to medicate or do diet trials to help ease his symptoms. Here, he is one big love bug who loves everyone including the dogs (and he kind of likes MeiLi too!) He's eating a boiled hamburger/potato diet now, plus taking supplements, antibiotics and steroids. He appears to be feeling much better!

This is Austin, who also has beautiful blue eyes (trust me on this one, he closed them for every picture I took!) He has a very sad story with a happy ending, thanks to Hannah at New Beginnings for Animals in Orange County. His former owners relinquished him to the Orange County Animal Shelter after they found him injured as a result of being caught in the family car's fanbelt (yes, they threw this poor boy outside in their garage to live). He suffered from burns on his body which healed with lots of TLC from New Beginnings. They noticed that he drooled some too, so he went to the vet to address his dental care. His pre-anesthetic work-up found an enlarged heart. The diagnosis - hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a disease in which areas of the heart muscle thicken and enlarge. It can be medically managed, but definitely reduces his chances of finding a forever home, so he came to spend his remaining days with us. He takes multiple medications including low-dose aspirin therapy to lower his chances for blood clots in the wrong places. He's living in the Cabana, where Leonard has made sure he feels welcome!

In Or Out?

Here's where two hard-heads meet. Pepper wants outside, Rocky wants inside. This provided quite a stand-off for what seemed like an eternity, until Rocky finally abided by the "ladies first" rule. (What you can't see ~ the main door was open the entire time!)

The Graduate

Here's a picture of Tess at her graduation from her obedience class. She's not only proud of her diploma, but she really liked the biscuit that came with it too! Now that class is over, she's still looking for things to do on weekends, so we've started agility training.

Here she is learning to go through a tunnel, which at first she thought was very scary...

And here she and I are navigating the weave poles.

She goes pretty quickly even on 3 legs (much faster than me!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

From all of us here, we wish you and your families, including your furkids, a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

We count our blessings everyday ~ the wonderful animals that live with us, the celebration of life and spirit that surrounds us, our family, and especially you who believe in a safe haven for all critters, no matter how fast they walk or run, or how many teeth they have left, or how much hair they have.

Thank you for caring, we couldn't do it without your help!

Meet Lily!

Lily came from a litter of kittens a private rescuer was fostering in Santee. She was the only tailess kitten, and the only one with urinary and fecal incontinence too - a definite problem in trying to find her a forever home. So, when asked if we could take her in, how could we say "no" to this cute face? She's been with us for a little while now, and has definitely won over all of our hearts!

We're working on finding a diet and medication combination that will work for her. She's sharing Scooter's prescription I/D (much to his dismay!) and so far, it seems to be helping; she's happy to have fewer baths during the day. She's very sweet and also pretty darned opinionated too. We don't know what other problems she may have, so we'll be watching her closely, and I'm sure she'll have lots to say about that!

We're Back Online!

With some patience and tech support on the phone, finally, the "blue screen of death" is gone and it's back to blogging! So it's time to catch-up with what's happening here at the sanctuary...

The Rancho Bernardo Park Dog Walk event not only gave us the opportunity to receive donations, spread the word about the sanctuary and hospice care, but also put us in contact with a North County Times reporter who wrote up a little about us; you can read the story here ~
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/11/09/news/inland/vc/20_34_5511_8_06.txt

We had one "reporter" day and one "photo" day, so the critters were really excited to have so much attention from visitors!