National Feral Cat Day 2012

By lauraling007


Today is National Feral Cat Day. National Feral Cat Day was founded by the Alley Cat Allies to promote the humane cure for feral cats. Paws & Prayers is celebrating National Feral Cat Day with a chip-in campaign for Paws & Prayers Cat Medical Program to assist in spays, neuters, and vaccinations for feral cats in our community. Please ChipIn below!



 Feral Cats 101
Feral cats are defined as cats being born and raised in the wild. Feral cats can also be recognized as cats that were abandoned and turned to wild ways for survival. Feral cats endure weather extremes (heat, cold, snow, and rain), starvation, infection, and attacks by other animals.

Feral cats typically live in groups known as colonies. Some feral cats live in managed colonies with a caretaker who provides spay/neuter services, feeding, and proper shelter.

Stray vs. Feral
Feral cats are raised in the wild or become adaptive to feral life. Stray cats are defined as someone’s pet that has become lost or abandoned. Stray cats are tame and comfortable with people versus feral cats who are distant and quiet.

Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR)
Trap- neuter- release (TNR) is the method of humanely trapping, spay/neutering, vaccinating, and returning feral cats to their colony. TNR involves a caretaker to monitor health and provide food and shelter. TNR is the least costly and most efficient way of stabilizing feral cat populations. By stabilizing populations TNR also lowers the risk of disease for feral cats.

Celebrate National Feral Cat Day with Paws & Prayers
Celebrate National Feral Cat Day 2012 with Paws & Prayers by participating in our chip-in campaign to help care for the feral cats in our community. Please ChipIn below! 


Resources:

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Pet of the Month: Petunia, Part 1

By lauraling007

Hi there!  I’m Petunia!  Most likely you've seen my picture if you frequent the Paws & Prayers Adoptable Dog page.  I've been in foster care for quite some time. I was asked to write ‘a day in the life’ of Petunia, but I figured people were more curious about dogs that seem to be around forever.  I assume you wonder what is ‘wrong’ with us.  Really, it’s ok to admit that.  There are various reasons that dogs don’t get adopted as readily as others.  My foster mom says it can be because some are older, some need more training, some have special needs, some look a certain way. etc.  But, I can only tell you about me . . .

My foster mom thinks I’m about the sweetest dog in the world!  Sometimes she can’t stop squeezing and kissing me and squeezing me some more.  Luckily, my body structure can handle it and the love feels so good so I don’t mind at all.
On a hike with my foster mom.

I love being with my people.  It doesn't matter what we do; we can go for walks and runs, I can sit and watch you clean, we can play ball together, or I will lay at your feet while you work or cuddle sooo close to you if you let me.  I think I’m a lapdog and somehow I make it work.  I’m just a people kinda dog.  I love to chew my toys while lying over your lap or your feet or anywhere you'll let me lay on you - I just want to touch you!

Even though I love my peoples, I do just fine being alone and don’t have any separation issues so you can come and go as you please.  I pick up on routines and expectations easily as long as you teach me positively and consistently.  I walk and jog very well on a leash and I sit at the street corners to let cars go past. Not gonna lie, sometimes those rabbits and squirrels can be a random distraction (Mom is working with me on this).  I get several compliments on my leash skills and what an awesome and cute dog I am.  No kidding, people literally roll down their car windows and say so!

Showing my diva side!
Mom has a new expectation this week that whenever she stops walking I need to sit immediately, not just at the street corners.  We've only started this a couple days ago and I’m doing very well.  Mom says training never stops and her own dog, who is a registered therapy dog, confirms this (we've had a few conversations).

Training is cool!  Most of the time I never even know it’s happening.  I just get recognized for being good, doing what’s asked of me, or learning what I shouldn't be doing by being taught what I should be doing. Pretty simple, huh? “Water the Flowers, Not the Weeds” is my mom’s motto.  A professor of her’s once said this and she recently found out it’s the title of a book about building all types of relationships.  Go ahead and Google it.  I hope it makes sense to you, if it doesn't already.

Anyhoo, I also have learned 'come,' 'sit,' ‘wait,’ 'let's go,’ 'stay,' ‘watch me,' and ‘down’ in a structured setting. ‘ Come,' ‘Watch Me,’ ‘Wait’ and ‘Let’s Go’ are very important to me.  Oh, I also know 'crate' and 'basement' too!
"I've got this one!"
Hmmm, what else about me?  I love to play ball and can jump so high to catch the ball.  Well, I only catch it about 70% of the time, but this is something we are perfecting!  I quickly figured out all by myself that another ball doesn't get thrown until I drop the one in my mouth.  Mom says I’m so smart!  I've also been using my brain and trying agility weave poles.  I’m quite the tomboy and a girly diva all at the same time.  I get the ‘zoomies’ a few times a week when I run around the yard as fast as I can and spin around.  Then I bound in the house and I’m ready to snuggle up.

I LOVE snoozing by the heat vent!
Mom turned on the furnace recently and being in front of the heat is my favorite place to be.  It’s so cozy!  I try hard to keep my eyes open but it’s just so relaxing my eyes get too heavy to stay open.  I even fell asleep while chewing my toy today though I heard Mom giggle and take a picture.

Here I've worn myself out
chewing on my squeaky toy.
I keep busy while Mom is at work by chewing or squeaking my toys or napping.  I sleep quietly all through the night; many times I’m not even crated (though I do like my crate).  I love when I see my mom in the morning, I wag my tail but don’t get up because I know she’s coming over to snuggle for a few minutes before I really have to get up.  She thinks it’s darn funny when I start stretching and yawning as I’m quite vocal with my yawns. It just feels so good to get stretched out after being curled up all night!  Belly rubs feel good too!

I sound like a pretty wonderful pup, huh?  I am, and I’ll be even better when I get a home to call my own. How could I still possibly be in desperate need of a home?



Stay tuned to hear more from Petunia herself with her Pet of the Month:  Petunia, Part 2 post later this week!

 If you would like to know more about and/or meet Petunia please see her listing on Paws and Prayers Adoptable Dogs and fill out an adoption application for Petunia today!

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The Cat Lady's Goodbye

By Alecia

The one advantage that we have, working in rescue, is that we are in great company! More and more people are learning about rescue and, in turn, are falling in love with the cause. Kate, of Suburban Sweetheart, is one of us. She is not one of our personal fosters but is still helping spread the rescue message simply by sharing her story and leading by example. Her blog is usually about her life as a Midwesterner living on the east coast, but when she lost her beloved senior rescue cat, she had to write this endearing tribute post that you are all about to read. The story of Kate and "Stringer Bell" shows us the love and life left in the commonly overlooked senior rescue cat and teaches us how to love back in spite of age. 

The Cat Lady's Goodbye

I knew as soon as I saw him that he was the cat I wanted. "This one," I told Nathan. "This one is my favorite." He was skinny as sin but twice as fluffy, a grey furball with a white beard & big socks to match. A black nose, not a pink one, which I swore made him cuter. And most importantly, he was purring - hard. He responded to our petting, forcing his head up under our hands if we tried to stop. Yes, he was our cat right away. 

We knew we were taking a gamble adopting an old cat. He was 9, the ASPCA told us (though we'd later learn he was closer to 12), an indoor-outdoor who went by George but didn't know his name, which meant we could easily change it. We adopted him despite his age because cats sometimes live to be 18, & where would we be in 18 years?! An old man seemed like a safe bet for an unknown future.

The first few days with George were rough, though. He had an incessantly watery eye, plus a stuffy nose & a kitty cold. He wouldn't eat & hid under the bed whenever we approached him. We took him to the vet but couldn't afford to shell out hundreds of dollars for a cat we'd just gotten, so the ASPCA agreed to take him back, & I gave him a tearful goodbye as Nathan planned to return him while I was away on business. When the photo came via text message less than a day later, though, I was so happy I cried: our cat, eating Spaghetti-O's! He was cured! Nathan liked to take credit for saving his life. We renamed him Stringer Bell, after one of our favorite TV characters & he was only sort of appropriately tough. Mostly, he was just cuddly.

When Nathan was away on Coast Guard deployment, Stringer was my saving grace. With no friends in the area, he was my little buddy, my constant companion. Unlike other cats, he welcomed belly rubs; he was nearly always purring. He'd sleep curled up in my arm at night & would lick my face before I fell asleep, like a little dog. He destroyed our furniture & stuck his head in all our water glasses, but he was the happiest cat in the land, & I freely admitted to being kind of obsessed with him. How could you not love something so cute so much?

Yesterday, while I was in Ohio for a wedding, Stringer had a stroke. Of course, Nathan didn't know that was what had happened, only that the cat had lost control of some bodily functions & was doing what we call his "angry meow." Nathan took him to the emergency vet, where he was X-rayed & put in an oxygen cage to help him breathe, on the off chance it was just allergies. But at 4:30 this morning, Nathan got a call saying Stringer had gotten worse & was likely in a lot of pain. Like a good papa, Nate gave them the go-ahead to stop his suffering. I took a standby flight home at 8:30am, but our kitty was long gone by then. 

I don't even like animals. I certainly never thought I'd become this crazy cat lady who lets her pet lick her face at night. But I'll be damned if that little guy wasn't my absolute favorite thing in the world for a solid 14.5 months. He got me through life in Portsmouth when I wanted nothing more than to flee back to D.C. or Ohio. He gave me something to take care of while Nathan was away. He gave me infinite snuggles in exchange for food, water, & a few good belly rubs. When I petted that cat, I could almost feel the stress leaving my body; he was better & cuter than Xanax, but possibly even more addictive.

I've spent all day crying, & I'm not even back home yet. I know that when I enter our apartment & he's not there to greet me - when I see Nathan all out of sorts & sans-cat sad - I'm going to lose it all over again. I know, I know: Far be it from me to question nature's plan. Maybe Stringer Bell just didn't want to move to New Jersey? I don't blame you, little buddy. But I know that we gave him the best year of his short cat life, & he gave us so much love & happiness in return. Already, life feels a lot less fluffy without him. 

Nap well, my sweet little man. Mama & papa loved you hard.

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Update on Melanie!

By Alecia

When I wrote the first story about Melanie, I wanted it to have the feeling of a "dramedy". A little heavy handed drama mixed with a touch of humor and tenderness. I did this because it seemed like the perfect way to portray the story of Melanie and her journey from the life she knew (but couldn't really tell us) and the life I hoped she would have.

Melanie with her new family
Now it's time for me to write my closing story and it's not coming as easy to me as the first one did. Not because it's a sad story, but because I have to end my part in her journey. Melanie has been adopted.(see photo) She will be living with a wonderful family that has a male Beagle for her to play with and a home full of the love thatMelanie's life was missing for so long. More than capable of caring for her during her continuing rehabilitation, her new family will show her a happiness that all dogs should know.

It was very difficult for my Family to say goodbye to Melanie, but we knew we had to. The fostering of dogs can be a roller coaster of emotions and we love the ride.

I already have my next foster, Winney, at my home. A Beagle-Terrier mix, she's a new challenge and a real joy. As I write this, I'm looking at the wall in my living room where we have hung 8X10 photos of all the dogs we have fostered. Melanie marks the 14th dog we have fostered for Paws and Prayers since we started about a year ago. The reality is that many of these dogs would not remember us if they see us again. It makes the photos very important to us. Each picture brings a smile, a tear, a sigh, and sometimes a head shake. What more could I want?

Thank you Paws and Prayers. Thank you Melanie for touching our lives in such a special way. Thank you Mike and Laura for giving Melanie her new loving home.

Beagle Bob


Donate towards Melanie's care by chipping in below! Thank you for any and all help! :)

 

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Beagle Bob's Bit

By Alecia

Melanie getting bathed after rescue

The City is Akron. The County is Summit. The place is the Summit County Animal Control (SCAC) facility. A haven for hundreds of currently unwanted and discarded dogs and cats. Thousands of animals come through here every year. Many are adopted. Many are not. People from all walks of life come through these doors to drop off the animals that no longer fit into their lives. Others come in and rescue these lost souls and give them another change at a better life.


That's where I come in. I'm a volunteer foster with Paws and Prayers. I carry a leash and a spare dog collar. My name is Beagle Bob. I'm given this name because I like to find the unwanted Beagles; foster them and get them adopted. I like Beagles and they seem to like me.

Beautiful Melanie happy in foster care

It was a cool, sunny day in Akron as I made my way to the SCAC. I had been given a tip that there were some Beagles there waiting to be adopted. They had been passed over for a while. Too long. As I made my way through the facility, saddened by the seemingly endless array of sad eyes looking up at me, I found myself stopping in front of a pen whose dog's name was listed as: "04-047". As my eyes read through the rest of the posted information: female, 2-3 years old, Beagle/Mix, my eyes were drawn to an asterisk (*) at the bottom of the list. It read: "Chronic stifle/knee injury." Damn. I knew this meant many things. This dog had been hurt. This dog may have been abused. This dog most likely will never leave this facility. I looked down into the pen. This dog was cute!


I immediately named her Melanie. I don't know why the name Melanie, but this small, sweet, spunky Beagle had taken a grip on my heart. I knew 04-047 was not a good name and I knew I could help. She pressed her head against the gate of her pen so I could pet her. I walked her around outside and was amazed at her ability to walk and even run on a leg that was obviously bothering her. She doesn't always put it completely down on the ground and sometimes runs on only her three good legs. Pitiful and inspirational at the same time.

One of Melanie's X-Rays

X-rays show that Melanie has a traumatic dislocation of her right hind leg at the hip joint. An injury that happened a long time ago and was never properly treated and has not healed properly. How did it happened?



She won't tell, but the x-rays revealed even more startling news. Melanie has almost a dozen pellets (from a BB gun or shotgun) lodged under her skin. There are several in her back and side and even one in her neck!

This little trooper needs help. Paws and Prayers is arranging for her hip to be surgically repaired. She will spent her rehabilitation time with me and my family (and our two Beagles). When the time is right, she will be able to be adopted to a new family that will give her the safe and happy forever home she deserves. She will out the rest of her days surrounded by the love that has alluded her.

Sweet Melanie, post-op ready to receive some TLC
As for me, Beagle Bob? Once Melanie's home, I'll find another Beagle (I also foster other breeds, I just love Beagles) to foster. There's never a shortage of needy animals out there. I'll be back at the SCAC facility with my leash and spare collar. Walking past the seemingly endless.......





Update 5/22/2012--

It's been one week since Melanie's surgery and she is well on her road to recovery. One day after surgery she was ready to run around in the yard! She is following a specific schedule of stretching and exercise to get her hip joint strengthened and allow her to do the things she has been unable to do for a long time. The Vet had to saw off the top part of her femur bone (see x-ray) in order for her hip joint to be normal again. Her body's natural healing will form a new bony structure at the top of the bone that will allow her more natural movement. Next week she will get her stitches out.
Melanie's post-surgery x-ray
Melanie's playful and loving spirit is continuing to grow everyday. She loves to carry stuffed dog toys around the house and hide them in various places or hoard them in her bed. She is beginning to love attention and has adapted to our daily routine with enthusiasm.

Many people have come forward and generously donated money and support for Melanie. As her foster, my Family and I are extremely grateful and more than a little moved. Knowing that there are people out that support our efforts keep us doing what we do.

All our foster dogs have been hard to part with and Melanie is no exception. Her loving spirit and bravery is a very rewarding experience that we are lucky to be a part of.

Beagle Bob

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Guard Your Heart by Guarding Theirs

By Alecia

What's your favorite thing about spring? The birds? The flowers? The trees coming into bloom? Kids playing outside again or you, yourself, getting outdoors to play? How about those mosquitoes? Oh, not the latter? Yeah, me neither. Not only are they pesky little things, but for our dogs, cats and ferrets, they can be fatal. 

In Ohio, and many other states, our mosquitoes have the potential to carry tiny roundworms called Dirofilaria immitis. Never heard of it? Probably because we know it better as "heartworm." If your beloved pet is not kept up on heartworm preventatives, and they are bit by a mosquito carrying this worm, you can expect the worm to travel into the bloodstream ultimately settling, growing and populating in your pet's heart and the arteries of the lungs. These worms can grow up to twelve inches long and can live between 5-7 years in the typical dog. When left untreated, the worms will continue to grow and populate until the heart and/ or lungs begin to rupture, fatally affecting your pet. So, you'll just get them treated if your pet catches it, right?

Wrong. Heartworm is not the kind of ailment you can simply treat and get rid of. The primary treatment in our area consists of two painful arsenic-based injections injected into the meaty muscle running down the spine. The injections are given a day apart and leave the animal's back sore for quite a while. Once the injections have been given, the animal must be on restricted activity for several weeks so that the body can absorb the dead worms without causing any further damage. A lot of the time, this means crate or kennel rest, which would drive most animals mad. If the animals are not kept on restricted activity, the worms can clot up and rupture arteries or find their way to the lungs wherein pulmonary failure is not uncommon. This treatment not only costs hundreds of dollars (over a grand at some clinics) but it causes both the animal and its loving family great stress. Any animal that must go through heartworm treatment more than once, often dies from complications of treatment, so it is important for them to stay on preventatives, even after having been treated for them in the past.

Click "lungs" and "heart" to see real photos of heartworm infestations. WARNING: Photos are extremely graphic!

But that won't happen to you, right? Wrong again. Heartworm is becoming more and more prominent as the years go on. Heartworm was originally only reported in the southern most muggy states, like Texas, but the problem has traveled all across our country. There have even been reports in Alaska! Anywhere that there are mosquitoes there is a risk of heartworm. Ohio is especially vulnerable with the muggy summers and falls. The mild winter and early warm weather we have had over the past year means that the risk has increased exponentially. Many vets once thought mosquito season was the only time to keep animals on preventatives. Now, all vets seem to suggest year-round preventative to keep pets safe with the unpredictable weather patterns of the past few years.

Barry, still looking for his home!
I never thought that my animals were at risk. Heartworm was a big, intangible disease like avian flu or SARS, affecting only people I've never heard of in places I've never been. Getting involved in rescue, I have been tip-toeing around it in my own backyard! I, personally, have fostered several fosters that have been through heartworm treatment: Makin, a sweet rottweiler mix; Bessie, an adorable border collie; Emari, a handsome boxer mix; and Barry, a super cuddly golden mix. Of the four, I lost one (Emari) from complications of treatment, and trust me, it is devastating, even as a foster. As an owner, ever more so. Below is an excerpt from a message Jennifer M, one of our beloved supporters, had written me about her heartworm positive dog:
We fell in love with Molly the first time we saw her in the pound. Then I got the call that every adoptive pet parent dreads... yup... Molly was heartworm positive. I was heartbroken but thought she was worth it to try to save her. She was in our family for 5 weeks before she passed from complications from her heartworm treatment. She died on July 24, 2011 right around noon. I will never forget when I got the call from her vet... see, she was in the hospital because she was having trouble breathing. I fell to my knees and cried like a baby! She is buried on a close friend's family farm. Gone from this earthly life ... but is waiting at the rainbow bridge for us and will NEVER be forgotten.
Polo- one of the first 2 treated under our
program and looking for a home!
In Summit County, we are so blessed to have all of the rivers and lakes and creeks, etc around. This also means we have huge potential for our pets to become heartworm positive. Summit County Animal Control (SCAC) averages about 2-3 heartworm positive dogs a month, one of the dogs that made this statistic was sweet Molly, adopted by Jennifer M. Seeing the problem in our community, we have decided to join forces with SCAC, and when one of their dogs test positive for this deadly worm, we pay for treatment through One of a Kind Pets, keep the animal in quarantine with SCAC after treatment and then have them added to the adoption floor with a clean slate. Of the first two dogs treated under this program, one made it into our foster care, the other was rescued through PetSmart Charities's Rescue Waggin Program. Both will have the happy ending that heartworm at another shelter may have robbed them of.

Very few things hurt as badly as losing your beloved companion. Guard your heart by guarding your pet's; keep them on heartworm preventatives and make sure they are getting their annual heartworm tests. By keeping the worms from their heart, you can keep the break from yours! :)

Please help us help the animals of Summit County by Chipping in to our Heartworm Fund below! Read the stories of our Summit Heartworm Dogs by clicking here! I've also added links for those that would like more information on heartworm below.







http://www.medicinenet.com/pets/dog-health/heartworms_in_dogs.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirofilaria_immitis#Treatment

http://www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources/faqs.html

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Fosters get More than they Bargain for

By Alecia

When you were a kid, did you tell everyone that when you grew up you were going to have a farm and take all the un-wanted cats and dogs there so they would have a place to live? Do you still say that? Do you watch the commercials with the sad dog and cat pictures and think to yourself, “I wish I could make a difference?” Do you already have a pet or two and know that there is more room in your heart for another, but, not enough money in your checking account to take on that responsibility? Fosters at Paws and Prayers share all of these thoughts. They have taken their desire to help animals and turned it into the largest foster based rescue in Ohio. Last year, Paws and Prayers placed 1,460 cats and dogs into new loving forever homes. 

When most people think of a pet rescue or shelter, they imagine cold, brick buildings with kennels lining the walls just full of barking canines and hand whacking kitties. Adopters from Paws and Prayers, however, are met with an entirely different experience. Every animal in their care is in a foster home, save for a few cats ready to be shown at the cat sanctuary at the Chapel Hill PetSmart. Adoption events are held every weekend at various pet store locations where anyone looking for a pet is met with cage-free kisses and a happy (human) face ready to tell you about the animal they are handling. 

“The way we operate is this: we take the animals that have been at the pound the longest. We bring them into our homes, help them get reacquainted to a life with a family that loves them and then we see them on to their forever homes. After that, we are able to rinse, wash and repeat for the next animal down on its luck. It’s a cycle of love and life-saving that just can’t be beat,” explains Alecia Waddell, foster of three years. 

Leah Swanson, foster since August 2010, likes to see it a different way: “These are neglected souls that have been reborn into loving, caring homes.” Part of Paws and Prayers’s mission is to rehabilitate the “unwanted” cats and dogs that pass through the thresholds of their network of foster homes. That “rebirth” that Swanson mentions is seeing a scared dog trust again or bringing a starved cat back to life. 

“I started fostering after losing my pet of 11 years; I have a need to nurture,” states Stacey Rege, foster since just last summer. Fostering not only fulfills her need to nurture, she points out that “they (the dogs) accept you as you are.”

In addition to the pets that accept you just as you are, Paws and Prayers' network of around 60 fosters offers a support system that can’t be beat. They laugh together about dogs with oversized ears, celebrate the adoption of a pet long overdue for its new home and they mourn together when an animal just can’t be saved; like the daschund mix they had taken after she had been in labor for two days and abandoned by her owners. 

So, if looking for a new friend or just a new challenge in life, Paws and Prayers is a great place to check out. It’s where volunteers have lots of fun playing with puppies, senior cats and everything in between, do good for themselves by fulfilling a need to nurture or help out their community, and do more for others by helping the people of their community find new friends, and the animals new homes. 

To learn more about Paws and Prayers, visit their website at PawsandPrayers.org where you can also see a list of upcoming events and available animals. There you will also find an application for those wishing to foster. Paws and Prayers can also be found on Facebook and Twitter. Have any questions? Feel free to email info@pawsandprayers.org to find the answer.

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