How Low Can You Go?

Philadelphia Police are searching for the heartless thief who stole a wheelchair and a dog from a man who suffers from cerebral palsy.

Benji, the missing dog is a lhasa apso and its been said the theif was attempting to sell the dog shortly after the incident. Please pass this story along and contact the police if you have any information

$21.18

Plain Lowfat yogurt .... 1.19

A Trip to the Vet ... 19.99

Having your vet tell you your kittens are happy and healthy and you may sometimes overeact alittle ... Priceless

I want to thank a person I've never met yet a person who answered my plea for help then helped me out. This persons name is Joanne and she donated enough money to allow me to buy 1 can of kmr, 2 cases of wet cat food, 1 large bag of friskies, and a new bottle to feed the kittens (which was needed since the other bottles nipple was about to fall apart). I can't say it enough but i'm going to say it again. THANK YOU!!! You came into my life at the perfect time and allowed me to take in these newborns and be able to care for them for quite some time.

Also for anyone struggling right now to care of your pets check out the websites of popular pet foods. Most offer printable coupons or even free samples. I saved 5 dollars on my purchases today, and could have saved more if I had looked alittle harder.

The youngest kittens have doubled in size since I brought them home. They eat like kings but they take quite a bit of energy so I have to apoligize if the things I've planned to write about haven't showed up on this blog...yet. I have one more week untill my alarm stops going off every two hours and I can get some real sleep. As soon as that happens I promise I'll be more creative with my posts.

OMG I'm becoming Eleanor Abernathy

The total tally is in. We have 10 felines in our home at the moment. There is our two full time residents Lemont and ThunderJo. Then we have four 8 week old kittens who I am fostering through Animal Care and Control. Cujo, Pig Pen, Baboon, and Scarface are all almot 2lbs. As soon as they are they will be spayed/neutered, then ready for their news homes. Finally we have the new additions who are approx 12 days old at the moment.


Normally I would not overlap litters as it takes alot of time and resources but what can i say other then shit happens! However by the time the 12 day old kittens are using a litter box and eating wet food the 8 week old kittens will already be 10-12 weeks old and in new homes.

Today has been great for the young kittens. All have found their voice and cry when they are hungry then go right back to bed. Three of the babies were alittle constipated and hadn't pooped in 24 hours. I slipped them a little hairball remover (basicly cod liver oil, vegetable oil, and chicken flavor) and the problem was solved. Their eyes have completely opened up, and they are gaining weight. However my scale got dropped a few months back so it does not give the proper weight. It does however let me know how much they've put on.






Cujo and the crew are kicking butt. They all have perfected their skills of hunting by practicing on my feet. They use the big boys litter box without getting stuck (Lemont is obssesive with his box and loves to get litter everywhere so we make cat boxes with holes only in the top) and get into everything only like kittens do. I plan on posting their profiles tommorow if i get the chance.

Newborn

(click to view full image I give up on making it the correct size)

Life is Unexpected

Today was an interesting and unexpected day. Yesterday I received an email from a woman who had a 10 day old kitten who was abandoned in her basement. She had no idea what to do and had tried every shelter and vet in the area. No one was willing to do anything but euthanize the kitten.

I am aware that a single 10 day old kitten who hasn't eaten in 24 hours has a pretty slim chance of surviving on its own. I agreed I would take the kitten and do my best. I picked him up today and even though the people who had found the kitten did their best to keep him warm, he was getting cold. I immediately placed the little man in my cleavage and started to drive home. (I have found the best way to gradually warm a kitten up is with your own body heat, don't make fun of me!)

Now of course that makes a good story, but it doesn't end there. I was halfway home when my phone rang. The husband was calling me back to inform me that his dog had found three more kittens in the basement!! We met at a gas station and three more kittens came home with me.

The little black guy that I originally went to pick up is the loudest little bugger I have ever heard. He is thriving and lets me know when he wants something. He even attempted to nurse off one of the dogs. The other three are the ones I'm worried about. They haven't made much noise since I picked them up. They aren't dehydrated, have eaten alittle and have used their bowels when I stimulated them but the lack of noise makes me nervous. I'll keep you guys updated on them.

These kittens are not part of the foster care program as of yet. As soon as I get these kittens out of the danger zone (3-4 weeks of age) I'll try to get them in. If not my vet loves that I do this for orphan kittens and will give the kittens their shots at cost and the adopter will have to pay for the spay/neuter fee. If they do become part of the foster care program the adoption fee will be $75 dollars for either one or two kittens.

Choppy Thoughts

I have always loved animals, and have come up with a couple of ideas over the years that I'd like to get set up sometime. I figured I'd throw the ideas out there and see what gets thrown back. Forgive me for run on/incomplete sentances, typos, and choppy thoughts. I swear once I write them out I'll creat another post that is more complete. However for your enjoyment I'll throw some cute pictures in to make you smile.

Pet Food Bank
I came up with this idea after losing my job. I love fostering animals but it's hard enough to feed my own animals let alone extra mouths. Two days ago I posted on craigslist that I needed some help with food to continue fostering and a recieved quite a few emails from people who are in the same prediciment as me. I recieved a few from people supporting the idea and spreading the word, one from a person with a very young kitten needing help (they are feeding it tonight, and yes I'll be picking the little bugger up in the a.m.), and one from someone who would love to help!!

So Liz, What is this idea?

A food bank would combine two resources together and allow an animal from the local animal shelter (PSPCA or ACCT) to be placed in a foster home. The one resource would be from a person who has the time and space to socialize,love, and train this pet but not the extra money to buy them food and litter. The second would be from a person who has the resources to purchase food/litter/KMR. Vet care is provided by the animal shelter

How would a Foodbank recieve donations?

People

America is a compassionate country and the people inside it love animals. I'm sure people would gladly donate food if it ment they could help save a couple of lives in the process. Of course we would have to do our part and send any donators updates on the animal they are helping save.

Pets Stores, Grocery Stores, and Large Chain Stores

All three of these stores carry pet food. If pet food in one of these stores becomes ripped/damaged/dented/expired the distrubuter gives them credit for the bag and then it is simply tossed into a dumpster. If this food bank became a legitimate organization those companies would galdly donate the bags instead of throwing them out.

Pet Food Companies

Well they make pet food and love to advertise that they help animals. I'm sure we could find a way that the companies could help us, and help themselves at the same time.


Flaws in the idea
Their is no garunatee how long an animal will be required to stay in foster care. How could the bank garuntee that the person would not run out of food and be forced to take the animal back to a shelter?
How would we judge who got what amount of food?
Would the person who is going to be fostering required to hold the surplus food? This is philly alot of people live in apartments and may not ahve the spcae for two or three bags of food.
Could we do this without increasing the already bigger workload of shelter workers?
Devils Advocate for a second- How could we prevent people from abusing the program? I know having them supply their financial information would be the easiest way of doing it... but it might scare people off.
How do we get it to expand? How does it even start?

Tommorow I will bring up the topic:
Kongs for Shelter dogs