One Cat's Journey Part III

So our newly renamed shelter kitty, Mick has made himself quite at home. When he arrived on a frigid Saturday almost 2 weeks ago, he strolled out of his carrier surveyed his new home and moved right in...He never hissed once at his other feline companions Buzz, Princess or Kittlins..however he has been a tad indignant with food mongering dogs and given two of them whacks on the snouts.

I look at him daily and wonder where he came from, who had he lived with for 10 or more years and what circumstances drove his human caretaker to leave him at an animal shelter with his almost guaranteed option of death?? It breaks my heart daily to see the faces of dogs and cats, old and young, being put to sleep all over the United States. Shelters are impacted by budget cuts which lead them to euthanize more and more healthy animals and those with curable medical conditions. Overcrowding,m pet overpopulation and the economic down turn in the US has lead to record surrenders of pets at all kinds of shelters:private, county and municipal. The best a pet can hope for is to get into a no kill shelter (a legitimate no kill I must emphasize) and wait until they find a home.

I am imploring all pet owners who cannot utilize resources to maintain their family pet..please work diligently to find them a home with a family member a friend or a no kill shelter. Please know that the companion you loved, if left at anything but a no kill shelter has a limited chance for adoption, despite massive and heroic networks that work furiously to place them. Mick was a one in a million lucky shot for all involved. Please contact your veterinarian or links on my website www.henriettahosp.com that can help you find placement for your companion that will not end in death. In addition you can find resources for food and medical care to help you during these hard times.

One Cat's Journey Part II

So, we left off accomplishing what I thought to be the most difficult hurdle, getting Nick off the PTS (put to sleep) list and adopted. We accomplished all of this in a couple hours with the cooperation of shelter employee Jen Reese,who actually knew Nick.

By 12 noon on Thursday,Nick had a home.

The transport was our next obstacle. Jackie Meyers contacted Julie Morris at the ASPCA, who then reached out to Jane Hoffman of the Mayor's Alliance http://www.AnimalAllianceNYC.org.

Keep in mind during these times, Facebook postings, tweets and phone calls were flying across the Eastern seaboard from Alabama to NYC. People pulled together by one unifying goal, to save animals from premature death. Hilary Brown with here list serv had volunteers lined up to drive Nick as well. By Thursday evening, Nicks transport was secured and he would be removed from the shelter on Friday to go to another veterinarians office overnight. Saturday ,Patrick McGuire a volunteer driver for the Mayors Alliance would bring Nick to his new home.

Nick arrived 4:30 pm on the dot. I met Patrick's van at my hospital's parking lot(Henrietta Animal Hospital)www.henriettahosp.com. Patrick said that he had good news. He was not blind!! I quickly assessed Nick's condition and he looked in great shape. Rather than have him spend another night in a cage I opted to bring home.

Once inside my home we opened his cage door and out strolled Nick a gorgeous black and white tuxedo cat. He was purring and has never stopped. Nick ambled over to one of 3 dogs and in classic cat fashion totally ignored him!! He never once hissed or growled, which is amazing considering the trauma he has endured.

Nick spent last night and will spend every other night of his life on my bed. Welcome home Nick, here's to you and a long life.

One Cats's Journey Part I

This all began a couple of night's ago as I was scanning through some Twitter tweets or chirps. A 12 year old blind cat named Nick was scheduled to be euthanized the next day. He was deemed unadoptable as a result of his blindness. There I gazed at a photo of a helpless black and white cat whose only crime in life was to get old and survive his owner. (I will appeal to all pet owners to make provisions for the pets in the event of incapacitation or death later.
The time was 8 pm EDT and Nick was located at the Manhattan AC& C http://www.nycacc.org.

I found there website and popped out a couple hasty emails stating who I was and asking them to put a hold on Nick. Then the flurry of emails, twitters, and Facebook posting began to fly through cyberspace. I contacted with old friends Jackie Meyer, Executive Director of the Greater Birmingham Humane Society Alabama http://www.gbhs.org and Vet Pet list owner, moderator, and general all around pet advocate Hilary Brown (vetpet@vetpetpartners.com) for assistance. they immediately jumped into action. By 11 pm we had Nick's ID, location and information from the shelter and volunteer to drive him to Rochester.

However, the first hurdle had not been met and that was formalzing his adoption and taking him off the euthanasia list. But that would have to wait for morning.