We had two cats of our
own Billy-Bob & Kee-o. One I raised on a bottle, when
we saved him from a trash heap. The other from a stray litter of kittens.
Both lived to be 14 teen and 17 teen. A third cat Fraaannk later became
part of the family. Due to a family member going thru a hard time and needed us
to care for him and ended up staying, he lived to be 16teen. They all died
recently in the same year, from old age. The last, I'm sure just from a
broken heart.
Need less to say after that, I swore
off any more cats, I was done.
My mother was dying from cancer, a
year ago this coming April. She really wanted some thing a live to sit and
lay with her, for the time she had left. So, I broke down and
adopted the oldest cat at the SPCA to be with her. "Kelly" cat,
sadly Kelly died three months later, (before my Mom). She did die in a
loving, warm home. So again I broke down and we then adopted "Oh
Henry" from the SPCA. This time the biggest cat there, though much younger
than I wanted. The papers said "he was aggressive, not good with
children or dogs". My mother being in her own little apt downstairs, we
thought he would be fine. So home came "Oh Henry"
He sat and laid with and sang to my
mother all the time. He was a very clean boy with the litter box, even if I
missed a day in cleaning it.
He made my mother very happy.
When my mom went to "the next
place" as we call it. We had to then start letting Oh Henry come up
stairs into our lives, much to my husbands displeasure. So he would not be
lonely, he needed to be acclimated into the up stairs part of the family.
As it turns out, with some patience
on his part and ours, Oh Henry has become a wonderful member of the
family!
He has many funny positions he takes
around the home. Like the "penguin sit" while he cleans himself. He
is also a "wall hugger" and a "window sitter" and loves to
hide in boxes and lay in front of the heat vent in front of the kitchen sink.
He is the biggest cat we've ever seen and has the head the size and shape
of a soft ball. He has learned to get along with our "Sally" dog
( who came from you all also) and even my husband now, is very fond
of "Oh Henry". He does not like a lot a commotion, that
part it true but, when things start getting exciting around here. He just runs
back down to my Moms (now his) apt.
I would love for the people
who gave up this wonderful cat to know. That he is very much loved and cared
for and happy in his new forever home. With a dog, three kids, two birds and a
lot of laughter, and much of that laughter because of "Oh
Henry" :-)
Thank you SPCA for all you do for
the animals and know that our pets will always come from an adoptive
source.
Most sincerely,
Carolyn (Cal) Dooley and family
"In late April, 2010, it will be 2 years since Pandi joined our family who include my husband, our Jack Russell, Dudley, and our domestic short-haired kitty, Pickles. The SPCA had taken in 3 female puppies that you named March, April, and May. I got April. You thought she was a Jack Russell mix, but it seems she is probably more Rat Terrier. She is really a pistol and has taken charge of everyone and everything in the household and the neighborhood. She and Dudley are buddies, and it has been good for him to have her to run and play with. She is keeping him young. She is very affectionate and "owns" myself and my husband. I hope her sisters are as loved as this cutie is. Thank you for all you do for these sweet animals. Whenever I stop off to visit, I always wish I could adopt a few more. However, we have a full house at this point."
One early morning last April my Mom called me totally out of the blue and said, "John, I just saw a dog on TV." We're talking 5:30 am or so, and I'm half asleep. Now my folks live in a community called Lake of the Woods just west of Fredericksburg. I'm up in northern VA. Turns out that there must be a community-access cable channel or something similar that they receive. She had seen a dog that was apparently up for adoption on it. Not sure if she saw the show that morning or the previous evening. I was only partially awake but I asked for more details; all she had was a phone number that she had quickly jotted down, and the dog's name, which was "Montana." She didn't know anything else. I said, "Ok, I'll try to find out more." Oh, and one other thing, she said that the name of my dog should be "Radar", as she is also a big M*A*S*H fan. Right. Dog. 0530. Phone number. And Radar. Got it.
The next day during lunch I popped the ph# into Goggle and up came the Fauquier SPCA's name and web info. So far, so good. I clicked on the adoptions page and looked for a lab named "Montana." Nope. Nada. Nothing. Either this dog was already gone, or (more likely I thought) just not on the web page yet. No problem. I can wait, but in the mean time, I thought to myself, why don't I just look and see what other dogs might be available. Well, that's just what I did. I came across a lab named "Raven" and I just couldn't resist coming down to meet her. That first picture had "take me" all over it.
That first meet and greet with Raven was on a wet and muddy Saturday and thus we couldn't go outside. She was pretty wired and excited but things just seemed to click. I filled out the paperwork just in case and agreed to come down the following Saturday to really see how she was once I got her outside. When I came back down to see her, we played outside for almost two hours during which she learned out to sit, stay, and give paw. One smart pup.
The energy level still pretty high, but I was able to tire her out a little bit. And she was attached. Really attached. How could I say no? She went home with me the following weekend and, appropriately, I called her "Radar."
I guess Montana was just not meant for me, but Radar, without a doubt, was.
That's basically the story in a nutshell!
-john
I've often thought about writing
about our adoption story. I'm finally getting around to you. I want
the world to know who wonderful adoption can be.
I'm a huge Boston Terrier lover.
Early Feb 2009, the SPCA called to let me know they had a Boston Terrier
available for adoption. They said he was really sick and didn't know if I
would be interested because he was in poor shape. They were right about
him being in poor shape but so wrong about me being interested. I rushed
right up there to take a look at him and it was love at first sight. My
husband kept shaking his head and saying "No" but my heart was telling
me yes. He was in quarantine so I wasn't wasn't able to take him home
with me that day.
I consulted my vet, Dr. Dove to see
if he could let me know what to expect with the known issues this dog had.
It didn't seem that bad. The SPCA was kind enough to allow me to
have my vet neuter him so I would only have to have him anesthetized one time.
The SPCA named him Higgins but we renamed him Remee which is short for
REscue Mee.
Remee was extremely malnourished
weighing 14 pounds, he had a tumor like growth on his head, a tumor in his
testicles, rotten teeth, corneal scaring in both eyes, arthritis in all four
legs and acid reflex. We were finally able to bring him home with us on
Feb 13th, 2009. Dr Dove checked him out and things were worse than
we initially expected. His age was determined to be about 12 years old
based on his teeth. Two weeks later he underwent surgery. He was
neutered which removed the tumor. The tumor tested positive for cancer
but the vet believe they removed all the cancer when the testicles were
removed. The tumor like growth was cut off is head and tested which came
back as just a foreign object like a piece of grass or a thorn that got lodged
under his skin. Now you can't even tell he had growth on his head.
When the vet cleaned his teeth he had to remove just one rotten tooth (enabling
him to eat treats). The corneal scaring was caused from his eyelids not
closing all the way so with some steroid drops they've significantly improved.
Daily he takes rimydal, glucosamine and chondroitin for his arthritis and
pepcid for his acid reflux. The surgery to remove and test the tumors and
clean his teeth cost us over $900.00 but I would do it again tomorrow if I had
to.
Currently, Remee is 25 pounds and he
is doing great. He gets along well with his 8 very active brothers and
sisters and has learned to quickly move out of their way so he doesn't get
pushed around. He has mastered begging for a treat and with those big
"puppy dog eyes" I just can't say "No". To me he is
an amazing dog. He continues to find new ways to steal his mommies heart.
Although he has his own Cesar Milan bed he prefers to sleep with his
mommy in the queen size bed. I love all my dogs but I especially love
Remee.
Kathleen Stuart
When the Animal Control Officers rushed this half-drowned tiny kitten to the shelter, they did not expect him to live.
"Thrasher," as he was later named, was found shaking, bloody and terrified at a local car wash where the high-powered water hoses had ripped his skin so badly that in places the bone was exposed. His lungs were struggling to work as he had ingested large amounts of water. The shelter vet gave Thrasher a Cortizone injection along with antibiotic drops and fluids before he left with a shelter staff member to be cared for at her home. Unbelievably, just twelve hours later, Thrasher was eating, purring and on his way to recovery! Susan kept him at her home for the next six weeks allowing him to become strong and healthy before bringing him back to the shelter where he was made available for adoption. Almost immediately, Thrasher was adopted and has been living happily in his new home ever since. Apart from a few scars, this brave and lucky cat has made a complete recovery!
My Husband and I came in on September 28, 2007 and found our missing link. We had heard of a black and white cocker mix at the shelter through my mother who works at New Baltimore Animal Hospital. I was reserved at first because we wanted a puppy. What we found was Feisty - The dog that was meant to be ours. We met and played with him, and he licked my husband immediately. He loves the apartment, his walks, and lounging on the bed and couch with us. He is content as long as we are in the room.
I still catch myself wondering how someone could ever give him up. But then I stop and think, and thank God someone did.
He has found a forever home with us, and we have found a forever friend in him.
I have enclosed a picture of our Blarney (formally known as Feisty).
Thank you and God bless.
Bethany and Jason Burroughs
