Savannah's Paw Tracks

Autobiography of a Former Shelter Cat

Archive for the tag “kitty corner”

Talking About An Impawtant Place adn Peep…

Hiya!  Savannah Here!

I want to tell you about my former shelter, Kitty Corner, which is owned and run by a private no kill dog and cat rescue organization, Contra Costa Humane Society.  And you are now asking yourself…”hmmm, wonder why Savannah wants to talk about her former shelter??”

The answer is this…I have nominated the bestest ever volunteer I ever met, Miss Tammy Rieser,  for the Dog Time Unsung Hero Petties Award.  This award is for a peep who goes above and beyond to help us animals find our furever homes.  And you will recall, Miss Tammy does indeed go “above” ‘cuz among the humongous number of groups with whom she volunteers, one of those is Pilots ‘N Paws…(get it??? “above and beyond”??)

She is the peep I talked lots about in my July 15 B4TC post.  Miss Tammy is the person who pulled me out of the county kill shelter the day before I was to be destroyed, she fostered me a few days until a space was open at Kitty Corner for me. Miss Tammy has been volunteering for over 20 years…she has a full time paid job…but she makes time to give to us cats and dogs every day.

The winner will be the volunteer with the most nominations. And the prize is $10.000 dollars for a shelter of the winner’s choice (must be a 501c3 non-profit). So, I know I am late to this Award Nomination, I just completed it late yesterday and nominations end August 17 midnight, I think EST.

So if you have not nominated someone, please consider doing so for Miss Tammy Rieser. You don’t have to write lots about her, just what you know from me would be enough. Her shelter she volunteers for most is Contra Costa Humane Society, you need that to nominate her. And her email you can get from me if you decide to nominate her.

Ok, that’s my pitch.  Now here is some fun stuff about Kitty Corner!  We do not have a facility for dogs, so all dogs we pull from the county kill shelter must be placed in foster homes. No easy task.

Our kittens also go into foster homes, and most of our adult and special need cats we pull from the county shelter come to Kitty Corner, my former shelter before Dad and Mom got me.

…our small but friendly free roam shelter…this is in the back end…

…and this is looking down the enclosures…we only use these for cats when they first come so they can acclimate…or we use them if we have someone ill, or hurt…otherwise the cats can roam about freely…

…and here are some cute photos Mom wanted to share of some of her fave past and current residents…

…first up is Miss Murphy, long gone to her furever home…but she struck this cute pose the day before she left and Mom had some fun with it…

…then there was Buddy…about 17 pounds of solid, not fat, huge Tabby…very relaxed as you can see…

…and Mom posted this but doesn’t know where she found it…so my apology if I have taken this without appropriate permission…but I wanted to share it so I can talk about the dilemma rescue black cats face…

…did you  know that black cats are 40% less likely to be adopted than any other color???…Mom and I never knew that.

So Mom wants to share some of our current black cat residents…or like the next one, Joey, who is in foster care right now to give him a break from Kitty Corner…

…here he is being naughty…Mom left a spoon in the sink with a teeny bit of canned food on it…it was in there to be washed up…(we only feed canned food to give meds in)…anywho…she turned around and this is what she saw…just a black butt and tail…

…and then Mom discovered Joey’s secret one day…he is a toilet drinker!!!…

…this is Joey before he went into a foster home…he came to Kitty Corner from the shelter after having been attacked by a dog…he is one brave guy!!…

…and he is back at Kitty Corner for a couple of days right now while his Foster Dad takes a vacation…so Mom caught this photo of him Saturday…can you see how gorgeous he is??!!  All filled out, his fur all grown back…

…this is another black cat resident, Clover…2 years old…he is just completing an 8 week confinement in an enclosure after surgery for a fractured hind leg…

…and last, but never least…Miss Dolly…Mom luvluvluvs Miss Dolly…she is about 9 years old…a bit chunky, but she starts to purrrr if you just look at her…she has been at Kitty Corner for months now…she is black tuxedo…but her color and age affect how peeps see her I guess…

…this is Snow White…she is about 8 years old…she is all white, blue eyes and Mom thinks she is partially deaf…

…now precious Sasha…she is like me…gray and white…and like me…she was so shy and scared…she stayed in her cubby, hiding and not eating or drinking much at all.  So the staff has her upstairs now in their office…all by herself..Mom and Dad take care of her on the weekends and visit her about 3x a day…she is really coming along….she is about 4 years old..

…Mom gave her the silvervine toy she got for me…I didn’t like it…as you can see…Sasha totally luvluvluvs it!!…check out her tongue!!…MOL

That’s it…I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the cats at my former shelter, Kitty Corner.

And I hope you will think about nominating someone for the Unsung Hero Award…there are so many peeps like Miss Tammy, who go unrecognized, but who give so generously to helping animals find safe loving homes.

Paw pats, Savannah

AMAZING RESCUE STORIES…Book Give Away

Hiya, Savannah Here!

This is a really impawtant day for me, and Mom to. ‘cuz it is our furry first ever attempt to have a little contest and a give away.  We have some success and some learning from this attempt.

The success…receiving encouraging and heartwarming stories from 11 commenters about cat and dog rescues, mostly their own stories.  Just Pawsome!!!

The learning…never have a contest that sets the host up to have to chose “winners” when talking about animal rescue…efurryone is a winner.

THE RESULT OF MY LEARNING:

 I WILL GIVE ALL ELEVEN COMMENTERS ONE COPY OF THE WONDERFUL NEW BOOK:

DOG IS MY CO-PILOT BY PATRICK REGAN

WILL THE FOLLOWING CONTRIBUTORS SEND ME THEIR MAILING ADDRESSES

I WILL SHIP THE BOOK DIRECTLY TO YOU FROM AMAZON.COM

I WILL SEND TO ANY COUNTRY

BE SURE TO INCLUDE ALL PROPER ZIP CODES, COUNTRY MAILING CODES, PHONE OR MOBILE NUMBERS IN CASE AMAZON NEEDS THEM FOR INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING

SEND MAILING INFORMATION TO MY EMAIL ADDRESS

ms.savannahcoolkat@gmail.com

Maxwell and OTRB Ryker, A Tonk’s Tail…errrTale

Easy, Easy Blog

DeDe, Rumpy Dog

Nerissa, Nerissa’s Life

Amber, a Cavalier King Spaniel,  represented by Nutty, Nibbles, Bingo and Buddy, Hutch A Good Life

Callie,  Troublin’ Times

Sammy, One Spoiled Cat

Alfie,  Mollie and Alfie

Austin, CATachresis

Spitty, Spitty Speaks

Cathy Keisha, Stunning Keisha

Now for the bestest part…the ELEVEN STORIES

I will post 5 today and the other 6 tomorrow…otherwise the post is way too long!!! OK???

:(I had Mom put Miss Tammy’s remarks in italics at the end where she was able to remark)

Maxwell and OTRB Ryker, A Tonk’s Tail…errrTale

We have a special place in our hearts for pilots who volunteer to do this – what a wonderful gift it is! Ryker was rescued from a breeder who was going to have him put down because he had a corona virus. Maxwell was rescued with horrid health issues (upper respiratory, awful ear infections, and deaf). In both cases, we spent literally months and months (almost half a year in Maxie’s case) caring for them daily and nursing them back to health. Ryker never was 100% healthy but he brought us joy for every one of the almost 14 years he was with us. Thankfully, Maxie has returned to complete and robust health – except for his hearing impairment. Because of these cats, I’ll always look for a less-adoptable cat or one with special needs. The rewards are tremendous!

Miss Tammy said she loved this story because of that last sentence highlighted in RED!…makes purrfect sense!

EasyEasy Blog

Hi Savannah, we are US- “outsiders” too, but I want tell our rescue-experience:

One of our formerly Huskies was adopted from a vet. A guy came into the vets office with this one year old Husky bitch and wanted a mercy-killing for her…because the dog was bought as a “toy” for his kids and they were  no longer interested in it.

She was alone in the apartment for 8 hours daily and the neighbors were complaining about howling the whole day. The vet refused to kill this dog and made the proposal, that he will find a new home for the dog. The guy agreed, but he said if anyone will adopt the dog he wanted the price he has paid for it. What an a..hole! The vet was very outraged about this guy, got the dog and told the guy to leave his office immediately. Normally we don’t want a second dog, but this was so absurd and cruelty, that we adopted this Husky bitch. She lived for 14 years with us and was the best girl that we ever had. We never regretted to adopt her, not for one moment. It was the best decision we could made.

I’ts hard to write about her, she passed away in 2009, but it does still hurt as if it would be yesterday – OMG where to buy a water resistent keyboard?

Miss Tammy said she was brought to tears by this one because the vet refused to put the dog down; he kicked the a–hole out of his office…and these people adored this dog and still revere her to this day. I have had my heartstrings tugged like this as well.  I have a dog “Harley” that I pulled from the county shelter (kill shelter) and feel the same way about him…he is my “heart dog”.

RumpyRumpy Dog

RUMPY’s COMMENT ON MY POST:
Every critter in our family is a rescue. The biggest challenge has been DeDe. She told some of her story today. She has food allergies that took two years to diagnose. And once that issue was resolved, the hyperthyroidism and other problems showed up. her meds cost around $200 a month. Many people think behavioral challenges are hard with rescues, but it’s the medical issues, especially with older dogs, that can be so hard to deal with.

FROM RUMPY DOG POST ON HIS BLOG:

http://rumpydog.com/2012/07/22/dear-dede-7/

Miss Tammy felt so badly for DeDe…she commented that Jen’s unwavering determination to not give up on DeDe and her allergies and to get to the root cause was so remarkable. A lot of people would have given up or surrendered the dog.

NerissaNerissa’s Life,

Wow! It sure does sound like you’ve got a lot of really good peeps living ’round your place. They sure do a lot to help the anipals in need. Personally, I’ve never rescued a dog or cat ’cause, well, I’m a cat myself. I was feral though so my peeps rescued me.

But, they also rescued my aunties’ mama. She was living in Venezuela on a resort but starving to death. She had lost all her teeth even from feeding her babies and not getting proper nutrition herself. So, the peeps got all her papers in order and bought a carrier and a plane ticket for her and guess what? She came home with them to Canada. That’s how my aunties came to be Canadian kitties just like me. Pretty neat, huh?

I should just mention that my aunties were in their mama’s tummy when she flew here to Canada. Yeah… she was preggers, again. So… my peeps didn’t just rescue one cat from there. They rescued five for the price of one! Thank goodness, too, ’cause my aunties are now fifteen years old but I don’t think they would have ever survived had they been born over there in South America.

Miss Tammy remarked that anyone who is willing to go to the trouble of purchasing a PTU, get all the necessary papers and buy a plane ticket…to save an animal…then those are real animal rescue heroes. 

Hutch A Good Life,

I also want to share another story, about another puppy farm dog my Aunt took on before she met Missy. Amber was a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

She was beautiful but ungainly. Her legs bent into awkward positions which made walking hard. Her legs were like this because of so many forced pregnancies in a tiny space with hardly any room to move. She was scared of everything. Illness and fear followed her every step. She lived with my Aunt for nearly eighteen months and was just beginning to trust humans again when she passed away. Unfortunately, despite only being young the years of abuse had taken their toll on her body. She was useful to the original owner for her beauty. How awful is that? He destroyed her beautiful body but not her spirit. She fought till the very end.

Although she never really trusted anyone again I like to think that she was happier with my Aunt than she had ever been before. She died a happy dog with a safe home, good veterinary care, a loving family and with the knowledge that not everyone was going to beat her or lock her in a dark space and steal her puppies.  It is maybe not as happy an ending as other stories but it is true and happens more often than people are willing to think about.

Miss Tammy commented she appreciated this story because it is all about making the dogs life comfortable no matter how much time it had left.  I have done this with some shelter dogs and cats as well.

 

Those are the stories for today!!!…let’s hear it for all who commented…

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for the remaining 6 stories

APAWS…APAWS…APAWS…!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you efurryone, Paw Pats, Savannah

B4TC…A Person Who Is The Change for Animals

Hey Guys!  Sorry to be late today…but I have been story boarding this post for hours with Mom. I am so excited to be pawticipating for the very first time in the B4TC event!!!

You already know I am totally focused on helping people learn about the joys of adopting cats, dogs, and whatever pets they may want.  But I focus on blogging about cats and dogs, ‘cuz…welll….ahhhhh…let’s see….ummmm….first, I AM A CAT! Second…Mom used to have DOGS…that’s what we know most about…

I understand that B4TC is focused on talking about how we can “BE THE CHANGE FOR ANIMALS”…so, I am gonna try to do that.

My post today is about a PERSON, a DOG, and some PILOTS…and of course, a teeny little bit about me and my rescue…trust me…this all TOTALLY ties together.

People who ARE the Change for Animals are peeps who dedicate time, energy, resources and love to making good things happen for us cats and dogs who need rescuing and fostering and being adopted into our furrever homes.

My story today is about a Miss Tammy…who was the person who snatched me from the public shelter literally hours before I was to be …ummm…ya know…like, ended.  Ahemm…she took me home, fostered me until a private no kill cat shelter could find space for me.

That is how I ended up at Kitty Corner where Dad and Mom found me, the rest you already know.

Miss Tammy is THE PERSON…who IS THE CHANGE FOR ANIMALS…she volunteers at our county shelter, at my former private shelter, and she works with this great organization called PILOTS AND PAWS.

Miss Tammy was invited to contribute to a book just out called DOG Is My Co-Pilot, by Patrick Regan.

The book…

…is brilliant!!!…check out this inside cover…Mr Whitman could not have said it better…

Miss Tammy helped rescue a sweet little Daschund, Sammie.  She fostered him and then helped get him to the plane so he could be flown to his furrever home…from Nor Calif to So Calif…

Sammie’s story is not a good one…this is what they wrote in his ‘bio’ when he was trying to find a furrever home…

“Sammie was rescued August 7, 2009, from his neglectful owners. He had some sort of trauma to his hind end which was not taken care of and it turned in to a full blown infection. The vet believed he was bitten by another dog. By the time we got him to a vet his tail was barely hanging on by a thread and his anus was just one giant infection.

The vet spent hours removing his tail and reconstructing a new anus. He was on heavy antibiotics and is now doing great. He is a very friendly, social, happy boy. Sammie is great with everybody including cats and other dogs, big and small.

Sammie has been neutered, microchipped and updated on his vaccines. We need a VERY caring person (or Rescue group) to take him is because he may be a little incontinent due to the nature of his condition and he also might need surgery again in the future. He is still currently wearing an e-collar. Sammie is a total “wiggle-butt” and needs a lifelong, caring new home.”

Now, his story ends really well…but first, check out Sammie…isn’t he just the cutest dude!!…so pawsomely handsome!!!

Long story short (you could get the book and read pages 104 to 107)…Sammie made two flights…one that didn’t work out afterall…but the RETURN FLIGHT…landed him SMACK DAB in his furrever home with Miss Tammy….YEA SAMMIE!!!

Can you find him in his pile of plushy toys???…

Sammie and Miss Tammy pawticipate in the local Humane Society’s Paws to Read…it is a children’s program which helps kids in primary school improve their reading skills…check out Sammie and Miss Tammy with this little girl…

That is what it takes to BE THE CHANGE FOR ANIMALS…Miss Tammy is my PERSON, Sammie is THE DOG, and PILOTS AND PAWS are the, well…obvious (vocab builder) isn’t it???…they are THE PILOTS…

Finally, the teeny bit about me…and Miss Tammy and her living the change for animals. Remember this photo of me…my intake photo at the county shelter…

Because a PERSON is dedicating her life to BEING THE CHANGE FOR ANIMALS…I now look like this…

Thank you Miss Tammy…and Paw Pats for sweet Sammie and all those Pilots

Here is the Face Book page for Pilots and Paws

https://www.facebook.com/pilotsnpawsfanpage

Come back next Sunday for my second part to this story AND I am giving away 5 copies of the book Dog Is My Co-Pilot, by Patrick Regan…see you next Sunday…

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