And when you live on the coast you gotta have a dog named Rusty

Okay, the last month has been busy, but not really much new...until this week. Pictured above is Rusty, a 3 yr old male Pomeranian, that is "orange sable". He was very nervous at the shelter so we took him home overnight to see how he would do in a home. That was Wednesday. Thursday, we helped out in the morning just doing some cleaning & letting the dogs in & out to play. We brought Rusty & all the little dogs ran amok inside. We took Rusty home Thursday night too (shelter was closed). Brought him back out Friday & took him home Friday night. I'm working this weekend, so Doug & Riley were going to bring him back to the shelter on Saturday at noon. This dog is wonderful...great manners, not neutered and yet hasn't marked anything inside the house, very sweet, very cuddly, and VERY cute. No one out there has looked twice at him. His owner surrendered him after only having him a couple of months because she works 10 hour days and was upset that he'd had accidents after being cooped up inside for 10 hours straight. He apparently has been passed around quite a bit prior to the last owner. I don't get it, I really don't, he's wonderful! Friday night Gregg told me that Riley wanted to keep him and asked how I felt about it. It should be pointed out here that I'm his obvious favorite in the family & it's really quite flattering. He gets beyond excited when I come home, he fawns all over me. He likes everyone else as well & gets along really well with the other dogs. But, do we really need four dogs? Saturday morning before I left for work I told Gregg that if we're not taking the dog out to the shelter to let me know so I could call and let them know. At 9:30am I got the call to see if we could keep him for a couple more days just to make sure. Nicole was more than fine with that, and had apparently been expecting it ;-)

Last night we were watching a movie, Riley & I sitting on the couch, Rusty between us stretched out so that he's touching both of us-I got his head, he he he. Today Riley and her friends and their dogs were all out walking in the mist & playing having a grand old time. I think Rusty has found his forever home.

Days That Break Your Heart

So, yesterday, Riley & I got to spend basically the whole day at the shelter, since Riley was out of school. We hung out with the dogs and everybody got good long walks and we had a blast. Good news is that my buddy Bear is going to a foster home & getting some "rehab" training to help deal with his fear of men. When he is done w/rehab, he will be re-homed. Great news for Bear! Two really great dogs were reclaimed by their owners...both surprisingly enough were Rotties. The rest of the good news is that all but two dogs are going to go to OHS on Tuesday morning...meaning that I would've only had two dogs to walk Tuesday if no more dogs were taken in. About that time a little red car pulled up. A woman got out who was obviously nervous & shaken. While she was a gas station in town a LARGE black dog got into her car & wouldn't get out. Poor guy is huge, but also obviously starving. Nicole had to remove him from the car w/a catch pole. She got him into a kennel & he inhaled a whole bowl of food, ate all the dog biscuits we were handing him, and then devoured the 2nd (half) bowl that Riley brought him. He probably would've eaten more, but we didn't want to make him sick. Poor guy has sore paws too. I've seen other dogs come in this way. They've been walking on concrete for several days usually & they've rubbed the pads of their feet raw. Right now he probably weighs between 60-70 lbs...he should probably weigh closer to 1oo-125 lbs. He's got a big Mastiff head, but he's so skinny it's hard to tell what else he might be, possibly lab. I'm hoping that when I go back on Tuesday he's got a new lease on life. Right now he's not sure if he should trust us or not & was scared & confused. I'm hoping he realizes now that he's safe, and I'm hoping that his owners don't come looking for him. Right now he's WAY better off at the shelter & we'll find him a great new home with people who will take care of him.

Gracie Lou Update

Six days post surgery, we've been back to the vet twice. Friday was unscheduled, but even with the cone on her head she was managing to get to her thigh incision & had opened up part of it. They added some staples and antibiotics. Today was the scheduled appointment. Everything is healing up just great, but there's still issues with the thigh incision. And the reason for that came back with the lab results. The lump on her belly was just a fatty deposit. The lump on her thigh is cancer and apparently she has what's called a "dirty incision" meaning they didn't get all of it. So the vet is calling the lab back today to get more information and then will call me & doing some research on exactly how to treat. It may mean going back in & removing some of the muscle. She just scraped along the muscle & didn't cut into it with the first surgery. The antibiotics are helping, but they've put her back on the anti-inflamatory, and added Benedryl. It seems that these cells make the body produce histamine and this is probably why it's still inflamed. Four days on the Benedryl and hopefully this will correct itself and she can get her stitches out Thursday.

Again, if everyone could just say a prayer for our little dog that the cancer hasn't spread-it seems to be local at this point-and hope for a treatment that doesn't involve another surgery it would be appreciated.

Gracie Lou

Pictured above is our cat Tottie & her best buddy in crime, Gracie Lou. Gracie is going in for surgery tomorrow. You can see one of the lumps in this picture on the back of her thigh. This one she's had for awhile & it's all squishy like it's filled with water, and it's not the one that scares me. The one that scares me is on her lower belly...about where you'd expect to find her ovaries. Two weeks ago this second lump showed up & we took her to the vet. They are concerned it might be ovarian cancer. Tomorrow morning at 8:30am I'm taking her back to the vet and she's getting both lumps removed & getting spayed, since even if it's not cancer, I don't think it will be safe for her to have anymore puppies.

Needless to say we're all a little scared about tomorrow's outcome. Her blood tests all came back normal, her heart, lungs, and stomach all sounded fine & she doesn't seem to be in any pain...we poke & prod at both lumps regularly just to make sure they aren't changing size & it doesn't even phase her, so we're hoping it's just nothing serious.

So tomorrow morning, or even tonight, if you could say a little prayer for the safety & health of a little dog that would be greatly appreciated...you see she's not just a little dog, she's the best friend of my daughter, mother of four, buddy to a very sweet kitty, and beloved family member.

Letter to the Editor

There's been a lot of complaints in the Letter to Editor section of our local paper The World, here is my response:

Coos County Animal Shelter Does A lot for the Community

There have been a lot of letters lately complaining about the Coos County Animal Shelter and the staff. I have an opinion of CCAS that I’d like to share.

My daughter and I have been volunteering at the animal shelter since last spring. We started as part of my daughter’s Girl Scout’s Bronze Award, but after we’d completed the necessary hours, we realized that we didn’t want to stop. We go out several days a week and walk dogs, socialize with the cats, and recently have been bathing Beagle puppies.

People need to realize that the job that the Shelter Operator and the Animal Control Officers do is not easy. Basically, they spend a lot of time cleaning up other people’s messes. Probably 90% of the animals that end up at the shelter are there through no fault of their own, it comes down to people not taking care of their pets. You want something to complain about? How about complaining about the people that don’t spay or neuter their pets, or about the ones that let them run around at large? Or my favorite, the ones that are physically abusive or neglect their animals to the point that they are starving and dehydrated?

We are fortunate that our shelter is “low kill” for the dogs…well, the dogs are fortunate. But, this also means that the Shelter Operator has to be creative, because the shelter gets full fast. Our Shelter Operator has set up programs for our dogs, and some of our cats, to go to the Oregon Humane Society in Portland. She also has had dogs taken in by rescue groups, FOCCAS, and even by other shelters occasionally. This gives these dogs and cats a second chance at adoption if they don’t get adopted here.

It should also be pointed out that the reason that Oregon Humane Society is a “no kill” is because they can pick and choose what animals they will take, while municipal and county animal shelter have to take everything brought in…including animals that are very ill and injured and can’t be saved. But our shelter does try to save even the ill/injured animals. I can think of several right off the top of my head that received veterinary services for injuries or illnesses…in fact I fostered one of these dogs. Often when the shelter is full, people will be asked to wait a few days or a week for space to open up before leaving their animal. Some people will do this, some won’t.

Unfortunately, our shelter is not yet “low kill” for the cats. Conditions have improved a lot. The new programs have insured that some cats go to rescue groups or to the Oregon Humane Society in Portland, but there are still cats that will get euthanized when the shelter runs out of room. When 27 cats are brought in to the shelter in one day-as happens more often than it ever should-and there’s not enough room, some are unfortunately euthanized. No one who works or volunteers at the shelter wants this to happen, and EVERYONE out there works hard to try to prevent it, but the “pet owners” have to do their part too.

In order to get the shelter to low kill status for the cats everyone in the community has to play their part. Get your cats spayed or neutered. S/nipped will be up and running soon and will offer low cost spay/neuters. They are already out there working on several feral cat colonies making sure that they don’t get any larger. Also, if you get your cat micro-chipped you will save its life. They check for microchips when any animal is brought out in the hopes of reuniting it with its owner.

Another way to help-volunteer. The shelter can always use loving people to foster cats or dogs, or just animals that don’t do well in a shelter situation. Some animals just find the shelter too overwhelming and get stressed. Fostering also gives the animals some extra time to not only find homes, but sometimes just to be socialized. There’s lots of other ways to volunteer if fostering isn’t an option.

Also, if you can’t afford to get your animal spayed or neutered, you can volunteer at the shelter to get it done. It varies for males/females and cats/dogs, but there’s lots of ways to volunteer. You can help clean kennels, walk dogs, laundry, bathing, grounds upkeep…there’s never an end to the work that needs to be done.

Bottom line, before you point your finger at the employees of the animal shelter for something unfortunate happening to your pet, remember that there are three other fingers pointing right back at you. Take responsibility for your pet and then someone else won’t have to.

Michelle Kirby

Gidgett goes home

So, yesterday was the day that I delivered Gidgett to Kristi in Eugene. The day didn't start off well, Riley came immediately home from school sick, so my mom, who was going to go to Eugene with me, picked up Riley instead.

Next, Gidget, who'd always ridden just fine in the car, decided that she didn't like being in the car. I didn't bring a kennel because it'd never been an issue before, but had to stop in Reedsport & get a box from some friends. She didn't like the box either, but it was safer for everyone. It didn't last the whole trip, she finally wore herself out & settled down in my lap.

We arrived at the airport about the same time as Kristi, so that worked out well. We went to Valley River Mall for lunch and sat out on the patio at Chili's with Gidg...she proceeded to ignore poor Kristi. At this point I gotta tell you, this whole family already adores this dog. Kristi's mom had visited them over the weekend and brought her outfits! After lunch we went over to PetCo since Gidg could go there. We walked around the store and then went out to see if she needed to potty.

After this I took Kristi back to the airport. I'm sure that Gidgett will just love this family once she gets over being a little insecure. Kristi texted me later that Gidgett spent the first 20 minutes ignoring her & then slept on her for an hour, so I think we're already on the way there.

I got lost for half an hour after leaving the airport. Everyone who knows me will not be surprised, I always get lost in Eugene, but this time it was because I was trying so hard not to cry, not because I was turned around. I knew I was attached to Gidgett, I didn't realize how attached. I really miss her already. I know she's in a great home with people who want her so much. I know that a very special little girl will love and adore this dog. Plus, there will almost always be someone home with her and she will be beyond spoiled rotten. I just didn't know I'd miss her this much. So while I'm happy she's in such a great home, and I couldn't have chosen a more perfect family for her, I'm a little sad for me. Don't misunderstand me, and Kristi if you're reading this don't feel bad, I always knew she wasn't staying and that she was just ours for a short time & for specific reasons, I just didn't expect it to hit so hard. I'm sure I'll feel better as soon as I get pictures showing how wonderful things are for her & how happy everyone, including her.

And then the vacation was over.

Yesterday was my first day back at work after my vacation...41 minutes into my shift I was ready to go back on vacation. For some reason everyone felt the need to call and do stuff the second I sat down. Today has been better, but still.

I had planned to do all this stuff while on vacation. I got some of it done, but life got in the way of most of it. The house got a good start on the spring cleaning...just a few months late. The back patio got cleaned up...by Gregg & the kids.

I'm so far behind on projects it's not even funny. I've got a blankie bear that has been partially finished for over a month...I'm going to finish it this week come heck or high water. I haven't even started my September Mother Bear Project Bear, so that's gotta get started soon. I have been keeping up w/my Angels for Hope angels, but that's only because they only take about half an hour to do.

This weekend I'm off. Riley & I will probably go out to the animal shelter for a few hours on Saturday. Monday my mom & I are taking the Gidg to Eugene to meet up with Kristi Vega, who will then assume ownership of the little sweetie pie & bring her SoCal for a few days before their exodus back to Arizona. I'm so happy for Gidg & Gabriella. BTW, Gidgett's new name will be Minnie.