Sunday, May 24, 2009

Thruppence



Meet Thruppence, just three weeks old. He needs some help as he is not getting enough milk from his Mum. Thruppence is the runt of the litter and is not growing as fast as his litter mates, so we decided he needed to go on foster to survive. He is on milk replacer and is being bottle fed every two hours. Thruppence is doing well so far and this is a job we enjoy in the sanctuary.


Thruppence goes to work with me each day and comes home with me each night. He sleeps beside my bed in a tiny warm bed. I woke at 6am this morning to the sound of sucking, I glanced into the tiny bed to see Thruppence sucking his blanket. Once he had his bottle and wash it was back to bed and suddenly I heard the sound of sucking again followed by tiny little purring noises. Thruppence is like a human baby, once fed, clean and warm, he is content with his favourite blanket. Life's little creatures are precious one and all.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

The Cost of Cats

It's the time of year when we get a lot of enquiries from people wishing to adopt kittens from us. Cats are seasonal breeders, with most litters being born during the summer months. The season has yet to reach its peak, but already we have ten nursing momma cats in our care, and over thirty newborn kittens.

Every year, a small minority of people express surprise and even anger when we explain that we ask for a donation when we rehome a cat or kitten. They usually argue that they are offering a good home, and that it is downright cheeky of us to expect them to "pay" for the cat or kitten they want to adopt. The truth is though, if we didn't ask for a donation when we rehome a cat or kitten, then we couldn't afford to help them in the first place.

Here's a breakdown of the costs to us in rehoming a cat or kitten:

  • All our cats and kittens receive their first and second core vaccinations. The cost to us is €15-€20 but the vaccinations are absolutely essential.
  • All our cats and kittens are wormed repeatly either with Advocate spot-on solution (which also treats fleas and mites) or Milbemax tablets. Again, worming is a vital part of a cat's veterinary care. The cost to us of each spot-on or tablet is in the region of €5-€7.
  • All our cats are health-checked and neutered by our vet. This costs €50 per cat. Our kittens over twelve weeks of age are neutered too.
  • All the cats are fed a high-quality dry cat food daily, supplemented with wet cat food such as Whiskas. It is hard to quantify how much it costs to feed an individual cat or kitten daily. A 7kg bag of dry food costs us €17. A tin of cat food costs up to €1 and a box of ten pouches of cat food costs approximately €5. At the moment our nursing cats are eating two to three pouches of wet food daily, plus dry food.
Already, the cost to us of rehoming a cat or kitten to you has well exceeded the minimum €80 donation we request. And that doesn't include ancillary costs such as heating and lighting (we use infra-red bulbs when the weather is cold, and these are very costly to run). The buildings we house our cats and kittens in also have to be paid for and maintained.

Then there are the cats that have required x-rays and pain-relief for fractures or amputations, or the cats that require long courses of expensive antibiotics, eye ointments and supplements to treat the various strains of cat flu. The veterinary cost of caring for these debilitated cats can be well over a hundred euro, ever before they are well enough for neutering, worming and vaccinations.

We absolutely love our cats and we work very hard to make sure that they are healthy and happy during their stay with us at the sanctuary. They get the very best of care and we are careful to ensure that they go on to loving, lifetime homes. If we did not ask for a contribution from the new owner when rehoming a cat or kitten, then we simply couldn't afford to help cats or kittens at all. Please bear this in mind when making your minimum €80 donation.

If you want to bring a beautiful cat or kitten into your life, adopting from Limerick Animal Welfare makes sense! Why not visit our Cats for Rehoming section on our main website to see the beautiful felines that are ready for rehoming.

Friday, May 1, 2009

The Ups and Downs of Rescue

I enjoyed a little bit of serendipity yesterday evening, which made for a very successful night's work! I work part-time at our sanctuary, but like all the staff, I find that there is always something needed to be done on my days off. That might be a trip to the vets to collect an animal, or perhaps a homevisit. But sometimes it's something quite unexpected! Such was the scenario last night.

My uncle and I were driving home from the supermarket when we spied a lame dog limping towards us. He was out in the middle of a busy road and looked very flustered and lost. Cars were having to slow down to avoid him. We turned the car around to follow him, but at this point the poor dog broke into a run and began to gallop away off up the road. A car coming in the opposite direction brought him to a halt, and we were able to pull the car up right behind him and put on our hazard lights. Luckily I always have spare leads, crates and cat carriers in the car for emergencies like this one. The poor dog's tongue was hanging out with exhaustion and his front leg was very sore. Adrian hopped out of the passenger seat and gently called the dog towards him. The dog was so relieved to see a friendly face, he limped over to Adrian and sat very politely while Adrian looped the lead over his head.

Just as we were bundling him into a crate in the back of my car, a man in a jeep pulled up and told us he'd seen the dog being hit by a car earlier in the day. It was so obvious this dog was lost and frightened - and not just a neighbourhood dog let out to wander. When we pulled up at Adrian's house I gave the dog a bowl of water to drink in his crate. He was so thirsty, he nearly emptied the bowl. He then lay down on the nice soft vet bed in the crate for a nap. I checked on him a few minutes and he was in a deep sleep. I don't know how long he had been straying but he was clearly worn out. When a dog is lost, they keep on the move until they're so tired they can go no further. And the anxiety of being lost and without the familiar faces of home is very stressful for them. So we often find that when we take in a stray dog at the sanctuary, they sleep very deeply for the first day or so.

No sooner had we started dinner but the phone rang. It was Ann. She'd had a phone call from a man in a neighbouring estate trying to catch a feral cat and kittens in his attic. Could I help? He was only up around the corner so I went straight there. This lovely man had been out to the sanctuary earlier in the day to borrow a cat trap. He'd managed to catch the mother cat, and one kitten but the two remaining kittens were so frightened and skittish, they were evading capture! The poor little mites were only three weeks old and had never seen a human face before. They'd crawled right into the corner of the attic where the sloping roof meets the floor. I crawled across the floor and lay flat on my tummy to extend an outstretched arm into the tiny hidey hole they'd found. But they were just out of arms reach and every time I tried to reach them, they hissed and spat, and moved further away. This continued for a good half hour until covered in dust and dirt, coughing and sneezing, I called a temporary halt. Martin, myself and his son Conor retreated back down the attic stairs to regroup.

Martin had managed to catch the first kitten with a fishing net he'd borrowed from a neighbour. He thought that maybe if we left them alone again for a few minutes and stayed quiet, they might come out of their hiding place to seek out their mum, who was sitting in the trap in the middle of the attic floor. Sure enough, within a minute or two we could hear their tiny movements and little cries to mum above our heads. Martin crept back up the attic stairs, and I headed back to Adrian's, saying I would ring in a half an hour to see if Martin had any luck.

The dinner was just going on the table when Martin's wife rang to say that Martin had caught the two remaining kittens. Yippee! I headed back over to the house to load them all up in the car. I was so relieved! If Martin hadn't caught the rest of the kittens, we would have had to release the mum again because the kittens could not have survived on their own without her. And cats are clever, so the mum would probably have been quite wary of the trap if we had to set it a second time. Plus as the kittens grew, they would have been harder for us to catch. A great night's work! After a quick pit-stop back at Adrian's to finish my dinner, I was on my way out to Ann's with Rusty the dog, momma cat Robin and her three kitties. Ann gave Rusty some pain-relief and settled him in a warm crate for the night. Robin and her kitties got a quiet, warm crate for the night too.

Rusty's quite an old dog, and sadly he hasn't been very well looked after. He's a little thin, his ears need some attention and his teeth need a good cleaning. He is very lame on his front left leg, which is very swollen. It could be an old injury that wasn't set properly, or perhaps a recent injury and cellulitis has set in. He doesn't seem too steady on his hips either, so perhaps that is where he felt the impact of the car and perhaps he's bruised there or has a fracture. All will be revealed when he sees the vet today. Ann brought Rusty out to the sanctuary this morning so he'll have a nice soft bed and good food. Gentleman that he is, I'm sure he's busy making friends!

Momma cat Robin is an elderly girl and I am sure she has had many litters of kittens through the years. I'm always so happy when we trap a feral cat, because it means they can be neutered to stop this awful reproductive cycle. Feral cats struggle hard to survive and because many people see them as pests, they can be treated quite cruelly. And it's so sad to see their offspring being born in the wild too, because once they go past a certain age without human contact, they can never be tamed and rehomed as pets. Robin's mum may well have been someone's pet cat who was not neutered and who reared her litter of kittens away from the home so that they had no human handling. By the time Robin and her siblings were old enough to start exploring and come out in the open, they would have been past the point at which they could be socialised with people. Because Robin has never been trapped and neutered, she has gone on to bear litters of kittens too, all of whom are also feral. And those kittens will have gone on to reproduce and give rise to ever more feral cats and kittens. It is so sad.

Luckily Robin and her three babies will have a happy ending. They are at the sanctuary now, in a warm, quiet crate, shrouded in a big blanket to make Robin feel more secure. Every day we will give Robin fresh cat food and water, and change her litter tray. We will play with the kittens and get them used to human contact. Once the kittens are eight or nine weeks old, we'll look for pet homes for them. And once the kittens are rehomed, we will neuter Robin and then release her back to the area she came from. This is Robin's territory and she knows the best places to sleep, and where to find food. Her presence will discourage other, un-neutered feral cats coming into this small area, so actually she is a boon to the neighbourhood; hopefully there'll be no more litters of feral kittens there, and no more trips up the neighbours' attics for me!


Wednesday, April 29, 2009

One, two, three... yippee!

ONE. Our little Smiley is going from strength to strength. You’ll remember that she’s the little black and tan Jack Russell puppy that came into our care on the 4th of April. She had been hit by a car and was very badly injured. Smiley has multiple pelvic fractures - in other words, her pelvis was smashed on impact. She also had a very badly broken femur (the thigh bone) and underwent delicate surgery to repair the hip joint. Our vet cautioned us that Smiley would need very strict crate rest for four weeks to allow her injuries to heal. So we kitted out a crate for her in our isolation room complete with a very soft and fluffy bed. Everyone that visits the sanctuary is instructed to pop into the isolation room to give Smiley a cuddle. It’s very hard on a bouncy little puppy to be so confined. Smiley had her stitches out a week ago and she has finished all her antibiotics. She has also finished her course of pain relief. She is really full of beans particularly in the last week, it’s almost as though she knows her confinement is nearly over! She will be finished her crate rest next Saturday and once she’s had her second vaccination on the 10th of May she’ll be all set for her new home.


Smiley


TWO... Alfie
has been bunking in with Smiley in the isolation room and he is doing really well too. If you visit our main website, you’ll know Alfie’s story already. He was left behind to fend by himself when his owners moved house. He slept on the doorstep of the abandoned house for nearly five weeks, waiting for them to come back. Luckily some kindly neighbours brought him food each day, but sadly not everyone in the area was so nice to him. He suffered a deep stab wound to his shoulder during that five week period and we don’t know who did this to him. The wound was very badly infected when he came to us but with a long course of antibiotics he is healing well. He’s a very sweet boy and we hope to find him a super home once he’s neutered and fully vaccinated.


Alfie


THREE! Charity
, also featured on our main website, is also giving us all reason to smile. She’s the nervous English Setter who was dumped at the bottom of the lane below the sanctuary entrance. We think who ever had her tried her as a working gundog and was so harsh with her that she is still terrified of human contact. She was in our car park for days before any of us could get close enough to her to catch her. She is still scared when we approach her but once you get close enough to her to put your hand on her, she relaxes. Charity is just such a beautiful dog in every way - for all her fears she has never shown an ounce of aggression to anyone here. She has that wonderfully placid and sweet English Setter temperament.


Charity


We’ve worked so hard with Charity and we hope that she’ll have a new home very soon as a lovely couple have applied to adopt her as soon as she has been spayed. Charity’s hip was dislocated when we found her and unfortunately as the injury was several weeks old it would not stay in the proper position when our vet manipulated it. Charity had to undergo a femoral head excision, which is quite an intrusive surgery. She is still on pain relief and is only just beginning to bear weight on the affected leg. Her prospective new Daddy is a vet so she will have an expert on hand to continue her physiotherapy!


Friday, April 24, 2009

And Now... A Serious Message

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

A Rescue Dog's Plea

Now that I'm home, bathed, settled and fed,
All nicely tucked up in my warm new bed,
I'd like to open my baggage lest I forget,
There is so much to carry, so much to regret.

Hmmm, yes there it is, right on the top:
Let's unpack Loneliness, Heartache and Loss.
And there by my lead hides Fear and Shame.
As I look at these things I tried so hard to leave,
I still have to unpack my baggage called pain.

I loved them, my owners, the ones who left me,
But I wasn't good enough, for they didn't want me.

Will you add to my baggage? Will you help me unpack?
Or look at my things, and take me right back?

Do you have time to help me unpack?
To put away baggage, to never repack?

I pray that you do, I'm so tired you see.
But I do come with baggage, will you still want me?


Anon


Monday, April 6, 2009

Why A Secure Garden Is A Must



Smiley



Smiley is the sweetest, most gentle puppy you could meet. She's only a baby, five months old. Smiley has multiple pelvic fractures, a severe fracture to the femur (the bone of the thigh) and her little body is covered in scrapes and cuts. Why? Smiley got out of a garden and was struck down by a car. She is very lucky to be alive. Smiley was taken to our vet and underwent surgery to remove the head of the femur as it was fractured beyond repair. She is on very strong pain relief and antibiotics. She will be confined to a small crate for the next four weeks so that the breaks in her pelvis will hopefully heal correctly. With these kinds of injuries, it’s likely that she will develop arthritis in time to come and will need a lot of veterinary supervision throughout her life. She is in so much discomfort that she cannot bear any weight on her back legs and must be carried out to the toilet.

This is no life for a young little puppy, to be cooped up in a cage, in pain. She should be out in the spring sunshine, running about and playing with her toys. We will do everything possible to make her as comfortable as possible while she recovers, and she is getting lots of love and cuddles here at the Sanctuary. But we are angry that all of Smiley’s suffering could so easily have been prevented.



When we insist on a securely enclosed garden, it’s because we deal with cases like Smiley’s every day. Every year, hundreds of stray dogs need our help. Many of them are injured or starving because they have been lost for so long. If only these dogs’ owners did not allow them to wander. If only they had kept their dogs in. Please bear in mind that if you do not have an enclosed garden for your dog, any of the following scenarios could arise:


Particularly if you live in the countryside and you are out at work during the day, your dog may develop the habit of chasing passing cars or even the postman’s van. Not only could your dog be seriously injured or even killed in the process, but if your dog is responsible for causing a car accident, you will be held liable. Likewise, if your bored dog chases or worries livestock such as cattle or sheep, not only can the farmer claim damages against you, but he also has the right to shoot your dog.


You may have a dog that you'd swear never leaves the doorstep and you'd trust never to walk out your open gate. What about the day that a neighbourhood cat walks past, or a stray dog comes by? Will your dog resist the urge to chase the cat, or to go wandering with the other dog? What if he follows some friendly passer-by up the road? Either way he could end up being hit by a car, or lost. If there is a female dog in the area who is not neutered and has come into season, prepare to say goodbye to your male un-neutered dog for several weeks while he goes off to court her. That is, of course, unless you have a secure garden and he can’t get out.

Limerick Animal Welfare don't agree with the use of electric “invisible fence” systems as a means of containing a dog. We have taken in stray dogs in the past who were found wearing electric shock collars and who had a strong phobia of wearing any kind of collar as a result. Moreover, such systems are extremely unreliable and battery failure is common. They also offer no protection against theft.



Limerick Animal Welfare believe that chaining up a dog is a form of cruelty. Dogs that are continually chained up experience problem behaviours associated with boredom, loneliness and frustration. It can also exacerbate aggression issues as the dog cannot retreat when approached by a person or dog that they find threatening. Tying up a dog is no substitute for building a proper fence.



When you approach Limerick Animal Welfare with a view to adopting our dogs, one of our volunteers will pay you a quick visit at home to look at your garden. We will do our best to advise you on how to enclose your garden cheaply and effectively. If you are building a run, we will certainly consider this providing it is of adequate size and the dog does not spend the majority of its time confined there and on its own. Please do not be offended if we turn down your rehoming application because your garden is not enclosed. We only have the best interests of dogs like Smiley at heart.


Read more about our rehoming policy in the Rehoming section of our main website. Smiley's treatment so far has cost almost €400. If you can spare even a small amount towards her care, we would be extremely grateful. You can make a safe and secure online donation by clicking on the Donate button opposite Smiley's photo.

 
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