Animal Updates

we're back!!!!!!!!

Carol  ·  Jun. 1, 2010

From the phone calls and emails, it seems a saints blog withdrawal is not very nice. Sorry about that but the biggest sufferer was ME! I had so many things I wanted to tell you and suddenly I couldn’t get on the blog to write. Anyway I still can’t get on but the need to talk is killing me.

Sooooo..not to be denied..i am writing a word document and my plan is to cut and paste once the website is up again. I have no intention of losing a full couple of days of saints happening history because of my poor memory and a defective computer program.

First of all..the summer issue (Thx bev!) of “Modern Dog Magazine” is finally on the shelves for sale. This is a north American publication so it should be available in the states. I cannot describe to you the feeling of happiness and pride I felt at seeing absolutely gorgeous, full page color photos of kodi, chance, larry, al, peluchi and daphne in a big, fancy, glossy, magazine with Leona Lewis on the cover.
These are not just old or wrecked or dying or disabled dogs..these are homeless discarded dogs that no one wants past, present or future. These are dogs whose lives have no value anywhere, to anyone, which is why they are here.

And this is such a lie. They have such value and importance. They have such deep meaning to their lives. They have the hearts of survivors and the spirits of hero’s and they had their moment to shine to the rest of the world in a four page photo spread in a popular magazine.

OMG! Did you see Kodi, sitting there like the dog who would be king? Chance looked like not a Mongolian monster but part of some kind of Mongolian monarchy. Al’s face, so wise, so patient, so intent for his next adventure. Peluchi with a dry leaf hanging from his chest, smirking his amusement at the whole photo event. Larry…did you see Larry? The only blissful thing missing from that beautiful face was a delicate butterfly balanced on his nose as he raised his face upwards towards the sun. Daphne who dribbles urine and shoots pooh balls out her butt, looked like some kind of elite super model, roughing it out in the boondocks.

I am telling you each and every one looked so special, so regal, so pricelessly unique….that made my heart sing.

The second part of this Modern Dog story is a bit of a fairy tale with for once a happy ending. One of the interns at modern dog fell in love with the photo of Chance and followed up with an email to me. I gave her the full low down on all of his disabilities, all of his physical challenges and we talked about his complicated personality too. She already had 2 rescued dogs, one who was also permanently disabled.
In the end I invited her and her partner out to meet us in person. And then I totally forgot. I was late coming home from work at lunch time and then I rushed to give Chewie his bath and wound care and Tiny her meds and sc fluids..i had very little time so I made them follow me around while I multi tasked medical care for the animals while asking questions and imparting info to them. Anyway….the end result was…I liked them a lot. They not only have very good heads on their shoulders and very good hearts, they understood exactly what I was saying and what Chance needed and they were more than up for taking him home as a permanent foster dog. Because of that photo shoot Chance got another chance at a very good home. The staff at Modern Dog are really happy that one of their own could give Chance a home. They are talking about the possibility of him having his very own blog!

I actually do love fairy tale endings, I just don’t expect them too much anymore.

And so Carol and Laura said farewell to the little monster. We all loved him and know he will be treated like the little Peke king that he truly is!
Carol and Chancelaura and Chance

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Chewie ate a paper towel that he grabbed out of my hand yesterday…he is still alive and well so I am assuming that paper towels are fairly safe for goats to eat.

I thought: HAND + STUFF IN HAND = FOOD ... no?
Chewie

I swear to god that Sidney..(our 20 year old cat who looks like death still walking)..would eat dirt. She is after me every single time I enter the medical room to feed her again. And she does not in the least care about what brand I feed either…just get it in the bowl and get out of her way so she can taste it.

and I thought CAN + STUFF IN CAN = FOOD ... yes?
Sidney

Speaking of food freaks…Tula is getting a bit more bizarre in her eating habits too. Yesterday she was stealing Pringles potato chips from me and tonight she walked off to behind the computer moniter with one of my dinner vegetarian spring rolls…she ate half of it and is curled around the other half apparently saving it for a snack later on.

NOPE you're both wrong. It is: PLATE + STUFF ON PLATE = FOOD and that way you get the goooood stuff


tula

Dusty is feeling better. The swelling is going down in her leg. Her blood work is back and I am to up her insulin dose again.

Can you take my cone off now please?
Dusty

Not all stories end happily. Sadly I euthanized Tiny today. She was the little cat who came in on Saturday. She looked like she was dying when she got here. I started her on antibiotics, pain meds and sc fluids and none of it helped detour her from where she was going. This morning Tammy and I took her in and helped her to end her journey. Tiny came here much too late.

Rest in peace little sweet cat, I am so sorry we couldn’t give you more than we did.
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I will just keep adding to this document as a running dialog until the website is up again…while you may still be feeling deprived…I am no longer suffering…I am doing what I like to do best which is write about life at saints.

Still no website this morning..it is a really bad time to have no website with the Modern Dog issue out. Readers are going to go look at our websiteto learn more about us and it won’t be there. In this time of donation desperation, it totally and completely sucks. Another missed opportunity that could have really helped.

Jesse and and Bailey are starting to escalate into an out and out feud. It reminds me of the Jesse /Lucas hate-a-thon that used to go on around here. The difference being off course that Jesse and Bailey now happen to share the same rooms. The only saving grace is that Jesse knows how much conflict pisses me off and he tries to keep their sniping at each other to a minimum whenever I am around.

JESSE is out and out agressive .... BAILEY is passive aggressive. Either way there is some fierce hating going on between them ... eeek
JesseBailey

Edwina finally came out yesterday, her leg is still not great. There are issues with Edwina in that she is aggressive when she feels threatened. If that leg has a fracture, which it probably does, the options are limited…either let it heal on its own or put her down. Having lost Peace to the very same thing (but that was a totally displaced and unhealable fracture, while Edwins does not appear to be displaced)…the options are the reality. She does seem to be figuring out that she needs to rest it and only occasionally moves around. I was watching her yesterday, testing it..putting it down, lifting it up….a little bit of weight bearing and then getting off it again. She is a pretty smart duck..i would think a wild duck would be doing the same… taking it easy and letting time heal an injury. The one advantage that Edwin has is a very safe place to live with food and water placed near her at all times so she only moves when she feels it is in her best interests.

I don’t know in the end if Edwina will regain full or partial use of that leg…the issue becomes how she deals with whatever disability she does end up with…can she compensate? The final issue becomes, once she is up and around again..is keeping Floyd from injuring her again..that probably means splitting them up and making them live singularly…not a happy thought.

These two need a way to have safe sex ...
Floyd and Edwina
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Mo called me first thing this morning, she has real concerns about Petunia in the morning. Apparently she is getting stuck on her side at night and is unable to right herself again, she has to wait for someone to come along to push her up and get her positioned so she can move on her own.. When on her side, she not only has a hard time breathing but she feels vulnerable and it upsets her. This is not an issue during the day when she is in Ellie-Mae’s bed because Ellie’s bed is thick and huge…she can use the hollow she makes in the hay and the straw as leverage to push her feet against to get up again.

I went out as soon as Mo called to have a look…and Tunie was again on her side so I helped her get up and fed her an apple. Now I am thinking on how to reconstruct her bed to give her the same comfort and advantages of Ellie’s bed. The barn yard reno’s are not far enough along yet to move the shed into it’s new feed room location..so I need to think of a new plan. Tunie needs that entire stall filled and stuffed with straw and hay…I need to get the feeding bins out of there…
I am thinking of moving the feed room over into the costco tent which is now fully gated off until the reno’s are done. I don’t see why we couldn’t go ahead and move the freezers and barrels out of the shop and the food bins out of tunie’s stall and into the tent and set up a temporary feeding area out there. Anyway..it is a decent thought that I need to think about a bit more.

Ok I'll wait here while you fix my bed thanks
Tuni

Soooooo..this morning, first thing (after I checked on tunie,) I am over in the bunny room, talking to Renee and Angelina as they finish up Chewie’s care…and a 40 thousand dollar vehicle pulls into the driveway..oh shit, this is not a good thing. I go out to say hello and the nice lady asks…”are you the Cat Lady?”…”no..(god.. I really hate being identified as that!)…what can I do for you?”

Anyway..she has a 2 year old cat, adopted from another rescue who is pooping on the carpet whenever they go away. Her partner has had it…the cat has to go today…she has reached the end of the road in this home. I said…”take her back to the rescue.” She said, “I have been trying for weeks but they won’t take her back.” This would be when I start seeing red…my temper is about to explode. “Look….did you sign a contract that said that if you were unable to keep the cat, you were to return it to the rescue?”
She said yes. So I said take that cat back to them right now…their shelter is open, and take that cat in there, tell them she is their responsibility and put the carrier down and leave her there. The woman looked at me nervously but said ok.

On my way into town, I started to get a bit nervous myself…what if they did refuse to take her back, what was going to happen to that poor cat next? I decided to go down and wait outside and make sure that the woman came out minus that poor little cat.

SHIT!!!! 30 minutes later she came back out with the cat…honestly, I just couldn’t believe it. I know damn well that not everyone does rescue like me but we all take back our animals the second there is a need. Where is the responsibility? Where is the worry and fear over what may be the next step in getting rid of this cat? Where the fuck is any emotional attachment that should have developed between the rescuers and that little cat??????????
Amazing….we rescue. We care for. We kill ourselves to help them and then we stick them in inappropriate homes and wash our hands clean of them?
Not in my world…not to that cat who at the very least should have been able to rely on the freaking contract written and signed to protect her for all eternity.

SAINTS welcomes Ruby…never again will lying humans leave her without a safe place for her in her unhappy need.

If you can’t handle the heat in the rescue kitchen which INCLUDES taking back animals placed inappropriately..then get the hell out of the kitchen and go rescue rocks or something equally unfeeling.
I am sooooo pissed off.

Yeah we're pissed too ... stoopid rescue. Go rescue rocks you rescue tards!!! And if you ever come around here to see how REAL RESCUE is done ... SQUIRT will bite your ankles and FRODO will bite your chin!
SquirtFrodo
Yeah I'll pretend this purple toy is that other PSEUDO-RESCUE. I'm gonna make sure you neverscrew-over another cat again ... argh.
Joey

Comments

Sara

Hey all you Chance fans...great news!!! Chance got a wheelchair on Monday and absolutely loves it! I posted a video on his blog. http://www.moderndogmagazine.com/blogs/fosterstory

Melissa

Hi Carol!

You may remember me from the Modern Dog photoshoot! Anyway, I just stopped by your blog to see how all the dogs I met that day were doing-- especially Kodi, that monster (who had me completely charmed by the end of the day). I'm glad you liked the shoot, it turned out so beautifully (and no visible snow at all!)

Tannis Kokotilo

I am sooo happy chance got a new chance again)) I will miss reading about him though, hope the new foster mommy keeps us informed from time to time on your blogs about how he is doing, wierd i was thinking about him alot lately, and offered to take him one day a week) I could feel something was going to happen to him lately, couldn't stop thinking about him! Had him for a week and fell in love with him,so i know he will do well at his new home

Pam

Oh my gosh... Thank goodness the blog is back!

Carol, I live in the states and have been a subscriber of Modern Dog for about 2 years now. I have the new one but haven't had a chance to look at it yet! Now I wish I had brought it to work. Congratulations!

Amy

Happy to see you did not stop writing even if the blog was down :) So sorry to hear about little kitty, and the rescue that refused to rescue one of it's own. Damned sad indeed.

Kim

Will miss seeing Chance and his tiny pink tongue...
Whatever physical disabilities he had, his little body housed a mighty spirit! I will never forget him crying like a baby at the meeting when Laura stepped out for a minute. Good luck in your new home, Chance, you are leaving an unforgettable imprint on every ones heart here. I bet you'll bring much joy to your new home.

Mauro Salles

There's a blog about The Mongolian Monster, on Modern Dog website:

http://www.moderndogmagazine.com/blogs/fosterstory

Louise

I too love the added touch with pictures and captions. I also appreciate the links to the animals bio's, I have noticed that recently in the blogs and its great! Saints website was down and so was Turtle Gardens, both my favorite blogs down at the same time was a double whammy...happily they are both up and running once again.

laura

Chance my special Peke freak who stole my heart. I can see how hard it must be for Carol when you attach to these guys and then love them enough to let them go. I must say when Chance went down the driveway and those big eyes were staring at me saying "isn't my Laura coming too" I did shed a tear :-( But I already have a full house... so was on the flip side very happy for my boy. It's great to find a caring couple who are willing to open up their hearts and home to a special needs dog. :-) I must say it is so quiet at Saints without Chance crying for me all the time he knew I was on site. Be a good boy Chance and don't show your monster side to much(it is cute though) love ya..come by for a visit sometime and if you blog I will be a follower!

Brenda McCormick

Carol, I was going to call you today after not being able to get into the blog for the past 2 days; but was really happy to see it back tonight. I'm at work, and usually check in everyday there as well, so thank goodness you're back!!! By the way, the pictures Jenn puts in are priceless. She does a wonderful job, and it has really added a more personal dimension to the stories when you see the animals, and the captions with them. Thx. Jenn - great job!

Carol

sigh...yes it was an automatic Word proofing thing (i did get a few by it tho!)

Lynne & Scott (and Spot, of course)

Glad to have you back! We missed all the SAINTS updates.

Mauro Salles

Chance reminds me of Taz, The Tasmanian Devil. Good luck, little monster!!! You're a good dog (?!?!?!?).

PS: Capital letters?!?!? I hope it is just a MS Word proofing tool. :)

Carol

lol...way to go jenn...i especially liked chewie's innocent look..i haven't seen that one before.

Hillevi

Thank goodness the blog is back up. Life just wasn't right without SAINTS!!!!

Jenn

I think Mo took the posters that were there ... and was going to distribute mission/maple ridge ... so we will need to print more.

Ann

Welcome back, as a blog-addict-newbie I found myself going through serious withdrawl symptoms, I think I checked at least once every half hour for it's return! I would like to pick up open house poster's tomorrow to distribute in Abbotsford, if that is still needed, I couldn't find them on the weekend, could somebody help please? Also I too will not be there for the next two Saturday's but I will try to come on Sunday.

Roff

WELCOME BACK!

I really missed the news and photos. I shall look for Modern Dog.

Jenn

yeah Go Millie!!! I discovered my blog-addiction is just that an addiction to the blog as I was calling carol for dailiy updated but still this did not fully satisfy my "blog-withdrawl" .... Modern Dog spread was beautiful!

Tammy

Glad to hear Millie may be settling a bit. She's such a great cat that has been through alot, it's nice she has a happy ending.

erin

ahhh i missed this blog! ive discovered that i may be on a need to know basis, but dammit i need to know! i cannot come this weekend, unless it is raining.

Colleen Bridges

The article in Modern Dog is beautiful, Carol. You SHOULD be proud. You blogged once before that we are all here by the grace of God. Maybe that's not entirely true. Maybe the Saints guys are here because God gave them you.

lynne

i have not been able to bring in saints for 2 days. thank god it is over. missed reading it. must have been something wrong with the web.

Helga

Yay!! I missed this blog. Picked up Modern Dog this morning. The Saints' article is beautiful. Keeping my fingers crossed for Chance. On the up side of things: this week Millie Mimsy has been out and about for hours at a time and has behaved in a very civilized manner even this afternoon when I was out in the garden weeding and didn't watch her. There is hope for her yet.