Monthly Archives: December 2011

Shadow is our most senior kitty at Safe House, earning him the prestigious title of Eldercat. He is twenty years old, and some of you may recall that he came to us this summer when we worked a hoarding case. Shadow was living outside in bushes, as he could no longer jump up onto the nearby porch to get into shelter or eat with other resident cats.

At some point, Shadow had a family who neutered and declawed him. How he ended up in the bushes at a mentally ill person’s home is a mystery. How he survived outside in the bushes for so long, is also a wonder.

Shadow has lots of the problems you might expect for an Eldercat. He is deaf. He is in advanced renal failure. He can see, but not so well. He has a neuropathy that causes him to walk on his forelimbs instead of his paws. And sometimes he can only make it half way to the litter box before he’s just gotta go.

Shadow spends a lot of time napping and is a fan of cushy beds. He is a lover of laps and will start making biscuits as soon as he even suspects he is going to be picked up. He eats with gusto and will holler and holler (not being able to hear himself) to remind you that it’s time for his canned food. His time left on earth is clearly limited, but we think it’s a pretty good life for an Eldercat.

Shadow lives in hospice foster with an extra-special Safe House foster parent who enjoys  tough cases. Shadow shares his home with another special needs foster cat, a pug, children to stroke his long black fur, and his foster mom who dotes on him. Shadow will stay in this home for all of his remaining time until the day comes when he leaves this earth, and we’ll ensure he does so with dignity. We hope that day is far, far away.

Caring for special needs animals and those who will remain with us for the rest of their life, like Shadow, is something we do for many Safe House critters. Because this is normal day-to-day business for us, however, we often forget to tell you their stories and focus on the new arrivals or the day’s adoptions. But wonderful, beautiful pets like Shadow the Eldercat are always behind the scenes too.

Caring for these special needs animals isn’t easy emotionally, or even logistically. It takes a very special person to foster a hospice pet, someone to knowingly open their home and heart to an animal they know will die soon. It takes a large financial commitment to tend to their unique medical, nutritional, and comfort needs. But animals like Shadow are why we named our organization Safe House. Because it’s safe whether you are a highly adoptable purebred puppy, or a 20 year old cat in renal failure, like Shadow. Or an 8 year old cat with terminal jaw cancer, like Seymour. Or an emotionally broken, former breeding chihuahua who can’t be potty-trained, like Bambi. We even have a hospice rooster.

We’re able to help these special animals only with your support. We recently set up a pet sponsorship program that allows you to give monthly at varying levels, including a Senior Pet option for animals like Shadow. Please consider sponsoring a pet this holiday season. These small monthly gifts are what allow us to provide care, peace, and dignity to the many special needs animals who are always with us behind the scenes.

Happy Holidays from Shadow the Eldercat, and all of the Safe House critters.

In early fall, Bella came into Lee County Animal Control. She was picked up as a stray and over her 7 day stray hold she waited patiently for her owner to come for her, but no one called, no one came looking. So, like many others, she became a Safe House dog.

Bella came to Safe House wearing a thick metal chain for a collar almost embedded into her neck. She came to us with a urinary tract infection, an ear infection, and obvious physical signs of being bred constantly. She also came to us with severe signs of abuse including flinching, fear biting, cowering, and absolute panic if anyone raised their voice around her. When trying to get her out of the animal control truck, she was so fearful she cowered in the corner and, when that didn’t work, she unsuccessfully tried to bite in self defense.

Bella went into foster. Her first foster kicked her out for inappropriate urination and for aggression. We got her to the vet who diagnosed and treated her UTI. Bella went to Foster number two.

Foster two was making great progress with Bella, but Bella came down with a terrible ear infection. We got Bella to the vet for treatment, they were a little forceful with her, and she tried to bite the vet and vet tech. Bella’s foster, confident that she was making progress, took Bella back home and kept working with her to overcome her anxiety and fear.

By late fall, Bella had become very attached her to foster mom. She was the first person who was kind and took time to bond with Bella. Unfortunately, Bella saw the foster mom’s son as competition and bit him in the hand. It was not a nip. She bit him and broke skin. On her way out of the foster home, she bit the boy again on the other hand. Bella needed more help than we were giving her.

We reached out to several rescue partners and dog trainers. Many of them had the same advice: “euthanize her”, “she’s unstable, you have to put her to sleep”, “she’s an adult, she cannot unlearn what’s been done to her.” Most dog training facilities outright refused to accept her as a student. Bella was our first ‘problem dog’ and she now had a bite history. She was truly fearful, in a constant state of anxiety, and we questioned what quality of life she might ever have. At Safe House, we have never euthanized an animal for behavior issues. We have always gone the extra mile to find the right home. We have driven behaviorally challenged pets all over the country and even into Canada. We know the day may come when we might have to put a truly vicious dog down, but the day hadn’t come yet and we were unanimous that we weren’t going to euthanize anyone unless we were 110% positive that everything possible had been done. So we kept reaching out and looking for options.

Through a rescue partner, we found a board and stay training program in Chicago who agreed to take Bella on. Bella spent two weeks there and got glowing reviews. Bella excelled at clicker training, greeted guests politely, and was making great progress.

Her ear infection came back and really took hold. Bella’s equilibrium was off and she didn’t want her head touched. Bella’s trainer suggested the ear infection might have even caused her bite incidents. We ran a culture on Bella’s ear and were told she would need to be on antibiotics for 6 weeks.

Bella started her new meds and continued in training. Within days there was another phone call though – now Bella had developed kennel cough despite being vaccinated against it. Bella could not catch a break. She came back home to Safe House, where we put her into foster number three, followed her trainer’s advice to provide clear pack structure by giving her a safe place of her own like a crate and not the couch or bed, and we continued the 6 weeks of antibiotics plus treatment for kennel cough.

Bella made remarkable progress. She was happy. Once a fearful, anxiety ridden dog, her eyes now shined. She engaged visitors and other dogs. She ran and played instead of cowering. She learned to ‘sit’ on command. She gained confidence. She finally met enough people to understand not all of us are bad, not all of us are going to hit her, and that maybe the human race deserved another chance. The dog we know today as Bella is not the same dog we pulled from Lee County Animal Control. It just took a while longer for her to make her journey. It took more time, more money, more effort. It took giving her a chance.

In hindsight, we are thankful that we let our hearts guide us with Bella and that we did not listen when trainer after trainer told us that she must be euthanized. It makes me very sad to think of the many Bellas across the country who are not given this chance. How might you react if you were chained and beaten for 4 years? How long would it take you to trust again? Personally, I don’t think I’d ever be able to. I think Bella has me beat in the forgiveness department.

In a few minutes, Bella has an adopter coming to meet her. An adopter chose her specifically because she has these issues, which he understands and has experience with. She waits beside me now with tail wagging and her head in my lap, with complete trust in me. Many people ask rescuers how we do this work, how we suffer the heartbreak and stress. It’s for moments like these. There’s a chance this lovely girl starts the next leg of her journey tonight.

Update – 8:15pm: Bella has just gone home with her forever family. It was love at first sight.

Safe House is participating in the annual Mrs. Santa Cookie Sale fundraiser sponsored by the Mendota Chamber of Commerce. Every Saturday in December, non-profits sell delicious homemade goods at participating Mendota banks.

Our bake sale date is Saturday, December 17th, from 9-12, at Midland State Bank in downtown Mendota.

We need bakers to contribute their favorite baked goodies (any kind, we are not limited to only cookies). Please whip up as many cookies, pies, breads, and treats as you can and help us raise funds for our community’s most at-risk pets! You can drop them off to Monica at The Groom Stop (617 Main St., Mendota) on Friday 12/16 from 8am-5pm or Saturday 12/17 from 8-9am and she’ll ensure they make it to the sale.

We also need a couple of volunteers to work the bake sale table on Saturday 12/17 from 9-12.

If you can help bake or work the event, please let us know! With the holiday coming quickly, we’re working to get as many pets into homes as possible. Please help us make it happen!