Thursday, July 2, 2009
New Pictures of Mercury, Raven and Rowdy
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Gator was adopted; Introducing Rowdy, Solara, and Raven
Gator, my shepherd mix puppy, was adopted this past Saturday. He had moved to another foster home since I took in Raven, another puppy, and I was out of room and time to care for another puppy. One of our new volunteers offered to take Gator so we could save Raven, so he went to her house temporarily before being adopted this weekend.
Rowdy is a six-month old Boggle, aka Boglen Terrier. That's a mix of a Boston Terrier and a Beagle. He's about 10 months old and weighs 20 pounds. He is very sweet - he's learned that if he jumps on my lap I will pet him, so now I randomly find this little dog in my lap while I'm sitting at my computer. He loves to play with tennis balls, and gets along great with the other dogs. He hates going in his crate, but once he's there, he is very quiet. He is doing very well with house-training and will hopefully be ready for adoption by early next week.
Solara is the mother of Venus, Mercury and Sedna. Originally the family who called us to turn them in said they were keeping the mother, but they recently called and asked us to take her also. So since she was my kitten's mother, I couldn't say no. She is a beautiful cat - a dilute calico. She's a mixture of white, the same gray color as Mercury and the same buff color as Venus. Right now she's staying in a cat playpen in the same room as Mercury and Venus. At first they spent all their time hissing at each other, but now they're starting to adjust. I'm hoping to be able to let her have free run of the room with Mercury and Venus soon.
Raven is the puppy who was turned into one of our Heartland volunteers recently. She's a mixture of Labrador Retriever/Shepherd/Golden Retriever. I expect her to enjoy retrieving a ball once she's a little bigger. :-) She's only about 9 weeks old, and all black and very soft and so sweet. She follows me around and makes cute little puppy noises.
Aurora, my little tortoiseshell kitten from the Disney litter, is back and available for adoption. When she was adopted she came down with a cold, so we kept her and treated her, and then the adopter decided now wasn't the right time to bring her home after all. So she's back up at PetSmart living with her sister Anastasia and two other kittens from a different litter.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sedna was adopted!; Update on my fosters
Here's an update on my fosters. I started this blog so I could write about my foster pets and go back later to read it and remember them and things about them, so I want to write a bit about everyone I have right now (no counting please).
Noelle - She turned one year old this week! Happy Birthday my girl. Noelle is the longest term foster I've had, and the favorite foster I've had. She gets so excited to see me every time, and just comes flying at me wagging her tail as fast as she can. She had a home visit with a family this week that sounded like a perfect fit, and I was scared I would lose her - but she attacked their dog and so she came back home with me. Last night I gave her a donated stuffed animal, and she got to engage in her favorite pastime - destuffing! Tonight after work I get to go home and pick up stuffing that is spread all over the bedroom. She's worth the extra work though. :-)
Kai - Kai is a temporary foster dog that I've had a hard time letting go. Her foster mom finally convinced me she should come back to her, so later this week she'll go back to her original foster home. She's such a good dog - rather timid and shy, but she's improved so much in the past few weeks. Her favorite thing to do is to sit by the baby gate that blocks the hallway to the back rooms where the kittens are. She LOVES the kittens - a little too much. She will sit at that gate for hours, waiting for a glimpse of the kittens. Even when I have the bedroom doors shut so no kittens could possibly come out, she still sits there staring down the hall, looking for them.
Gator - Gator has improved a lot in the past couple of weeks - he no longer bites my shoes or feet or legs every second that he can. Now he only does it once every 10 or 15 seconds! He has the cutest puppy gallop, and when I call the dogs and they all come running, he is so cute always lagging behind everyone else because he's too little to keep up. I was hoping that Gator would be adopted this weekend, since he's such an adorable puppy, but he was not. I recently received an e-mail from another Heartland volunteer who's neighbor brought her a puppy that she didn't want. So in order for me to take in that puppy, another Heartland volunteer offered to take Gator and foster him. So tonight Gator goes to a new home. He's already been there to be "dog-sat" for a few hours, so I'm sure he'll do fine - actually he'll be spoiled rotten - first time foster homes are usually awesome at that. :-)
Pip - Pip is a very small beagle mix who is living in my daughter's room with some kittens. He acts JUST like a kitten - I'm a little concerned that he doesn't know how to be a dog. It would be good for him to be around other puppies or dogs right now, but he's so little that he'll get hurt playing with any of my other dogs, so he just has me and the kittens to play with. He likes to climb up on my shoulder when I hold him, and he likes to play with feather toys, and he loves to wrestle with the kittens. He sleeps in a cat bed too.
Rowdy - Rowdy hasn't been properly introduced yet, but I'll introduce him and post his picture soon. Rowdy is, well, he's the opposite of rowdy. He's very laid back for the most part. He loves to go outside and roll in the grass. He doesn't appear to care for bones or most treats. He doesn't want to play with most toys. He mostly wants to sit in your lap and be petted. Then maybe go for a walk, then straight back into the air conditioning for some more petting.
Scribbles - My foster cat who is living at PetSmart. She's kind of taken Whisper's place as the "cat with an attitude" at PetSmart now that Whisper is adopted. I hope Scribbles gets a home soon too - she is such a sweet cat when she's not at PetSmart or around other animals, but no one has been able to see that since she's kind of mean while she's there.
Marco & Polo - These guys are also living at PetSmart temporarily, and they get a lot of attention up there. They're my most laid-back cats I've had in a long time. Although that could just be because I'm used to hyper kittens all the time now. :-)
Anastasia - The last of the Disney litter, Stasi is living up at PetSmart temporarily and hopefully will be adopted quickly. She's my little complainer - she is very vocal and quick to complain if she's unhappy, but she's also quick to purr if she's happy.
Mercury & Venus - The last two of the Solar System litter - they're doing great. Both of them constantly try to sneak out of the bedroom they're in and join the rest of the house, even though Kai is stalking them on the other side of the gate. They are super affectionate and friendly and purr everytime I pick them up. These kittens are going to be big - they're about double the size of the Disney litter at the same age.
Chessie - She's the most playful of all the kittens I have. She's constantly running or climbing or jumping.
Capri - I never particularly wanted a Siamese cat - I've never been drawn to their looks, and was surprised they are always in such high demand. But I think if I adopted a cat of my own, it might be Capri. She's a Siamese mix - cream with chocolate points, and blue eyes, and she's so affectionate. I can't figure out what it is about her that makes me want to keep her so much, but I am considering the idea of adopting her.
Cabbie & Cilla - These two kittens are so funny - they're roly-poly kittens who are probably a week or two younger than Capri and Chessie. Cabbie has a cold right now, and Cilla has some missing hair so they're both quarantined from the rest of the kittens while they undergo treatment. They don't seem to mind so much though - they are playful but not as much as Chessie - and they're affectionate but not as much as Capri. They're mostly happy with each other, a few toys, someplace comfortable to sleep, and lots of canned kitten food.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Corvette Show; Aurora was adopted!
The little white blob on the table is Marco, my foster cat. In the back is Lori and Sue, trying to keep control of Dash, who had plenty of energy in spite of the warm day, and on the right is Donna with Frazier, Sue's foster dog.
Here's a close-up of Frazier, the wonderdog. He does swim therapy and walks on a treadmill while he recovers from his surgery to repair a broken leg.
Here is Gator pretending to be tired. :-)
Also Aurora was adopted this week, which just leaves Anastasia (Stasi) from my Disney litter. I thought she'd be the first of the litter to go since she has rather unique coloring, and instead she will be the last!
Friday, June 12, 2009
Mercury, Venus, Sedna; Outtakes

Venus is so sweet. She has a bladder infection so she is on antibiotics right now, and she has to go back to the vet next week to get rechecked out. Even though she probably doesn't feel good, and doesn't like her medicine, she's always purring.

Sedna has the coolest tail. It's ringed, kind of like a raccoon. In this picture she's sitting on an awesome scratching post made by the Girl Scouts. All of the kittens love it - thanks Girl Scouts!

And now for some fun, silly pictures! Here Sedna is trying to grab a feather toy that I'm swinging in front of the camera - she's not really picking on her sister like it appears. At least not deliberately.
Remember Emma, my Newfoundland foster dog? She managed to put a nice big hole in her PetCot pet bed before she was adopted. The company said they can repair it, but since I haven't brought it in to be fixed yet, it's just sitting in the extra bedroom leaning against the wall. The kittens seem to be enjoying it the way it is...
Introducing Capri, Cilla, Chessie & Caboose
I didn't mean to make this post so depressing - maybe it just helps that other people know how hard it is to go there and see that. The reason I go back, time after time, is because I can make a difference. Whenever animals come into that shelter they are assigned a tag with a number on it. When rescuers go to pull animals, they write down the tag numbers of the animals they think they may be able to help, and then the shelter workers check to see if those animals are available. Unless an owner comes in to the shelter and turns over an animal, agreeing it can be immediately euthanized, all the rest of the dogs and cats must be held for at least 5 business days in case an owner claims them. So when I went in, I wrote down the tag numbers of several kittens, to find out which ones had been held the required time and would be available to go. As I inquired about their status, I learned that fourteen of the kittens I had inquired about were scheduled to be euthanized the next morning. I had no way I could take so many kittens, but I couldn't bear to leave them behind either. It's hard enough to walk out of there knowing that the ones I leave behind have such a slim chance for adoption - it's impossible to walk out knowing that they have NO chance. So I began making phone calls, and fortunately several Heartland volunteers stepped forward to help. I was on my lunch hour and had to go back to work, so Cindy, one of our volunteers, actually went to the shelter and pulled all fourteen kittens! She kept them at her house, got them all dewormed and started on medication, and held onto all fourteen of them for several weeks. That's quite a sacrifice to make on top of all her other fosters she is already caring for - and these kittens wouldn't be alive without her. After that, six of the kittens went to another volunteer (thanks Barb!) and just recently four of the kittens came to my house. The last four kittens are still at Cindy's house and I will get them in another week or two. So all of that, just to introduce my four newest kittens!
This cutie is named Caboose (Cabbie for short). He's got the funniest coloring, and he has this weird double stripe down his back, which you can see in the picture.

This is Cabbie's sister, named Cilla. She is such a little roly-poly kitten and she loves to eat!

The other two kittens in this "litter" are not related to Cabbie and Cilla, but they've become instant friends and are sharing living quarters. They were each "singles" - we don't know what happened to the rest of their litters. Here is Capri. She's my first Siamese mix, and she's the most affectionate of the bunch!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Ariel & Aladdin were Adopted; Frazier
He has recovered from the surgery well, but he had lost a lot of muscle in the leg before he was rescued. Now he must go through a period of rehab to re-build the muscle and gain strength in his leg. A very kind friend of his foster mom told her about Healing Paws Rehab. She had taken her own dogs there and was very impressed with their program. She donated the first three visits to help get Frazier’s treatment underway.
As you can see he walks on the underwater treadmill to exercise the muscle as he walks against the resistance of the water. They also taught walk on the treadmill and he does it in his foster home every day as well.

Frazier will need about 6 weeks of rehab therapy. If possible, please consider donating to his care.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Introducing Gator and Pip


Thanks to Rhonda for the great pictures of Gator and Pip!
Friday, June 5, 2009
On my way to get a dog...
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
"Before" vs. "After" UPDATE

Quite a difference! You can read more about him here.
And here is Rags, the little guy I fostered for a short time. These are pictures from during his first medicated bath. He's had a rough start, but he's in great hands with his foster mom, and he's already well on his way to getting better.

Monday, June 1, 2009
Introducing Kai
Rags the puppy has gone on to his permanent foster home, and now I have a new short-term foster dog. Her name is Kai, and she is the sweetest puppy. She's the kind I always fall for - the ones that are so sweet but so scared of the world. She's afraid to go through doorways, and afraid of being on a leash, and afraid of loud noises. But she loves to cuddle and I'm hoping she gets over her fears soon and realizes that she is safe now. I'm only supposed to have her for a few days - dog-sitting for her permanent foster mom - but I might try to hold onto her a little longer. She's one of the special ones that I'd adopt for myself if there was any way that I could.
Here's a short video of Kai, and a 2-second clip of Noelle on the end. Noelle likes to jump up onto the hot tub cover, and I just happened to catch her on video trying to jump up and not quite making it. :-)
Petropolis
Thursday, May 28, 2009
"Before" vs. "After"
First is Kevin, a Maltese. He doesn't look the way a Maltese should look. He has suffered years of neglect, but finally he's somewhere safe where he will be looked after. He will have perhaps his first bath, a good shave down, teeth taken out that hurt him, neutering, vaccinations, good food and a soft bed, friends, and anything else to make him feel better and regain his health. One day, Kevin will have a real home with loving people. Thank you Karen for making that possible!

Two other dogs we have in foster care are Patch and Rags. You may have read about Patch on another foster blog. We took in Patch from a busy Animal Control facility. He had a very bad case of mange, which causes itching and hair loss. He was miserable until a Heartland volunteer took him in, got him to the vet and got medication for him, and is now treating him. About a week after we got Patch, another dog came into the same city Animal Control where we got Patch. He looked just like him, even down to the missing hair on his head. We knew right away they must be related. Due to the missing hair and wrinkles on their foreheads, I call them Klingon puppies (I'm a Star Trek fan). Patch's foster mom named the second puppy Rags, because he's such a ragamuffin. Rags was also held at Animal Control and was scheduled to be put down. During this time the mange continued to get worse, and at this point is much worse than Patch. When I pet Rags, handfuls of hair come out, and in many spots he's missing hair altogether. The top of his head is bleeding in several places from where he's scratched it so much, and he just looks miserable. In spite of that, he wags his tail when he sees me, and licks my hand when I pet him. We struggled to determine if we could help. Our foster homes are all full, treating him would be expensive, and he would be a longer-term foster due to the medical care he would require. But he is Patch's brother - a sweet adorable 8 week old puppy who has no one else. He can grow up to be a wonderful, healthy, happy dog if we can just give him some help. So we came up with a plan. I took Rags home to my house temporarily to get him through the quarantine period, and then he'll go to the same foster home with his brother Patch. Since they came into Animal Control at different times, we can't put them together until they both finish being quarantined to make sure they don't get sick. So for now, Patch is hiding in my house (don't tell my neighbors) in a quarantine area and his "real" foster mom comes over to visit and take him to vet appointments and such. We'll put out a public plea on our website for donations to help with the cost of their treatment. Right now I'm giving Rags some really expensive medicine for mange, as well as medicine for the secondary skin infections he has, and anti-itch medicine. He also has to get medicated baths two to three times a week. He got his first bath this morning and didn't enjoy it. I am an expert now though since I had to treat Noelle for the same thing a few months ago. She had a very minor case of mange in comparison. Patch is going through the same treatments at his foster home. Rags is so sweet - he wags his tail so hard every time he sees me, and he's kind of shy but with a little encouragement he comes running to me and loves to be held. I can't wait to see the reunion when we put Patch and Rags together again. Here is a "before" picture of Patch. I'll add another "before" picture of Rags soon.

If you'd like to help by making a donation to help cover the cost of medical treatment for Kevin or for Patch and Rags, please click on the Paypal Donate button at the bottom of our website, or you can mail donations to Heartland Humane Society of Missouri, PO Box 113, O'Fallon MO 63366.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Emma was adopted!
It's been a rough week. There are a lot of illnesses going around, and sick animals are stressful not just because they take longer to care for and need more medicine and vet care, but also because we worry about them so much! My kitten Mercury from the Solar kittens has been sick, and I'm not sure what's wrong with him, so he goes to the vet later this week. Also the Disney kittens still have coccidia, and Marco may have an infection and also has to go back to the vet to get checked out.
And now, a joke that my niece told me last night (slightly modified to fit the situation...)
Imagine that you're caring for several sick animals. You don't get any sleep because you're constantly feeding, cleaning up after, mopping, cleaning litter boxes, medicating and caring for these pets. You can't take it anymore, so what do you do?
Stop imagining. :-D
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Introducing Mercury, Venus and Sedna
Blog Archive
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2009
(62)
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June
(11)
- Gator was adopted; Introducing Rowdy, Solara, and ...
- Sedna was adopted!; Update on my fosters
- Corvette Show; Aurora was adopted!
- Mercury, Venus, Sedna; Outtakes
- Introducing Capri, Cilla, Chessie & Caboose
- Ariel & Aladdin were Adopted; Frazier
- Introducing Gator and Pip
- On my way to get a dog...
- "Before" vs. "After" UPDATE
- Introducing Kai
- Petropolis
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April
(11)
- Dash is back
- Crazy Week
- Lots of dog adoptions; Introducing Emma
- Special Request - Betsy needs help!
- Plethora of dogs
- Lucy was adopted!
- Artemis was adopted!; Introducing Ariel, Anastasia...
- Boo was adopted!
- Introducing Marco and Polo, Update on other foster...
- Trivia Night Results
- Trivia Night Reminder
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March
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- Joys and Sorrows of Fostering; Photos of Cat Foste...
- Update on Boo...
- Zeke, Princess Rana and Kiwi were adopted!
- Lucy at the parade
- Funny picture of Noelle
- Boo is back
- Tulsa was adopted!
- Boo was adopted!, Introducing Oscar
- Introducing Shiro, Una, Princess Rana and Zeke
- Introducing Lucy; Pictures of other fosters
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June
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Links to Related Web Sites
About Me
- Laurie
- O Fallon, Missouri, United States
- I am a dog foster mom! This means I foster dogs (and sometimes cats) in my home for Heartland Humane Society. I take care of them and get them ready to be adopted, then take them to adoption events at PetSmart in O'Fallon on the weekends. This blog is all about my foster dogs (and sometimes cats) and my experiences with fostering.





