“When I look into the eyes of an animal, I do not see an animal.
I see a living being. I see a friend. I feel a soul”.
~A.D. Williams
I see a living being. I see a friend. I feel a soul”.
~A.D. Williams
9TH LIFE RESCUE & SANCTUARY
RESCUES AND STORIES:
JUST A FEW INDIVIDUAL RESCUE STORIES:
SADIE – We received a call from our town pet store about a stray kitten. When we picked her up, her eyes were bulging and completely matted shut. We took a warm washcloth and put it on her eyes. After a few minutes, all of this mucous drained from her eyes. After cleaning the eyes, they were fine. We bottle fed Sadie for weeks. In the third week, she got so sick, she just fell over. We took her to the vet – they said her temperature was so high, they didn’t think she would make it. We put her in the hospital, and did a lot of praying, and picked her up 2 days later. The medications worked and she’s been healthy (and had quite an attitude) ever since. Unfortunately, in early 2011, she contracted pneumonia, and even though we had taken her to the vet and had gotten her shots, etc., that night she had a seizure and died in front of us. She had even reached her paw out to David for help right before she died. She was one of David’s “babies” and it took over a month for David to go a day without crying or being depressed. This was one of the harder deaths we have ever witnessed – plus we did not expect her to die. That makes it more difficult.
GIA – She barely had her eyes open when brought to us in the beginning of a winter storm. Her Mom had seemingly abandoned her. She had ringworm and was very sick. To top it off, her one eye’s cornea was shot and the other one would be too, unless the vet stitched up that eye for a week or so. Even with her eyes stitched, she would play with us and somehow “see” to get around. Once the vet took the stitches out, he couldn’t believe that she could see in that eye. She did get better and, around that time, we noticed a little quirk – her tongue was black on top and pink on bottom. We called a vet, and he said he had never seen or heard of that before. Well, about 2 weeks later, Gia couldn’t stand up. We took her back to the vet, only to receive a sad telephone call later that day. Gia’s kidneys had failed by 75%. The vet was admitting her to the hospital to give her fluids, etc., but the vet had no real hope for her. We called friends for a prayer chain and I cried my eyes out. Two days later, amazingly, she was better, so she was sent home with a specific kind of kidney food to stay on for one month. After that month, we took her back to the vet who was “in shock” after checking her blood work. Her kidneys were back to 100% working and she was fine. She could now eat normal food and now her tongue was all pink. Even the vet agreed that this one was a true “miracle”. Gia made it through 5 years with us before she succumbed to the kidney disease once again. We had to make the decision, at that point, to end her suffering.
LUCKY – We received a telephone call from an employee in the town next to us. This kitten was trying to get into everyone’s cars. We got there to pick up this approximately 2-month old kitten and, as we were driving away, noticed something. His jaw was completely busted up, his teeth were broke and the right-side of his jaw was hanging down with the worst infection I’ve ever seen (or smelled). Yet, this cat was continuously hugging me, kissing me and purring all of the way to the vet (while we were crying). The vet said someone had probably thrown him out of a moving vehicle. His jaw was busted in half in the front, all of the flesh was apart from the bone, and a lot of teeth were busted. The vet explained that she did not know if the stitches would hold, considering there wasn’t much flesh in that area. The vet was concerned about bone infection, which is terribly painful; if this did not heal correctly. We asked her to do everything she could, so she stitched him up, etc. I spent two months feeding Lucky nothing but soft food, and having to use a special syringe/cleaner to clean these stitches every time he ate. Despite the odds, Lucky healed and became a completely normal-looking cat, with no long-lasting effects.
SIMON – While I was volunteering at a local animal shelter, a cat was brought back to the shelter for biting his new owner. The shelter could not re-adopt him out unless someone worked with him behaviorally. The shelter asked if I could do this and, of course, how could I refuse? When I first brought Simon home, I had him in a large dog cage, because if I let him out, he would literally attack me. I believe this cat had been abused. I gave him his own bedroom, and every single day for hours (separately), my ex and I spent time working with him, getting him to trust us. Once he did trust us, we couldn’t give him enough attention and affection. During a cat fight, two months later, I had been bit in the hand by Simon, while I was trying to break up this fight. The next morning, I was admitted to the hospital with cellulitis. When I came home, a few days later, the shelter called and stated if I did not keep him, they would have to euthanize Simon. My ex and I said “after all that work, we will keep him and he was a very lovable cat who gave hugs and kisses constantly. He lived at least 10 more years after this.
TWIQUE – She was found in a large city barely old enough to have her eyes open, trying to eat out of a garbage can. I took her immediately and nursed her back to health. She was with me for 20 years, when she died on 9/11/07. I knew it was time, so I held her until she passed away.
CHAPLIN AND PUGSY – These siblings were brought to me, 3 days apart, when they were found out in a barn by friends. Both had bad distemper and one had a really bad eye as a result. After initial vet visits and antibiotic treatments, they completely healed, except for the one eye on Chaplin. He was blind in that eye, but got along fine without it. Chaplin succumbed to kidney disease at the age of 14 years old. Once again, when we knew it was time, we did the correct thing and ended his suffering. In late 2012, Pugsy also had kidney failure (within 3 days) and died naturally next to me.
POLLY (Polyurethane) – While my brother was living here, he came home from his third shift, at 1:00 a.m., with “Polly”. Polly was running around outside trying to get food from the employees during their break. My brother fed him and put him in his car to bring home for me to take care of. And Polly is a “he”, but that is okay because he was named after the Polyurethane plant my brother was working at. Also, earlier that day, our local pet shop had called me regarding a baby raccoon that some kids had found on the side of the highway. This raccoon was crying just like a baby when I got to the shop. I knew of a specifically licensed wildlife rescue in the area, so I called and drove the raccoon directly there. It turned out his Mom had been killed on the highway when the kids found her. She was just a little dehydrated and missing her mother. He advised that we have those kids go back and look for more babies, since raccoon can have more than one. The kids went back, found the sibling and their parents drove that one to the same person who would take care of them and eventually release both back into the wild.
ONEIDA – When my ex was out in the woods one day, he heard faint crying. The weather was raining and cold, so he searched for the noise until he found this little kitten sitting under a bridge. He put her in his coat pocket, fed her smoked fish (boneless) and brought her home. When I came home from work, I had a wonderful surprise, already named - Oneida. Oneida lived for 17 years before we had to also end her suffering from old age.
JOLIE – A teenager I knew called me up one day crying really hard. Her family had heard a baby kitten in the attic while their landlord was visiting. They went upstairs and the landlord reached into a hole to get this kitten out. She seemed to be “feral”, was terrified and had bitten the landlord really hard in the hand. He panicked and threw her down on the floor very hard, and it looked like her neck had been broken. She was trying to get up to run, but all she could do was move around on her side with her limp neck. The family thought she was paralyzed. They brought Jolie to me and I just held her close for hours. She even peed on me a couple of times, but I waited until she felt safe. She was old enough to eat and drink on her own, so I just showed her where the food, water and litter boxes were. I held her everyday until she felt safe enough to join in with the other cats. Jolie did heal and would let us pet her – but only on her terms. Jolie did not let us hold her anymore, but we were just happy she survived.
FOX – A stranger dropped this kitten off around the end of August, 1997. She was so tiny and had black scabs, instead of fur, covering most of her body. She looked like a baby fox, thus the name. When David and I took her to the vet, she was diagnosed with what they call “jungle rot”. Fox had been laying in water for so long, that it had infected her skin, and that is why she was so full of these black scabs. We truly did not think she would make it through the night. We put her on medication; she healed and was a beautiful dark orange tabby color with the whitest fur on her belly. During her baby months (while being bottle fed), she would suck on my cupid’s bow on my upper lip and suckle herself to sleep that way, while held in my arm. During these same months, she went everywhere I went. I own a cross-strapped pet carrier which holds the pet in the front of your body (like a baby carrier would). I used that to take her to the doctor’s office, church, meetings, the grocery store and anywhere I went. I had to be able to bottle-feed Fox every 2 hours, plus if I left the room, she would cry really loud for me until she heard my voice. Unfortunately, at the end of 2009, she was found to have kidney disease and, soon thereafter, we had to let her go. We are so grateful for every second we had with Fox. It was especially hard to lose her because she was my baby from the beginning, and we were only given a couple of years with her. We just wish God had given Fox more time with us. When it comes down to it, every single death is the hardest thing we could ever go through.
On Super Bowl Sunday, 2011, we had a woman show up here from the apartments down the street from us. She was crying and holding this tiny cat in a blanket. We always take a new rescue and seclude them first. The woman stated that the cat just fell over and that is the only way she could catch it. This cat was feral and also almost dead. The vet stated she would not have lived more than 20 more minutes. The woman went home while I worked on the cat. We immediately gave her soft food and water (with Pedialyte in it). We kept her extremely warm and cozy and just talked to her softly. Then we let her sleep until we could take her to the vet for tests the next day. David named her “Peyton” (let’s see – football and a guy = Peyton). We always take a new rescue immediately to the vet to get tested for the 3 main cat diseases: Feline Leukemia, FTP and FIP. These tests are done within 3 minutes. Once Peyton was negative, she had a full exam, shots, etc. The vet checked to see if she was spayed and she was not, so we set up an appointment to fix her. It took a lot of love, food and time working with her, but she is now a beautiful cat. Originally, she was so tiny from starvation, I thought she was a kitten, but the vet stated she is around 5 years old.
It is great when rescues turn out well, but the ones that do not make it are so hard on us.
We do this because we love our animals – we do this because we love all animals – we do this because they love and need us.
WHAT ELSE DO WE DO?
In March, 2011, we received a call from Taylor County Humane Society asking if we could place a cat. They had received a phone call from someone in Madison stating that his ex-wife was going to “dump” his cat. He can no longer have his cat, so they asked if we could find a home so the cat would not have to be brought to their shelter. We had a home within an hour and took the cat the next day to her new home.
One week later, a friend called stating that her brother’s cat had been walking like it was drunk and with its head tilted to the side, but they were out truck driving and needed my friend’s help. We advised her to take the cat to a vet, however, that day we were being hit with a blizzard. Instead, she wanted to bring the cat here. In a secluded room, I examined the cat. It turned out the cat had an ear infection and, because we do keep some medications on-hand, I was able to give her the medications this cat needed to heal. As it turns out, I was right. It only took 2 days and the cat was back to normal. We did receive a “Thank You” card, as well as a donation.
In cases when we are able, we help someone out with a medication or money to take their cat/dog to the vet (or even get spayed/neutered).
In December, 2009, we helped out the Marshfield Police Department with a hoarding case in Marshfield. We needed to find homes for 23 cats (that were not fixed) or else they would go to the “Pet Motel” and most likely be euthanized. Thankfully, the Police Department gave us a few months, instead of the original 30 days, to help. Even though I was extremely sick at this time, I made over 100 telephone calls around the State of Wisconsin to every Humane Society and animal shelter that we could find. Unfortunately, it was winter and so most of these shelters were full and could not take anymore animals. By the grace of God, 2 cats were placed in a no-kill Humane Society, 2 were placed with the “Hoof ‘n Paw” vet in Loyal, and the rest were placed in private homes. We kept the list of all of the shelters and phone numbers and gave a copy to the Marshfield Police Department, just in case they needed more help in the future. Even though this was one of the hardest jobs I have ever had, I would not hesitate to do it again. Anything we do – it is for the animal itself – not the situation or people involved. We have even managed to get people to donate to the Hayward and Clark County Humane Societies.
We do get phone calls from people wanting to give up their animals. I will talk to that person to find out the reason first. If it is behavioral or something they are just concerned about, we give them the advice needed to be able to keep their pets. Otherwise, we have taken them in due to the fact that the surrounding Humane Societies are so full, they will not take cats from this town anymore. We do try to find good homes for these cats. The last few surrenders/strays we have taken in, we have found great people to adopt them. Of course, we have our own “Adoption Agreement” that needs to be signed first, giving us the right to inspect the cat/home and making sure the adopting party has that pet fixed (if it is not already) and get shots for it, etc.
Otherwise, most of the cases are emergencies: Injured, sick, abandoned and even newborn cats/dogs. Once they are taken to the vet and are rehabilitated here, as much as can be, then we will try to adopt them out – provided they are healthy. The ones that remain here are the ones that are permanently sick, have other health issues or problems, behavioral problems and ones we were not able to find a home for.
We have also tried to save MANY KITTENS, at every age, including a litter that was a day old. That litter survived. We have lost the battle at many times, so we have buried kittens/cats tenderly out in our front yard. Each and every one is a life that David and I fight for like nothing else in this world. I know this is the reason God put me (us) on this earth – I have no doubt about that. I may be disabled with my Lupus, Late Stage Lyme’s, RA, Fibromyalgia, etc. (and my fiancée is also on disability due to a severe back injury and surgery), but we both are here 24/7 to care for them, enjoy the love they give us and be able to give that love back. It is financially hard, so that is why we started a non-profit organization (sanctuary).
HOW/WHY WE DO THIS:
Our dream is to get a larger house out in the country, with a couple of acres. These pets need room to run around and play, an area for litter boxes and many places they can sleep. Right now, we have a dog kennel and a cat kennel – the cats are able to come in and out any time they want (unless we put the door on).
Plus, we need to have a couple of rooms that are for “seclusion” when we get a new stray. We need to seclude them until they have been tested for diseases, fleas, mites, etc. at the vet’s office. They get treated for mites, worms, fleas (if they are 12 weeks or older) and get their combo shots. When we get them back home, we wait until all of the cats have become acquainted with each other’s scents (from under the door) for a few days, and then give the new cat access to the rest of the house. This keeps hissing and fighting down to a minimum while all of the cats are adjusting.
We do have volunteers that help out. My Dad lives in Abbotsford and is a HUGE help for us, not just financially, but helps out in any way he can. We have a volunteer that comes here daily to do litter boxes, walk the dogs, give out attention, or whatever else we may need. We also have a list of people that we can count on to come in anytime to help out. Of course, we do a lot ourselves also, but there are times when I may get a flare-up and cannot do anything, so it is helpful to have those people in our lives.
Our sole purpose has always been to save a life – whether it is calling in someone to the police for neglect, animal abuse or saving pets’ lives, we do attempt to save that life. We also find the healthy animals a good home or we keep them for life with the sick and injured ones. That is the mission of 9th Life Rescue & Sanctuary.