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I feel like there's been a lot of bummer pet posts today, so thought I'd try and switch it up. Any stories of sticking with your pets through tough times?
We got my little Maude in 2008. She had been rescued with her full litter of kittens in the coldest temps that upstate NY had seen in a long time. All her kittens got picked, and no one wanted the "ugly Mom-cat" (their words, not mine)
We scooped her up and brought her home to meet our current cat, Liza. They fought, well, like cats, and Maude started hiding/being quiet. I took her to the vet a couple days later when she started sniffling. She had a double ear infection, upper respiratory infection, and a fever of 103. The vet said he was surprised she was awake.
We nursed her back to health only to find out she was quite the feral cat. If you looked away from your food for more than 1 second, she would steal it. She hoarded everything, from treats to jewelry. She tore up my couch. She cried all night long.
We stuck with her and worked to get her comfortable in the home. It took months, but now she is a well adjusted kitty with a best kitty friend in Liza. I can't imagine ever not having her in our lives.
My wee Glory was a foster we brought in. She had been abandoned up in cottage country and given over to a cat rescue. She was a mess when we got her (despite what the foster agency told us about her being healthy....), skin and bones, parasites, diarrhea all over the house (and my white silk Christmas tree skirt. twice.), ugh it was terrible. I was terrified our other two cats would get sick. We stuck with it, I took her to the vet I don't know how many times, fed her until she was healthy looking, and man, was it ever worth it! DH always reminds me how I threatened to give her back to the foster agency (after I think the 40th cleaning up of poop). She's a great kitty, she's been sweet as pie since day 1 (even if she was a poop monster), and we ended up adopting her when we learned one of our other cats had cancer and not much time left. She's been an incredible addition to our family, I think she came here for a reason. Definitely worth all the poop ;)
Glory (the little one) snuggling with Smee who passed away early this year.
I got Mort, seen here:
<---------- Haha
in 2006. She had been dumped in someone's front lawn in the middle of January. She was found shivering with her fur coated in ice. A friend ended up with her, but his cat was really nasty to her, so she hid in the basement 99% of the time. She was also assumed to be a "he" because my friend is really bad with that. His current cat was a male, so this one also was a male in his mind... lol
I felt bad for her and asked what he would think of me adopting and socializing her. He loved the idea because he also felt bad that she cowered in the basement all the time and barely came upstairs to eat.
I bought her a pink litterbox, pink food dish, and bejeweled pink collar to reaffirm her femininity.. haha. I kept her name because she already knew it, and it's kind of quirky, which matches her personality.
She is STILL a very timid cat. She's actually very affectionate, but she is still just so terrified, probably because she was mistreated by whoever dumped her in the snow, and bullied by my friend's cat. She will come up and sit with or on you on the bed or sofa to be petted and have her ears scratched, but if you make the slightest move, or if she hears any sudden noise, she BOLTS. I have never seen an animal move so fast as she does when she's freaking out! It's weird and a little frustrating sometimes that she knows us and obviously loves attention, but she flips out and zips away if you walk by her, look at her, or move the wrong way. I don't know if this is something that will ever be fixed, as she's already about 16. It'd be nice if she was calmer and didn't get scared so easily... I just hope she's not stressed out, but it's more a habit of hers. She's had a huge improvement from when we adopted her, though. We love her to pieces, even if she is kind of crazy!
@bakerella: Ohhhhhh, we had those times too! When Maude stole hub's cheeseburger and he's like "she has to go, I can't do it anymore!" Glad we stuck through it, and I think we're now prepared for kids someday ;)
I adopted Melvin, a toy poodle, January 2010. He was found paralyzed on the side of the highway because of a stroke. He was at the vet/shelter for 6 months before I adopted him. When I got him, he was heartworm positive and had to go through treatment that left him unable to go for long walks or get his heart rate up for 3 months. He was also still in the process of learning how to walk again. He's allergic to soooo much. BUT he's the best thing ever. He's such a character and is the most laid back and loveable dog ever. I can't imagine not having him, and I spoil him rotten.
I recently got him professionally photographed (yes, I'm THAT person). Here's a link to the sneak peak: http://www.allisonshamrellblog.com/2011/10/sneak-peek-melvin-poodle-pensacola-pet-photography-by-allison-shamrell/
The whole gallery isn't ready yet, but once I get the pictures on DVD, I'm sure I'll post them on here. :)
@shyviolette: Awww she's beautiful! I'm glad you guys gave her a good home. I hope she settles in more as time goes on. I find the older my cats have gotten, the more cuddly they've become.
@hotchildinthecity: LOL!!! It's the true "Icanhascheezburger" cat!!!! I really did threaten to take her back. I thought I was getting a healthy cat to foster and fatten up a bit, and her being SO sick was so much more than I had bargained for, add in being concerned for my own cats....... It was a mess. Anyways, my nurture instinct took over and it all worked out ;) But when we're having a good lovey snuggle DH still likes to say "And you wanted to take her back....!!!"
I was by all means NOT a dog person when my FI and I started dating. However, we now have two Pomeranians and I could not imagine life without them.
We actually got kicked out of our old apartment because of my second pup, Pandy. While the original apartment manager knew we were intending to get another dog she forgot to tell the owner and left the position, moving out of state. We had Pandy for six months before the owner said anything and told us to get rid of the dog thinking we would never move out. Getting rid of my baby girl wasn't even an option and even though our apartment was oober cheap, we were broke at the time having just graduated from college and had no place to go I called her and said she had just lost two great tenants. When her husband found out he was furious, especially after seeing that our two dogs combined equalled less than the typical "medium" size dog in other apartments. We ended up finding a so-so place to move into and despite the step down all those years ago in living space I wouldn't change a thing.
Pandy, my bug. :)
Her brother, Teddy.
@Boston Bee: I love those photos!! I totally want to do that too!! Your pup looks like such a sweetie!!
I got my puppy Fleuree when I was 16. She was two months old when I got her. About two years later, I noticed she had trouble finding a ball when I threw it for her and it was clear something was wrong with her vision. I took her to the vet and was shocked to find out my 2 year old dog had cataracts. I was pretty much heartbroken. She ended up losing the majority of her vision within a year. I was so afraid of how it would effect her, but it ended up upsetting me more than it ever bothered her! She is 8 now and still acts just like the puppy she was when I got her. She also has developed glaucoma in one eye, and I have to give her 2 different drops 3 times a day. Again, it bothers me but she barely notices. This is her the day I got her:
This is my little girl, we love her, and our family would not feel complete without her.
We haven't had her long and already, we are totally attached. To be totally honest we haven't had anything that has felt too bad or so bad we questioned why we got her. But... when we got her she threw up everyday for a week, it was just from nerves at being in a new home. She gets terribly car sick, and thats really hard because we want to be able to take her with us when we go on trips, or take her to visit our friends and family. She's quite expensive, puppy classes are a big commitment, financially and time wise, but of course she's worth it. And recently she has started getting so excited when she meets new people that when she runs up to them she pees 
its embarassing and makes it look like shes a bad puppy, but I know she can't help it, and we are working with her on it.
Not one of these things could make me want to give her up, she is totally like my child. When she feels sick (esspecially in the car) I feel miserable and wish I could help her. Spending money on her doesn't bother me, because I want her to be a well behaved and very well loved dog. Oh I love my little fur baby!
I love this post! We've been going through hard times with our cat, Torti, recently so I can relate to some of the above posts. Rescue animals are rarely simple, but they are so rewarding. Torti was actually first rescued by my brother in New Jersey. He had moved into a new place and he kept seeing a cat haning around the block. Over several weeks the cat started to look worse and worse (losing weight, losing hair, puss-drool from her mouth). My brother and his girlfriend were able to get her off the streets. They got her cleaned up and on antibiotics, eating food, etc. But my brother and his GF already had 3 other cats and Torti didn't get along with them so she had to stay in the bathroom to prevent fights (they lived in a studio apt at the time). They tried to bring her to a shelter but at that time everything except kill shelters was full, and Torti was likely candidate for euthinasia. Afterall, who wants to adopt a cat that has OCD (she pulls out her fur), stomatitis (she's allergic to the plaque on her teeth), and super food aggressive...ME! When I heard about this super lovable but needy cat I told my brother to bring her up for Christmas and she's been with us for three years now. Her stomatisis has reached the point where she needs to have a full dental extraction (we've exhausted every other option) but I'm hopeful that she will live a long and full life even without teeth. She's an awesome and crazy cat and I'm so happy we have her.
@shyviolette: Great story and cute kitty!
@BostonBee: Um, not weird at all to have a pet photo shoot! Your dog is super cute!
@TreeJewel: You are a great pet owner! So many people ditch their pets when apartments tell them so. Cute puppies!
@DaniSue: SO CUTE!!
@belledowdy: My aunt's cat lived for quite some time with no teeth. Smashed wet food (organic, if I do say so myself LoL) is the key. If cats can live without eyes, legs, ears, etc. they can live happily without teeth.
We (my parents) have 2 misfit dogs. They were both acquired while I was in high school, so I consider them my dogs as well even though they live with my parents. They are really one of the things I miss the most about living overseas. :( I can't wait to fly home in Decemeber and cuddle my babies. I honestly could never see giving them up.
Simon is a pure-bred beagle with papers longer than my arm. His parents were both field and show champions. Well, our little mister was born the runt of the litter and was deemed useless for show or field because he was born with his tail bent at a severe 90 degree angle. The had to dock his tail as a newborn puppy to fix the problem. Because his tail had grown that way in-utero, there was no way to fix it other than to cut it off. Poor baby. We got him because the breeder happened to be the cousin of a lady that my mom worked with. We had had to put down our black lab a couple months prior and I was inconsolable, so my mom wanted to buy another dog to help me get over it. He is a stubborn little shithead, he loves to pee on things, he has bad seperation anxiety and will bark and howl when left alone but he is also increibly loving and cuddly. Depsite him being stubborn and too smart for his own good, he is the best dog. Not to mention that he is adorable.
Here's our adorable beagle-face:
Our other dog (who is really my dog, she is very attached to me) is Chloe. She's a rescue mutt. As far as we can tell, she is a Belgian Shepherd/Collie mix. My parents decided to surprise me a couple years after be got Simon because he was meant to be my dog but he bonded to my mom. They also were hoping that another dog would help him with his seperation anxiety. When we got her, she was 6-9 months old and had been in the shelter for quite some time already. We were actually getting ready to leave the human society because we hadn't seen any dogs that we clicked with. The lady at the counter stopped us and told us that they had a dog that had just returned from a foster home that day and wasn't in a cage yet. They took us into one of those little visiting rooms and it was love at first sight. She was this scrawny, timid little ball of black fur. It took her a few minutes to even want to come up to us. Well, we took her home and never regretted it. We had a lot of issues for a while. You could tell that she had been badly mistreated by whoever had given her up to the shelter. She was very afraid of men and kids. When she got warmed up to us, she was an attention hog and wouldn't leave us alone. She is also a loud-mouth and never stops talking. She is seriously the sweetest, funniest dog ever. She is so clumsy and she makes this noise that sounds exactly like Chewbacca. Hilarious! We found out later that she was scheduled to be euthanised the very next morning, so we saved her life!
This is my baby girl, making a mess while I was trying to pack to go back to college one year.
And the 2 of them together.
@MsStormy - my dog (Siyah) did the whole submissive pee thing when she was a little puppy, I don't know how old your pup is, but we asked people to just ignore Siyah until she had calmed down and then greet her calmly. We also did obedience classes (puppy kindergarten) and it really helped build her confidence. She can still be shy, but she doesn't submissve pee anymore when people greet her.
@Boston_Bee - no shame in the professional photoshoot, (clearly) I use cheesy photo-effects for my pet photos. I love the pictures, Melvin, is a cutie.
@belledowdy: Yeah its weird, because she just started doing it like 2 weeks ago, shes 4 1/2 months and she only does it with brand new people, if she's met them once she doesn't do it, but thats what we have been doing with her. We also have her in puppy classes and she does great, shes good with other dogs and people, and she's not shy (at all!) she is a major people lover and thats what is so awkward she is normally running up to people and loving them when she pees on their foot.... But we have just told people she does it and ask them to ignore her. Hopefully it works.
I also wanted to add that no matter how much work they are, pets are total therapy, they make life better. Even my family comes over just to visit the dog because she makes them happy, no one asks about my DH and I anymore, just the dog, haha. They have even gone so far to say that they are more excited about the puppy than they would be about a baby lol.
I got Gizmo as a 12 week old little baby. You can see him as a baby in the avitar.
About a year into it, he started chewing his feet till he bled. So we took him to the vet. They refered us to an allergist, and he had to get allergy tested. 1 dot is allergic, 2 dots is extremely allergic. Go ahead, take a peak at #8... I'll give you a second to take that in... Okay times up, so he gets an allergy shot once a week. And he's all better now. But he'll get these shots the rest of his life.
@MrsStormy: It's usually a submission thing. And they grow out of it. Talk to the trainer about it, and ask for some confidence booster games. Does she roll over alot with other dogs and people?
I adopted an FIV+ shelter cat who had been passed over for many months. A family was set to adopt him and backed out. He was abandoned by his previous owners and was really torn up when he arrived at the shelter. He lashed out at DD when we first brought him home. He bit my husband, he tore up the couch, he would attack out of nowhere. It took a lot of patience to get him to calm down and trust us. Now he's our main dude, and his brother Spooky cuddles with him every night. He's a total fatty who loves to chase feathers and sleeps at the end of DD's bed. I am so happy we gave him a chance, he's great.Here he was at the shelter waiting for a home
And here is is now with my husband!
My baby was dropped off at the shelter because she didn't get along with the dog the owner has just purchased. So instead of keeping the cat they had for 8 years they dumped her. She was on death row when we saved her.
@KatyElle: <3 <3 <3 for adopting an FIV+ !!! And you know you can safely adopt another one if you want to someday!! If I had never gotten Liza, then I'd go and adopt all FIV+ bc they're fine to live together :)
@MsCallieJean: Thank you SO much for adopting an older cat! They are the most in need :)
@zippylef: He's a pem. But we're going to get a cardi next! FI told me I could have another puppy instead of a cat (he DOES NOT like cats at all! I think it's the litter box). So I told him, baby or dog (knowing he'd pick dog)
@gogogiraffes: Ever since DH and I decided that we wanted a Corgi, I am obsessed. They are so freakin cute! We're even considering driving across the country to Wales to buy one. lol
@zippylef: At night, I dream that there are just herds of corgis running in Wales (I know they aren't but it's kind of like my Santa). My little girl is going to be a Blue Merle Cardi. And her name is going to be Gadget. So it's Gizmo and Gadget. And we already have 2 crates (Gizmos travel and home, we don't use his travel anymore).
I love this thread! I rescued my two first pets. 8 years ago my sister and I decided we wanted a dog (we thought it was best our parents didn't know, we were 16 and 20) so we went to the pound. We were looking around and my boyfriend (now DH) found a 3ish year old pitbull that was going to be euthanized the following day. Her cage number was 10 (my sisters lucky number) so it was fate! We filled out the paperwork but couldn't bring her home for a few days until it all went through. So were on our way home and she called my mom and I called my dad and gave them the great news. Lets just say my dad was less than thrilled about our new addition, but we were still able to keep her. She turned out to be the BEST dog in the world. She's one of those dogs that never does anything wrong, is almost always calm except when you encourage her to play and even then she's so gentle and is the nicest dog to everyone. When we 1st got her she was very skinny and scared of most things, we could never raise our voices or make sudden movements. But after a while she gained weight (now overweight ha) and is much more comfortable. After my sister moved out she became more my dog but my dad continued to get closer with her. Then when it came time for me to move out, there wasn't even a discussion, she stayed with my dad. We still have her over for sleepovers.
@zippylef: bahahahahahaha I love the corgis
@KatyElle: your cat looks like Winston Churchill from Pet Sematary. Such a beautiful handsome kitty!... and I feel like I've seen your husband somewhere before... can't put my finger on it ;)
I've posted our rescue dog stories too many times, but I still enjoy reading everyone's stories.
@gogogiraffes: The barn I rode at in middle/high school had a Pem. named Gadget (The Gadg) and his mother was Gizmo. He is too cute (and fat!) DH has finally agreed that we can't find a sheltie we like, he is (mostly) okay with a Pem. There's one at a rescue right that I love (he has his tail which is surprising but we certainly don't have a problem with it)
We adopted Oscar-kitty while we lived in the UK. I talked to a friend at work about how lonely I was without a pet, and he said his neighbour's cat had just had kittens they were taking to the pound. I freaked out and ended up getting her details, and went to visit - fell in love with my wee tabby boy, and took him home a few days later. (If I'd had my way, I would've taken ALL of the kitties with me - but they ended up finding homes for them, so none were taken to the pound.)
We shipped him back home to Australia with us when it was time to move home (his flight/quarantine cost more than WE did to come home) but he is my baby, so worth it. I don't know how we lived without him.
We adopted Joey when she was 3 years old from a local shelter. She has never had any issues with making a mess in the house, but she occasionally chewed stuff when we first brought her home, even though she has many toys. We never thought about taking her back, and now she is DH's little girl!
My cat Billy is pretty much feral. He goes to the bathroom all over the house, sprays anything and everything in sight, we were getting ready to take him to get fixed when he got so traumatized by a BATH, that he holed himself up in a wall for a week before we figured out where he was. FI had to rip the wall down, and, needless to say, we are worried about what he'll do if we get him fixed. That happened last June, and he is only just now getting comfortable enough to come out again. He has figured out how to open the doors to the laundry chute, and I have often just narrowly saved them from a ride to the basement from the second floor.
Lilith got literally handed to us in a pet store, by a woman who had found her as a tiny little thing in her backyard. The woman left without even asking if we wanted her, and we took her home, and now she is the monster that ate and digested my headphones, bit my FI's headset for his Xbox in half, TWICE, steals my dinner if I turn away for a split second, wakes me up by digging her claws into my foot, shreds the chairs, and the curtains, knocks the lights off of FI's fish tanks, and stalks our reptiles. She also used two of my favorite scarves to make a nest in the litter box, and shredded my mother's geraniums, and then used them as a bathroom.
Together they have royal rumbles down the stairs, all night, knock things over, and toss the recycling, the garbage, and the mail around the house.
But I love them more than anything.
my sister's pup is a weiner dog and she recently went through back problems, like many weenies do. She apparently messed up her spine with all of her jumping (this dog is constantly leaping off the backs of couches, etc) and somehow it blocked some of her nerves and she lost control of her back legs. She was walking like she was drunk, and my sis actually had to hold her little butt up when she took her out to do her business. She is actually doing a lot better now, but we are watching her closely and still won't let her run much. Poor pup, we love her so much!
We went to visit our friends who were volunteering at a pet rescue adoption events and we ended up falling in love with our dog! I always wanted a little fluffball dog, but when I saw Sammy he was just so sad we had to take him home. He was found walking on the side of the highway with a belt around his neck, and they thought he may have been abused.
When we first got him, we thought he couldn't bark, he was so timid. Of course, then he proceeded to destroy a significant amount of our belongings, including FI's wallet and driver's license and a large chunk of one of our couches. We stuck with him though, and even though he's still crazy sometimes, he has turned into the most lovable, cuddly dog ever--he's so bonded to us and he even loves to spoon! He's a part of our family and I can't imagine our lives now without him.
We have been incredibly blessed that both of our dogs have been healthy and we hope it stays that way! But I just wanted to say that everyone on this thread is a saint for what you've done for your pets.
Also, there are so many cute cats on this thread that I sort of want to get one even though I don't know what to do with a cat and my dogs would absolutely terrorize it. :)
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