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Each
month, I'll be telling you something you might not already know about
shelters and shelter animals. And I'll introduce you to some of my friends
who came from the Monmouth County SPCA, too. And I'll even answer your
questions if you'll email them to my mom Kim. March, 2007: A Cat’s Eye View of Life a the MCSPCA
Anyway, last month I wrote about what it’s like for the dogs at the MCSPCA (scroll down for that story), so that everybody would understand why we need the renovation so much. This month, my mom is forcing me to give equal time to the feline population, so I’ll tell you the story Pye told me about his time at the MCSPCA.
Pye’s a pretty mellow guy. Since we’ve been living together, not much has fazed him. But living in a cage in that horrible room, surrounded by strange cats in cages that were so close that the other cats could reach out and touch him, was more than he could handle. He cowered in his litter box, stopped eating and got very weak, very quickly from the stress. In just a few days, he’d lost lots of weight and he got this cold-like thing that my mom says was upper respiratory infection. As soon as he was available for adoption (strays have to be held seven days), my mom brought him home and started to work on nursing him back to health. It took almost three months for him to get all better from the bad effects that only seven days in that room had on him. Not every kitty who comes to the MCSPCA gets as sick as Pye did, but my mom says that one of the goals of the renovation is to make sure that there’s a nicer place for cats to live so that they’re not so nervous and that way they’ll almost never get as sick as Pye did. That would be good for the cats and it would also be good for the adopters. My mom was really happy to be able to help Pye feel better when he first came to our house, but it was a lotta work for her. If all the kitties at the MCSPCA are healthier, their new families will be happier when they adopt them. Everybody wins! My mom says that the renovation plans are really moving full steam ahead now. Next month she wants me to write about the upcoming groundbreaking. I’m not quite sure how they break the ground and, after they break it, what they do with it—my choice, of course, would be to roll in it—but I’ve got a month to figure it out.
I lived in a cement run at the Monmouth County SPCA for the six months, while I waited for my mom to find me and take me home. For all that time, my entire view of the world was framed by the chain link that made up the door of my run. There were only very tiny windows in the room, so it was always pretty dark. And even though the people who worked there did the best they could to dry the floors after they cleaned, they were sometimes pretty damp and my feet started to hurt from being wet so much of the time. Sixty other dogs lived in the same area with me, and it seemed like they barked every minute of every day. It was so hectic, so loud, so maddening that I found myself barking all day, too. I couldn’t even tell you what I was barking about. I guess it was just a way of crying out for help. Just a way of crying out. If I made my voice heard, maybe it meant I mattered. . .to somebody. On they way out to go on my walks each day, I had to pass by countless dogs in their cages. They lunged at me and I lunged back. I got so worked up, I’d bite the leash of my dogwalkers. Sometimes I’d even bite their clothes. After six months of this unbearable stress, I was near to breaking. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hold on long enough for someone to adopt me. When my mom finally did come, I was very, very close to the edge. I almost didn’t make it out. Today, there are sixty other dogs living in the same conditions at the Monmouth County SPCA, all trying desperately to hold on until the right family comes for them. My mom told me that, after the renovation, life for the dogs at the MCSPCA (and the cats, too) will be so much better that they’ll be happy all the time. And if they’re happy all the time, they won’t have to wait as long as I did for a new family. They won’t have to worry about losing their minds, like I almost did. It’ll all be good. So, stay tuned. 2007 is going to be a very, very good year for the animals at the Monmouth County SPCA. I’ll keep you posted each month on how it’s going. October 2006: Update on Chessie
You see, I have been diagnosed with mammary cancer. I had two tumors removed back in June, and now I am undergoing chemotherapy at Red Bank Veterinary Hospital. I love everyone at RBVH, they are so nice and caring, but I tell ya I would rather not have to go at all! Dr. Rodgers Fred told my people some very scary statistics. The most amazing- that mammary cancer is easy to prevent. That’s right- PREVENT. All people would have to do is early spay their dogs and cats. The earlier the better. A pet who is spayed before their first heat has almost 0% chance of getting mammary cancer. Half of all tumors in female dogs are mammary tumors. If people would early spay their female dogs (and cats), it would virtually eliminate mammary cancer. A few facts: Not the greatest facts. Sort of depressing. Why didn’t my previous people get me spayed??? Money? There is a low-cost spay/neuter clinic right at the MCSPCA! Time? Doesn’t take long, a dog who is spayed in the morning will go home the next day. Recovery? Young dogs recover quickly and are running around like normal in no time. Maybe they wanted me to have puppies? But the pet overpopulation problem is rampant, why make more? I don’t know their reasons. But if you are reading this and you know of a young female dog out there whose people are hesitating about spaying her, send them this article as soon as possible!!! A few links: Pretty good comprehensive site: http://www.caninecancerawareness.org/CanineCancerMammary.html Very scientific site: http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/clerk/mccarthy/index.htm So wish me luck. So far chemo is not bad. Dogs tolerate the treatment pretty well since the dosages are much lower than in people. The good people at RBVH also know to give me anti-nausea medication and know all about new treatments like NSAID therapy that we are trying. I am my usual bossy self, and as Kim Fred told my mom, just treat me like the dog I am and everything will be fine. I am pretty sure I am getting more treats lately though…June 2006: A girl can never wear too much bling!!
I had to take a couple of months off so my mom could help out a friend who lost her husband. (My mom does the typing for me so I was stuck without her.) The whole situation got me to thinking about what would happen to me and the other pets I live with if anything happened to my mom. My mom said not to worry-she's got it covered-but she thought it might be good for me to remind my pet-owning readers what they should do to make sure their pets are cared for in case anything happens to them. Ok, so it's not the cheeriest thing I've every written about but it's way, way important. I remember when I was at the SPCA, a dog came in who'd been alone in his apartment for three days after his owner died because nobody knew he was there. That won't happen to me and my pet family because my mom has an arrangement with two of her friends to take care of us temporarily if anything happens to her. And she has a card in her wallet with their contact info and she gave it to her neighbors, too. She gave her friends keys to our house and she told them all the important stuff about us, like how to get in touch with our vet and what we like to eat, so they'll know how to take care of us while our permanent home gets ready for us. My mom has met lots of dogs and cats who ended up looking for new homes at the shelter because there was nobody else to take care of them when their owners died. It would break my heart if that happened to me. The SPCA people were really nice to me when I was there but I don't ever, ever want to go back. To make sure I'm never homeless again, my mom asked our aunt and uncle if all of us pets could go live with them if necessary and they said yes. Then she made sure it said in her will that they would take care of us and even left them some money to pay for our expenses. We all like our aunt and uncle a lot so, even though we'll be sad if anything bad happens, we'll be ok. I hope everybody who reads this will make arrangements like my mom did to make sure their pets will be ok, too. It could mean the difference between them ending up in a shelter or going to a loving home. Take it from a terrier who knows, that's a huge difference! To
get more information about how to include your pets in your will, write
to the Humane Society of the United States at petsinwills@hsus.org. They'll
send you a free kit called "Providing for Your Pet's Future Without
You."
It did not take long for me to feel at home. With no scary noises and smells, I became quite the confident mutt. It is a good thing my people made sure that I had my own food and water bowls, and my own bed or else I would have been forced to fight Bumpus for his stuff. Our food bowls are very far apart, which is quite annoying since I can't sneak over and steal Bumpus's food and protect my food at the same time. So I just eat mine, as fast as possible of course. He is always done before I can get over there. Very disappointing. So, after a few months I learned my place. I wore that stupid leash around for a while until I learned that cats are not for chasing and Bumpus is not for pushing around. Now we are one big happy family, even though I still like to see what I can get away with every once in a while... Some quick tips on how to introduce a new dog to your "old" dog after they have met at the shelter and they seemed to get along: - Have
dogs meet in "neutral territory" while both are on leashes.
Do not just bring them home, into your resident dog's territory! -
Do not leave the dogs unsupervised until you are sure they get along!
So, what are the wonders of blind dogs? It is simple- blind dogs are just like any other dog. Did you know that dogs get along mostly by relying on their sense of smell? My nose is somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 better than yours! What does this mean to a blind dog? It means- who needs eyes?! I get around quite fine. I walk, I run, I zoom everywhere, no problem. I have my house and yard memorized, and any change in smell can help me get around new stuff. Sure, sometimes I bump into things, but I bounce right off! We dogs are remarkable creatures, and adapt to nearly anything without asking for much special treatment. All a blind dog asks his people for are small things- like don't rearrange the furniture too often, don't leave things on the floor, keep an "eye" out for obstacles while out on walks, that sort of stuff. No biggie! Most dogs adjust quite well to blindness. Every dog is different though. Check out www.blinddogs.com for a lot of great information about blind dogs and their care. There is also a very supportive message group- a wonderful group of people who helped my mom out a lot when she first brought me home- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blinddogs/.
FEBRUARY
2006 Hi, all! Just wanted to let my loyal fans know that I'll be making a rare public appearance in this year's Belmar St. Patrick's Day parade. If you'd like to see me live and in person, come on down to Belmar on Sunday, March 5th. The parade begins around 12:30 and runs along Main Street in Belmar.
My mom organizes our MCSPCA group for the parade. I think she does it mostly so I get to be in the parade. But she says we march in the parade so that people see what great dogs can be found in shelters, so maybe more people will go to their local shelters next time they're looking for a dog. And she says we march so our humans can show the public how much they love us "second chance" dogs and how proud and lucky they are to share their lives with us. Whatever. I march just to hear the roar of applause when I pass through the crowd. It's what I was born for! If you're
a MCSPCA supporter, be sure to come to the parade to cheer me. . .er.
. .us on! If you adopted your dog from the Monmouth County SPCA, you and
your dog are welcome to march with us in the parade. Email my mom at spca.kim@comcast.net
for more info. Hope to see everybody on March 5th. Until then, I'll be
working on perfecting my Queen's wave.
I was pretty nervous when I was younger and never really played much. Didn't really know how to play since I'd had a really bad puppyhood. But lately I find myself walking around with a toy in my mouth and thinking, "Now what the hell am I supposed to do with this thing??" And I used to just ignore the cats I live with but recently I've discovered that they're fun to chase. And they seem to think it's fun too so we do that a lot. And when I go out for walks with my mom, all of a sudden I get this joyful feeling inside that makes me want to run like the wind and off we go. My mom says. . . well, I don't actually know what my mom says anymore since I can't hear very well anymore. . .but I can see from the way she smiles at me when I get all playful that she thinks it's all pretty funny. The other day, I was checking out the Monmouth County SPCA's website (Hey, just because I'm old doesn't mean I don't have excellent PC skills!) and I saw three older dogs there who don't have homes of their own-Shatzie, Hazel and Solomon. It made me very sad to think of old dogs spending their days and nights in cement runs with no people to love them. I just don't know what I would do if I couldn't put my tired old bones on the couch every night and watch TV with my mom. Older dogs like me really are the perfect pets. We don't require lots of attention, don't need to go on long walks, won't nag you to play and we're usually very well mannered. And we have a whole lifetime of knowledge, wisdom and experience to share that's unmatched in our younger counterparts. If you have
room in your home, why not consider adopting a senior dog? They'll thank
you and love you every day for the rest of their lives. (Note from
Megan's mom: Teri Goodman of the Senior Dogs Project has observed, "It's
soul that makes the experience of living with an older dog so amazing
and wonderful." Hear, hear!)
Turns out, October was Adopt A Shelter Dog month and I was supposed to tell people to adopt a shelter dog. Now it's too late. But who says we can't pretend that November is Adopt A Shelter Dog Month, too? That's the solution. I hereby decree that, to anybody reading this, November is also Adopt A Shelter Dog Month. So here's a picture of my sister Megan and me on our way to a beach party we went to this past summer. You gotta to admit, we're sporting some pretty snappy duds. Of course, we were both adopted from the Monmouth County SPCA. Megan was adopted 13 years ago. Our mom says that Megan should be a Red Hat Lady. At fifteen-years-old, she's a very (batty!!) old lady now but she still keeps up with me for our walks. Megan was the first shelter dog my mom ever adopted and that started her on the path that led to adopting two more shelter dogs (including, most importantly, ME!!) and three shelter cats. And she was so grateful for the care we all received at the Monmouth County SPCA that she started volunteering as a dogwalker and that led to a whole bunch of other cool volunteer jobs she did there. Next thing you know, my mom gets to write the happy tails for the New Beginnings Calendar (check it out here) and she used her pull with our webmaster to get me my own column on the website. We're both pretty lucky. My mom always says that you just never know where a path will lead you. So please,
adopt a shelter dog this November. They'll enrich your life for years
to come and lead you to places you never, ever dreamed of.
All three of us came to the Monmouth County SPCA as strays from different towns. The time we spent outside on our own and the stress of being at the shelter took its toll on us all. We were ghastly thin and sick when our FH adopted us and she had to nurse us back to health. I was so weak I couldn't even lift my head when she brought me home. All the fur had fallen off at the base of my tail because of a flea infestation that had never been treated and I was only seven pounds. Today I'm a big husky guy weighing in at 18 pounds and life is very, very good. When I was at the shelter, there were two hundred other cats there. There were cages everywhere I looked and they were all filled with cats (all much, much healthier than me, I might add). There were more cats than I'd ever seen in my life (and hope never to see again) and they were every color and breed-black, orange, tabby, white, torti, Persian and, of course, Siamese. Two hundred cats and they all needed homes. My FH told me that there are that many cats there, looking for homes, every single day. Staggering! My blue-eyed
brethren and I were very lucky. We didn't have to wait very long for our
FH to adopt us. Other cats are not as fortunate and they may have to wait
a long time for the appropriate human to find them. Why not add a new
cat to your family this month? We're a small species and we don't take
up much room. We're not much trouble at all and we give lots of love.
What's not to like? AUGUST 2005 (Morgan was on vacation in July,boating, going to the beach and lying in the sun! Woo hoo!) What's your name little girl? The first time I came to the shelter, I was only three-months-old-and very, very cute, if I do say so myself! The family I lived with had little kids and, one day, they left the door open. Well, a terrier's gotta do what a terrier's gotta do. You see an open door, you gotta run through it!< I was so excited to be outside by myself that I ran and ran and then I couldn't remember how to get back home. That was pretty scary but a guy in a uniform came along and he put me in a truck and took me to the shelter. I heard the people at the shelter saying that I was a "stray." Hmmm. I'd never heard that word before. They looked at my collar. "Nope, no tag," they said. Then they waved a little metal box over my head and said, "No microchip either." One lady said to me, "You're just adorable, I'm sure your owners will come for you." That made me feel a lot better. But I waited and waited and my owners didn't come. Eventually, I went to live with a new family and I love them all very much. But I always wonder how come my first family never came for me. My mom says that happens all the time to animals who end up at the shelter as strays. It even happened to three of the cats that I live with and they're purebreds and probably cost somebody a lot of money. But they got lost too and nobody came to look for them either. And the people at the shelter didn't know how to find their humans because they didn't have any identification. At our house now, we all have to wear collars with tags on them, even the cats. And before we left the shelter, they stuck this thingy called a microchip in all of us. My mom said I should tell you that it's really important to make your dogs and cats wear tags and to have them microchipped. And if you lose a dog or cat, you need to file a loss report with every shelter within 50 miles of your home. And every day you need to visit the shelters near you and call the ones that are further away to see if your animal has shown up. And you need to put flyers all around your neighborhood. Hopefully,
your animals will never get lost. But if they do, whoever finds them will
know how to help them find their way home.
|
 Monmouth County SPCA, 260 Wall Street, Eatontown NJ, 07724, 732-542-0040 We are open Saturday-Wednesday 1 PM - 5 PM, Thursday-Friday 1 PM - 6 PM Click Here For Directions Copyright 2000, MCSPCA |
Hi.
My name's Morgan. I was adopted from the Monmouth County SPCA in 1999
by my two humans, Kim and Bob. The
nice webmaster for the MCSPCA asked me if I would write a monthly column
for their website. Well, you know us terriers don't suffer from a lack
of opinions and we're more than happy to share them with anyone who'll
listen. And after all, being the center of attention is soo what I'm all
about! I figure I'm a natural for this assignment. 
I think I might have mentioned in the past that I live with cats that came from the Monmouth County SPCA. They’re pretty nice cats and I kinda like living with them because they treat me like the princess I am. Pyewacket, the chocolate point Siamese, is especially deferential to me—lots of times he sleeps with his head nestled in my fur. Very cozy!
When he first got there as a stray a few years ago, there many, many cats at the MCPSCA, so they put him in one of the overflow areas. You can see from the picture here that the overflow room where he had to live was pretty full with cats. It’s a dark, dank room in the back of the building with no windows and very little light. Not such great digs for a kitty.
Hey everybody,
Hey everybody, 
Morgan
is busy helping a dear friend in need so this is Chessie filling in. Bumpus
wanted to do it again but I took over. He is such a wimp! I decided to
tell everyone how to introduce their newly adopted dog to their "resident"
dog. My people had quite the handful when they adopted me into their family
where Bumpus was used to being Top Dog. They came to meet me at the shelter
and I must admit I was a little, well, subdued since the noise and the
smells of the shelter were just overwhelming. On top of that everyone
was calling me "Grandma." Huh? I'm no grandma!!! So, we go for
a walk and they had me meet Bumpus for the first time in the park across
the street. I played it cool and ignored him. I figured if I did that
he would go away and I would have these nice people all to myself. Sharing
is for wimps. Unfortunately, Bumpus did not go away. They took us home
in separate cars and when I got out of one, he came out of the other.
Drat! We took a long walk around the neighborhood. Even though he is blind
as a bat Bumpus knew all the spots with the best smells so of course I
had to run over and butt my way in! Unfortunately for me my people noticed
that I was getting pushy and when we got to the house they left the leash
on me. Well I was in for a surprise when I decided that Bumpus needed
to know I was boss. They grabbed the leash and- drat! Not allowed! That
leash was quite a party-pooper. I thought it might be fun to chase the
resident cats around a bit. Drat! Not allowed! Apparently cats are superior
beings who are allowed to taunt me with their furry chase-ability but
who I am not allowed to chase. Hrrmpf! 
It's
me, Mr. December 2005, Bumpus the blind Border Collie. Morgan needed a
month off to, I don't know, do what crazy terriers do and so I am Guest
Columnist. I agonized a long time over what to write about. The wonders
of blind dogs? The superiority of Border Collies over Terriers? How great
the MCSPCA was to give me a chance to find love? I really like Morgan,
so two out of three ain't bad…
I'll
finish up by extolling the virtues of the MCSPCA. They saved me from a
terrible life on the streets. I was about 4 years old when they found
me back in 1999. Clearly I was used to a home. I was perfectly housetrained,
I knew that couches were for sleeping and that people where for loving.
For some reason my people let me loose to fend for myself. I was a stray
for a while, I had lost over 20 lbs and was a scrawny, matted mess when
the wonderful MCSPCA staff and volunteers took me in. They fed me, cleaned
me up and gave me a blanket of my own to sleep on. They took me to a vet
who discovered that I was mostly blind already and would lose all my sight
in less than a year. But, I was a very lucky mutt. Just a few months before
they took me in, the MCSPCA had made the decision to stop euthanizing
adoptable pets. Before they made this policy change they faced terrible
choices- having to decide which pets to euthanize almost weekly. Back
then, I might not have made that cut. Luckily for me and thousands of
pets since, the MCSPCA made a commitment to the pets in this community.
They decided that every adoptable pet deserved a chance. I got that chance
and now I am loved, and I give that love right back to my people. Thank
you MCSPCA!!!
They're
having a parade just for me!!
My
older sister Megan will be joining me in the parade along with around
twenty-five other dogs who were adopted from the Monmouth County SPCA.
We'll all be accompanied by our human families, but the humans will just
be there as our escorts since the parade is all about ME. . .er. . .us!
Hi,
my name is Mrs. Megan Waldo. Quite a strange name, I know. When I was
at the Monmouth County SPCA many years ago, they named me Mrs. Waldo.
My mom wanted to name me Megan but she hated to change my "shelter
name" so Mrs. Megan Waldo I became. But mostly they just call me
Megan.
It's
the most wonderful time of the year!
Happy
howlidays to everybody! I'm having the best ever holiday season! First,
my mom got them to include me in the first ever Monmouth County SPCA New
Beginnings holiday cards, which include a bunch of my furry friends who
were also rescued (the front of the card is on the right)
I've
been all year (but, of course!). Then when he comes to my house through
the chimney, he leaves lots of special presents under the tree for me.
Ohhhh,
noooo. I'm late! I'm late!! My mom told me to write this weeks ago but
I have been very busy sleeping and walking and sleeping some more and
then I needed to go out in the yard and sunbathe sometimes. I just couldn't
seem to find the time to write anything. For a dog, I live a very full
and busy life! 
My
Female Human (FH) named me Kismet because she felt I was meant to be with
her. The name seems a little whimsical for my taste but I was in no position
argue. As you can see from the picture, my brother Pyewacket and I are
not just your average felines-he's a Chocolate Point Siamese and I'm a
Seal Point Snowshoe. And we also have another Siamese brother named James
who's a Seal Point, as well. (I guess you could say our FH has a thing
for blue-eyed men!) Most people don't know this but 25 percent of animals
at shelters are purebreds. We're living proof!