Rescued, My Favorite Breed
By Christa Stout
After adoption: What’s next?
I
t is 5 a.m. and I am sitting down to write this column, with only a half cup of coffee in me and eyes that don’t want to stay open. Polly has kept me semi awake since 3 a.m., thinking she should be fed already, Coco is grumpy because Polly is bumping into her and Rudi is the only happy go lucky one – he just came in from having a blast, rolling in the snow! And speaking of snow, I love the snow, but this year, where is SPRING? I can’t wait for sunshine and flowers and seeing all of my dogs snoozing in the sun. There is a reason for my attitude change, Polly, my blind lab, has a much easier time going outside, smelling everything and making her way back when the sun is shining and the ground is dry. But, this too shall pass, so on with writing about New Year’s Resolutions! I sure hope you will join me in this. I would like all of us dog and cat owners to make a resolution to improve the lives of our pets. That means annual vet visits, it means rabies shots, heartworm preventive and flea and tick meds for the dogs. It also means the kitties should get annual vet visits, rabies
shots, heartworm preventive and flea and tick meds for cats. If you have both a cat and a dog, please do not share these medicines, because it could be fatal for the animal as they require very different ingredients. And if you have a new puppy, don’t forget the puppy shots. Parvo and other puppy diseases are still prevalent and it tears at your heart watching a puppy suffer through any of these diseases and most likely die from them. Kittens have their own illnesses, such as feline parvovirus and feline panleukopenia. All of these are preventable with puppy/kitten shots.
this is part of what makes up the adoption fee. And all animals have their age-appropriate shots and preventive medicines before adoption. That makes the adoption fee much more palatable because you don’t have to have additional expense right away. When adopting a cat, I would like to include “please do not declaw your cat.” It is extremely painful to the cat and leaves them totally helpless should they manage to sneak out of your house (believe me, it happens). Get them a scratching post and train them to use that instead of your furniture, and you will both be much happier.
REMINDER: Just because there is snow on the ground and it is freezing outside, doesn’t mean there aren’t some persistent fleas and ticks still out there, please continue flea and tick preventive throughout the winter months.
And the most important thing is spaying and neutering our animals. Most pets, when you get them from reputable shelters and rescues are spayed and neutered before they are adoptable, so
I know this sounds like a lot of expenses but fortunately, keeping a pet healthy is much cheaper than treating a sick dog and I know this is something most pet owners do not want to experience.
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