Another week goes by

Time flies................well, when it's spring and summer. Puppies and kittens are coming at us in record time and it gets hard that no matter how hard you try and how much you do, there is always another litter in need.

Payton, re-named Snow White, has lost all of her puppies. We don't know what happened. They would seem fine and within an hour their stools would turn black and their gums would turn white and we'd lose them. We were losing nearly one every day. We'd get worried but then they'd seem fine and we'd move on. Then we'd lose another. Yesterday, the last little one passed after seeming like he'd beat the odds.

Their loss means we can take the litter of puppies from the cave. We've got the room now, though it came to us in a sad way with the loss of Payton's babies. Payton will be coming back to us for some eval time. As soon as we're able - hopefully tomorrow morning - we will go get the other puppies and move them to their foster home.

We got a call one night last Thursday that another litter of kittens was in need. 2 days old and their mother had been hit by a car. When we picked them up, they were in a cold wet blanket and barely moving. I was very scared they were going into hypothermic shock. I put them on the floor board in their bucket and turned the heat on low, not wanting to shock them more by warming them too quickly and then raced home as fast as I could.

I called ahead and told my daughter to get the food warmed immediately and have it waiting when I walked through the door. I got in and we started taking them out, worse first and feeding them. With some warm food in their belly they immediately became vocal.

Once we got them settled my daughter said as soon as she brought out the kitten bed, Munchie, my long haired chihuahua, started dancing. It was the same bed she'd used for the litter of kittens she nursed a couple months ago. When I walked through the door carrying them in the box and she could smell them, she started dancing and crying. She knew she had more babies in need.

Once fed, we placed them in the small bed with a clean warm blanket and Munchie waiting. She began cleaning them and snuggling with them and they settled right in.

I had little hope they'd make it through the night. I got up the next morning totally expecting to find at least one passed. I was very shocked and thrilled to find them all doing very well, quite vocal in their demands for breakfast. My daughter had been up to feed them twice in the middle of the night and I took my turn first thing in the morning.

They were born last Tuesday and today, at 6 days old they're eating about 3 cc at each feeding, up from just a few drops. They are all healthy and active and quite happy with their chihuahua mommy.

We adopted out a kitten at our adoption event this weekend. Shrek came back to spend a night with us while his foster family was out of town. He was thrilled to see them and quite happy to hop in the car with them and head back to his temporary home.

With the adoption a week ago of Pierre, Bridgette was able to take home another fur kid and chose O'Connor, who was returned this week. Bonaroo has finally had his first two sets of vaccine and was able to go home with Debbie, as it looks like Shaggy will be going to his home on Thursday. Thelma will be going home with Susan tomorrow until she finds her forever home since Louise went to her new home today.

As always, we're still looking for foster homes. The more we have, the more dogs we can help. We need fosters for:

Sugar and Spice, two year old beagle / terrier mix sisters. Pulled from the shelter in very poor health, it's taken them over a year to be healthy enough for their full vetting and ready for a home. Spice is more outgoing and starting to realize that humans are actually pretty cool. Sugar is much more reserved and still not sure how she feels. She spends her time at adoption events laying down shaking, so she needs someone that's patient and will take her to lots of places to give her a good dose of socialization.

Amy and Dooley, a pair of year to two year old puggles, beagle / pug mixes. Dooley is the two year old male and Amy is the one year old female. Both are just about 100% housebroken, extremely friendly and outgoing and very playful. Would be fine in an apartment setting or out in the middle of a huge farm.

Brady, a 6 month old male Tibetan Spaniel mix. We've just started housebreaking him. He's young and full of life and just starting to learn all those important lessons. He had some dominance issues when he got here, but in a house with 28 other dogs, most of whom are females with great maternal instincts, he was taught proper dog behavior very quickly. He now is playing really well with the other dogs and has become even more outgoing than he already was.

Duval, a 7 year old male rat terrier. He's absolutely petrified of children, as he was abused very, very badly by them as a puppy. He must be in an adult only home with no livestock. He's fabulous with other dogs and cats and warms up to adults really fast. He prefers women to men but will warm to men over time as well. Housebroken and crate trained, he needs someone with time and experience.

Randy, year old male American Pitbull Terrier. He had been adopted to a family with young children. He adored their daughter and when she was at our adoption events, it was common for him to take naps with her, curled under the blanket right beside her. However, their family had a friend with a little boy that was allowed to torment him for a month, leaving him scared half to death. After a month he finally growled at the boy and then snapped as a warning to leave him alone. They decided he couldn't stay and returned him. He's been around other people and children since then and been fine, so we don't think there's any aggression issues, as much as their was ill behaved child issues.

Rex is a 3 year old male beagle / hound. He's a major love bug and will spend all day by your side and all night sleeping at the foot of your bed. He's 'low man on the totem pole' in our house and the other dogs don't spend much time playing with him. Sugar and Spice gang up on him, trying to play but ultimately just scaring him. He's got a hound bark and bay for sure and needs to be on a big farm some place where his bark isn't going to upset neighbors.

Batman and Robin were dumped in the local dump together. As if being dumped in a landfill wasn't bad enough the people that worked there would throw things at them and kick at them. Their young lives weren't very pleasant. A young couple picked them up and brought them home and held on to them until we could take them. They are both young mixes, Batman a border collie type mix of maybe 12 pounds and Robin looks like a shepherd / lab mix but is only about 20 pounds and full grown. Batman has really come out of his shell and will approach people when called. Robin is much more hesitant and like other dogs with a bad start in life will need someone with lots of love and patience. They are fine in a crate and Batman is crate trained but Robin will potty in his if he's left alone too long.

All of the dogs that need foster homes can be split up, even if listed as a pair above. The ones listed above are a bit 'bonded' but can be seperated and will re-bond with another dog or human rather quickly.

If you are interested in helping, please see our website for more information at:
http://hilltopanimalrescueteam.com/foster_parent.htm