Success Stories

We not only rescue cats, we also rescue other animals in need of TLC.   Meet Benny.   We found Benny at an auction and brought him home.   Benny had life threatening double lung pneumonia.  The vet had no hope for recovery for him, not even an ounce of positivity.  The little bit of hope that I was left with was that he did not have fluid around his lungs or heart.   Because he had lost his appetite, I began soaking his grain and hay pellets in water, blended them to make a slurry and syringe fed him twice a day of what he should be eating.  Benny knew I was trying to help him. He stood like a champ, opened his mouth to allow me to syringe feed him and slowly swallowed his food.   He looked for me twice a day for his feedings.  I added carrots and applesauce for a treat.   Little by little, and two rounds of antibiotics later, Benny was back to feeling great.   He's a kind soul who loves hugs, kisses, campfires, and all of the attention that anyone wants to give him.  Benny was adopted this month to an awesome home where we can stop in and visit from time to time.  

Meet Maximus, or Max.  Max is a large red foot tortoise originally from Barbados.   Kara and I will go to reptile shows from time to time to see what is in need of extra TLC.  At this particular show,  Kara walked by a vendor and saw Max in a large glass aquarium with runny eyes and his head down like he was defeated.  She brought him to my attention and asked if we could save him.   After begging the vendor to come down in price a little, knowing we would be forking out an expensive vet bill, we bought Max.  Max was severely dehydrated, malnourished, had pneumonia, and was under weight.   The vet estimated his age to be in his 30's (30 years old).   Max was given a nice warm bath to soak twice a day.  After he soaked, we worked on eating.   He had to be force fed to get him to eat.  His meals began with fruit (I know, not ideal for a tortoise).  But it was sweet, juicy, and eventually caught his attention to want to eat on his own after a month of being force fed.   It took Max almost a year to want to eat grass in the tortoise yard during the summer.

Max is a wild caught tortoise who lived all of his life in the jungle.  He has battle wounds on his shell from predators.  It's sad to think that he was taken from his natural environment, brought here for someone to make a profit from his sale.  He is not for adoption, but will remain here with us.  He and I have quite the bond.  He knows my voice, he looks for me and comes to me.   He will join me on educational trips during the warm months.  

Mr Jack Buckley  came to us after his owner could no longer afford his emergency vet bill.   As a foal he had colic and the vet did everything they were able to do for him.  Due to finances, their only other resort would have been to euthanize him.   After I got off working second shift, we packed up and drove to the Cat Skill mountains of NY to bring him home.   Quite honestly we weren't sure he was going to make the drive back home.  We stopped on the way home to give him some banamine for comfort.  Shortly after, he began heavy breathing and sweating.   Once home, he was dosed heavily with MOM and waited for our vet to come out.   She then put a tube down his nose to his stomach to pump mineral oil and water into him.  An hour later, there was relief!  Jack is on a diet of soaked timothy hay pellets and a little bit of grain covered in mineral oil so that never happens again.   He's a dwarf miniature horse, standing at 28 inches tall.  His legs are a bit deformed and he has full size teeth for his little mouth that require yearly dental care.   He's a little dude with a whole lot of personality.   He will remain here with us for the rest of his life.