Fear Free Happy Homes
Reading Time: 4 minutes From waiving adoption fees to offering discounts for veterinary wellness visits to staging fun events, shelters are stepping it up for senior pets inside their facilities. There are many advantages to adopting an older pet over a young kitten or puppy. Topping the list: most older pets are housetrained, mellow, and less apt to chew […]
Reading Time: 6 minutes A diagnosis of FIP used to be a death sentence, but that’s changing. Like the disease itself, the story is complicated. Here’s what we know now. First, and most exciting, attending researchers agreed that FIP should now be called “treatable,” at least potentially, and perhaps “curable.” A conference about FIP took place last November, drawing […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Peter Cohen of Santa Barbara, California, has made feline infectious peritonitis his personal cause, having lost two kittens to the dread disease. He now has a third, Smokey, who is a survivor. Cohen’s first experience with FIP, a fatal viral disease in young cats, was in 2012 when he adopted a pair of litter mates, […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes The 2019 FIP Symposium: PURRsuing FIP and WINNing might be the most significant event in feline health ever! That’s a mighty powerful statement to make, but it’s likely true. Here’s why that’s so, for me and for many other cat lovers. A Devastating Day I recall the exact moment when Dr. Sheldon Rubin called to tell […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Senior dogs are often overlooked in shelters and can remain there for months. To give them the attention they deserve, November is labeled National Adopt A Senior Pet Month to highlight that the inimitable human-animal bond is not governed by age. Welcoming an older dog into the household and giving them love and care for […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes When you adopt a cat from a shelter, you not only save that cat’s life, you also free up space for another cat to have a chance for adoption. Adopting and rescuing cats is a trend, and in the process lives are being saved. According to the ASPCA, over 1.6 million cats and kittens are […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes My husband and I adopted our Lab mix, Rio, from an underfunded shelter in New Mexico in 2010. It was our first time visiting the facility, and the housing conditions depressed us: a few litters of puppies were crammed into chain-link cages, and adult dogs were kept alone in each small enclosure. It didn’t seem […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes Have you ever wanted an inside look at how shelters prepare young kittens for adoption? It’s a 24/7 process that requires many helping hands. Orphaned kittens, some just days old, may never realize their good fortune of being rescued and transported to the San Diego Humane Society’s kitten nursery center. Strategic steps taken by staff […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes Want to save a cat’s life with only a short-term commitment? Consider fostering a litter of kittens. In summer, shelters are overrun with kittens, often with multiple litters coming in daily. In many shelters, young kittens need feeding and care ‘round the clock, care that understaffed shelters are unable to give. Without volunteers and foster […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes In August of 2018, I adopted a rescued Sheltie puppy from Korea. He was so thin the rescue group thought he was only 3 or 4 months old, but my veterinarian determined that he was older because he had his adult teeth. I have learned so much since I adopted my dog, and I’d like […]