By Camille Hulen
The first inspirat ion for this article came from ‘Lil Snout, whom I recently met. He was injured as a kitten and is both blind and brain damaged. This presents a special challenge for his owners, Jana and Steve, because Snout not only requires medicine twice a day, but he must be hand-fed and then facewashed twice daily as well. In spite of this, they have cherished the love of Snout for nine years when he purrs contentedly each time he is held. He climbs his way into bed with them, and even enjoys chasing his noisy ball down the hall.
This article gives but a glimpse into the lives of Snout and other special needs kitties. However, I highly recommend a recent book, “Homer’s Odyssey,” which recounts in detail the life of Homer, another fearless blind kitty. Author Gwen Cooper not only tells Homer’s tale, but all of the lessons about love and life that she has learned from him.
Dale would agree. She has fostered numerous special needs cats with disabilities, ranging from diabetes to cardiomyopathy to kidney failure. With the prescribed medication and attention, she has been able to give these cats a good quality of life as they move into old age and beyond.
Although not professionally trained in medicine, she has learned much useful information through the Internet and diligent observation. However, Baby, a blind kitty, became her joy. Baby taught her to pick up after herself, to not leave anything in the middle of the room, to wear clunky shoes so he could hear to follow her, and to talk so that he knew where she was. Baby was even a winner in a recent pet photo contest! Wouldn’t you love to adopt the beautiful white kitten pictured here? But what if you learned that she was deaf, as many pure white cats are? Would you adopt her anyway? Tom and Brandy did not hesitate, and now Dafney has become an integral part of their family, along with several other pets.
The only problem with a deaf cat is that she won’t come when called. (Yes, contrary to popular belief, cats do come when called!) On a positive note, Dafney is not afraid of the vacuum cleaner. Of course, Brandy was protective when Dafney came to visit me, warning that she should not be left unattended with other cats. Guess what? The other cats scarcely noticed Dafney and did not harass her in any way. Through the years, I have observed that this is the case: animals are particularly understanding of those who are handicapped. When a somewhat feeble old cat strolls through the kennel, the younger ones respect his age; when a kitten gets overly rowdy, they all feel younger and join the game.
Now consider Oreo. Oreo’s rear leg had to be amputated after an injury sustained from climbing a fence. He required special care at first, but now he gets along just fine without it; Oreo just doesn’t climb fences anymore. Then, there is the tiny kitten who was hit by a car. The irresponsible owner seemed unconcerned about his fate, saying that she had several other kittens! However, the responsible driver, Bud, took him to his vet, where it was determined he had a broken pelvis. Over time, the injury healed, with careful attention to limiting the curious kitten’s activity. Now he lives happily with Bud and Marilyn’s other cats, and he truly earned his unique name: Pirelli, after the brand of tire that hit him! Another injured kitten was found in a pound, cowering at the back of her cage, because she was languishing in pain. Without hesitation over the expense, Gail took her to the vet, where x-rays revealed several leg and hip fractures. But this kitty had a will to live! As she recovered, the kitten found a strange bedfellow: a squirrel that Gail was also rehabilitating. As they overcame their handicaps, these animals from two different species became unlikely friends, running and playing together.
What about cats with chronic diseases? Consider Peaches, who was deemed unadoptable because she was diabetic. That did not matter to Samantha, who seized the opportunity to learn all that she could about diabetes, and has now been able to help many other cats with the disease. It takes dedication to assure that kitty gets her insulin on schedule twice daily, but most loving owners are willing to adjust their schedules to accommodate this. Although insulin injections are required for most diabetic cats, it has been found that many times feline diabetes can go into remission with the proper diet.
At this point, Peaches is still enjoying life at age 19! But what about those dread diseases of FIV and feline leukemia? While most humane groups will put these cats down, some organizations such as Best Friends in Utah, and loving owners like the ones mentioned above, have proven that they are adoptable. Although the immune systems of these cats are compromised, the educated owner will see them lead happy normal lives.
The only concern: care must be taken in their contact with other cats, since these diseases can be spread through cat bites.
There are many more special kitties out there. In fact, as cats age, they all inevitably require special care. The original title of this article was going to be “Special Needs Kitties,” but, as I wrote, I realized that the kitties are not the only ones who are special.
So, too, are their human caregivers, who appreciate the fact that all life is precious. Hats off to them!
Every month, hundreds of cats, dogs and other animals are brought in to the Tulsa Animal Welfare Shelter. Ideally, they are adopted, rescued, fostered or returned to their owners. But reality – and the fate of the majority – is nowhere near ideal. In September, of the 656 dogs brought in, 418 were euthanized.
“The audit of the shelter in 2007 recommended all kinds of things,” Jenkins says, “from ways of conducting euthanasia to redoing the floors. We implemented everything in the study that we could afford. Looking at our budget of 1.8 million per year, it is down from 2.2 million when I started. We would love to do more fostering than we do, but to do it right is a full time job. We mostly foster very young puppies and kittens. We don’t participate in a lot of events. The animals have to be in the shelter to be reclaimed. You can’t take them home in a foster situation and still have them shown for adoption. It is better for puppies to be fostered than dogs waiting to be reclaimed. Again not all recommendations have happened because we can’t afford it. We have an $8 million facility in the long-term (5 year) plan. It consists of renovation and expansion of the existing facility as we are always full.” While the partnership is not finalized, Jenkins remains focused on the task at hand of reducing shelter – and ultimately, euthanization – numbers. She is currently working on implementing two programs, the first of which is for feral cats. She is pursuing a trap, neuter release program, along with a feral cat database. The second program will be a targeted spay/ neuter program for Pit Bulls, who make up 30 to 40 percent of shelter animals.
Beginning in February 2012, the City of Tulsa and the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority (TMUA) will begin adding chloramine to the City’s water instead of chlorine for disinfection in the distribution system. Chloramine, a chemical combination of chlorine and ammonia, provides longer-lasting protection against naturally occurring bacteria in the pipes bringing the water from the treatment plant to your tap.
“Several years ago, I received an e-mail from a young lady in Texas who was coordinating a transport for some homeless Pit Bull dogs to Minneapolis,” he says. “The dogs were otherwise going to be destroyed, but they had a rescue offer in an area of the country where they would be easily adopted. I volunteered to drive a relay leg from Perry, Okla., to Wichita, Kan., and afterward was hooked on the idea of saving the lives of innocent animals simply by changing their geographic locations.” Golden reiterates Kittrell’s sentiments that many animals can be rescued by finding homes in the Northern states.
