 Lilly. Arrival Date: June 15, 2017
Lilly's sad story first came to our notice when a Facebook post crossed my inbox with a plea for help to rescue her. She had been surrendered for euthanasia as she didn't seem to fit in with her household's other male cats. Lilly is a beautiful, relatively healthy 9-year old spayed female feline. So, we knew that Pets Niagara's caring hearts and hands were the place for this precious soul to come. On May 25th we were ecstatic to announce that Lilly would be welcomed in to one of our great foster homes on June 15th.
Lilly arrived still in a little shock from all of the abrupt changes in her home life that had ensued since her initial surrender in May. She travelled from her original home in Richmond Hill, Ontario, to Niagara Falls, Ontario and then to our rescue foster home in St. Catharines, Ontario.
I met Lilly on Friday, June 9th, 2017 and picked her up on Thursday, June 15th, for transport to a foster home. Lilly is the poor little senior sent for the ‘big sleep’ because she wasn't adjusting well in her previous home. Now, with Pets Niagara, Lilly will never have to face that prospect, again.
By June 26th, Lilly began to feel a little like she’d settled into a loving home. When she first arrived, she had found herself a safe haven beside some film editing equipment and filing cabinets. She still retreats there but at least, now she is starting to slowly explore her wider surroundings. She has her cat tree very nearby, her favourite blanket and her cozy bed. She’s out having a good scratch and roll around on her tree. Yippee!!! We had hoped we could get her settled and immediately put her into our adoption stream as she is going to make some pet parent very happy. She has such vivid green eyes and beautiful colouring. Sadly, though, we received her medical file late the previous Friday afternoon and discovered that she is in need of a dental surgery. Poor girl! We will be sure that she receives the necessary treatment before she's actively available for adoption.
By July 5th, Lilly had settled and was showing us that she was feeling much more safe and happy in her new digs. We knew it was now the right time to take Lilly for a health check by her new veterinarian . We were specifically interested in finding out the status of her dental health as, when we finally received her medical records, it was discovered that she was suffering from advanced dental disease. While there, we had a microchip implanted in her.
On examination, it was apparent that Lilly's teeth haven’t been cleaned or had any tartar removed for several years - most likely for the 4 years that she had been with her previous home. Coupled with the apparent discord between the male cats in her previous home, poor Lilly was ultimately surrendered for euthanasia at the time her then Vet advised of her advanced dental disease.
Lilly does have a large build-up of tartar in the right upper molar and pre-molar areas, which in the opinion of her new veterinarian may have compromised the integrity of those teeth. Her gums in that area look very red and angry, and must be sore.
Lilly needs to have a thorough teeth cleaning which may also involve extraction of one, two or more teeth on the upper right side of her mouth. Poor girl!
The estimated cost is $600 to $800 for just the cleaning and includes pre-op blood tests and IV fluid support, which at age 9 are absolutely necessary to ensure that all goes well with her under anesthasia. If extractions are required, each extraction is estimated between $200 to $300 per tooth and will significantly add to the base cost of the cleaning.
We are a small rescue group devoted primarily to saving pets at high risk of euthanasia - the elderly, the ailing, the senior pets whose owner's have passed away or are going into alternative living homes. We are 100% volunteer staffed and funded only by donations from members of our group and members of our community and our fund-raising activities.
In most cases, we have most of the facts concerning the pet in front of us before the pet comes into our care. In this case, Lilly's medical issues were a complete surprise and somewhat shocking. Those medical problems had not been revealed until she had arrived into our care and were not known by the people who stepped in to save her initially from the euthanasia. Those issues only became apparent after much prodding by us for her medical records from her previous veterinarian.
If Lilly's story has touched your heart and you wish to help us provide this terrific little feline her much needed medical care we would be so appreciative. Your support and contributions to Lilly's medical fund is desperately needed.Lilly's Medical GoFundMe Campaign
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 Shadow. Arrival Date: December 17, 2016
Introducing Pets Niagara latest sanctuary pet, Shadow. She is a spayed female about 13 years old and I just love her little white whiskers!
Her biggest challenge is her weight. When she arrived she was refusing to eat or drink and so went straight in for a check up with new veterinarian. After 2 days here tiny strides forward were accomplished. Shadow began to purr while be petted and on the second day began to groom herself. So, she is starting to feel much more relaxed. Yay!!! Still not eating consistently but the Cyproheptadine we have been giving her, would eventually result in a positive breakthrough on the food front.
Once she is eating consistently and has settled in we will take her back to see her vet to determine what calorie-reduced diet will be best for her. She is 18.06 pounds or 8.19 kilos. So, she has a way to go and it will have to be done very slowly as it can become very dangerous for a cat to lose weight quickly. In general, we will feed Shadow as if she weighed 2 pounds less than she does, or 40 fewer calories a day. Once a 2 pound reduction has taken place we will readjust her caloric intake downward every time she loses a pound, until we hit a healthy weight for her. Then it will be an easy task to maintain it. Getting there is the tough part. The average indoor cat should have 20 calories per pound to maintain a healthy weight. Shadow should weight about 10 pounds so should be eating approximately 200 calories per day to maintain that weight. Shadow needs your encouragement, support and best wishes.
By early January, 2017 we discovered that Shadow loves to be hugged! After a few tries with her being too nervous to be held for more than a few minutes, she suddenly started asking for hugs by reaching out with her little front paws. She is such a little sweetheart and a very well-mannered and well-behaved little cat.
In June, 2017 Shadow had a great weigh in on her veterinarian appointment: she is down 2 whole pounds from the high of 18 pounds when she joined our sanctuary to now a much more svelt 16 pounds. Good girl, Shadow! That, as anyone knows who has had to battle extra pounds on a kitty, is quite an achievement. She will be continuing her prescription Metabolic wet food until she reaches a goal weight of between 8 and 11 pounds. She is 13 years old, so every pound gone helps her chances of living a longer healthier life. She can now run after toys and her housemates, and jump like an athlete on to higher obstacles and longer distances. We're so proud of you Shadow!
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 Heidi. Arrival Date: March 8, 2015
We are happy to announce the arrival our first two sanctuary pets, made possible through one of the Pets Niagara sanctuary sponsors. To your left, and immediately below, is Heidi, a 9-year old gentle-natured spayed female who now lives permanently with our Executive Director. Heidi's owner, although 89 years old, passed away very unexpectedly on February 15, 2015 having lovingly adopted Heidi from Mississauga Animal Services just 3 short years previously. Heidi's pet parent had been looking forward to spending a loving and happy life with Heidi. However, as a distant cousin she had asked many times in the past for us to please take her pets should she pass before they did. It took some time to organize the transfer but Heidi finally arrived here, in St. Catharines, on March 8, 2015. She is a wonderful little pet and has settled in with all of her pet cousins beautifully. Read the story of Sparky, Heidi's house mate, below the following photos.
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