Handipets Needs a Little Help

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Hello Friends of Handipets

Most who frequent the Handipets sites know what we do.  We help people raise funds for medical care for this special needs pets or we help them find the special home that can give their pet the care that is needed.

Locally we were taking non-medical disabled pets.  Our kennel is full and we do not accept any new comers but we do need to take care of the ones we have promised.

Our acceptance is narrow, blind/deaf, limb disorders, balance/coordination disorders, food allergy and related issues, food aggression, hostile/fearful toward humans (feral/hard stray rehabs), toothless and just plain gross or ugly ones that families can’t seem to deal with.  We offer them an outdoor area (which most prefer) and we keep it all natural.  They also have access to a portable building which is my office and where I spend all of my days and they have access to my bedroom where of course I spend the rest of my time.  Only a fraction like to come inside though so we need as much outdoor space as we can confine with a full netted canopy.

The winter snow storms that blew in there on Feb 12 (highly unusual for South Carolina) not only caused my partner to go off the road and into a ditch…but the snow laid heavily upon the nylon netting that is the feline containment canopy that covers the entire kennel, it weighed it down so badly the netting dropped 6 feet and touched the ground!!!  It snowed through the night and the weight of the net pulling down damaged the timber side walls of the kennel pulling them inward and breaking several cross boards that hold the chicken wire netted walls as well as the nylon canopy netting.  The netting tore from the office building and mobile home.

Now we have a badly damaged kennel and this makes feline escapes an extremely high risk.  We have been needing to rebuild the kennel for quite some time now, I have have a chip in donation widget in the left column but now It’s URGENT.  Sidney was shot by a neighbor and it was after his shooting we worked hard to come up with funds to build a kennel and feline containment system.

We get some help from Dixie Thunder of Aiken County with annual benefit fund raiser events which help us keep up on the kennel and of course the other needs of the animals inside the kennel but now it’s in such rough shape we simply need to build a new one with all new lumber and order new canopy netting.

I will have labor help to build a new kennel but I must have lumber and supplies.

PLEASE promote this fund raiser as you do those who need medical help.  We will do what we can to patch the damage once all the snow melts but as anyone who must contain cats knows, you can’t make mistakes…they will find the weak points.

UPDATE! After being able to see the damage better today I realized we need to get something up there FAST.  To do fast we need to scale things down to a more reasonable amount.  So with measurements and another plan I have reduced the cost to between $1,000 and $1,500.  I will get photos of the damage tomorrow, it was too dark by the time I got home today.

The photo below is a layout of my property seen from Google Earth.  It’s clickable if you need to view it in a larger size.

Be revising the plan a little and doing a combo of stockade and wire mesh fencing, making it smaller…we brought the estimate down.  Here is a new estimate for just the panels which is what we need first and fastest.  We can recycle lumber as we tear out the damaged kennel.  We at least have to have all the supplies for one wall before we start since we will have to tear out the existing to re-use what we can on the new one so one must come down and one must go up all in one day.

The paypal email address is handipets@comcast.net  (this is also my contact email address)

Please give us a hand to keep our special critters safe and healthy

I have found myself in a desperate situation with a devastating outcome if I don’t find some much needed help. My 8 week old kitten needs a life saving surgery.

My boyfriend, Brad, and I visited some mutual friends on the weekend of September 26th, 2009 in Tallahassee, FL. Once we arrived, we met one of the girl’s 11 week old kitten. He had an obviously large, solid belly and was walking uncomfortably. This girl had a full time job and left the kitten locked out of her room every day where his food, water or litter box were, all day. She works at a profitable job and never took the kitten in for a visit at the vet after she adopted him, as the shelter made her sign and promise. The second day we were there, the kitten’s anus prolapsed. If his belly full of worms wasn’t sign enough that the kitten needed to see a vet, his anus being forced out was clear enough to anyone.

The owner locked him in a cage because his “butt is gross” and right then decided that she wasn’t going to take him in to the vet because it cost too much money. She left the kitten in there and was going to leave it to die outside. I immediately called my vet hospital from back home in Chicago and all my former employees I had worked with at Petco. I’ve worked as a grooming assistant and trained service dogs for the handicapped and I know that no animal should have been living like this kitten.

The girl didn’t care about the kitten anymore, so my boyfriend and I took him home with us to Tampa, where we live and go to school. The very next day, the kitten, which we named Marty, had a vet visit. The vet let us know that this 11 week old kitten was really no more than 6 weeks old and weighed only 1 pound! The vet confirmed that Marty had a terrible case of worms, along with a horrific ear infection and a large infestation of fleas. Because his previous owner hadn’t gotten him de-wormed after she adopted him, Marty’s worms were so bad that they had forced his anus to prolapse. The diagnosis required a surgery in which he would have stitches around his anus. This surgery is usually successful, especially in young kittens, if the worms and prolapse are treated in time.

His surgery was almost $300.00, and could have been prevented had he been taken to the vet to get a simple check-up and medicine when he was adopted. My boyfriend is unemployed and a full time student and I have a part time job working 6 hour weeks, maximum, for minimum wage while being a full time student. Needless to say, we were not ready to pay for the vet visit as well as a surgery. We are both huge animal lovers, so helping Marty was not even a question for us. While having the stitches in for a week, Marty was de-wormed with a 5-day treatment and 2 other strong de-worming medicines. In between the visit to get the stitches in and out, Marty went in for 2 more vet visits, because Brad and I were so worried that he would get infections and just wanted to make sure everything was going smoothly. The day his stitches came out, everything was looking good. The next day, his anus prolapsed yet again. Another vet visit and cost later, we were told to wait two weeks to see if it would go back in. Discouraged two weeks later, the vet gave us two options: humane euthanasia or a surgery with a 100% success of never prolapsing again.

Brad and I love Marty so much. He is our child, and touches every part of our hearts. The day we saved Marty from sure death, he saved us. Marty wants nothing more than to be by people, constantly following us around the house, begging to sleep on our laps and constantly giving kisses. He is so happy yet has never known a truly happy life without pain. Marty never whines, despite the half hour sessions of cleaning and lubing his anus, consistent vet visits, stitches and having to wear an E-collar all the time so that he doesn’t lick and dry out the exposed anus. He is such a trooper and has been so strong in his very short life. To know that Marty could be a happy and not in pain after this surgery lifts up my heart and spirit. The only problem is the cost.

Brad and I can not afford the permanent surgery, which costs around $3,500.

We have already spent so much more than anyone ever should have, had it all been prevented with just one vet visit after his adoption. We are so pressed for money and trying to raise as much as we can. As college students, not many of our friends have money to donate, and neither do non-profit organizations. Everyone wants to help so bad, especially after they meet Marty, but no one can financially.
Brad and I need to make a decision soon, and while we wait for answers, Marty lives his life with a prolapsed anus, constantly wearing an E-collar and relentlessly uncomfortable and in pain. He doesn’t deserve this life of pain that he has only ever known. Marty, Brad and I would be eternally grateful if you even consider our application. This one surgery will change our entire lives and allow Marty to be a kitten. A real kitten. Marty is my entire life, and I can not and will not let him be taken from me if this one surgery can fix all of his problems.

Receiving any donation would be the best thing to happen to our family and would finally allow Marty to experience a life where there is nothing but love. Marty is too young, too loving, too undeserving of pain and most of all, too much a part of us to be anything but better and healthy. I appreciate any help you can give our family. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for even taking the time to read about Marty.

Veterinary Information is on the Chip in Page—->http://handipets.chipin.com/martys-surgery

Estimate from the surgical center

Page 1 of Marty's Estimate

Page 2 of Marty's Estimate

We have a date and a starting point and we are getting ready for this years Crippled Critter Benefit event.  Dixie Thunder of Aiken County holds an annual event to help support the animals in our private sanctuary for disabled pets.  In the last 2 events we managed to get a small kennel built, a gate built into the kennel and wheelchair ramps that not only assist me, but help with our blind animals and our seniors so now they have no stairs to go up or down.  Local donations of dry dog and cat food kept us going, our animals don’t eat dry food as a total diet, they are fed raw meats and kibble food is mixed with a dehydrated raw food prep kit that makes a healthy warm stew.

This is an emotionally/behavior disorder dog.  She is an original Handipets Rescue that now needs more help.  Please read the following with an open mind.  Annie is not a brute.  She just needs to be in a home with no other animals, and in an an area where she can run in a back yard with no other animals nearby.  She would NOT be a good city pet.  Annie really needs to be in a rural setting and that is something nobody in our family can provide for her.

Annie has quite a story to tell.  Her life began as an abandoned pup.  Eyes just barely open.  Found in a clay pit, cold, hungry and unpottied.  We took her in and hand nursed and raised her into a healthy dog.  We were unable to keep little Annie though.  Our county has a restriction on dogs and we could only have 4 dogs.  Annie needed a home.  My sister kindly took Annie in and things were wonderful for quite some time. 

Later, my sister adopted another dog who had been mistreated and was in need of a good home.  Molly a beautiful young boxer came to live with my sister and all was well for a few months….

But Annie Changed.

Annie became highly aggressive toward Molly.  My sister worked with the dogs but fights became death matches.  Unwilling to give up on either of these beautiful creatures my sister saved up money and called in a professional to work with Annie.  This did not work out.  My sisters yard is much too small for Annie to run freely, she is hostile to the neighbors dogs through the fence, unsafe to walk with other dogs around so Annie cannot be properly exercised outside, and she is dangerous to other animals inside.

After over a year of trying to work through this situation a horrible fight broke out between Annie and Molly last night causing injury to both dogs and to my mother and sister who tried to break them up.  Aside from Molly the boxer there are two senior dachshunds in the home who are also at risk.

Sadly my sister now knows that Annie cannot live with other animals, cannot use her back yard and cannot be walked.  This is no life for Annie and the other animals in the home should not be abused by Annie.

Annie needs a home as as SINGLE PET.  She has never harmed a human.  When I had Annie she never harmed a cat but because she has grown aggressive with other dogs I would not recommend her as a pet in a cat family and would be concerned about her around small children. She has no history of harming children but her fierce fights against other dogs would make me concerned.

Annie needs a good place to run.   We have never chained our dogs, they have always had space to run, but when neighbors complain that your dog barks viciously over a fence at their dogs….that is a problem.  If you have a privacy fence, or no nearby neighbors Annie would do great in your back yard. She loves to run and play.

My sister worked and was gone about 12 hours a day.  Annie had been left home while she was at work and there was never a problem.  When I had her we could leave her home as well.  Annie would work out well for working families.

This is an <b><i>URGENT</i></b> plea for a home for Annie.  If one is not found within a week this sweet dog will need to be put to sleep.  All other things have been tried.  She has been spayed, has been on benedryl to help calm her, herbals have been tried, she has been examined by a vet and is healthy.  A professional trainer has come to the home to help, the house has been divided and more humans moved in to help  keep things safe.  Sadly all attempts have failed.  Annie is a danger to other dogs and simply needs a rural home where she is the only pet.

Annie has never been abused from the day she was rescued.  We are unsure of what drives this emotional disorder, could it be because she was hand nursed?  Most do not agree, but that seems to be the only thing different about her life.  She had no young pups to play with and the older dogs did try to put her in the rear of the pack…could that be it?  If we had the answers I’m sure we could solve this problem, but sadly we know only this.  Annie is not safe around other dogs, but she is a wonderful and loyal companion to humans.  She deserves to live her natural days on earth in a home where she is the only canine companion to her human.

If you have room in your heart and home for a dog who is known to be dangerous around other dogs…but is the sweetest loving creature to humans, is house broken, spayed, healthy and does not destroy your home…please contact me here or at handipets@comcast.net

You can also reach my mother and sister by phone.  If you are interested contact me for their number.