Little diva in the making ;)

I'm happy to report that the 2-week-old kittens in my basement with feral mama are doing wonderfully! They are fat and happy and absolutely beautiful. My favorite is little Kittystina Aguilera, a gorgeous little tortie who has a tan spot on her head and tan little baby paws. She is already a little diva, as you can tell in her picture, she is waving to her fans. ;)

And more puppies saved on Sunday!

Sunday night a volunteer brought us four beautiful 8-week-old Lab mix puppies from a shelter in Arkansas (she drove 11 hours one way!), where they were scheduled to be euthanized. These babies are completely irresistible! 2 yellow lab mix boys, 1 black lab mix boy and 1 pale buff lab mix girl with BLUE eyes! They are playful, sweet, loving and precious!


Natalie, Nicole and me with the babies right after they arrived in Wisconsin!


The little girl would snuggle up under my neck on my chest, she was just a little doll!


They went to the vet today and checked out healthy, yey!



What a rewarding thing, to be able to save these babies!

OARS Baby Shower on Sunday

The OARS Baby Shower was an amazing success! We had around 80 people stop by and bring wonderful baby gifts for the 28 kittens and 9 puppies we have in our care (and we have 16 more kittens on our waiting list, with new requests coming in every day!) - it was such a fun event! Everyone got to cuddle with kittens and puppies and enjoy some treats and games for the kids, a great time was had by all. We raised nearly $600 and received around $300 worth of in-kind supply donations - which are VERY much needed right now! Thanks to everyone who came to the shower!

2 dogs saved on Saturday

I picked up Rocky on Saturday and took him to one of our OARS foster homes. Poor Rocky's family had lost their home to foreclosure and could no longer afford to care for him. They loved him so much! It was very rewarding to be able to help this family. Rocky is a big sweet loving docile purebred Yellow Lab. I took his pictures and video and put him on petfinder, and we already have 2 potential adopters who want to meet him!




Then I stopped by my friend and fellow animal advocate Linda's house to take pictures and videos of Levi, her new foster dog. He is a big doofey sweetheart. He has gorgeous coloring, he is a catahoula leopard dog mix with a white face and paws. He is very playful and affectionate. He was hanging around an Amish farm, a stray without a home, for a long time, until someone contacted Linda and OARS to help. We already have had 3 inquiries on him too, hooray!

My first foster puppy!

I picked up Baby Girl, a 5-month-old Lab/Beagle mix pup, on Friday night in Winneconne. She was the sweetest, easiest little foster baby ever. I really lucked out for my first puppy fostering experience! She is housetrained, crate trained, spayed, knows commands, and super affectionate. Plus adorable! Her family could no longer care for her with 2 other dogs, 3 cats and 2 small children, she just had too much energy. By Sunday OARS had found her a new wonderful forever home! And it was meant to be - with an OARS volunteer who had been looking to adopt a female black Lab/Beagle mix for nearly 6 months since her beloved black lab/beagle mix dog had passed away. She nearly cried when she saw her. It was meant to be - a match made in heaven!

It was an amazingly rewarding experience. Just a little sacrifice of time and energy to help this family and puppy in need!

And then there were FIVE

What an adventure last night! We got a call from a girl who's mom had found 4 orphaned baby kittens in the middle of her barn. 2 of them were cold (this is very bad) and so she took them in her house and warmed them up with a hairdryer. We had just taken in a mama with newborn babies from Wolf River Vet Clinic the day before, so she called us to see if we could take the orphans and put them on that mama to see if she would be a surrogate. So I was off to a barn in Hortonville last night.

When I got there a half hour later, mama had shown up! This was GREAT news because the best chance for newborn babies' survival is to have mama's care and milk. The lady wasn't sure how old they were, but she knew they were young. Well, turns out mama was feral (wild) and it was quite the ordeal to get her in the carrier with her babies. Especially since they were hiding way back in the hay bales. But, by some miracle, we got them all in a carrier, I got them home, and they are settled in their carrier (mama wouldn't come out) in a big cage in my basement bedroom.

I've been checking in on them and mama and babies are doing well! The amazing thing is, last night there were 4 babies - 2 orange tabbies, a calico and a tortie - and tonight there were FIVE! Another orange tabby was in the carrier this morning! Poor mama had been in labor through the whole ordeal last night. If I would've known the full situation, I don't think I would've tried to capture them - would've left them alone for a couple days, since it's not that cold, and then gone in to rescue them. But, they are all doing well, and we will take care of them and raise them until the kittens can be adopted. Then mama will be spayed and returned to the barn where she can live out her happy feral life. :)

All is good in kitten rescue land.

Foster babies hangin in there

What a rough weekend. I got two baby foster girls, Zinnie and Bug. Only 7 weeks old, and still so fragile. Both of them were showing severe signs of upper respiratory on Friday night, so I brought them into my basement bathroom, which I use as emergency sick-care/quarantine. Friday night was rough; Saturday morning was worse. 

I ended up at the emergency Animal Referral Center Saturday afternoon after I thought I was going to loose Zinnie and Bug was pooping blood...poor little babies. I was there 3 hours, and the vet was very helpful. I got some medication and high-calorie food and good instructions for lots of TLC.

Saturday night and Sunday morning I spent checking in on them and force-feeding special food and KMR milk every couple hours. After lots and lots of care and love, I think they've pulled through...here are some pics of them from tonight...I think they'll make it. Bug, as you can see, is eating on her own and playing with toys. Zinnie has a ways to go, but I have faith. They are the most adorable, sweet little babies.

Semi-feral? Not anymore!

My foster cat Chloe was dubbed "semi-feral" when she first came to us. She was such a scaredy cat...she hid in the rafters in her first foster home, and was very standoffish. However, she slowly came out of her shell...

Now, she is quite possibly one of the sweetest, lovingest kitties ever! She adores attention, and comes by me every time I'm in the foster room, demanding attention and pets and she LOVES to have her tummy rubbed. It took us a few weeks, but we were able to socialize her...now, she is ready for her new forever home, filled with love to give that special someone. We never gave up hope on this little sweetie!

Oh and she adores her foster sister, Susie Q. This picture is of her giving Susie kisses.