Fruit Bat needs both of her ankles repaired. They were fractured from her sad adventures on a busy highway.

Fruit Bat was found lying in the median of a very busy road. No one slowed down to check on the little dog as she cowered in pain, back legs unable to move, on the hot pavement. Cars whizzed by for twelve hours before a good samaritan from Colony Cats stopped to investigate and found the tiny chihuahua. The kind hearted volunteer quickly rushed Fruit Bat to Noah’s Ark Vet Hospital in Dublin, where Dr. Kim West proceeded to do a physical exam.

Fruit Bat’s back ankles were both fractured, causing the little dog’s immobility. Other than that, however, the chihuahua with the big eyes and perpetual smile, was in good shape. Dr. West discovered that Fruit Bat was only two years old and had not been spayed. On further investigation, it also became clear that Fruit Bat had an old fracture to the bone of her front leg, a fracture which had healed without medical care. Wherever this sweet girl came from, it was not the best place.

Forever smiling--even in pain, Fruit Bat has a happy face. Who couldn't love her?

It was Dr. West who named Fruit Bat and, to be honest, she does look like a bat with her big ears and skinny face. But looking like a bat is not a bad thing when you are that cute!

Because the volunteer who found Fruit Bat was with Colony Cats, the group was more than willing to help the little girl. Only there was one problem. A problem that often occurs in rescue–the little problem of money. Fruit Bat’s surgeries to repair her broken ankle bones must be done at Ohio State–Dr. West cannot do that herself. And so, the cost for Fruit Bat to walk again is between $1500-2000 and Colony Cats just cannot afford to pay that much.

Please help me get my legs fixed.

Dr. West took it upon herself to raise the money for Fruit Bat’s surgeries and she asked us if we would help.  Dr. West is also going to act as Fruit Bat’s foster after the surgeries, taking care of her dressings and helping her with rehabilitative therapy.

And so all of us, Black and Orange Cat Foundation, Colony Cats, The Forgotten Persian Rescue and Friends, which is Renee Kelly’s charitable group (Renee is the owner of Noah’s Ark), are going to work together with Dr. West to help Fruit Bat.

Big things can happen when lots of people work together! Big things for a little dog.

That is where we need your help. If you would like to help Fruit Bat walk again, please mail your tax deductible donation to Noah’s Ark Veterinary Hospital, 6001 Memorial Drive, Dublin, Ohio 43017. Please put, “Attention: Dr. Kim West, Fruit Bat’s Fund” on the front of the envelope. You can contact Noah’s Ark for more information by calling 614-761-8400. You can also learn more at their web site: http://noahsarkvethosp.com/

Checks can be made out to Colony Cats. You can also make credit card donations at their web site: http://www.colonycats.org/donate.htm

Please make sure to indicate that this donation is for Fruit Bat’s Fund.

Additionally, Black and Orange Cat Foundation is also accepting donations for Fruit Bat. You can mail a donation to us at P. O. Box 126, Plain City, Ohio 43064. Please make sure to write on the check that this is for Fruit Bat’s Fund. You can also donate through our PayPal link on our web site: www.bandocats.org

Please email us if you do make a PayPal donation and let us know that the funds are for Fruit Bat. Unfortunately, our PayPal site does not have a memo section set up to allow us to write what the donation is for.

All of the organizations involved are 501 (c) 3 charities, so any donation you make for Fruit Bat is tax deductible.

Dr. West and Fruit Bat--we will get this girl walking again.

Just as soon as Fruit Bat has her surgeries, she will also need a forever home, so if you are interested in adopting the sweetest chihuahua north of Mexico, contact us or Noah’s Ark. Fruit Bat does well with other dogs and with cats and she LOVES people.

The only other solution for Fruit Bat if she cannot have these surgeries is euthanasia and none of us will allow that to happen!!

Where would I be without my friends? Probably still stretched out on the road! You can't see it, but I am shivering just thinking about that!

I had an email from a friend of mine in the Akron area who is trying to save the lives of six Siamese cats that are currently in a high kill shelter in Georgetown, KY. Judi has a friend who works with this shelter and they routinely work together to get cats out to safety.

One of six who needs out of the shelter.

Here is what Judi said: “Yesterday my friend, Dana, who works at a high kill shelter in Georgetown, KY sent me these pictures of six Siamese cats who are all in need of homes. It seems that the cats belonged to a husband and wife. Recently, the husband passed away and the wife is unable to live alone. Her son and daughter-in-law have moved in with her. However, the daughter-in-law is allergic to cats. So (as happens all the time), the cats had to go. They have been surrendered to the high kill shelter in my area. Sadly, if they do not find a home, they will be put to sleep.”

Please help get me out of here.

“This breaks my heart as they all appear to be very healthy.”

I want to go home.

“As I learn more about the cats, I will pass that information along to anyone who is interested. I do know that several (if not all) are spayed and neutered. Their ages are between one to six. I will find out about their vaccine history.”

How could someone not want us?

“The cost for the cats COULD BE NOTHING, because the shelter does not charge me to get the cats out. The only cost is their vetting bill, which like I said, if they are fixed and have had shots, there would be no fees at all. The shelter and I would not charge for transporting the cats. So you could have a Siamese cat for the cost of loving them the rest of their lives.”

Please, won't you consider saving our lives?

If you are interested in any of these cats or have questions, please contact Judi at redheadone@sssnet.com

I have worked with Judi before and she will do all she can to save a cat in need. As she mentioned, Judi and the shelter would also help to transport the cats to get them to safety.

I am scared and would like to leave this place now. Thank you.

It has been a long time coming, but our toothless, sweet girl, Naomi, finally went to her forever home. And the story of how she got there and how her dad, Scott, found her is just as amazing as the rest of Naomi’s story.

  Naomi with her new dad, Scott.

One of my friends, Jackie, from Siamese Rescue posted about Naomi to several of her friends who then promptly donated money to help with Naomi’s surgeries. One of those people, Susan, who is also involved with Siamese Rescue, not only made a donation, but also wrote about Black and Orange on her company’s monthly bulletin board. For May, the company did a board for “Be Kind to Animals Month.” Susan put up ten acts of kindness and under each one, some information that pertained to that subject. For the “Adopt a Shelter Animal” bullet point, Susan posted four of Black and Orange’s kitties. From seeing that bulletin board and the flyers about our cats, Scott, Naomi’s new dad and a manager in Susan’s department, checked out our web site.

Isn’t it just amazing how things happen? Susan learned about Naomi’s predicament, donated to help with her surgeries, and then was instrumental in finding our girl her new dad.

When I first spoke with Scott, one of the things he most wanted was to adopt a cat who had special needs and who might take a bit longer to find a home. In the process, while we were trying to decide on the perfect cats (Scott initially wanted two), a stray female, barely bigger than a kitten, showed up on his doorstep. Scott felt like fate had led her to him, so he decided he would take care of her medical expenses and keep her.

But he wanted a second cat and so we kept discussing different B and O kitties. I gave him a list of female cats to check out on the web site and he narrowed it down to Naomi and Lydia. After he met Naomi and her fosters, the Swiders, Naomi stole his heart (and thank goodness, because at the very same time, Lydia was winning over her new mom, Linda–so both got great homes).

Kim and Paul Swider have had Naomi since last Fall, so sending her off to her new home was a bit bittersweet. They had nursed her through all her surgeries and watched her blossom as her pain disappeared. Miss Naomi is quite a talker and she was voicing her opinion the whole time as Kim handed her, wrapped in her safety blanket, to her new dad. Scott completely looked the part of proud father and before long, Naomi had snuggled down into his arms and was peeking out at us over his elbow.

I've got my blankie, now let's head home.

This story also has a funny little twist. Earlier this week, a lady called me from South Carolina. She had read Naomi’s story on the Petfinder site under the most heartwarming stories. She had a friend in California who had a dog with a similar problem–he had chewed on an electrical cord and had horrible holes in his mouth. But they could not find a vet to help with the problem and so she wrote me to find out who had helped Naomi. I promptly sent her the info for Dr. Tom Klein and East Hilliard Veterinary Services. The lady was going to contact them to find help for the dog in California.

So Naomi’s story has a second happy ending, because our girl’s ordeal may now help another poor animal!

I want to thank everyone who donated, wrote to ask about Naomi, and kept sending her lots of good thoughts. None of this wonderful story could have happened without all the support Naomi had from her hundreds of well wishers. I also want to thank Dr. Tom Klein once more for giving her the chance at a happy ending.

Thank you Scott for giving this girl the home she so truly deserved. Naomi sends slobbery, gummy, toothless kisses to everyone and a gigantic smile!!

Settling in. Miss Naomi peeks out from behind Scott's arm.

Dr. Kim West with Fruit Bat, who had a fractured foot, after being dumped on a busy highway.

 

Over the weekend, Joe and I stopped at a quaint village in northeast Ohio called Zoar. This town was started in the early 1800′s by German separatists who came to Ohio to escape religious persecution in their home country. The name Zoar literally means “a refuge” and references the name of the city Lot escaped to in Biblical accounts. 

One of the stories that the tour guide recounted while we were walking around the buildings of Zoar made me think about a quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

In Zoar in the 1800′s, the dairy cows were considered to be “spoiled” by the milk maids who tended them. They were treated with the utmost care and all one hundred were given names. Outsiders said that the Zoar residents treated the cows so well that they even taught them to read. This joke resulted because, at the end of the day when the cows were brought back to the barn from sun filled days in the pasture, each cow would go to the stall that had their name above it. Surely, the cows must have been able to read their name to find their stall! 

The people of Zoar believed that the better the cows were treated, the better their milk. Happy cows produced delicious milk and cheese and butter. 

I was thinking about this not only in the context of factory farms, which are the complete antithesis of how Zoar residents treated their animals, but also in the context of several things that happened over the past few days and weeks with animals being tossed from cars.

Who could throw a living creature out of a moving vehicle?

Don't throw me away! I'm not a piece of trash!

The first “throw away” animal was Fruit Bat, a 2-year-old chihuahua, who was found lying in the middle of a busy road, unable to move. The little dog was taken to Noah’s Ark by a good samaritan from Colony Cats. They estimated that the poor dog had been lying on the road for around twelve hours before someone decided to stop and help her. This sweet girl had a fractured foot and could not walk at first, but is now getting around in a cast. Despite all that she has been through, she still loves people and is happy and friendly.

God don't make no junk!

The second set of “toss aways” were two kittens, Stephanie and Hamilton, who were found along Hamilton Road. One of our volunteers, Kristin, was alerted when the branch manager of the bank she works with discovered the kittens. Workers at the bank are required to pick up trash off the property twice a day. While they were scooping up cigarette butts and other litter, they came across these two kittens, who are only 4-6 weeks old. 

Just a few moments ago, Kristin was called because a van slowed down and dumped another kitten in the same location.

I am reminded of a t-shirt my dad wears. It shows a mother cat and kittens and says, “Don’t Litter. Spay and Neuter.” In this case, a litter of kittens was treated like actual litter. 

And this is what got me to thinking about Gandhi’s quote and the folks at Zoar in the first place. What kind of world do we live in when living creatures are thrown on to roads like unwanted trash? I can only hope that rescuers and animal lovers are creating a refuge, a “Zoar,” for these babies and changing the world so that one day, these types of things will no longer occur.

Petfinder is offering a sweepstakes where you could win $1,000 and a four-month supply of Arm & Hammer clumping litter. All you have to do is enter at their web site: Petfinder’s Pick of the Litter Contest

Two winners will also get “Cat Owner Prize Packs” that include free litter, as well. So go on to the site and register before July 13. I know that anyone reading this could use cat litter (not to mention $1,000–but hey, the cat litter is way more important).

Just wait and watch. In a few weeks, with some TLC, I will be the "handsomest" cat around.

Poor Harold must be the saddest looking cat we have ever met. He came from our project with the lady who had the forty-five outside cats and needed to reduce her numbers to appease the county health inspector. She begged us to take this sweet boy, because she feared if he went to one of the large clinics at Capital, they would take one look at him and think euthanizing him would be the kindest choice. Since he was so nice, the lady did not want that to happen to him.

And Harold is very, very sweet. He also is missing most of the hair on his body and is probably partially or completely blind in his right eye. The lady told me that he was the only survivor of a litter of kittens born last year. And, indeed, this boy is still only a baby at eight months old.

When I first took him into the vet, I had no idea what was causing the hair loss. Not only was this baby bald, but he also had horrible diarrhea and a nasty upper respiratory infection. He was just about the most miserable looking creature alive. His “elbows” stuck out like skinny chicken wings and his tail looked like a crooked rat tail.

Dr. Murphy at the Spay Neuter Clinic felt the hair loss was probably due to stress, causing him to obsessively groom himself. She thought that in a calmer environment, the hair would return. And that is the case. Soft, downy black hairs are now starting to grow in all over Harold’s body.

With his upper respiratory infection improving, Harold can now also breathe. But he just seems so exhausted. He is perfectly content to spend most of his day in his kitty playpen, napping, stretched out on a soft blanket. He doesn’t mess his cage up. He eats his dinner, uses his litter pan, and crawls back in his warm spot to sleep.

We named him Harold so we could nickname him “Harry.” We thought that would bolster his confidence and help him to grow his hair quicker. A bald cat can’t be named “Harry,” so to live up to his name, he would need to sprout hair. Anyway, that’s the plan–we gave him a name he could aspire to.

Harry has been with us for about two weeks now and he is beginning to blossom. Out of all the cats the lady had, he is the friendliest. He loves to be held and will lay in your lap forever getting his belly rubbed.

While Harry has been growing strong and beginning his transformation from meek to mighty, we’ve also been continuing our efforts with the other cats he left behind. So far, almost fifty cats have been spayed and neutered. Of those, nearly half have gone to our local shelters or found barn homes.  Additionally, six litters of newborn kittens, or about fifteen squirming babies have gone into foster care with the Union County Humane Society. Many of the female cats that were spayed also were pregnant. If we had not stepped in, we figure that 12-15 litters of kittens would have been born on this lady’s property just within a month, doubling the number of cats.

It is overwhelming to think about. Within a month, she would have had almost 100 cats and kittens. As it is, she definitely had more than her estimated forty-five. We think there are ten remaining that need to be fixed and that puts our total number right around sixty that were on the property before we came along.

Harry will remain with us until he is sleek and shiny, his coat lustrous, his body healthy. And then we will find him a wonderful home where he will never be so stressed that he licks away all his hair.

Keep your eyes on this blog, we’ll be showing you Harry’s transformation as it progresses. We are the kitty fairy godmothers, waving our wands of good health, as we chant, “Bippity Boppity Boo.”

I'm a STAR! Read about me online!

As I wrote yesterday, The Animal Rescue Site is conducting their $100,000 Shelter Challenge from May 17 to August 22. As part of that, they are also collecting the “Most Heartwarming” stories from rescue groups and shelters. One story each month will win a $2,000 grant.

We submitted Miss Naomi’s story, because this sweet girl is truly a survivor.

Here is the link to her story: Miss Naomi featured on The Animal Rescue Site

To learn more about this contest: Most Heartwarming Story Prize

And don’t forget to keep voting for Black and Orange Cat Foundation each day!

Vote daily for us at The Animal Rescue Site and we could win $10,000. Voting began May 17 and will continue through August 22. All you have to do is go each day to The Animal Rescue Site. Click on the purple “Click to Give–It’s Free!” button. Once you do that, you can click on the “Vote” box on the next page. Put in Black and Orange Cat Foundation under the shelter you want to support and Plain City, Ohio. 

Each time you “Click to Give” you also help to donate food for shelter animals in need, so you are doing good both by clicking and voting for us!

Don’t forget–you have to vote each day!