Noah’s Ark Veterinary Hospital

We are not sure what kind of animal ripped into poor Sir White Wiskeys. Whatever it was, however, chewed him up pretty good. When our friend Betty wrote me that she had another kitty in need (Sir White Wiskeys came from the same neighborhood as Brian’s sweet Leo Albert), I told her to get him to Noah’s Ark as soon as she could. She said the cat was bloody and leaking a lot of pus. Betty had only seen the cat a few times before he showed up with wounds to his neck and the side of his face. She was worried that her sister’s Husky, a known cat killer, had attacked the seriously injured cat.

At Noah’s Ark, Dr. West put Sir White Wiskeys (he received his name because he was such a gentleman and had gorgeous white whiskers) out so she could clean up his injuries and neuter him at the same time. She had thought the wound would require a drain tube, but with a great deal of cleaning and flushing, the drain tube was deemed unnecessary. Dr. West was not sure what had caused the abscess and bite on Sir White Wiskeys. It could have been the Husky, although she was not sure if the cat would have survived that. It also might have been a raccoon or another cat. Happily, this gentle boy tested negative. We had been quite worried about that since he had been wandering the streets where Leo Albert had come from; our Leo Albert who tested positive for feline leukemia. 

Sir White Wiskeys, it turned out, was a very nice cat–too nice to be returned to a place where he might end up even more seriously injured or dead in the future. So now this big guy (he weighs over 12 pounds and that is even after Betty told us she thought he’d lost weight during this ordeal) is recuperating with Carol. As soon as he is feeling better, we’ll post him for adoption. We know this sweetheart of a cat will find a safe, forever home very quickly.

We’ll keep you updated on our handsome Sir White Wiskeys. He is a talker, a lover, and a survivor.

A few weeks before Thanksgiving, Kim and Paul Swider (Naomi’s former foster parents) told me they had seen a cat get dumped and then hit on the road in front of their house. They chased after the cat who was severely injured, dragging it’s body by it’s front legs because it’s back legs were not working. But try as they might, the cat, even on only two legs, would not let them near it. I told them if they could catch the cat to bring it to me any time so I could get it in for medical help or euthanasia depending on how bad it’s injuries were.

The next week Kim and Paul reported more sightings of the cat–it was still dragging itself around. Paul had made sure to put food out for it, but even when the cat pulled it’s body on to the porch to eat, Paul could not grab it.

Finally, the Monday before Thanksgiving, Paul was able to trap the all black cat, who they named Biscuit, and bring him to me. I quickly took him to Noah’s Ark thinking they might have to euthanize the poor cat. But when Dr. Jensen let Biscuit out of the trap he was in, he was no longer pulling himself on two legs. Rather, he was walking on all four, but with a slight limp. Biscuit was also not a feral cat, as I had feared. I worried about putting a cat who had experienced such trauma back outside to take care of itself. Biscuit, however, was very friendly. He must have been someone’s cat–maybe even the people who tossed him from the car.

From the X-rays, we discovered that Biscuit had not just been hit by a car, he had actually been run over by the car. Yes, run over by an enormous vehicle, tires smashing bone. His pelvis had been broken in five to six places. The good news, however, was that in those weeks when he could not walk and pulled himself around, the bones had mended and he was healing. He would not need surgery. Only further cage rest to allow his pelvis to completely mend.

I was amazed. Here was this cat who had been run over by a car and he was going to be okay. His bladder and bowels were working fine. Although he was pretty thin (he did have pebbles in his stomach from trying to find something to eat), he would recover. He did have a little bit of a limp, but even that has almost vanished now. Dr. West says that cats are truly the ultimate survivors. She thinks that if anything ever happens that wipes out the rest of the planet, cats will still be here, the only species that will have lived through whatever killed the rest of us.

Because Biscuit needed more weeks of rest, he went to stay at the shop with Carol where he would be the only cat in residence. Dr. West didn’t want to neuter him until his pelvis had healed more and we were not sure how our other cats would take the smell of an un-neutered male cat’s urine. So to the shop he went, where he quickly proved how resilient he was.

Carol placed Biscuit in Alex’s bathroom at the shop. Alex was now at PetSmart waiting adoption, so his room was free. Alex had spent many weeks in that bathroom with no problems. The very first night Biscuit was in the bathroom, he figured out how to pull a panel off the wall, climb through a hole, and escape out in to the shop. Carol spent four days looking for him with no luck. Only a trap and some smelly soft food retrieved our “Houdini” who then went into a dog crate to prevent further escapes. Angry at his forced imprisonment, he trashed every cage Carol placed him in.

We know Biscuit must have been someone’s cat. Not only is he friendly, but he also can use his paws to open doors. The very first moment after we put him in Carol’s bathroom at the shop, he reached out his paw and tugged at the door. The ladies at Noah’s Ark also told me he had tried repeatedly to break free from his room.

Biscuit is now almost completely healed and will soon be looking for a new home. He may always walk a little funny with a tiny limp (but even that has almost disappeared). He will probably always be too smart for his own good. And he will definitely always be a survivor. But our little survivor also needs to be something else–wanted. We hope to find him a forever home very, very soon.

I had a call from Dr. West at Noah’s Ark at the beginning of the week. A good friend, Tara, had brought a 12-week-old kitten to her that had been hit by a car and had damage to her face and mouth. Tara was horrified (as were Dr. West and I when we heard this) when people who saw the tiny kitten asked Tara if she wanted them to take the injured baby out in the country and shoot her. As Dr. West said, “There will be no shooting of any cats!”

Dr. West has been naming all of the B and O kitties (and even Fruit Bat) that come to her following the alphabet. We were now up to “H,” so Dr. West decided on a Native American name for this little girl. She chose Hok’ee, which means “abandoned” in Navajo. We also decided that since we were approaching Thanksgiving, we needed to honor the Native Americans who lost out when the white folks took over their land. Little Hok’ee is our Native American honoree kitty–a symbol for what we are thankful for all year long–saving innocent lives.

Little Hok’ee had been hit in the mouth by a blunt object that broke several teeth. She will be visiting our dental vet, Dr. Tom Klein, at East Hilliard Veterinary Services to have her mouth fixed. Hok’ee is the fourth kitty to visit Dr. Klein this year after Naomi, Bean Bag, and Oliver. We love Dr. Klein and so do the kitties he has helped.

Little Hok’ee is doing well after the horrors she has been through. Dr. West did her normal test to determine if euthanasia could be considered–was the kitten eating and purring? Yes, she was! Well, by Dr. West’s rules, no cat will ever be “put to sleep” if it is purring and wants to eat. That is the Dr. West anti-euthanasia test. It works every time! Bean Bag passed. Any cat with a giant will to live will pass. Hok’ee did, too. Even with her hurt mouth, she wanted to eat. Dr. West said she is a little piglet.

Hok’ee has tested negative for feline leukemia/FIV. Dr. West started routine vet care and this sweet girl is loving all the attention. We will keep you updated on her progress. Dr. West has kindly agreed to pay all her bills at Noah’s Ark, but we plan to collect donations to pay for her surgeries with Dr. Klein. Dr. Klein always tries to help us out and keep his prices low, however.

Once she is recovered, Hok’ee will also be looking for a forever home, so please keep her in mind. For now, she will be snuggling with her stuffed pig, eating as much as her belly will hold, and thanking her angels for giving her such a good, good life.

I had an email today from the staff at Noah’s Ark Vet Hospital and when I first saw the photo in the message, I was horrified. What appeared to be some type of unidentifiable dead animal at the bottom of a metal trash can was, in fact, a living puppy. 

Tova, a six-month-old Pit Bull/Great Dane mix, was found in a trash can suffering from severe demondex and skin infection (thus, the horrible loss of hair and red coloring to the skin). Tova is safe now at Noah’s Ark and is being fostered by two of the vet hospital’s staff members. 

Who can put animals in trash cans and act as if they are garbage? We had the same type of thing happen with the two kittens, Tiny and Fat Boy, that Emma Davies rescued from her apartment complex’s trash dumpster. The two survived while their other siblings did not. If Emma had not found them in time, the four-week-old boys would have also died.

I just do not understand this mentality. How can someone treat living, breathing creatures as if they are old coffee grounds or used tissues?

Tova will be staying with her fosters at Noah’s Ark until she is better. However, her vet care is being taken care of by Measle’s Animal Haven in Dublin. Measle’s is a charitable organization that focuses upon helping pit bulls. They could definitely use your help with a donation for Tova’s vet care. To make a donation, visit their web site and donate online: Donate for Tova

Or you can also mail a donation to Measle’s Animal Haven, Inc. at P. O. Box 4142, Dublin, Ohio 43016

We’ll keep you updated on Tova’s progress. Please keep this sweet puppy in your thoughts. 

Last week, Lisa, one of our adopters (she adopted a kitten, Maddie, a few years ago and then last year helped her mom adopt two kittens from us), wrote to ask if Black and Orange could help with a kitten that her mom found dumped near the family’s barn. Lisa said that it looked as if someone “literally threw him from the car.” Lisa went on to say that “his face is scraped and his bottom lip looks like it was torn off and he has tar in his fur. Mom has him eating and drinking and he’s super friendly, but he definitely needs to see a vet and get some medical attention.”

From Lisa’s email, I didn’t realize what terrible shape this poor baby was in. It sounded like a few scrapes and bruises that could be healed with antibiotics. And even though she said, “his bottom lip looks like it was torn off,” I was not prepared for what was going on with this little guy.

I told Lisa to take “Oliver” to Noah’s Ark Vet Hospital in Dublin, so last Friday, she did. I stopped in later Friday evening and Dr. Achtel pulled out the digital camera to show me Oliver’s lower jaw. As you can see in the photos I posted, it looks as if his lower jaw is missing. In the photos Dr. Achtel had me look at, he had to explain to me what I was looking at–when the jaw was open and closed, because I could not tell. It just looked like a mass of raw flesh. I was cringing, thinking of this poor kitten trying to survive–and he is only a kitten. Dr. Achtel said he weighed less than two pounds and was probably only eight weeks old. Just a baby and someone did this to him either from the trauma of being tossed out of a car or something else too horrible to imagine.

Dr. Achtel was sending the photos around to his veterinary colleagues, because he was not sure how to proceed. He said the lower jaw may need to be completely rebuilt and there was not enough skin the way it was to cover up the exposed bones (yes, there are exposed bones). They had sent Oliver home with Lisa and her mom on antibiotics to treat him for the infection that had set in. Dr. Achtel told me he had never seen anything like Oliver’s condition before. Now, you know you are dealing with excellent veterinarians when, instead of acting worried, they can’t wait to work on the challenge to help an animal in need–that was exactly Dr. Achtel’s attitude.

Dr. Achtel also said that Oliver was eating and playing and did not act as if he was in pain. He just could not believe the resiliency of kittens. We discovered the same thing, however, back in April with our little Bean Bag, who also had a broken jaw from being hit in the face with a blunt object. Bean Bag tried to carry a ball around in his mouth and ate like a champ. Dr. West’s test for euthanasia is always if they will eat, she will not put them to sleep. Both Bean Bag and Oliver passed the test.

Lisa sent me photos of Oliver, not knowing that I had already seen the clinical pictures Dr. Achtel took. She told me that she was taking him back to Noah’s Ark this Friday and that he had been on the antibiotics, which were helping to heal his other scrapes and cuts.

She told me, “Oliver is absolutely the sweetest thing and has the biggest heart. You’d never know he was even in pain. He just wants to snuggle and love and play. I attached some pictures of him for you. As you can see in the pictures, he doesn’t have his mouth open, that’s just his exposed jaw where his skin was ripped away. His other cuts and scraps are healing nicely. He got a little bath this weekend so he’s looking less shabby!”

Bless Lisa and her mom for caring for this guy. I am continually ashamed at what we humans do to animals, but equally restored in my faith in our goodness by people like Lisa and her mom and the wonderful veterinarians we work with. I am also always amazed that cats so easily forgive and love us.

I’ll keep everyone posted on Oliver, but please send lots of good thoughts his way.

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!

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.

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Noah’s Ark Veterinary Hospital will be celebrating their official grand opening the week of February 8-14. There will be tons of activities going on where you can meet the staff and tour the state-of-the-art facility. You can enter drawings to win free products and there will be a Lovable Adoptables Event for the Valentine’s weekend, featuring Colony Cats and the Franklin County Dog Shelter on Saturday the 13th from 12-6 pm and Columbus Dog Connection and Black and Orange Cat Foundation from 10 am-4 pm on Sunday the 14th.

Tours will be available every day from 8 am-6 pm. On Tuesday, February 9, beginning at 2 pm, the Dublin K9 unit will be performing demonstrations.

To keep up on all the activities during their grand opening, visit Noah’s Ark web site: http://noahsarkvethosp.com/

Noah’s Ark is open Monday to Friday 8 am-6 pm and Saturday from 8 am-12 pm. However, they offer after hours emergency care 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. If you have an emergency, just call the office, which is staffed after hours, and a vet will meet you to take care of your pet. Their number is 614-761-8400.

The office is located in Muirfield Square at the corner of Muirfield and Memorial Drives, 6001 Memorial Drive, in Dublin. They feature laser surgery, digital radiology, dental services, ultrasound, acupuncture, and super, friendly service from their wonderful staff and veterinarians. 

To read more about them, and to receive 50% off your first office visit, click on the “client letter” below. When you bring it up, click on it again to enlarge it to read. You can then print it out to get the discount for your first visit.

client letter

We will see you on Valentine’s Day from 10-6 and we hope you will find your sweetheart from among our kitties!

Noah's Ark Veterinary Hospital, 6001 Memorial Drive in Muirfield

Noah's Ark Veterinary Hospital, 6001 Memorial Drive in Muirfield

We (meaning me and all the rescue cats, as well as my own kitten clan) are so excited! A new vet hospital, Noah’s Ark, is going to be opening up in Muirfield, just ten minutes from our house. But that is not why we are so exuberant. We are having kitten fits, because one of our most favorite vets in the whole world, Dr. Kim West, is going to be one of the four vets on staff there!

Today, after a late lunch, Joe and I decided to try to locate the vet hospital. I did a mapquest for it on my phone and within minutes, we were pulling into the parking lot of a small plaza in the heart of Muirfield–just centimeters from the golf course that made Dublin, Ohio nearly as famous as its Irish counterpart.  The plaza contained an eye doctor as well as a pediatrician and several other service type shops. And there, at the front of the plaza, visible from the road, was the vet hospital, which looks like it was renovated from what used to be an old bank (I say that, because there is the remnant of a drive up window, which is now going to provide an access door for emergency animals. This entrance will allow very sick or injured animals to be brought in through the back rather than the main lobby).

Of course, because I wanted to let everyone know about the new vet hospital, which is going to be extremely rescue friendly, I had to make Joe pull up so I could take a few photos. Unbeknownst to me, a large portion of the staff, including Dr. West, was inside wondering who the crazy person was taking pictures. When Dr. West realized it was me, she had to run out and say hello, before inviting us in for a tour of the building.

The hospital is awesome. There are separate exam and surgery rooms for the cats and dogs, keeping the cats completely away from the canine patients to reduce their fear levels. Everything is state of the art and looks really nice. Even better, the facility is going to be a 24 hour emergency  hospital. This will make it so much closer to go for emergencies rather than trudging half an hour over to MedVet in Worthington.

Noah’s Ark is being set up by Renee Kelly, a lady who is no stranger to rescue, having been the fearless leader of The Forgotten Persian Rescue and Friends for many, many years. I have worked with Renee on several rescue issues in the past. My dad has transported Persian kitties to her in Marysville. Renee was also one of the founding forces for some of the first spay and neuter programs at the Union County Humane Society.

Noah’s Ark is located at 6001 Memorial Drive in Dublin, Ohio in the heart of Muirfield Village. The phone number is 614-761-8400. They plan to be open in the very near future and we will keep you updated on the progress. We will definitely be using them for B and O!

To learn more about The Forgotten Persian Rescue and Friends, visit: http://www.persianrescue.net/

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