Saving the best for last

I have been fostering cats (usually mom cats and kittens) for a decade and I have lots of friends who also foster. We have discussed from time to time how impossible it is to predict which cats will be adopted first and which will wait.

CHARLOTTE & AMELIACharlotte came to me from Red Lake Rosie's Rescue with a belly full of kittens, ticks in her coat and a BB in her butt. I took care of the ticks right away, she had four lovely kittens in just a few days and the BB was removed when she was spayed.

CHARLOTTEFrom that humble beginning, she came to be a favorite at my house. When friends stop by they can't believe I still have her because she is so great-- quiet, friendly, pretty. She is a medium-sized gray tuxedo cat with round green eyes set in her very round face. She is patient with me when I am too busy, but adores some alone time for petting.

AMELIAAmelia is Charlotte's daughter from that last batch of kittens. She is full-grown and possibly a little bigger than her mom. She must take after her Dad's side of the family because she has the long legs, angular features and almond-shaped eyes of the Oriental breed. Her dilute calico coat is super soft and she is a snuggler without shame.

I'm so anxious for them to find their permanent, perfect home. The longer they stay, the more I love them, but I want to continue to foster so I can't adopt. Their photos don't do them justice; they often blink for the camera, but they are both very beautiful with beautiful souls. I hope you or someone you know may be looking for a cat just like one or both of them!

The good news is that when the right adopters come along, the waiting is all worthwhile. January is the biggest month for adoption of cats. My theory is that people are looking for a loving companion after the stress of the Holidays. Whatever the reason, my fingers are crossed that the time is near for my dear Charlotte and Amelia.

See our website (www.redlakerosie.org) for more information about adoptions or contact me directly at blog@redlakerosie.org.

Denise

Gentle Giant

During the August MN SNAP clinic, we ran the Ponemah shuttle to pick up animals to be neuter/spayed. On August 22nd shuttle, 2 male shepherds were surrendered. We named them Major and Captain. Both dogs were intact, malnourished, and suffering from mange and hair loss. They soon were off to the clinic and there began a process of healing and restoration.

Major was a large-boned german shepherd, and at first was quite subdued and lethargic. He was neutered and vaccinated and began treatment with ivermectin, revolution, and lots of great food and clean water. We soon discovered a bad case of diarrhea and began a treatment for giardia as well. Major was literally a rack of bones, and looked rather hopeless, but proved once again that when given a chance the animals in the worst shape will heal and become the beautiful creatures they were meant to be. We should not let first impressions deceive us.

On arrival Major weighed in at 58 pounds. Well, needless to say Major LOVED to eat and in particular all the great food we get at the shelter. Soon the sparse hair grew in thick and shiny and Major gained at least 42 pounds. His personality shined through and he came to be know as the Gentle Giant. He was a very playful and happy guy. He had many friends at the shelter, and I personally grew to love this big boy very much.

After 4 months at the RLRR shelter, Major left on Saturday, January 7th in the backseat of Mike and Lauren's car enroute to the care of Patti at Second Hand Dogs. It was hard to let him go, but again this was only the first part of his journey.

Thank you to all our supporters and volunteers who make this new life possible for a great animal, who otherwise would be deceased today. It makes it all worthwhile.

Karen

Sully: Post-surgery

NOTE FROM FOSTER:
Sully's surgery went really well!!!!!

I wrapped him snugly in a blanket and brought him home late this afternoon. He was wimpering so pitifully, as though he wanted me to know he did not have a good day; however, he has no idea of the new wonders that await him in the near future.

He has a serious medication regimen, and the next two weeks are crucial, but he is already wandering, eating a little, and trying to scratch his cone off. He is supposed to rest quietly for two weeks, no steps, running, jumping off furniture or rough playing. I set up a bed for him in a spare bedroom, but he cried and and almost scratched the door down. He's not used to being alone, so I just bring his little bed wherever I go or hold him on my lap, like I'm doing right now. We go back for a check up tomorrow.

Time for another round of eye drops & pills. He really is a tough little sport. How lucky for Sully that Karen was there to rescue him and give him the start to a whole new life.

Crystal

NOTE FROM KAREN:
Oh Crystal- bless you for your great love and care for Sully!! He could never get that from me, and now let's pray he has sight restoration.

Thank you to the Denise and Dee Dee, too, for the blog and the fundraising efforts!!

HURRAY for SULLY!!A great success!

Karen

Sully has eye surgery today

NOTE FROM FOSTER:
Here are some pictures of Sully playing with some of his friends, former Red Lake dogs some of you might recognize. Sometimes Sully gets confused and ends up by himself, but most of the time he is right in the middle of the fun. Every day he seems to become more sure of himself, stronger, and more energetic.

Tuesday, January 10th is the big day when little Sully will have his eye surgery. I am very excited. Hopefully everything will go as predicted and our little guy will be on his way to recovering vision in his right eye. A huge huge thank you goes out to all of you who so generously sent in donations and made this surgery a reality.

I have been treating Sully's eyes with drops twice a day in preparation for the operation,and there will be a recovery period where Sully will need to wear the cone and rest quietly. He will have a few post op visits, including one the day following his surgery.

Sully is such a gentle happy spirit, easy to work with, easy to love. I will post an update after the surgery.

Sully thanks you all for thinking about him and sending up positive wishes and prayers for the best results possible.

Crystal

Remember Eddie?

At a Red Lake clinic back in the spring of 2010...

"SPECIAL ED
Special Ed's family brought 2 other dogs in and when a volunteer was helping them get the dogs out of the car, the volunteer asked about the pup. The owners said nah, he's too young and the other dogs had just attacked him. They had to talk them into letting him get checked out and neutered. It wasn't until examination that they learned that he had a deformity to his skull.

COCONUT HELMET FOR SPECIAL EDEd had a puncture wound on top of his head and, upon further examination, Dr. Roni discovered he has a soft spot on his head and his skull is separated halfway down his nose. They will be building him a helmet to prevent further injuries--the coconut shell was just a joke :-) Unfortunately he will need to be in a helmet for the rest of his life, but, on the bright side, vet tech Lindsay from Akin Hills Animal Hospital plans to care for him in her own home!"

Eddie was about to get even luckier. He was featured on the blog in 2010 and 2011 as "Casey" with his three dog siblings in their Christmas photo card.

Then Karen received a note from Eddie/Casey's adopter, Tammy:

Just curious - do you know who Casey is? He was "Eddie"..the 3 month old puppy that had a puncture wound in his head, and they found out his skull wasn't completely formed yet. I think they termed it "fontanel", and he had to wear a coconut helmet! Well, he did for awhile, but not long - we couldn't keep it on him, and he didn't like it. So it was a matter of just careful monitoring of him with all the other dogs until it healed.

One other interesting thing about Casey - 80% of the time he has a stuffed animal in his mouth. He's either playing tug of war with Dylan or Phoenix, or just carrying it around. Most don't have stuffings - he tries to open a hole & pull out the stuffing as fast as he can!

I made the mistake of buying an indestructible squeaky toy. He loves to wake me up with that - and it truly is indestructible...what did I do? :)

Sure love these guys and girl - not sure what I'd do without them.

Thank you again!
Tammy

KAREN'S RESPONSE:
I remember Eddie at the clinic and had no idea he was Casey. Wow!! THANK YOU for taking such great care of him!

Karen :)

CASEY

Golden Nugget for the New Year

UPDATE FROM ADOPTER:
Check it out, Nugget's tongue through her bone with cool glasses on!

What a year!!! One year ago New Year's eve, we got to bring home Nugget.

She is a wonderful addition to the family. She loves playing outside with the kids. Chasing butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, & blowing leaves are her favorite things to do when she is outside.

Nugget loves going camping with the family.

Inside she loves chewing on her squeaky toy and devouring her bones.
THANKS all of you who volunteer at Rosies!!! Without you we would not have Nugget in our life.

What a life!!!

Check out Nugget from post last March. Looks to me like her body caught up to her ears, but her legs just kept growing :-)

Precious Jewels

On December 12th, Red Lake Rosie's Rescue got a call from Ponemah about a stray very pregnant shepherd mix I named Pearl. Sarah made the call and asked for RLRR to come to Ponemah and pick up Pearl, as she was about to give birth to puppies, and she had no shelter.

Kathy and Karen responded and went the next day to find a very lovely nice girl with her belly practically dragging on the ground. She was very small built and very friendly. When the plea went out for a foster home, All Dog Rescue responded right away and all we needed was a ride for her.

Thankfully, Nancy Blanck answered the call and came from the metro loaded down with food and supplies on Friday, December 16th. Nancy worked in the cathouse and helped with the dogs and left the following morning with Pearl (renamed Jewels) riding shotgun in the front seat looking like a giant pumpkin. Jewels went to her foster mom Shelly for All Dog. Also riding out were 2 puppies enroute to Tricounty and one injured dog to Act V.

NANCYWe are so thankful that we have transporters that drop everything and come to help the animals. Also for the rescues and shelters that take the animals and help them on to a new life.

RIDING SHOTGUNPearl/Jewels got out just in time to give birth to her puppies in the comfort of Shelly's care on Thursday, December 22nd.

Thank you all!
Sincerely, Karen and RLRR

JEWELS (fka PEARL) AND NEWBORN PUPSUPDATE FROM FOSTER HOME:
Hi Karen
I just wanted to update you on Pearl (I am calling her Jewels since I had previously had a foster dog named Pearl).

She delivered 10 babies last night. The 10th was somewhat of a surprise. The vet x-rayed her on Monday and said there were nine babies. After she delivered the 9th one, we waited a while and, when it appeared all was done, we cleaned up her whelping box and then finally went to bed. Well, to our surprise, she delivered a 10th after we went to bed. Sadly, that one did not make it. In all, she had 6 boys, 4girls (one of the boys died).

The girls are named Ruby, Jade, Opal and Coral.
The boys are named Heatley, Setoguchi (Guchi for short), DJ, Colton and Warren.

TWO DAYS OLDI have attched a picture from this morning. You can't see all the pups (one is hiding under her rear leg) but you get a glimpse anyway. We will weigh them and take individual shots later today.

All seem to be doing well. Jewels ate this morning and went out to potty so I think she is feeling a bit better to not be carrying that load any more.

They are pretty big pups for how many there were and given that Jewels is not a huge dog herself. She weighed 55 pounds on Monday before delivery. She now probably weighs between 40-45 pounds. The smallest pup, Jade, weighed 11.6 ounces, the largest pup, Ruby, weighed 15.4 ounces. They all weigh between 29.5 ounces and 35.2 ounces. In all, as of today (Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012) we have a total of 17.83 pounds of puppy! All of them are gaining about 2-3 ounces a day.

ELEVEN DAYS OLDJewels is a very good mama! She is so friendly to all the visitors that have come to see the cute little ones. We are blessed to have her here with us. This is only the second litter we have had in our home and my husband seems to think he wants to be a canine midwife now! Oh dear! Sounds like trouble.

Shelley, Craig and Jewels
All Dog Rescue
www.alldogmn.org