This beautiful beagle is June, a 1 year old who surprised her parents with an unplanned pregnancy.
For those who don’t know, dogs are pregnant for roughly 63 days. Like people, dogs go through three trimesters, but their trimesters are about 21 days long. In the first few weeks of pregnancy, your dog will seem like her normal self, although she may gain some weight. Your pet may seem tired, and she may eat less than usual. Some dogs throw up a little, kind of like morning sickness in people. If you think your dog is pregnant, take her to the vet. And, if you do not want your dog to become pregnant, the best thing to do is to spay her. Spaying your female dog (or cat) also helped keep them healthy – it prevents uterine infections and cancers, as well as breast cancer. June went into labor a week earlier than anticipated. Her labor began around 5 am, and when 10:30 am rolled around and there were no puppies born, June’s mom rushed her to the vet clinic. The vet found a baby stuck in the birth canal, so June had to have an emergency C-section, and was also spayed to avoid future accidental litters. June's dad is the only income for their family of three, and this unplanned circumstance was more than what the family could afford, so they reached out to Fur Kids Foundation for help. Their family had this to say on our Facebook page: Because of you guys this little momma made it through an emergency C-section healthy and all five puppies are healthy. It was and shock to our little family to have to have it done but fur kids sure helped and made the process more exciting rather than stressful! Thank you! Fur Kids Foundation is grateful for the dedication of our volunteers and supporters who have helped local families stay happy and healthy, and together! If you would like to help Fur Kids Foundation continue to help families in Campbell County, Wyoming with animals, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. The money helps families during a time when they may not be able to afford adequate veterinary care. Check out more Success Stories.
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Riff Raff is a 10-year-old, 10 pound Chihuahua with a responsible pet dad. His dad had recently brought Riff Raff into his vet clinic for a kennel cough vaccination.
Afterward, Riff Raff had quite a cough, so his dad reached out to the vet to make sure his cherished pup was OK. Thinking it was a side effect of the vaccine, the vet wanted to wait it out for a little while longer to see if it would go away. Unfortunately, the cough persisted, so Riff Raff was taken back to the vet for a full examination where they discovered that Riff Raff had fluid around his lungs, which is a sign of pneumonia, and a collapsed trachea! Poor Riff Raff really wasn’t feeling too great. A persistent or wet cough is one sign of pneumonia in dogs, however, if your dog shows some of the following signs, it’s best to take him to the vet: Difficulty breathing, loud breathing, or rapid breathing
According to PetWave, Pneumonia can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, internal parasites and other substances that get into the lungs when a dog breathes them in. Young puppies and old dogs are the most common targets of pneumonia. Riff Raff’s dad is on disability and receives a limited income, so all of these vet visits were making it hard for him to cover his bills. So, he reached out to Fur Kids Foundation and we were happy to grant him the money. We also learned that another very generous client at the vet clinic helped Riff Raff’s dad cover the remaining portion of his bill. Riff Raff is now making a full recovery. Fur Kids Foundation is grateful for the dedication of our volunteers and supporters who have helped local families stay happy and healthy, and together! If you would like to help Fur Kids Foundation continue to help families in Campbell County, Wyoming with animals, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. The money helps families during a time when they may not be able to afford adequate veterinary care. Check out more Success Stories. This orange cutie pie is Sparky, a 4-month-old kitten who had an unfortunate run-in with a neighborhood dog who somehow managed to sneak into Sparky’s house. While in the house, this neighborhood dog fractured Sparky’s leg. If your cat has broken a bone, they will most likely:
Based on Sparky’s age, and the severity of the break, the vet decided that Sparky’s best option for a quality life was to amputate the leg. Sparky’s dad has been laid off from work since September, and while he is searching hard for work, he knew he couldn’t afford to cover the cost of Sparky’s emergency veterinary care. Sparky’s dad loves his kitty very much, so he reached out to Fur Kids Foundation for help, and we were there to help. Now this duo can continue to play games, watch movies and sleep together like they had been. Fur Kids Foundation is grateful for the dedication of our volunteers and supporters who have helped local families stay happy and healthy, and together! If you would like to help Fur Kids Foundation continue to help families in Campbell County, Wyoming with animals, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. The money helps families during a time when they may not be able to afford adequate veterinary care. Check out more Success Stories. Fur Kids Foundation had so much fun on Saturday, December 10 for the CCFD & FKF Holiday Photo session! The station and parking lot were jam packed with people, pets, and vehicles for the full two hours of the event.
We'd like to thank you all for coming out and participating in such a great event. Overall we raised over $554 in just two hours, splitting the funds between both organizations. It was an amazing accomplishment by everyone. The pictures have been posted on the Fur Kids Foundation Facebook page, so please feel free to tag and share your pictures - and share the pictures you took with us! Facebook has a mind of its own when these photos were posted, so be sure to go through the whole album to see your pictures as they may not all be clustered together. Thank you again for supporting Fur Kids Foundation and Campbell County Fire Department! Donna Crippen
The Fur Kids Foundation board of directors want to give a huge shout out to Donna Crippen as the November 2016 Volunteer of the Month! Donna joined Fur Kids Foundation the end of July, and was primarily interested in helping us with event promotion, planning, raising money and even some grant writing. She’s literally leapt right into helping us out! She volunteered for our Scoop the Poop event in August, then for the Pooch Plunge, Pet-A-Palooza and our November Ladies Night Out! She’s also been the organizer for our upcoming event with the Campbell County Fire Department – Holiday Photos. Donna is an animal lover and she said she has seen and heard a lot about the Foundation (and the good that it does for the community) and she wants to be a part of it – we're sure happy to hear that. She even participated in our May-June pet photo contest for our 2017 Pet Calendar, and helped the Foundation raise $3,400! Donna is also the chair for the Donkey Creek Festival and the chair of the Gillette Area Leadership Institute, of which four board members have all graduated from – so she's a dedicated member of our community. Donna, we greatly appreciate all that you’ve done for the Foundation. Thank you for approaching us with new and different ideas, and helping out as much as you can. We are so grateful that you joined our pack! We’re always posting how pawsome our volunteers are, and we sincerely mean it. If you have seen a volunteer go above and beyond, please contact us! In November 2016, Fur Kids Foundation had 14 families apply for assistance, and we were able to help 11 of those families—for a total of $1,872.70 given in aid. This is the first year that the Foundation has gone over its emergency veterinary care budget in order to help families in Campbell County, Wyoming. Below is a rundown of the cases we provided assistance to:
We are grateful for the dedication of Fur Kids Foundation volunteers and supporters who have helped these families stay happy and healthy, and together! When you volunteer, attend an event, or help us raise money by supporting the businesses who support us with promotions, these families are who you are helping. Thank you again for all that you do for the Foundation, and for families with pets in Campbell County, Wyoming. Please take a minute to check out our Success Stories and read more about the families with pets that we help. The Fur Kids Foundation board of directors works very hard to make sure that the majority of the money we raise helps local families; in 2016, nearly 75% of the money we have raised was spent on emergency veterinary care. Please consider a donation to help Fur Kids Foundation continue to help families stay healthy and happy in Campbell County, Wyoming. Did you know that your cat's tail is an extension of his spine; however, it is naturally more flexible. A cat's tail is used to help them balance as well as communicate to other cats.
Well, poor Kitty Button managed to really hurt his tail. This adorable 4-year-old Main Coon/Manx/Siamese mix cat is utterly adored by his family. They were very upset when he came home recently with a large amount of his tail exposed. A cat’s tail can be broken or damaged in numerous ways – sometimes simply by being pulled or caught in a door. If the injury is severe enough, amputation may be necessary, so a vet visit is recommended. While Kitty Button’s family isn’t sure what he may have gotten his tail caught in, they knew it needed attention immediately—Kitty Button was in pain, and his family didn't want the tail to get an infection. So, they took him to the vet immediately, where his tail was amputated. Kitty Button comes from a family of four, with only one person working at this time, so they reached out to Fur Kids Foundation for help with his emergency vet visit. We’ve received a great post on our Facebook page from Kitty Button’s mom: “Thanks to the Fur Kids Foundation, my older daughter has her Cat, Kitty Button who sleeps with her every night and waits for her every day when she gets home from school!” And, we got a nice thank you email: “Kitty Button is doing very well with adapting to having his tail amputated. He’s definitely more needy, and has been staying in the house more, but I'm sure he'll make a full recovery. He’s gotten closer to my older daughter, and prefers to stay in her room with her at night and also when she leaves for school.” If you’re a cat owner, you may already know that cats are masters of hiding pain. If your cat is showing any of the following, he’s likely in some kind of pain, and should see a vet:
You can read more about the tell-tail signs of pain in cats in this PetMD article, How to know when a cat is hurting. Fur Kids Foundation is grateful for the dedication of our volunteers and supporters who have helped local families stay happy and healthy, and together! If you would like to help Fur Kids Foundation continue to help families in Campbell County, Wyoming with animals, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. The money helps families during a time when they may not be able to afford adequate veterinary care. Check out more Success Stories. Apollo is a 3-year-old pit bull/boxer/lab mix who decided to get a little rambunctious in his kennel—in the laundry room. While he was wrestling around in his kennel, Apollo somehow knocked the laundry detergent down, causing it to leak into his kennel. What does Apollo the curious decide to do? He decided to eat it—a lot of it.
If you pet ingests laundry detergent in pod or liquid/powder form, contact your veterinarian or a poison control hotline immediately, (800) 222-1222. Laundry detergents contain chemicals called ionic and anionic surfactants, and while small ingestions of these substances, such as a lick of a small spill, generally cause only drooling and/or retching, larger ingestions can cause larger issues. This Vet Street article--Why Laundry Detergent, Pods Are Dangerous to Pets—has some great information about this subject: The most commonly seen clinical sign with detergent ingestion is vomiting. One problem with detergent is that it is foamy; when the animal vomits, the foam can be inhaled into the lungs. In the worst cases, the soap coats the airways and hinders oxygen exchange in the lungs, causing animals to suffocate. More commonly it can cause coughing, difficulty breathing and inflammation of the lung tissues. Gagging and retching are also common, due to irritation in the back of the throat. His dad just started a new job and received his first paycheck the same day Apollo decided to make this not-so-wise decision. With rent, insurance, and his own medical bills adding up—and not a full two-week worth of hours on his paycheck—Apollo’s dad knew he couldn't afford an emergency vet bill, but loosing Apollo wasn’t an option. Apollo had to stay the night at the vet to be monitored as well as have fluids flushed through him, but now he is on the mend; and hopefully doesn’t have a taste for laundry detergent anymore. After Fur Kids Foundation helped Apollo and his dad, we received a thank you message: “Thank you and the FKF for everything. It really truly makes me feel better knowing that there are good-hearted people in the world.” Fur Kids Foundation is happy we were able to help this family stay together. Fur Kids Foundation is grateful for the dedication of our volunteers and supporters who have helped local families stay happy and healthy, and together! If you would like to help Fur Kids Foundation continue to help families in Campbell County, Wyoming with animals, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. The money helps families during a time when they may not be able to afford adequate veterinary care. Check out more Success Stories. This is the story of little Lucifer, who went out for a day on the town and may have fallen into a little bit of trouble—the 2-year-old unaltered cat returned home with a very deep cut under his tail.
Cats who spend time outdoors are more susceptible to cuts and scrapes than cats who spend their time indoors. Why? They may tussle with other cats, or even dogs or squirrels. They can also run into sharp objects or suffer scrapes and bruises that come with the habit of squeezing through tight spaces. Very small scrapes or cuts on your cat will usually heal on their own without human intervention. However, if your cat has a deep cut, keep an eye on the wound site and watch for signs of swelling, redness, or oozing occurs, as that means it’s time to seek the help of a veterinarian. Because Lucifer’s cut was very deep, his family decided it was best to take him to the vet. There, the wound was cleaned, and he was given some antibiotics and the dreaded cone of shame. (Yowl!) Lucifer comes from a family of four, and his father’s hours had been cut back at work; the family wasn’t able to afford the emergency care that he needed. So, they reached out to Fur Kids Foundation for help. Lucifer is now making a full recovery; and still likely up to no good. While serious injuries like Lucifer’s should be seen by a veterinarian, minor scrapes can be treated at home. If you’re your cat’s cut isn’t too deep PetCareRX has a great article, How to treat a cat’s wound, which gives you step-by-step instructions on how to treat minor scrapes from home. Fur Kids Foundation board members believe that one very important way to keep pets healthy is to spay and neuter them. Neutering a male pet helps to prevent aggression, roaming, urine marking, and a variety of other unwanted male behaviors. Cats can be fixed at any time during their life span. Your veterinarian can address any concerns there might be about performing the procedure. Spay or neuter your pet for a healthy and happy life. It’s really that simple. Fur Kids Foundation is grateful for the dedication of our volunteers and supporters who have helped local families stay happy and healthy, and together! If you would like to help Fur Kids Foundation continue to help families in Campbell County, Wyoming with animals, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. The money helps families during a time when they may not be able to afford adequate veterinary care. Check out more Success Stories. |
Welcome to the Fur Kids Foundation blog archive that features inspiring stories of pets and people! Get inspired by these amazing furry tales of recovery and hope! All because someone like YOU cared.
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