For Better or Worse, In Sickness and In Health

I hope you are all enjoying summer with your friends and family, especially the furry ones! Because, as we so often say, they are our family and our best friends. They take us as we are and are utterly committed to us, no matter what. And we do the same with them for them, for better or worse, in sickness and health. So I want to talk a little about some of commitments we’ve made to some of the lovely pets here in our care.

If you haven’t met Atlas, just imagine if your favorite, most comforting stuffed animal toy as a child came to life and grew to 80 pounds, and you get close to what it’s like to be around Atlas. He’s a big guy with a big heart, gentle and simple. Unfortunately with Atlas, as we often see in the human world, those least deserving of trials and tribulations seem to get an extra share sometimes. Atlas’s story, as far back as we can trace it, begins with him being found stray in Florida in late 2016. At that point, he had already been through some hard times, as evidenced by the scarred and hairless spots on his back and side. But his gentle manner came through and an effort was made to get him out of the high kill shelter he was in and into a rescue up north. He was taken in to a rescue in Connecticut, where they started to address some of his health concerns, which included an infection in his elbow. After several months, Our Companions was approached as another home that might be better suited to finding Atlas his forever family. We immediately got to work on his health issues and his persistent elbow infection. We started treatments that, after some time, seemed to clear things up, but before the course was complete, he came down with anaplasmosis, a tick borne illness that can be very serious. He was in rough shape for a while, but with daily attention, we were able to get him back on his feet. Which, of course, is when his elbow infection returned. We worked him through that again, only to then find a growth on his neck that turned out to be a thyroid cancer. He went through surgery for that a few weeks ago, after which, the oncologist said there was no need for any further treatment, just monitoring the site for any return. Which brings us up to right now, and yet another recurrence of his elbow infection. He’ll be having another surgery in a few days that will hopefully fix up his elbow for good. It’s been a long road for everyone’s favorite giant teddy bear.

 

Similarly, with the cats, we have a challenge of a different stripe by the name of Tabby. You’ll be seeing a big promotional push behind in the next couple of months, since Tabby has now been a resident here for almost four years. So what could earn a cat such a long tenure in our care? She’s been on a long journey to where she is today. Her nervous disposition reared its head in full force after coming to the sanctuary. She was no longer able to live with the people she knew her whole life, and as you can imagine that will make anyone upset. Arriving at the sanctuary, it was clear that she was not a confident cat. When she arrived in 2014, she spent most of her time hissing, trying to scratch and bite us, and obsessively over grooming. Many very brave volunteers “took the plunge” and spent time with her when she was ready for visitors, knowing full well that she was just very scared and confused. Gradually, and with abundant patience, staff and volunteers were able to inch their way closer on to her good side. Once Tabby realized that these humans could be just as pleasant as her old ones, she started to relax. Her mood improved through behavioral intervention and modifications to her room to calm her worried mind. Today, her core group of volunteers know that she’s just as sweet, lovable, and deserving of a good home as the rest of ’em. Since she has improved, there have been only a few incidents of her fearful aggression – a marked reduction from when she first got here! She loves to sit (or rather, stand) on our laps, and sleep next to us while giving us kisses. Currently, Tabby lives a quiet life in Jane’s Place, but, on our scale of Green, Yellow, and Red cats, is our only Red Cat. This makes it more of a challenge to get her the social time she needs, though the staff and our most experienced volunteers are always up for some Tabby snuggle time. Tabby has made immense progress here, but now it’s her time to move on to a home that can love her not in spite of her ups and downs, but because of them. A home that understands that this type of cat needs a second chance in life, and that even the cats with a troubled past can have hearts of gold. Her sensitive nature is going to make someone very happy when the right person comes along. They’ll know this cowardly lion is ready for a new start and a lap to call her own.

This is what we do at Our Companions. We take in the dogs and cats, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, and we make a commitment to be there for them, in every way.