The Animals' Stories Page 3
 

Pups, pups, and more pups!

In February we got a call, from Earlswood Vets in Belfast. Four 10-day-old pups had been left in and they asked us if we could take them in. They were so cute, we couldn’t refuse. They were supposed to be lurcher crosses but looked more like sheep dog and Labrador crosses.

Because they were so young, they had to be bottle-fed. Everything went all right for a few weeks but then one of them, little Asterix, got very ill. We rushed him to the vet who put a drip into him as he was cold and dehydrated and tried to warm him up. He gave him back to us to take him home but sadly, he died shortly afterwards. The vet had warned us to expect it, as he didn’t think his stomach had formed properly. It was extremely sad as he was a beautiful little character. Thankfully, though, his three brothers survived, Aero –a chocolate brown Labrador look alike, Apollo – a small brown and white pup resembling a Springer Spaniel and Zeus – big, fluffy and very much like a sheep dog. All three were successfully homed after getting their first vaccinations.

More pups came our way in May, this time there were eight of the little beasties. They had been dumped in a cardboard box at the Donegal border. Assisi animal sanctuary phoned us to see if we could accept even a few of them as they were inundated. We were having the same problem, being full of mothers and kittens, but we managed to take some in ourselves and get fosterers for the others.

Five of them looked like terrier/Labrador crosses, two were beige coloured and had a hint of German Shepherd about them and one had the distinctive tan paws of a Rottweiller or Doberman. Amazingly, seven were females with only one male.

We never realised how easy it was to look after cats and kittens in comparison to pups. They may have been cute but they were loud and cute and so bouncy and full of energy they nearly knocked us over every feeding time. But that’s for their new owners to cope with now as they have all been re-homed, the last two of which were homed together so none of them were left on their own. So a very noisy, exhausting, but fun-filled month came to a successful end.

In Memoriam: In memory of little Asterix, whose short time with us gave us so much pleasure. May his playful spirit live on in his three brothers.

Sunny and Cloud

Two of the most adorable kittens you are ever likely to see, came to us at the end of October. They were only three weeks old and had been abandoned at Farmhill vets in Carrickfergus. As this is one of our regular vets, they called us to see if we could care for them. We immediately agreed and went down to collect them.

 The instant we saw them we found them irresistible. They were heart-breakingly beautiful. One was a bright orange tabby, the other was a gorgeous grey. The orange one we called Sunshine, the other, because it was such a fluffy bundle of grey, we called Cloud. For ones so small they could really make a noise when they were hungry, which basically was all the time.

Cloud, in particular, was a greedy little beastie. Every time it was Sunshine’s turn to be fed, she would claw her way up and try to nudge her sister away from the bottle. Sunshine, though, was having none of it and stood her ground, clinging on to the bottle like a cat possessed.
Not surprisingly, everyone who saw them, wanted to take them. But they already had their names down for a home. When the lady who wanted Mars, one of our other rescue cats, came up to collect her, her friend came with her and fell in love with Cloud and Sunny. She had no hesitation in putting her name for them. Although, at first she only wanted one, she couldn’t choose between them because both were equally cute. The only solution, of course, was to take both.
It was coming up to Christmas when they were eventually ready to move to their new home.

Although it was sad to see them go, we knew they would have a great life with this new family. In fact, by coincidence, we saw them at the vets again when they were brought up for their second vaccination and we were there with another rescue cat. They had grown quite a bit but still maintained that cute factor that made everyone that saw them fall in love with them.
It was great to see them again and it certainly brightened up our day. No doubt they will bring a little ray of sunshine to their new family as well.

Sweep

In the summer, the PDSA animal hospital in Belfast contacted us regarding a dog that had been abandoned with them, asking if we could take it in. After seeing her, we couldn’t say no.
 She was a 6 month old black and white Jack Russell. Thankfully, she had not yet been the victim of the abhorrent practice of tail docking. Because of this, she was lucky enough to be sporting a wonderful specimen – long, fluffy and arching. It was because of her magnificent tail she was named sweep, because every time she wagged it swept majestically through the air.

She was very affectionate and fun-loving and we soon found her a home. Unfortunately, due her demanding so much attention and being quite possessive of her new owner, she didn’t get on with the other Jack Russell of the household. Emotionally distraught, the owner reluctantly had to give her up.

Luckily, we had a few people on our waiting list who wanted a small dog and she was re-homed almost immediately. The new owner took her directly from the first owner’s home, so she didn’t have to go through any additional stress coming back to us first.

So little Sweep had swept some else of their feet. This time, though, she has settled in and is doing well and, because there are no other animals in the household, she really is top dog.

The Cat, The Geese and the Very Big Badgers

This tale starts with a phone call from a gentleman who lived just outside Carrickfergus. A stray tortoiseshell cat had followed him home but he couldn’t bring it in because of his dog. Could we possibly come and get it? Of course, we could. But in life, nothing is ever that simple.

Catching the cat was the easy part. It followed us up the lane, staying by our heels as if it was a dog and without any problem whatsoever let us put it in the cat box. It was only after we took it to the vets that we encountered the problems. The cat had given birth very recently. We hadn’t been able to tell this at the time because we had lifted it from a country lane in near total darkness. Obviously, we now had to take her back and try to locate her kittens.

When we got back, we let the cat out of the box and she trotted up the dirt track to an old barn. We searched around for twenty minutes or so with a torch but could find no evidence that kittens had ever been there. When we came out, there was the cat, heading off up another path. This time we tracked her to a derelict house.

We managed to crawl through a small opening and, with slight trepidation, made our way through the house. To say it was eerie was an understatement. With nobody living anywhere nearby and the torchlight spawning looming shadows in every room, we felt somewhat uneasy.
The cat eventually went to an old cupboard in the bedroom and began meowing incessantly as if trying to tell us that, that is where her kittens were. Unfortunately, if they were ever there, they had gone by now. We spent another 30 minutes exploring the ruins of the house but sadly, there was no sign of her litter.

On the way out, we noticed another building around the back and went to investigate. On sliding open the door, we were amazed and somewhat startled, to find a flock of geese emerge and charge to wards us. We quickly closed the door and headed back towards the path, the cat still in tow. We were to learn later that a farmer occasionally housed his geese in the abandoned outbuilding.

Our adventure wasn’t quite over, however. After putting the cat back in the box, we were heading down the path when there was a disturbance in the bushes. Two large shapes lurched out and on to the grass verge and bounded towards us. At first we thought we were going to get mauled by two wild dogs but when we shone the torch on them we could see they were two enormous badgers. It was little comfort as an angry badger could probably do as much damage to you as any dog. Thankfully, they bolted past us and disappeared into the darkness.

And so the adventure came to an end. It was sad that neither we, nor the little cat, could find the kittens but it least we had the mother. And it was a happy ending for her. ‘Trinity’ as she was named, very quickly found a home with not a badger or a goose in sight.

The Igloo Cat

Iggy, so called because of her proclivity for hiding in her igloo all the time, came to us from Whitehead. Initially, she was very temperamental. One moment she would let you stroke her, the next she would paw at you to leave her in peace. She also seemed quite fussy when eating.

After a visit to the vets, however, all became clear. She wasn’t bad tempered at all. The poor girl just had a really bad mouth infection. A short course of antibiotics later and she was a completely different cat. Now, when our trustee went into feed her, she would jump up, start rubbing her nose into his face and start licking his neck. She really became a little sweetie.

It proves, once again, that new owners need to give their cat time to settle in. It may be that the cat is not ill-tempered, just ill or it may be it’s very timid and needs time and space to feel more confident. You simply cannot judge an animal after having it for only a day or two. Patience in an owner is essential.

Iggy, who came from one seaside town, is now living in another. She has since been re-homed in Bangor where she will hopefully continue to be as affectionate as ever.
 

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