Adoption fees and the lives it changes

If you've ever happened into a shelter or a Petsmart, Petco or any other any other place thinking about adopting a cat, do you balk at the price? Do you say to yourself, "Gee... this price seems kinda high"? Does the price keep you from adopting a kitty? Let me tell you a story about one tough little girl, and perhaps it will explain where your money goes. Hopefully the story will be worth the price of admission... or adoption, as it were.

Lexi had the world stacked against her from the start. She was the runt of the litter. Her momma passed a few weeks after giving birth. We put her in a kennel with another momma and her kittens hoping the momma would adopt her and the other kittens would accept her as one of their own. No matter how hard we tried, the new momma and her kittens just rejected poor Lexi right from the start. She just huddled up in a little ball, so scared because the others would hiss at her and swat her little head. It seemed nobody wanted her. That is... except for us.

The next thing going against her was the she was a Failure To Thrive kitten. She was very sick for quite a long time. She couldn't put on any weight, nor would she grow in size. The picture above is Lexi at 10 weeks old, which is easily one-third the size of what she should have been.

There were times we would have to force feed her thru a syringe. As time went on, she got sicker. She became dehydrated and it almost killed her. I went home many nights wondering if she would make it thru the night, and saying my prayers that God would help us help her. The things we put her thru would have made just about any person give up. She never gave up. Just as sweet as could be, she would cry from the pain of needles and medication, yet she also trusted us to do what we could.

It took a long time, a good deal of money (this is where the adoption price comes in) and a lot of love to get her where she needed to be. Slowly but surely she got better. She hardly grew in size, but her energy came back. Not too long after that she would play a little. After that, she started following us around and seemed to have endless energy - as a kitten should. She would purr this soft little sound, then come and take a quick bite out of your finger. We were having success!!! After another few weeks, she FINALLY started putting on some weight and growing. She was becoming a big girl now!!!

To end the story, she's all grown up. She's happy and healthy and has herself a wonderful loving home. The little girl who could barely stand, barely breath, and several times had us in tears pulled it all together - - and she's bright, shiny and beautiful.

So now... about that adoption fee. Your adoption fee helps you save the life your your newest bestest friend that you will be taking home with you, but also goes to save the lives of many other cats and kittens that have stories similar to Lexi's. The adoption fee helps everyone.

Instead of feeling sorry for a cat or kitten... adopt one!!!

Paul Zimmerman

Valentine's Day Tips

Click HERE for more information on how to

adopt Tabitha and her friends at Blistered Whiskers.

Blistered Whiskers wishes you and your furbabies a Happy Valentine's Day full of love! Follow these helpful tips from ASPCA on how to keep your pets safe during the Valentine's Day fun:

Valentine’s Day can be as much fun for pets as it is for humans if dangerous foods, flora and other items are kept out of paws’ reach. Each year our poison control experts see a rise in cases around February 14, many involving chocolate and lilies, a flower that’s potentially fatal to cats. So please heed our experts’ advice—don’t leave the goodies lying around on Lover’s Day.

Pet-Safe Bouquets
Many pet owners are still unaware that all species of lily are potentially fatal to cats. When sending a floral arrangement, specify that it contain no lilies if the recipient has a cat—and when receiving an arrangement, sift through and remove all dangerous flora. If your pet is suffering from symptoms such as stomach upset, vomiting or diarrhea, he may have ingested an offending flower or plant. Use our online toxic and nontoxic plant libraries as visual guides of what and what not should be in your bouquets.

Forbidden Chocolate
Seasoned pet lovers know the potentially life-threatening dangers of chocolate, including baker’s, semi sweet, milk and dark. In darker chocolates, methylxanthines—caffeine-like stimulants that affect gastrointestinal, neurologic and cardiac function—can cause vomiting/diarrhea, hyperactivity, seizures and an abnormally elevated heart rate. The high-fat content in lighter chocolates can potentially lead to a life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas. Go ahead and indulge, but don’t leave chocolate out for chowhounds to find.

Careful with Cocktails
Spilled wine, half a glass of champagne, some leftover liquor are nothing to cry over until a curious pet laps them up. Because animals are smaller than humans, a little bit of alcohol can do a lot of harm, causing vomiting, diarrhea, lack of coordination, central nervous system depression, tremors, difficulty breathing, metabolic disturbances and even coma. Potentially fatal respiratory failure can also occur if a large enough amount is ingested.

Life Is Sweet
So don’t let pets near treats sweetened with xylitol. If ingested, gum, candy and other treats that include this sweetener can result in a sudden drop in blood sugar known as hypoglycemia. This can cause your pet to suffer depression, loss of coordination and seizures.

Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Don’t let pets near roses or other thorny stemmed flowers. Biting, stepping on or swallowing their sharp, woody spines can cause serious infection if a puncture occurs. “It’s all too easy for pets to step on thorns that fall to the ground as a flower arrangement is being created,” says Dr. Louise Murray, Director of Medicine for the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital. De-thorn your roses far away from pets.

Playing with Fire
It’s nice to set your evening a-glow with candlelight, but put out the fire when you leave the room. Pawing kittens and nosy pooches can burn themselves or cause a fire by knocking over unattended candles.

Wrap it Up
Gather up tape, ribbons, bows, wrapping paper, cellophane and balloons after presents have been opened—if swallowed, these long, stringy and “fun-to-chew” items can get lodged in your pet’s throat or digestive tract, causing her to choke or vomit.

The Furry Gift of Life?
Giving a cuddly puppy or kitten may seem a fitting Valentine’s Day gift—however, returning a pet you hadn’t planned on is anything but romantic. Companion animals bring with them a lifelong commitment, and choosing a pet for someone else doesn’t always turn out right. Take a romantic trip to the local shelter together.

PetSmart Charities Petwalk

Hello to all our great volunteers and supporters! It's time to register for the 2nd Annual Petsmart Charities Petwalk, this will really be a fun day for all of us. The date is February 21st, 2010 at 1:00pm at Tempe Town Lake. We will have a booth there and will be promoting our organization. Blistered Whiskers will receive 100% of the money donated to our walkers.

How you can help:

-You can be a volunteer at our booth
-You can participate in the 1 mile walk
-You can participate in the 5 mile walk
-You can be a virtual walker
-You can sponsor a walker who is registered with us

Register at: www.mypetwalk.org

Look under Get Involved and click on Team Search, we are registered under Blistered Whiskers Inc. You add your name and email address and set a goal for yourself. There are flyers you can print off the site or you can get some at the shelter. The registration is free if you are under 18 years old, for those over the age of 18 there is a $25.00 registration fee. You can also track how much each rescue group has raised to date for their cause on this website.

This will be a really fun day and the largest animal related event in Arizona. Last year there were 8,000 walkers and 10,000 pets there with a total raised of $350,000 for homeless pets!

To look at pictures from last years event click here:
http://www.petsmartcharities.org/petwalk/photogallery.php

iGive.com

This holiday season, send a gift that means an automatic donation to Blistered Whiskers, Inc.! When you shop at any of over 700 participating online stores through iGive, a portion of each purchase comes back to us in the form of a donation check.

It's free for you, free for us, and you pay the same (or less!) than you would by going directly to the store. Shopping online means no wasted gas and no more standing in long lines at the mall. And to all you smart shoppers: don't miss iGive's treasure-trove of coupons, sales, and free shipping. Save money, save time, and send gifts that give twice. What could be better than that?

See for yourself at:
www.iGive.com/magscats

Hardship Fund

Parkway Animal Clinic has graciously set up a hardship fund for Blistered Whiskers. Anyone can donate money to this fund and Blistered Whiskers will be able to utilize these funds for our sick cats. Thank you for thinking of our kitties!

Parkway Animal Clinic
25101 N Lake Pleasant Pkwy #1340
Peoria, AZ 85383
Phone: (623) 362-8000
Website: http://pacvets.com

America's Favorite Animal Shelter

The America's Favorite Animal Shelter contest, sponsored by Care2 and Adopt-a-Pet.com, is a chance for animal lovers everywhere to raise awareness of the need to adopt shelter and rescue animals while helping their favorite shelter win a much-needed donation.

Please vote for Blistered Whiskers HERE and help us win! Don't forget to spread the word to all of your friends.

Another Success!

We are pleased to announce another successful adoption! Danielle is a cutie, and found a brand new family! Here is what her new human had to say:

I adopted Danielle Saturday, October 24,2009. Her name has been changed to Echo. Echo has been doing great all week. Today was the first day I kept her out of her room while I was at work. She did great. My other 4 fuzzies have been doing great with her. She follows them around everywhere. especially her new Big Brother, Mal. Echo also has a very large appetite She eats everything we give her and she usually finishes her sisters', and brother's meals. Echo learned how to jump up onto things yesterday. And about 20 minutes ago she was introduced to cat nip. She didn't care about it.

Echo has been wonderful. I will try to keep you updated on her progress.

-Carrie P

Carrie sent this picture of Echo trick or treating for our enjoyment! :)

Thanks for supporting the kittens at Blistered Whiskers and giving Echo a great home!

July Adoptions

We are happy to announce that these 27 cats were adopted from Blistered Whiskers in July:


Click HERE to browse other cats who are still available for adoption.

WE ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF VOLUNTEERS!!!

Blistered Whiskers is a home based, 501c3 non profit organization that aims to help rehabilitate and find homes for kittens.  

We currently are losing 10 volunteers to college, and desperately need to replace them!  

We have positions such as: 

- Photographer 

- Administrative  

- Foster Parent 

- Fundraising Director 

- Adoption Director 

- General Volunteer (play with kittens, clean cages, etc.) 

- Travel Volunteer (help take kitties to the vet/spay and neuter events) 

- Vet Tech/Vet  

If what you want to do isn't listed, please email us and let us know what your specialty is! Everyone is good at something, and everyone can help! 

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP THESE KITTENS!!  

Please reply with your contact info (whether it be email or phone), days you would like to volunteer/hours available, and any questions you have. Your emails will be going directly to our volunteer coordinator.  

If you would like more information, please check out our website at www.blisteredwhiskers.org  

Thanks for your interest......email to bwadoptions@gmail.com