February 2005 

Senior Pets for Senior Homes

This is our monthly update for the January events at www.7bellssanctuary.petfinder.com.

First, our sympathy goes out to several families. Lynn & her family lost Mercedes, their Siamese cat. She did not respond to treatment for an upper respiratory infection. She had almost a year in a very loving home. Ed & Carole lost Moses, their beloved St. Bernard, who lived almost 12 1/2 years. Moses visited the care centers with our dogs. June found Max, her 14 yr. old yorkie, had passed away in his sleep. We lost Katie, a min. pin., who died in her sleep the very night of her arrival in our rescue. Last but not least, Tim and Shanda adopted Windy, named her Stella, and she died a few days later at home. She was loved so much during her brief stay in their care. There will never be another Stella, yet we are working diligently to help them find another companion for them and their dog, Guinness.

Adoptions for the month included LadyBug, TeddyBear, Stormy, Dakoda and Anastacia. Bailey was an exceptional adoption. He was listed with us by an individual, then group rescue pleas went out. He found a wonderful home thanks to the efforts of many, especially Joe Wilson, Man's Best Friend, in Jefferson City.

Care center visits for the month included LadyBug, Marti with Miss Maggie, Queen, and Brittney with TeddyBear. Some of the dogs made multiple visits. The residents are always so glad to see our furry friends. They become familiar with medical equipment while waiting for their forever home.

We brought in 4 labrador/great pyrenees mix puppies & 4 senior miniature pinschers. Mary, one of our volunteers, brought in a golden retriever/corgi mix and a spaniel mix. One of each of the puppies and min pins passed in death. While we expect the death of senior dogs, we found ourselves emotionally unprepared for the death of a puppy. Thus, we will continue our focus on large senior dogs, and take in 1-6 year old small dogs & small senior dogs on a case-by-case basis. Our goal was to have the adoption of the small dogs & pups to help offset the medical expenses on the older dogs. While it seemed like a good idea at the time, the loss of Windy/Stella caused us to rethink that idea. We hope you understand our position.

Miss Maggie is still coping with her wound & infection. Marti cleanses the wound twice daily & makes sure she takes her medication. Elle Mae, one of the senior min pins, is back with the breeder. She took the spaying & anesthesia the hardest, then developed a nasty wound on her back leg. Sally was very generous to let Elle Mae stay in familiar surroundings in hopes it will speed her recovery. Marti & I did pop in to visit her and she is coming along nicely, just slowly. We are taking inquiries on her, yet cannot let her leave until completely healed.

We have been thrilled to have Trina come on board to help us with obedience training & behavior modification. We will be putting on an obedience demonstration, weather permitting, at our local care center Feb. 7, 1:30PM using TeddyBear. A link to her web-site can be found on our home page. Her goal is to help folks keep their dogs out of a shelter & to keep dogs adopted from a shelter from being returned there. Trina has been assisting the family that adopted LadyBug. While LadyBug was fine here with the resident cat, she seems to find their kitten rather annoying.

Please keep our seniors in your prayers. They are the most loving dogs, asking so very little of us other than love, food, water, shelter & medical care when needed.

Judy