Newcomers

Samantha is one of the new kids who will be attending adoption events this next weekend. She is new to Pet Haven. After eating from a volunteers deck briefly, she was live trapped and has shown herself to be a friendly and loving girl. She loves to play and gets along well with another cat or kitten. She's not at all bothered by the pug in the foster home either. She's just a kitten herself, probably 8-9 months.

Some of the younger kittens who are ready for adoption are:

Drizzle -

Tempest and Drizzle

And Chinook, who claimed the Christmas tree as her own!

Not wanting to be left out is Ms Marcy -

Interested in adoption? Go to our website at PetHavenMN.org. Click on dog/cat available for adoption and there you will find a cat adoption application. Fill it out, send it in and your inquiry will be sent on to the foster home. Pet Haven has many cats and kittens waiting for adoption. Some would like to be only adored cats in their home, some love a dog, some love another cat!

Stories we love to hear

At our last adoption on Dec. 19, a foster adopted her foster cat! That's always good news - it means the cat and the foster have found each other to be a good fit for each other. Holly Berry is a lucky lady.

Other than that, we had just a few lookers but we had a number of visitors. One of the things fosters love is to hear how happy an owner is with the cat or cats they adopted from Pet Haven. We've taken a feline stranger into our homes and made it part of the family while we look for a forever home for it. When we hear how those cats have finally found just the right spot, it brightens our days!

Sammy was adopted in August and one of his owners became ill and died too soon afterwards. His other owner has shared a picture of him and told us how much he enjoys having this loving fellow for a friend and companion. Sammy has him wrapped around his little toes - just as it should be!

One foster received a Christmas card with pictures of a former foster. You can see that Max is a well loved boy!

They're thinking of adding another cat to the family and perhaps a dog in the near future too!

One of our fosters has adopted two cats from Pet Haven - and continues to foster! They choose their cats because they get along with others. Xiomara was adopted first - she's a brown tabby persian and is on Santa's knee. Then along came Xerxes, another brown tabby persian and he can be seen on Santa's shoulder. Bart is also a former Pet Haven foster and when he developed kidney disease, the family adopted him. He's since recovered almost completely and is doing well!

How often do you think it is that Santa gets to have 3 cats in his arms for a picture?

One of our adopters lives nearby an adoption location and stops in frequently to check up on the cats we have and enjoys all our stories about them and rejoices with us when we place them. She also supports us with an occasional gift card to a pet store which we appreciate but we really enjoy being able to share our love of the felines in our care with someone else and know that she is rooting for them, just as we are.

Another adopter who now has 3 Pet Haven cats stopped by to tell us how much joy the last two have brought to their home. The girls have become best friends and playmates.

Thank you to all of you who love your rescued companion animal and have made it a part of your family!

Sneak Peak -

We'll have babies ready for adoption soon. They're being spayed and neutered on 12/22 and will be ready for a new home after celebrating Christmas with their foster families.

Sirocco's babies are 10-11 weeks old and are big kids. They weigh as much as many 3 month olds. They were pretty hard on mom, she has struggled to put on weight even after the kittens were taken from her but she's feeling much better now too and is playing. It is exciting to see her personality developing after she had such a hard summer and fall.

Drizzle, the brown tabby and white male, and Chinook the black medium haired female, are the lap kids so far.

Big 'brother' Buster loves to cuddle with them too. He was adopted by his foster family and continues to welcome newcomers to the home. There are 4 kittens, 3 girls and a boy.

And then there are the other two - both with cute and distinctive markings. Madeline, a torti, and Marcy, a calico. These two girls are about a week younger, so 9-10 weeks of age.

Cat Adoption, 12/19, 11-1 p.m.

We'll be at the PetCo in Richfield this Sat. from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Looking for a black cat to adopt? Their sleek and shiny coats look great next to holiday decorations! Every color goes with black -

Black cats we have:

Duke and Denny

Emmett

Silas - a boy who loves to hug his family members.

Sirocco - after a long spring and summer having a litter or two outside she has given up motherhood and is enjoying life as a cat with energy to play!

And to throw in some other colors:

Kati - playful and full of energy.

Riley

Serena

Helen

AND others, of course!

Considering adopting a family pet now? We would be happy to hold the cat in our foster homes until your company leaves or you get done traveling to relatives homes.

Animal Welfare Leadership Kick off Session

Reposted from the Animal Welfare Leadership blog:


Saturday morning at the Doubletree Hotel in St. Louis Park, more than 50 people from 12 different animal welfare organizations came together to discuss Leadership. There are so many of us working tirelessly to rescue and rehome dogs and cats. So many of us share the vision of a day when there will no longer be a need for us to euthanize healthy, adoptable dogs and cats. We as a community must come together to address the pet over population problem. Every year 6- 8 million animals are surrendered to shelters. Every year 4 million are euthanized for lack of homes ... that's one animal every 8 seconds (source: HSUS).

It was exciting to see leaders from so many organizations come together. This was a kick off session to simply determine if there was an interest. The response was overwhelming. The first half of the session focused on leadership development which I led/facilitated. We spent some time reflecting on what leadership means to us and also what our dream is for a better world for animals and humans. Some wonderful ideas were provided which I will share soon once I compile them. I then provided an overview of various leadership frameworks.

During the second half of the session we had 4 guest speakers: Kathie Johnson (Director of Animal Services, Animal Humane Society) talked about the Pet Overpopulation in Minnesota; Dr. Kim Culbertson (of Animal Humane Society and Minnesota Spay Neuter Assistance Project) talked about HVHQSN - High Volume High Quality Spay Neuter; Nancy Minion (Second Chance Animal Rescue) provided an update on the puppy and kitten mill legislation in Minnesota; and Rachel Anderson and Lara Peterson (A Rotta Love Plus) presented on Pitbull 101 and also shared about the education/outreach work they are doing on behalf of pitbulls.

I've decided to start this blog as a quick way for us to remain connected and to help spread the word so we as a community can come together to work towards our shared vision of a home for all healthy, adoptable animals.

Many, many thanks to those of you that came yesterday and for our invited speakers. I am truly, truly excited about the collaboration. Ongoing sessions will be developed and plan to stay tuned for when our next leadership gathering will take place in 2010!

From "Leading from within":

- Leaders find and Listen to their Inner Voice
- Leaders Listen and Attend to Others
- Leaders Cultivate an Organization's Creative Imagination
- Leaders Evoke Conversations that Matter
- Leaders Foster Renewal
- Leaders Tell Stories and Inspire Shared Vision


Let's all stand together and be a stronger voice for both humans and animals!

With gratitude for all who dedicate so much of their hearts, time and resources,
Marilou Chanrasmi
President, Pet Haven of Minnesota


P.S. Groups represented at our kick off session were: Pet Haven, Retrieve a Golden of Minnesota (RAGOM), A Rotta Love Plus (ARLP), Animal Humane Society, Chuck & Don's Pet Food Outlet, Animal Folks MN, Voters for Animals, Second Chance, Minnesota Spay Neuter Project, Minnesota Spay Neuter Assistance Project, Red Lake Rosie's Rescue, Beltrami Humane Society.

Leadership illustration by John S Dykes.

Partnership

Chuck and Don's is selling Paw Prints this holiday season to help increase the number of companion animals who get spayed or neutered so they will not continue to contribute to the overpopulation problem in cats and dogs. Funds will be donated to Pet Haven and go into a grant program that other organizations can apply for or to Pet Haven's sliding scale fee spay and neuter program.

Recently employees from Chuck and Don's and volunteers from Pet Haven were at Maplewood Mall to encourage people waiting to see Santa to become informed about spay and neuter and to purchase a $1.00 Paw Print.

December is a busy month. A project like this adds to a volunteers already busy schedule of caring for their foster and getting to adoption events.

Some of those who helped out at the mall were: Becky with Emmett, Sue with Riley, Kathleen with Dudley, Barbara with Nick and Victor (on two different weekend days!), Lauren and Mike, Eldora, Marilou and Ahnung and Shelly who organized and was there every shift. All of this means picking up other fosters cats or dogs, having a sleep-over for some pets and lots of driving back and forth.

Pet Haven is proud to have volunteers willing to spread the word for a crucial need such as this one!

Thank you everyone - whether you are an employee with pets who were ambassadors or Pet Haven volunteers. We can do it together!

Teo

Leslie has a new name - Teo! and a new home! He is now king of his domain and doesn't need to share with another cat - all the better so he has more attention for himself.

Sitting on his owner's chest while she is own the phone - we think he wants to pin the person down so he gets lots of loving! He's not shy about sharing kisses and head-butting either.

He's thinking about taking up a new career too -

This fellow came to Pet Haven in Feb. 2009 with a compound fracture of a back leg which was badly infected. After fighting infection, amputation and neutering, recovery and then more recovery from extended pain episodes he has forgotten what life with 4 legs was all about. Safe, protected, cared for and love - what more could a companion want?

No more nights on the streets, out in the cold, wondering where your next drink of water and bite of food would come from. No more wondering when you would get some love from a person.

Congratulations, Teo and Tamara!

Where did my whiskers go?

One day Marcy was picked up and looked at and she had very few whiskers left!

Soon after that Madeline was picked up and held and her whiskers have almost disappeared too!

Both sisters blame the other one - and, of course, they are right! Each is chewing on the other girl's whiskers!

These cute girls and 4 other kittens will be spayed or neutered shortly before Christmas. We hope they will be ready to go to a new home within a week after that.

If you are looking for a companion animal for your family at a busy time of the year when guests arrive frequently and you travel in and out of town, it makes sense to seek out a companion before, or after, the holiday and make arrangements to pick it up as soon as things are a little quieter and you can enjoy it without all the stress and fuss.

Wrap up a litterbox or collar and leash and some toys so that you can let the recipient know that you will come with them to an adoption asap and pay the adoption fee for the new addition to the family. You will get to enjoy the excitement as a decision is made by the owner!

2 Adoptions today, 12/13, 1- 3p.m.

At Chuck and Don's in Bloomington

At PetCo Richfield -

Hope to see you there.

Who's coming?

Sapphire

Emmett

Kati

Jolie

Brooklyn

Sadie

Riley - she's in the picture attached and is willing to give up a cozy, Sunday afternoon nap in hopes she'll find a forever home!

Helen

Serena -

and more!

In loving memory of Sylvestre

We recently received a note from Sylvestre's adopters ... Slyvestre was one lucky cat when he was adopted to Ayers and Marian in 1994. We are always grateful to hear form our adopters and we share in their sadness in the passing of their beloved family member, who in our hearts ... any Pet Haven foster cat or dog is always a Pet Haven family member:

"My much beloved Sylvestre, dear Pet Haven cat from 1994, had to be euthanized on Tuesday (following advice from the vet who had been Sylvestre's medical monitor for more than a decade). Sylvestre had survived much during his sixteen (perhaps even eighteen) years, including radioactive iodine treatments to cope with his thyroid problem.

I am in the midst of grieving, tears erupting at odd moments, disgracing this old man of 78 years. My hope is that Marian and I can find another Pet Haven little fellow as much like Sylvestre as possible - - knowing, of course, that our beloved little fellow can only be "replaced," not duplicated."

Thank you Ayers and Marian for loving Sylvestre and providing him with the best life possible.

Santa Photos with your Pet

On Saturday from 11 AM - 4 PM you can have a photo taken of your pet with Santa at the Richfield Petco.

Cost: $8.95 + tax, of which $5 will be donated to Pet Haven!
Location:
Richfield Petco
710 West 66th
Richfield, Minnesota
(66th and Lyndale)

How about taking a trip out to Richfield on Saturday with your furry friend and letting your cat show you just how cute s/he is :) And at the same time, you could support homeless dogs and cats!

Photo borrowed from flickr :)

Update on Smokey

Smokey is growing and doing well. Soon he will be neutered.

If you didn't see the first post, he came to Pet Haven after being struck by a car or truck and left for dead on the road. His benefactors picked him up, paid for his treatment at their clinic and the ER clinic and a weekend at the U also.

Pet Haven agreed to take him and he was picked up on a Monday.

Smokey was under 3# then - probably about 10 weeks old. He had a serious eye abrasion, couldn't stand up initially and had lost the ability to swallow. By mid week that week he was swallowing tiny amounts of food put at the back of his mouth many times a day and his balance was coming back. He figured out how to use the litterbox again.

He saw an opthamologist and his eye has continued to be treated. The lids were sewn partially shut to keep it moist but still allow medication to be put in. Because he had lost his 'blink' reflex, he didn't keep it moist enough on his own. He has been discharged there but will continue to need moisture added to his eye as anyone with dry eyes does. He does blink now but because he has no feeling in his eye, he doesn't do it often enough on his own. 3-4 times a day would be best. He could also have his eyelids sewn partially closed again which would help protect it. He has some scaring on his eye from the ulcer.

His sinus cavities have been rearranged and he is snarky sounding often. With the dryer air now that it is winter we will be trying saline nose drops to see if that will help. He may need to be on an antibiotic periodically if an infection occurs.

Physically he has recovered and is a normal fellow.

He tears up and down the stairs and plays actively with the other kittens in the foster home.

He has turned into a huge lover and has a big-time motor. He loves to be near your face and purr and purr while you pet him.

He uses the litterbox fine and eats well.

Dry food takes some time because his tongue action isn't quite as smooth and he loves his canned food - twice a day. That demands some supervision since he is a bit of a sloppy eater, pushing it off the dish so someone sits with him and scoops it back on the dish. He also is patient about having a little face wash afterwards as he still plants his face in the food a little bit.

He is petrified of the vacuum and is moved away when it comes out. He will spin in circles in a panic rather than run from it so he needs a little guidance there -that is the only time his brain injury seems to be noticeable.

Smokey has beaten the odds - he survived and is doing very well considering his serious injuries. He will need an owner who will help him continue to thrive and care for his eye and nasal problems as they might occur. In return, you'll definitely have a boy with a story AND a hugely affectionate, medium haired black fellow to keep you company!

Adoption Sat. 12/5 from 11- 1p.m.

Come and check us out! We've lots of cats and kittens in multiple colors, hair lengths and ages. No 'babies' but we may have some ready to go to a new home just after Christmas day.

Duke and Denny, medium haired smokes -

Leslie - lover and bird watcher, hoping to be an only cat so there is no competition for your attention!

Gypsy - medium haired torti - affectionate and playful.

Like orange? We have orange - Tansy, Teresa, Nick (at Chuck and Don's in Highland), Talbot.

Like black? We have lots of black! Emmett, Duke and Denny, Silas (going to Maplewood Mall in the afternoon along with Riley), Gerry and Ladybug.

Like those brown tabbies? Serena, Helen, Leslie, Jenny, Currie, Leo!

Like gray? Marco!

The Perfect holiday gift!

A Share Card is the perfect gift to give in place of a material item. It lets the recipient know that you are thinking of them, honors them, and helps a non-profit orgainization fulfill its mission. When you purchase a Share Card, you receive the Share Card itself which gives information about the organization as well as the efforts the Share Card donation supports. In addition, you will receive a greeting card featuring a piece of artwork from one of the artists of Partnership Resources, Inc. The Share Card and greeting card can either be mailed to you or directly to someone else as a gift.

You can purchase a share card for Pet Haven online by clicking here.

Pet Haven along with A Rotta Love Pluswill be the featured non-profits on Friday, 12/4 and Saturday, 12/5. Be sure to stop by and say hi.

For more info, visit the Twice the Gift website.

Black and more black!

Pet Haven cats have gradually moved from many orange cats and kittens this year although we still have some orange to be adopted, to more and more black.

Sometimes black cats and dogs are overlooked. It is harder to get a good picture of a black cat, lighting is critical. As with other colors of cats we get lots of pictures of tails and back legs as they move away from us!

Here are two boys, brothers, that you won't want to miss.

Denny has slightly rounder eyes and is cute as a button.

Duke and Denny are medium haired black smoke kittens. Smoke is a description of how each hair is colored with the part closest to the body being very light gray. So, they are black on the surface and light colored as the hair comes from the body. You can see a lighter shading in their coats around the chest area which is the light color coming through. If you ruffle the hair you see more of the light color.

Besides that, they are just handsome, full-of-it fellows!

Duke is a little braver, comes for attention more readily and Denny is a little more reserved. Both boys are affectionate and both are very busy and play hard.

They do not have to be adopted together but each would need to go with another cat who also wanted to play. Placed alone, Boredom would likely set in followed closely by Mischief!

Duke on the left, Denny on the right.

Black - it goes with everything!

Especially if it is shiny and sleek, as Emmett is!

He's quite the boy -

chirps as he plays with his toys

is ever vigilant for bird and squirrel watching opportunities

knows just when you need a cat in your lap, or on your shoulder

helps keep you well groomed by applying kisses to your ears and smoothing down your hair

plays - what are his favorites? every toy? every one he's found so far -

excellent with another cat

have a puzzling problem at the computer? he'll come to keep you company

out to meet your guests after a moment's hesitation

That's Emmett! Ready to go, ready for love, ready for a forever home!