Holidays with the Pets

During fall break for Thanksgiving I return home to Austin, Texas to celebrate the holidays with my family which means I take a break from volunteering. However, the holidays are never a time for me to take a break from animal care especially since the winter and holiday season is the worst time of the year for animal deaths and accidental poisonings. Pets suffer from frostbite from the cold weather to toxic holiday products and food found in abundance around the house. Mistletoe, chocolate, Christmas trees preservatives, fake snow, modeling clay, alcoholic beverages, and nuts list just a few items that can be highly toxic and deadly in small quantities according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. The best way to protect from these accidents is to ensure these products are out of reach of prying paws or when used protected from pets. I know this last rule by experience as last year I went through an episode where my male Yorkshire Terrier named Tramp got into a large thing of chocolate covered fruit and nuts left sealed on the coffee table in the living room. After gorging himself sometime in the night, Tramp then passed out having diarrhea, the shakes, and vomiting over the course of 12 hours. I had the veterinary on call, forced him to drink water all day, and watched him carefully for seizure symptoms as chocolate is a neurotoxin, meaning targets the nervous system. Tramp got through the chocolate fruit disaster without having to go to the veterinarian as his system got rid of the toxin naturally by making him vomit and have diarrhea. Other pets are not so lucky. If you feel that your pet has eaten something toxic first call poison control to figure out the toxicity and symptoms to watch for, second call you veterinarian if these symptoms appear, and three watch your pet carefully for any change in behavior. The holiday season is a great time of the year, but also should be a cautious one when pets are concerned.

Fluid Puppies?

My time this week at the Humane Society was chaotic consisting of lines of people waiting to do visits with animals and long list of animals who got adopted. All the animals that I interacted with and got to know were immediately adopted out and thus I have no animal of the week to display. Instead, I want to share a story from a veterinary clinic I volunteered at this week describing an unusual situation with a young female Husky. (Names and affiliations will be kept unknown to preserve confidentiality)

On Friday, November 9 a woman entered the veterinary clinic to which I volunteer with her 10 month old Husky as she made an appointment to evaluate the dog for a spay procedure. Upon entrance to the clinic the staff was aghast at the dog's appearance as the 10 month dog had an enormous belly indicating that the dog might be pregnant. However, once the veterinarian performed an evaluation on the dog, the inclination of the belly being from pregnancy faded as the extended belly felt fluid filled. The veterinarian immediately performed an x-ray on the dog to discover if the dog was truly pregnant or if a different situation existed. The x-ray revealed that the dog's organs were being squished next to the spine because the uterus was filled with fluid. Now the situation was dire because an swollen, fluid-filled uterus, condition known as pyometra, is life-threatening and emergency surgery must be performed when diagnosed. The veterinarian scrubbed in and the dog was prepped for surgery for immediate removal of the swollen infected uterus.

The vet began doing the normal procedures for a spay that would end in the removal of the huge uterus, but after removing the ovaries, the situation became extremely complicated. The uterus was attached to the bladder and one of the kidneys that was extremely small and abnormally shaped compared to the other kidney. The veterinarian then started to drain the fluid from the uterus which was identified to be urine. Obviously, this animal did not have pyometra but some congenital birth defect where the abnormal kidney was draining its fluid into the uterus instead of the bladder. Unsure what to do next, another veterinarian scrubbed in and tried to help, but again the circumstances were such that neither vet knew how to handle this situation; a problem that would require a licensed veterinary surgeon. One of the vet techs called a veterinary surgeon to come to the clinic and help with the case. In the meantime the prognosis for the dog looked grim. The veterinarians decided to let the owner say her final goodbyes in the surgery suite as it was highly unlikely much could be done to save this pet. Within 30 minutes, the veterinary surgeon arrived who began assessing and performing surgery on the female dog. Within another hour, he had got the kidney and the uterus out and was suturing the dog. He saved the dog's life.

While I was volunteering at the clinic today, the same pet came in for further observation as its still uncertain that her urinary system is going to function normally. But, even with one kidney and 10 pounds less weight, the Husky did not act that she had underwent 6 hours of surgery the day before being unruly, uncooperative, hyper, and very talkative; all good signs of recovery.

I am not sure what will happen with the Husky, but I do know that this owner did the right thing. Again and again I see cases where owners see something abnormal occur in their pet, whether it be a weird bump or behavior, where they wait and wait before taking their pet to the veterinarian ending more than likely in a bad prognosis or euthanasia. By waiting so long, the disease got to a point where it could not be reversed and or the cost to fix the condition is too much for the owners. One I cannot believe an owner would let their pet suffer that long and two the earlier you can diagnosis and treat a disease, the less the procedure will cost as the treatments will most likely be less involved and invasive. Bottom line, take responsibility for having a pet. Pets are not toys and by buying and caring for a pet you take responsibility for getting medical treatment as animals do feel pain and its cruel to let them suffer. If this is something you cannot afford, then maybe a pet is not right for you as you cannot invest only half way.

Kelly

Name: Kelly
Age: 6 years
Breed: Blue Cream Domestic Short Hair
Personality: Sidekick
Price: $ 25
Status: Adopted

Starting October 12, 2007, a small, sweet, shy, half-Persian came into adoptions after coming into the shelter as a stray. Within a week Kelly was adopted out to a family with small children; however, the situation for both the family and Kelly did not work out as Kelly was so scared she hid over the course of 4 days. This incompatibility may have been from the presence of small children that scared Kelly at such an early stage for such a shy cat or the family did not slowly introduce her to a house. Any newly adopted cat should be slowly introduced to a new home, over the course of two weeks, to keep the cat from becoming overstressed and overwhelmed in a new environment. A new cat brought into a house should be placed in only one room of the house allowing them to come out of their carrier on their own volition. Not all cats will immediately become comfortable, but may take several weeks or even a month to warm up to the house and a person. Once comfortable in the new room, which usually takes a week or so, the cat should be slowly introduced to the rest of the house. This strategy helps establish a bond with the person as well as keeping a cat's stress levels low because if stress is high the cats are more likely to hide, run away, and catch infections. For more information on bring a cat home as well as bringing cats home to a house already with animals click here.

After Kelly's first adoption, the Humane society now understood that Kelly would probably fair best in a quiet home with older children. Categorized as a sidekick, Kelly likes attention but also likes her solitude. Her sociability rates medium as well as her valiance or confidence meaning she takes time to adjust and is not instantly attached to a person. In her first personality test of introduction to a novel room, Kelly alternated from coming out and hiding in her carrier with some interaction with the evaluator. Upon call approach, Kelly was willing to come up to evaluator, meow, and even head butt as she became more comfortable. Petting also had to be approached slowly as Kelly was a little scared at first but within minutes Kelly began to enjoy the attention and petting. Kelly is a talkative cat who loves to meow at a person suggesting she wants social interaction but will approach in her own terms. Kelly also is a playful cat who loves to chase and play with a cat charmer. During this play examination, Kelly took no time to start playing versus the other exams that she had to warm up to. If a house is looking for a middle of the road cat that will be independent, affectionate, as well as playful, Kelly will be perfect. Just make sure to introduce her slowly to her new environment and a wonderful relationship can began.

Gandolf

Name: Gandolf
Age: 5 years
Breed: Golden Retriever/ Samoyed
Personality: Orange
Price: 100 dollars
Status: Adopted
Through the last couple years at the Larimer Humane Society I have seen a general trend where adoptable dogs only stay for at most 2 weeks while cats tend to stay for days upon months at the shelter before being adopted. Along with this trend is the pattern where there always is more cats available than dogs available for adoption. However, this week was different. For the first time in almost 6 months the shelter was at capacity for dogs including one puppy. With fewer number of cats at the shelter and many of the ones present there for less than a week, I decided to find a dog who deserved a great home. Upon going through the profiles I came upon Gandolf as beautiful golden/samoyed dog with a gentle nature and calm manners. In the kennel this dog sat patiently and stoically without barking and almost majestic. His personality is a combination of the best traits from both goldens and samoyeds: intelligent, social, playful, and loyal.
Categorized as an orange dog (normal energy and normal maitenance) Gandolf has a great temperment while still being very playful in nature. In the first test, the greeting test, Gandolf became very excited and jumped all around the evaluator but not on the evaluator indicating both love of humans, higher energy level, but also lower maitenance as he has undergone some training. In the next test where dogs are left in a pseudoroom, Gandolf after looking around laid down within 2 minutes and was calm. This result means that he probably can be trusted in a house by himself again leading to a lower maintenance level. The third test evaluated his play level to which he was play motivated liking to play with plush toys more than anything else. This means not only is Gandolf well behaved but he is also a playful dog who is motivated by play which could be used as a training tool. He also scored high on the food motivated test and we found he knew sit, down, come, shake, and roll over. Obviously, this dog was well trained by the previous owners who surrendered him. The only flaw to this dog is he is a fence jumper and the previous owners lost him several times because of this behavior. When watched he would not jump, but left on his own devices he tended to fly the coop. Gandolf is a beautiful, well mannered dog who would be perfect for both family homes with children or for individuals looking for a dog. The only precaution is to make sure you watch the dog when outside or own a fence that is taller than 6 feet if this dog is going to be by itself in a yard with a lower fence.

Considerations before Adopting

Lately at the Humane Society I have encountered a disheartening trend where many good animals are being returned. Granted a potential adopter cannot always predict how well an animal will fit in their family just by visitation at the shelter alone, but returning an animal within in days of adopting does not give adopters an adequate perception if the animal will fit. Animals when they are adopted need time to adapt to their new home which will not happen within a few days. These pets are scared and stressed being in a brand new environment and may not act like themselves for a week or two. This situation can be even more stressful to animals that were once feral (wild) or animals abused by previous owners. Returning an animal for the inability to play well with other animals or that your animals cannot get along with is a valid reason for return in a short period. Major health reasons is another; but returning a pet for being scared and frightened just means that the new owners are too impatient to let the animal adjust. Most of these scared animals are returned within a week making their next adoption even harder as the animals will be even more apprehensive because they will fear coming back to the shelter. Final lesson, if you are considering adopting a pet be absolutely sure you are willing to train, take care of, and be patient with new animals. These animals will not hold all the knowledge of previous training and they will not bond with you as quickly as some would like. Patience and a clear idea of the commitment are needed when adopting a pet and is not something to go into lightly.

Jelly

Name: Jelly
Age: ~5 years
Breed: Tortie Domestic Shorthair
Personality: Personality Assistant
Price: ~50 dollars
Status: Adopted
Jelly is an unfortunate soul who has been at the humane shelter not once, but twice. Her first encounter with the shelter came as the status of stray. After five days not a soul came to claim Jelly so she went into evaluations for adoption and passed. Her first time at the shelter as an adoptable cat did not last long and within weeks her sweet personality and gentle nature got her adopted by a couple who along with Jelly adopted a young kitten. Here is where the problem started. Jelly did not get along with the other cat, fighting constantly. Jelly was returned because she was older of the cats and thought it was her age that made her unagreeable; a kitten would still be young enough to "accept" a different cat. However, cats, unlike dogs, have a sociability window only until around 2 months old. Thus even an older kitten would be set in its ways just as much as an older cat. Returned in late August, Jelly is now the longest stay adoption at the shelter. This stay may be longer than every other cat around her as she is one of the eldest cats and is surrounded by kittens to which the shelter is overwhelmed with.
Jelly is classified as a personal assistant: a very social cat with a middle to the road valence (confidence and playfulness). She will come to the front of her kennel when people approach and will gently swat at hands near her cage to get your attention. Upon first chance meeting Jelly is a little shy perferring to confidently investigate a room, but if you approach her or call her she is more than happy to come over and butt head you. Not a very playful cat and not friendly with other cats makes Jelly perfect for people interested in a cat who will follow you around and be your shadow. The owners who returned her raved about her loving personality and calm disposition, but just could not handle the fighting. As a warning for adopters make sure she will be your only animal in your house and if you currently own a cat you are unable to adopt her. With her history she has a waiver ensuring she can only be placed in a home where she will be the only cat. If looking for a true personal assistant who is loyal and prefers to be your only cat, then adopt Jelly a cat who deserves a second chance.

Diabetes and Autoimmune Disorders

For the last couple of weeks I have been unable to visit the Larimer Humane Society due to mounting amounts of homework and work I have to get through each night and weekend. With this break (from volunteering at least), I felt I would describe two common feline diseases: Diabetes Mellitus and Eosinophillic Granuloma Complex. Two diseases that I have had first hand experience treating because my cat Krystal (shown on left) has both diseases. My drive to become a veterinarian was sparked through helping Krystal through her trials and tribulations with these conflicting diseases.

Fourteen years ago on Thanksgiving Day, my family sat around the couch eating pie and watching television after gorging only an hour earlier. My brother Bob came in holding a small black kitten in his arms. My twin sister and I at the age of eight jumped with joy and immediately grabbed Krystal from his arms. My mother looked a little upset about the sudden appearance of a cat in a primarily dog family, but held back from saying anything until she could corner my elder brother alone. That night sparked a relationship with Krystal to which forever changed me. That night was the beginning of a 14 year relationship.

In the beginning when Krystal was younger, she primarily was an indoor cat to protect Krystal from the high traffic around our house and superstitious neighbors. However, when my family moved to Austin, Texas, where our house was secluded and far from highways, Krystal switched from an indoor cat to an indoor/outdoor cat. This switch symbolized the key moment in Krystal's health. From this moment forward she would never be fully healthy again.

A year after moving to Austin, Krystal begin to develop strange habits such as excessive licking and drinking. Ulcerated masses appeared on her upper lips and paws along with the loss of hair on her belly. Worried, my mother and I took Krystal to the vet to configure what was happening. Our veterinarian Dr. Skinner, diagnosed Krystal with an autoimmune disorder but could not identify what immune disorder or the antigen (allergen) that was causing the symptoms. The vet prescribed vitamin E and told us to switch foods as it possibly could be from a food allergy. Another two weeks go by and Krystal's condition gets worse. Her salivary glands are swollen causing her breathing problems. She wheezes and sleeps all day. Obviously the new diet did not change the situation. This time at the vet Krystal was given a steroid shot to boost her immune system.

Krystal would continue to get shots for the next three years until new symptoms allowed our veterinarian to diagnose Krystal with the autoimmune disorder eosinophil granuloma. In this disorder, the immune system of the cat overreacts to some allergen (often food or insect) causing a certain white blood cell known as a eosinophil to recruit to the tissues (where the animal is bitten or having problems) and forms granulomas. This is not a abnormal function, however, eosinophils in auto-immune diseases target not only the antigen but also the body itself which leads to tissue damage and formation of the ulcers. The steroid shots help keep the disease at bay, but without a knowing the identification of what she was allergic to, not more could be done.

The years continued to go by with Krystal suffering on a seasonal basis as the disease seemed to flare up mainly in the summer and not in the winter. I moved to Colorado for my first year in college and was away from home for the first time. Within weeks, however, things at home back in Austin got worst. Krystal was losing weight even though she was constantly hungry and eating all the time. She was getting so hungry that she would steal food while my parents tried to eat diner, a behavior she never once exhibited. Krystal also was drinking massive amounts of water and seemed to waste away more each day. Worried, my parents took Krystal into the veterinary where Krystal was diagnosed with a second disease: Diabetes mellitus. At the age of 11, Krystal had lived longer then many people had believed, but now a new disease complicated situations. With Diabetes mellitus in felines the condition is always insulin dependent or similar in disease state to type I or juvenile diabetes in humans. However, cats, unlike humans, can be transient diabetics (diabetic for a short time) and then return to a healthy state where they are not insulin dependent. Diabetes in cats is also a common phenomenon for cats older than 13 years of age to acquire. With a new disease, Krystal would now require a carb free diet, insulin shots twice a day, and monthly checkups to the vet to monitor her glucose levels as a way to determine the amount of insulin she would need.

Krystal's diabetes helped Krystal become healthier than I had ever seen her. The insulin seemed to have magic effects on her health, behavior, and her general appearance. For the first time in seven years, Krystal grew a full coat without ulcerations and without the bald spot on her belly. But, this did not last long. Soon the ulcers returned worst than ever covering her entire interior of her right hind leg which are still present today. There is no treatment we can administer to Krystal because now that she is diabetic, the traditional steroid shot cannot be used to abate the disease. In the summer she suffers as the autoimmune disorder gives her crawling skin to which she constantly licks and scratches and there is nothing we can do to provide her comfort. The battle Krystal suffers daily is my constant reminder why I want to become a veterinarian and why research is needed. Krystal is my drive to enter into the veterinarina field as a way to help others who suffer and cannot help themselves. Krystal is my bestfriend and she has suffered long enough.

Copyrighted Material Guidelines

At the moment I am going to take an aside from the Larimer Humane society to place information regarding my beliefs/policies on the use of copyrighted material. In my writing online class at Colorado State University, we held a discussion about copyright laws and the internet culminating in a paper where each class member wrote what they believed the policy on copyright should be and how we would direct using copyright on our own sites and how we would communicate to others what we felt others could do with our own work from our websites. With much of my information on this blog coming from the Larimer Humane society, I felt that people deciding to utilize the information on this blog could see where I stand on copyright and what I feel is appropriate use of my written/image material.

The culture, art, and knowledge of a society is in constant flux often building, remaking, or even reusing old ideologies to form the new standard. Conversion to electronic formats have not changed this tradition, but only complicated the process due to the accessibility and the wide audience that is now available to artists and scientists. However, many feel that the internet version of building or reusing another’s work is theft, piracy, or bootlegging. Instead of falling under fair use, these acts are considered the same as deliberately stealing a whole work and passing it off as one’s own creation and bring the same penalties under copyright law. Publishing works online can create a vast community allowing wide dissemination of knowledge thus establishment of rhetoric for using these online works through fair use should be defined and outlined to distinguish rightful creation from stealing.

As stated earlier, the recreation of arts and ideas is not something new in culture, but is essential in innovating and continuing progress. In line with “Changing Copyright” by Negativland, the copyright concept of Fair Use should be broadened to allow for the use of existing work in the creation of new work. I believe Fair Use should extend to recreation with the stipulation that the new work references and gives credit to the original work whether done for profit or non-commercial reasons. This is completely different from taking an entire work and then selling or allowing free access to it through peer to peer networks which is piracy and stealing. The ideology of referencing is already established in scientific work where new published research credits and cites the previous research to which they utilized and often built upon. If science were forced with the same statutes through copyright law that now exist, the same roadblocks stifling progress would make research even more expensive to perform and less would be accomplished. I find big companies trying to enforce stricter copy right laws in terms of remixing to be hypocritical in their approach as both the David Post article and the journal article “Why Napster Matters to Writing: Filesharing as a New Ethic of Digital Delivery” cite that Disney utilized this very concept in the creation of Steam Boat Willy and in many of their fairy tale movies going back to the basic tenant that this tradition of remixing/rebuilding is not new and should be accepted.

Fair Use policies should also extend for the continued protection of use of copyrighted material in education. The article on the creative commons states that higher education is rooted in sharing and expanding work. However, what is frightening is copyrighted material is becoming more and more unavailable to students as seen in many of my classes where teachers are unable to give out materials of reference or slide of information (such as diagrams from a book) because they do not have permission. In the “Why Napster Matters to Writing: Filesharing as a New Ethic of Digital Delivery” journal article, the authors states that big industries are trying to close copyright loopholes such as fair use that may eventually limit education use and access to research. How can progress continue if information is inaccessible? How are we to teach? Fair Use should stay and continue to protect educational uses without need to pay or obtain permission.

The stealing of an entire work is punishable while building upon old work whether text, art, movie, or music with referencing should be allowed. In terms of my own work I support the use of my words and my pictures granted that individuals cite where the information originated. The use my entire work, however, requires permission at the minimum. In other situations and other artists, I feel it is up to the artist whether payment is due or that permission will suffice when using an entire work. The only exception is if the work is being used for broadcasting such as radio which “Get Real? A Manifesto From a New Generation of Cultural Critics: Technorealism” states belongs to the public requiring no payment and no permission. Parodies are protected under Fair Use and I invite people to socially criticize works along with mine as a right under their freedom of speech. Peer to Peer sharing of whole works including mine will not be allowed unless given permission and should not be sold for profit unless condoned by the artist (such as in charitable events). These acts if not otherwise permitted should be punishable, but the later act should be harsher in sentence than the former. Recreation is a tradition required for continued improvement and should be allowed.

In my own use of copyright on my blog and other online works, the aforementioned rules still apply including citing, permission/payment if an entire work, and not posting on peer to peer networks. I am a scientist and employ the referencing method in many of my essays and also utilize this concept with my blog where much of my information comes from the Larimer Humane Society. I do have permission from the Larimer Humane Society to place information on this blog; however, under my guidelines, permission is not needed as the blogs posted are remixes of information obtained by myself and from information provided at the Larimer Humane Society.

As the Principles of Technorealism states “Information should be protected…we must update old laws and interpretation to that information receives roughly the same protection as it did in the context of old media.” For culture to be fluid, to improve a new standard has to be reached allowing both the protection of art/knowledge, but also allowing the unbiased action of recreating and building off old ideas.

Daisy

Name: Daisy
Age: ~ 6 years
Breed: Orange Tiger
Personality: Personal Assistant
Price: 50 dollars
Status: adopted

On September 1st, 2007 a lovable, fat orange cat came to the Larimer Humane Society as a stray cat. Under the five day hold policy for strays, Daisy stayed at the shelter in the stray cat section of the building waiting and hoping for someone to reclaim her. However, nobody came and Daisy became another statistic of failed cat reclaims as there is only a 2 to 3 percent reclaim rate for stray cats around the country (around 10 percent at the Larimer Humane society), as indicated by Humane Society of the United States. With such a poor reclaim rate, it is no wonder shelters always have more cats than dogs available. But why is this statistic so low when dogs are reclaimed at 5 times this rate? Many theories exist such as people just assume the cats ran away, got eaten by a wild animal, do not know about the Humane Society services, or do not care. Another problem with reclaims is that many people when confronted with identifying a cat in strays may even overlook their own cat as many cats do look similar. Having many pictures is always helpful as cats in stressful conditions may behave in ways that you find to be uncharacteristic of your cat. Collars are another problem. Just because your cat left home with a collar, does not mean it will be picked up with a collar as most cat collars are designed to come off easy to prevent strangulation. The easy solution for this problem is to invest in microchipping where a small microchip is placed in the skin between the animals shoulder blades that hold your information and cannot be lost very easily.

After being in strays, Daisy was evaluated and then placed into adoptions. Her personality type scored toward the personal assistant: medium valence/confidence with high sociability. She is a very lovable cat that will be both a lap cat and a cat that enjoys to play with strings and stuffed mice. Oddly enough, Daisy also knows how to play fetch which makes her abandonment that more morose as obviously effort was placed to teach her this trick. Daisy loves to greet people with a meow and loves to sleep in a box. When taken into a visitation room she carries easily, investigates the room with high confidence, and immediately begins rubbing and purring. She is not a shy cat and loves to be near or on people. With both a lap cat personality and playful personality, this cat is great for people looking for a cat that will cuddle but is still kitten enough to invest in some energy. The only downside to Daisy is her overweight bulk which ranges on obesity. Obesity in cats can be a major health problem just like obesity in humans, predisposing the animal to diabetes, heart conditions, cancer, among other problems (Denes Natural Pet Care). However, no medical problems have been diagnosed in Daisy but knowing that this cat should be placed on a diet should be noted.

*Information was obtained through evaluations from workers at the Larimer Humane society.
*The Picture of Tipper was provided by the Larimer Humane Society.

Tipper

Name: Tipper

Age: 2 Years

Breed: Tort-Tiger

Personality: Sidekick

Price: $25 (half-price)

Status: Adopted 9/20/07

-------------------------- Everyday for the past three months, Tipper patiently waits in her kennel located in the main room of the Larimer Humane Society hoping for someone to notice, care, or be interested. When an individual finally pauses by her kennel, she gleefully stands up and gives a quick meow as in greeting and approaches the front of the kennel. However, although Tipper has a calm disposition, a semi-playful nature, and an age of only 2 years old, she is overlooked for the younger, livelier kittens around her. At this moment, Tipper has been at the Larimer Humane Society the longest compared to the other cats up for adoption as she went up for adoptions June 12, 2007. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tipper came to the Larimer Humane Society as a surrendered animal. Her previous owner lived in a mountain town where Tipper lived as both an indoor and outdoor cat; but, when her owner moved to Fort Collins, she gave Tipper up as she lived near a busy crossroad and felt Tipper would be safer in a different home. After going through her evaluations, Tipper's personality was determined to be a sidekick: a cat with a medium valence, energy and confidence level (curiosity), but with a high sociability. A sidekick cat is one who is happy to follow a person around, play occasionally, sit in one's lap, and does fine with introduction to new individuals and environments, but may need a couple more minutes to adjust than an animal with high valence. Tipper, when out of the kennel, loves to be groomed and petted while sitting in one's lap, purring and rubbing and will play if a string toy is presented, and is very curious. Due to this curious nature, Tipper should be kept as an indoor cat as she may have a tendency to stray if outside by herself. Overall Tipper would be perfect for someone that wants a mellow cat that is still playful, but is also confident. This demeanor means she will do well with children; however, she is not too fond of dogs and how well she will interact with other cats is unknown so introduce slowly. Do not overlook Tipper as her personality makes her very versatile in the type of owners she would please and get along with. Do not let her have to spend another day in a kennel after three months of waiting. *Information was obtained through evaluations from workers at the Larimer Humane society. *The Picture of Tipper was provided by the Larimer Humane Society.

Background Information of the Larimer Humane Society (LHS)

General Background Information

Before I began posting individual profiles of animals up for adoption at the Larimer Humane Society, I wanted to provide some background information about the shelter and how the shelter evaluates animals from adoption.

The Larimer Humane Society is a non-profit organization funded by donations and animal control contracts with the county and cities within the county. The shelter is classified as an open door shelter as they will accept any type of stray or surrendered animal, including exotics, no matter the health condition or past aggressive behavior status (only exemption in large animals as the facility has no room to care for the animals but will direct to rescue organizations). This open door policy is different from a no-kill shelter that limits what types of animals the shelter will accept as they want to remain no-kill. As an open door shelter, however, the Larimer Humane society does not put all of the animals taken up for adoption and animals in chronic, painful health conditions or fail aggression tests will be euthanized. But, any animal at the shelter that makes adoptable animal status and is placed in adoptions, stays in adoptions until adopted. The only exception to this rule is if an adoptable animal bites a person where the skin is broken. These animals are evaluated for ten days to see if an incident reoccurs and if no aggressive behavior is seen, the animal is placed back in adoptions, but if aggressive and biting behavior continues, the animal will be euthanized.

Classification as an open shelter allows the Larimer Humane Society to have a variety of adoptable animals that come from two main sources: strays and surrenders. Stray animals brought into the Humane Society are held only for five days as legislated by Larimer County. If an animal is not reclaimed by the end of a five day period, the animal is placed under evaluation for promotion to adoptable animal. Surrenders, on the other hand, come from owners who surrender their animals to the shelter due to inability to care or provide for the animal. A background history is taken from these animals and then they are also evaluated for adoptions.

The evaluation for adoption differs for each type of animal such as dogs, cats, and small mammals (exotics do not have evaluations). Small mammals usually do not have a evaluation for adoption as these animals tend not to be “comfort” pets, but overly bite ambitious small mammals may be removed from adoptions. Cats, on the other hand, are evaluated in terms of sociability and ability to handle which often defines a cat from a feral cat. Mostly this assessment is whether a cat can be approached or held without fear aggression, hissing, scratching, or biting. This does not mean extremely shy cats or all feral cats are euthanized, but depends on the scale of aggression. Lastly, dogs are evaluated in a tiered safe evaluation looking at several different forms of dog aggression including: dominance aggression, food aggression, sensitivity aggression, child aggression, toy aggression, and sometimes other dog aggression. This scale rates from A to F for each category with a C or higher being acceptable. However, dog to dog aggression and child aggression do not ban a dog form adoptions if failed, but just places waivers on the dog to be the only dog in a new family or only in a house with children over 12 respectively.

Lastly, once a dog or cat makes it to adoptions, they undergo a final test of personality known as meet your match. Meet your match personality assessment in dogs is based on energy level and maintenance (training and day to day requirements). Dogs can be placed in a purple, orange, or green category with purple being lowest energy, lowest maintenance, orange the in between, and green the highest energy, highest maintenance. To determine a dog’s color they are tested for jumping (energy and training), what they do if left alone in a room (will they destroy the place), play test (how play motivated are they), food test (how trained and food motivated the dog is), and other general comments placed by evaluators. Green dogs tend to be more playful, jump more, get distracted with food motivation or know very little commands. Cats have a similar assessment, but the tests scale sociability and confidence which includes playfulness. The last of the meet your match requires individuals looking at these animals to feel out surveys to see what animal color they match with, but this does not mean you are limited to that match. All adoptable animals can be visited in a visit room at the shelter and must be visited with before adopting and can also be placed on hold for 10.00 for only 24 hours that is non-refundable if adoption does not occur. All animals at the Larimer Humane society are neutered/spayed, given rabies, distemper, and other required shots, deworming, and are microchipped. Adoptable animals come with a free colar (if applicable) and a donated pet exam and bag of feed.

Return Policies

If in the first two weeks the animal is diagnosed with a major medical problem, a full refund will be provided. Along with that policty, the shelter gives a 3 month period and if in that time an animal does not work out and is returned, the shelter will give a voucher for another animal.

Pricing

Dogs 6 months and younger: 125.00 + 10.00 licensing fee (if within Larimer County)

Dogs 7 months and older: 100.00 + 10.00 licensing fee (if within Larimer County)

Cats 6 months and younger: 125.00 + 10.00 licensing fee (if live in Loveland or Fort Collins)

Cats 7 months and older: 50.00 + 10.00 licensing (if live in Loveland or Fort Collins)

Small mammals: range from 5.00 to 30.00 dollars