Allergic to your pet(s)? No need to break up the family.

So you and/or your child is having a rough time with the cats or dogs. I too have major allergies and we have A LOT of both :) We've done some things to make it better around our house. For starters, we built a screened-in enclosure so our cats can hang out there. That helped a lot for my sneezing.

Trust me, it's much better for your cats to adjust to changes in your home rather than in a shelter. Most shelters/sanctuaries are overflowing with homeless cats. They're underfunded, under-staffed and packed. No cat should be in there.

Here are some links to pages with more information on living with cat allergies: http://www.catster.com/kittens/Allergic-to-Cats-How-to-Keep-Your-Cat-and-Your-Health-144 and http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/allergies_pets.html.

Take the necessary steps to keep your pets in your family. Pets are a lifetime commitment. Be a part of the solution -- not the problem.

The ethics of cat trapping & feeding

Yesterday was a tough day here at Animal Matters. Although I feel strongly that feral cat trapping is critical in keeping the stray cat population in check, we really get into grey areas when it comes to making decisions about their well-being. It's customary to have the cat tested for Feline Leukemia and AIDS before they're altered. If positive for Leukemia, it's not a good idea (in my opinion) to put the cat back out on the streets. It can be a long, rough illness. Add in the outdoor elements and it's down-right cruel. If positive for AIDS, the cat can live an ok life back out on the streets but there's risk that he/she can spread the disease to other cats and will have a hard time healing from bite wounds or any afflictions. So what's a trapper to do? We made the hard call yesterday & authorized one of our trapped males to be euthanized. This was agonizing. He was a big boy we named "Puff" who was in our managed colony for years. I noticed that he was limping & his leg was red and swollen. He couldn't even put any weight on it. I knew I had to get him in a carrier and to the vet as soon as I could. I was so happy I got him on Monday night! The vet called yesterday to tell me he had tested positive for AIDS. I was shocked! She said that his leg was in bad shape & didn't know if he'd be able to even heal because of the AIDS. The only hope for him to be treated & to recover was to have a quiet indoor spot to go to. That's the problem. I don't have that. I can't even find a foster home for a healthy kitten! Plus, Puff had been in a home years ago & hated being inside. Hence, he was thrown out into this colony. After much deliberation, we let him go. I cried all day. We will have him cremated so he can rest in peace at our home. Just because he lived on the streets doesn't mean he didn't have a family in us. We will miss you "Puff."

Mixin' business with pleasure

Last week, my best friends were in town for our annual girls' weekend. While sipping cocktails & chatting about our lives at a cozy hotel restaurant, we saw some stray cats in the bushes. I realize that the life of a cat trapper (me!) really never takes a vacation. My friends knew I mentally checked out of our conversation & was focusing on how to catch those cats. They were right! It turns out the hotel staff had been feeding & looking after the cats. The bellhop was especially sweet regarding the care of the cats. He told me four of them needed to be neutered but they didn't have enough money to get it done. Fast forward a week -- the bellhop and I caught three of the four & I got them neutered. They're currently on my side porch in carriers recovering from surgery. I'll go back over to the hotel in the morning & re-release them. That's always the bittersweet part of my job. There aren't enough homes for all of these cats so the street life is going to have to do. I can take comfort in at least knowing I did my part by getting them altered & making sure they are as healthy as can be to live their lives out on the streets. I'll say a prayer for them when releasing like I always do when letting the felines go. I ask God to guide them, protect them and bless them for whatever time they have here on earth.

What we hear. How would you respond?

Below is an email sent to Animal Matters on February 5, 2011 (keeping sender's information private). We responded but wanted to know what you would've said!

To Whom it May Concern:

I have a 7 year old Calico Siamese cat who needs a new home. She is extremely friendly and talkative and is the perfect lap cat. Unfortunately I'm unable to keep her anymore because my mom is very allergic and I have to move back in with her. I'm seeking information about getting her adopted and what your facility may be able to do to help this process

If you could provide me with as much information as you can about how you might be able to help me, I would really appreciate it. I'm extremely disheartened that I can't keep her anymore, but I know in the right home she will be very happy.

Thank you very much and I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Sincerely,

J L. J

Wow, I've received so many disappointing emails through the Animal Matters account lately! People are just too quick to give up on their pets. For a variety of reasons (most of which are lies, I'm sure), these people can't keep their pet. You would not believe what they say. I propose a series of possible solutions and offer a variety of resources but they don't accept. And to top it off, they don't even return my email. This leads to many sleepless nights since I'm wondering if their dog/cat is on the way to Animal Control's drop-off box.

My husband always says that I should compile 13 years of emails that have come in from the public. We both agree that the average sane individual would not believe what their fellow man writes. Maybe someday a book is coming. First, I have to get back to these emails :)

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I always get sad around this time. The entire holiday is centered around a dead bird. I can't stop thinking about how these birds are born, raised & killed. I know this isn't the "holiday spirit" but it's the truth.

If more people knew what happened behind the scenes, their holiday would take on a new meaning. Let's celebrate all life! We don't NEED animal flesh to survive. That's a fact. Make your next Thanksgiving one of peace & happiness for all God's creatures. You have that power. Pretty cool, huh?

I love what I do here at Animal Matters but it can be depressing - I'm not going to lie. Each day, I receive emergency pleas from the public mostly wanting to dump their pets. Or I'll get the death list from area shelters (looking at all of those faces of pets going to die is knife-wrenching). Although I feel good about helping people by offering services or information, I know the majority of them are still going to abandon their pet. Many evenings end with a heavy heart.

We've shaken things up a bit here at Animal Matters. In addition to helping the public and their pets, we started a cycling racing team called Pitbull Racing, www.PitbullCycling.com. This was a nice way to marry my love for cycling with my passion for animal rescue/adoption. My cycling buddies and I have cool gear that spreads the word about Pitbull awesomeness, pet adoption and it looks menacing! It's a lot of fun.

You don't have to cycle to support the team. If you want to purchase any of our gear, just let me know. I'm still working on the site but you can find us on FaceBook. Just do a search for Pitbull Racing in Florida.

I needed this diversion. Wearing the Pitbull gear out & about & on my bike allows me to educate people about our mission. This is just another way to make the world a better place for those who can't speak for themselves.

Remember -- spay, neuter & adopt!

:)

Melissa Wu

I just received a brochure from Petfinder.com today regarding Pet Allergies. One of the most impactful sections of it is retyped below. Please pass it on. Have to stop the misperceptions out there:

Do Hypoallergenic Pets Exist?

No. The fact is, all cats and dogs can cause allergy symptoms in people who are allergic to pet dander. Dogs with soft, constantly-growing hair, such as Poodles or Bichon Frises, may be less irritating to some people - althought that could be because they are groomed and bathed often. In addition, one cat or dog of a particular breed may be more irritating to an allergy sufferer than another pet of the same breed. The bottom line is, a person with pet allergies has to meet an individual pet to determine how he or she will react to that pet.

Wow, I am inundated with requests from the public to help stray cats they find. There are so many darn cats fighting for their lives on our streets. I'm so grateful that people take the time to write to me on the cats' behalf. I always tell them there are two ways I can help them:

1. I can post pictures/bios of the cats on our Petfinder page (if they're adoptable).
2. I can help by offering traps & paying for the vetting. I offer this because getting these cats spayed, neutered and tested is the most important way to keep populations low.

After I reply to these pleas, I don't often hear from the people again. I think they wanted a "quicker fix (pardon the pun)." Even if I had a facility, it's so hard to find homes for domesticated cats...ferals are almost impossible.

Even though I can get reduced rates at some local vet's offices for the medical treatment, this can get expensive for Animal Matters! I love helping people help animals. I'm so appreciative that there are people out there who care. I want them to know that they're not alone & that there is help.

Please help me help them. You can make an online tax-deductible donation on our website, www.animalmattersonline.org.

Thanks.

Melissa

I have to warn you - this blog post isn't really about animals. It's about my other passion - triathlons. But now that I think about it, doing one really gives me the energy to do the other.

This past weekend, I raced a super sprint triathlon in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. I was actually pretty excited to race the shortest triathlon the same year I was going to do the longest (Ironman Florida). The first time I raced the Ft. Lauderdale tri was in 2002. I didn't fare so well. I was so nervous -- I had stomach problems the entire time. Even ended up in the woods twice before the finish. So embarrassing. After I finally finished, I called my mom back in Michigan. She was so proud of me even if I had sticks stuck underneath my bathing suit. She was celebrating over the phone -- bragging about her daughter. That was the first and only triathlon she would hear about. I lost her months later to lung cancer.

2009 was the year to go back to this pivotal race. I just wanted to gauge how much I had improved in 7 years. I knew it'd be short. I told my husband not to even miss his Saturday ride for my event. I went alone. Boy, I was so much more relaxed this year. No nausea, no nerves. I was a veteran now. Just came to sprint & go home to drink my coffee & eat my Combos.

For those of you who know me, I'm not very technical. I don't wear a watch, don't have a power meter & hate wearing a heart rate monitor (irritates my skin). I go on "perceived exertion." So typical me didn't even wear a watch to this race. I didn't know I took first in my age group until my friend Jim Van Putten Facebooked me later that day! Got to love FaceBook.

I know Ironman is going to be so much more of a beast than this sprint but I'm ready. Even though it took only 50 minutes, this event is very special to me. It was the race that I could celebrate with my mom. This year, I just celebrated with her in a different way -- each step of the way, she was yelling in my ear, "Go Liss!" I'm sure the same words will be heard in my head during the Ironman on November 7th.

My mom's encouraging words didn't just ring loudly in my tri world -- they were always there in my animal rescue work too. She was my biggest supporter in two of the most important facets of my life. She still is. I know. I can hear her.

I've been swimming with Brig for a few years now. Our Masters Swim practice usually ends with cat rescue discussions in the parking lot. She'll tell me how many she trapped the previous week & I'll tell her how many emails I've received from people who need help with stray cats. I knew Brig was hardcore and she wanted to help as much as she could each day but it wasn't until I "covered" for her one night did I realize what an asset she is to the homeless cats in our community.

I found out Brig feeds 10 feral colonies each night!! And the colonies are dispersed all over our area. From down at the beach to out near the Everglades. It's this quiet caring that drew me to her & made me want to help. While she was out of the country, I fed just one of her colonies on a Monday night. I took a big bag of dry food as well as a couple of canned & spread it around in a parking lot. Wow, you should've seen all the cats that appeared. It was amazing. I counted more than 35. These little ones wait for Brig each night. I can't believe her commitment.

I'm a big proponent in spaying/neutering. Feeding is fine but the only way to really help these cats is to alter them. Brig knows this & has done her best to fix as many as she can afford. Of the 35(ish) I fed, only 1/2 were altered. She ran out of money. I'm determined to help this colony. I'm involved now. If you want to help me help Brig's cats, please respond & together, we can put a dent in this escalating overpopulation issue. If you saw the cats, you'd just want to. Thank you and thanks Brig!

I love cycling. Even more, I love cycling with a bunch of guys who are better than I am. Makes me work harder. The other day, I was grinding it out in the pace line when I saw something flapping in the middle of the road. I realized it was a large crow who had probably been hit by a car. In a split second, I made the decision to pull out of the roaring line of cyclists to check on the bird.

I'm so glad I stopped. The bird had hobbled its way onto an embankment to steer clear of traffic. I stood there on my bike wondering "What the heck am I going to do now?" I rode my bike to the nearest shopping plaza where I asked a postal worker to give me a box. I then rode back to the bird with the box only to realize there was no way I could fit him in there. He was a big boy!

I quickly rode to my car & called the Wildlife Care Center in Ft. Lauderdale. Since it was early on a Sunday morning, I got their machine. Dead end. With nothing to lose, I called Palm Beach Animal Care & Control. Bingo! Their dispatcher told me an officer would come but it would take a while to find me. No problem.

While waiting, I saw the crow's friends circle around squawking at him wondering why he wasn't flying with them. It was heart wrenching to see that camaraderie. 40 minutes passed and the truck arrived. I directed the officer to the bird.

The officer was great. She put her gloves on & picked the crow up to put him in a carrier. He was so peaceful at this point. It was almost as if he knew help had arrived. She told me he would go to a sanctuary about an hour north to see if he could be rehabbed. I was so pleased. No matter what happened to him at that point, he was in better shape than when I had found him.

I may have not raced with the boys that morning but I felt like the true winner!

Milly moved many

I got a call late one night a few months ago from Mark, an old friend. He was doing hurricane Ike road cleanup in Houston, Texas and wanted to know how to start an animal rescue because he was tired of seeing all of the homeless street dogs there. I told him not to waste his time setting up an organization when Animal Matters would gladly help him in his quest to save some of these dogs. So, we went into action.

The next day, Mark spotted a small, old severely-matted Poodle mix walking in circles in an abandoned parking lot. “Milly,” as later named her, finally hit the jackpot in her weathered life. Mark picked her up, put her in his truck, and started grooming her with his industrial scissors he had in his toolbox. A few clips & voila(!), a cute face appeared. With some matted fur freed, she felt like a new gal! About a month or so, Milly lived in Mark’s truck & pet-unfriendly motel until we could devise a plan to get her to me in south Florida. Turns out, she had leg problems, was about 90% blind and had heartworms. No problem, I thought. She’s small…I can still find her a home.

Mark ended up renting a car & drove her from Houston to Orlando where Alex, our volunteer, took her in. She lived with Alex for about a month & started heartworm treatment & got the TLC she needed until she made her way down here to me. Just days before Milly was to come to Boca, she took a turn for the worse. She stopped eating her favorite foods and became extremely lethargic. We had several tests run & while awaiting results, she passed away on her comfy bed in Alex’s room. Ironically, I never got to meet Milly. That’s so hard for me to believe. She had become such a big part of my life & I never even got to touch her. Through Mark and then Alex, I got to know so much about her…her limping, running into things, funny antics, and just how plain ‘ole easy she was. Those two guys made her last days on this earth so loving, happy and peaceful. I’m forever grateful to them.

My husband and I decided to have Milly cremated. We’re big believers in treating our rescues just like we treat our own pets if they passed. She did not die like a street dog nor will she be remembered that way. She was family. Finding Milly brought out the best in the people who surrounded her. She reconnected old friends, shined a light on how fantastic Mark and Alex are (already knew this) and how awesome my husband continues to be after all these years. Milly’s rescue and passing proved that a small group of compassionate people can make wonderful things happen.

Thank you Milly. It is YOU who made our lives richer. God bless you little girl.