Ever Wrestle a Hamster?

I am a Rescue Home operator.

One of my many hats ;) It started in 2009. My then boyfriend was doing his Veterinary internship at an Animal Hospital and I was working at home. I’ve had a soft spot for animals since I could walk, and my children constantly bring home some sick or injured furred or feathered friend in need.

As significant others do, my boyfriend would tell me about his day, and there were frequent sad stories. One day he called me and asked if he could bring home a puppy temporarily, and possibly see if this would be the right dog for us. We had been discussing getting a dog, and this puppy had been abandoned at the animal hospital. It was food aggressive, but we had no other dogs so we would feed our two housecats separately and train the pup.

We called him Lazarus, and he was a cute, energetic, and strong little guy. He was a great puppy besides for the food aggression. Very protective over his kibble, Lazarus would bite if your hand came near his food bowl. Feet- no problem. Random objects were cool, too. We had to get creative to cure him of this, so after all the advice from the dog whisperers failed, I created a hand on a stick.

I wanted it to look as much like a human hand as possible, so stuffing a flesh colored latex glove and affixing it to the end of a broomstick which wore a sweater arm felt right.

Throughout the day I would pet Lazarus with the false hand so he would associate it with comfort and goodness. Then, come meal time, carefully do the same and slowly come to the point where the hand could be near his bowl. Then, wearing protection of course, replace the false hand with a real one until he was no longer food aggressive.

It took weeks, but it finally worked. Soon after that he was able to eat happily with the cats eating beside him. He ended up not being a good fit for my family, but he did find a good one and has been a wonderful addition to their household for 8 years.

That was the beginning of my professional rescue operation. Word quickly spread among the vets and animal shelters and I became the go to for hard cases.

People throw away pets for moronic reasons. One day I was hanging out at the hospital after bringing my bf lunch. I heard a womans voice growing loud and irate from one of the exam rooms. She was angry because the veterinarian would not let her "humanely" euthanize her own cat.

This beautiful two-year-old pure white Persian had begun urinating in the shower. The vet was calmly trying to explain the cat was healthy, that all his labs had come back clean, and to try changing his litter type, or if that didn't work to move his litterbox to a different area. She tried to explain to the owner that a majority of cats who have had their claws removed face this exact issue, and that she had tried to warn her. But the woman was very angry and wanted to exact revenge upon the poor kitty who was simply confused as to why he had woken up missing parts of his fingers.

The vets and assistants could not do anything. They eventually conceded and the owner signed the euthanasia papers, paid and left immediately. The vet ripped up the death sentence and handed me Sam the declawed kitty whom I renamed Lunchbox. I had brought my boyfriend a healthy meal and left with an abandoned cat.

I'll say that was a good trade.

Pockets of kittens

One spring I had two first time mother to be rescue cats when a hospital called because there were no more rescues in the area with room and they knew I had a big house and they had a sweet mama cat who was ready to give birth within days.

I couldn't say no.

Well the new cat had her litter of five two days later. Three days after that one of first cats had her litter of 8. Two days after that the final mama had her litter. Of ten! Ten kittens! Cats only have 8 nipples.

This was going to be a challenge.

I forgot to mention the first two moms were diabetic. Their kittens were also diabetic.

Thus began the most difficult two months of my career.

Twice a day I would have to test the two mamas and each of their kittens, then give insulin injections every 12 hours. To top this I needed to weigh and bottlefeed formula to supplement the litter of ten kittens. And the first two weeks they were getting severely dehydrated so I had to push IV fluids. Those tiny babies went through so much, but they all came out of it fine. I wore a large shirt so I could warm the kittens in my pockets for easy injections. I literally had pockets of kittens for 8 weeks!

Did you know bottlefed kittens need to be burped just like newborn humans?

I rescued everything from a beaten snake to a crack dog. Yes, a chocolate lab addicted to crack cocaine who came to me 4 hours before her euthanasia because every other rescue had returned her for being too difficult.

Ever wrestle a hamster?

The animal hospital called me one morning half an hour before they opened. My boyfriend had not even made it to work yet. Someone had left several cages with hamsters in front of the door in the middle of the night. 95 hamsters in fact. I only ended up with one- the most difficult- she had a mutation which made her teeth grow at an unusual speed.

Hamsters teeth grow rapidly, but their constant chewing and gnawing wears the teeth down to a manageable length. My rescue hamster's teeth grew so fast that I had to clip them every 24 hours.

Most of the pets who come so stay in my home are severely abused or burned. My boys and I have shed many tears, but through this our hearts have been warmed so much. When you watch a skitty, scarred canine who has spent his puppy hood being hit instead finally open his heart and tentatively come to curl around your feet instead of the dark corner he has called home for the two months you have been treating him, your heart breakingly soars.

Over the years I have acquired so much medical equipment I could open my own hospital! I provide most all procedures that can be done in your vet's office- minus surgeries. I do not get paid, but the majority of food and medical supplies are donated. I wake up throughout the night, usually every two hours, for most of the injured and newborns. My social life has to be planned, just like when my kids were little :) It's truly a calling.

My boys have lovingly dubbed our efforts Rehealth, Reheart, Rehome.

What I really get out of this is inexplicable. It’s a feeling. I never set out to run a rescue home, but now I couldn’t imagine life without the special little critters who I wish had never had the need to come to me, but who I am so thankful found me. I don't even miss the sleep. Helping those without a voice is worth it :)

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I appreciate your support ❤


Donations are desperately needed and very much appreciated. You can send Chewy.com donations straight from their website, donate from Haven's rescue site or visit her dedicated rescue blog Authorcat.com where all proceeds from your choice of a variety of cat and their people swag.