12/22/21 -Look who was at the Bark-a-Bout event today—Gina and Jasmine (now Dixie) and me taking the photo. Jasmine wrote a letter to Santa Paws during the Wags to Wishes contest and her letter was among 3 finalists. More news to follow tomorrow.- diana.4paws1heart.org/donations/
12/21/21 – And with bad news, fortunately, there is always good. I just got an update about Bella Bean. She was rescued this past July from a very abusive home where she was neglected, abused, and misfed. This poor girl was only two years old but had never been vaccinated or seen by a vet. The rescuer took Bella Bean to a vet to be spayed and vaccinated but found out that Bella Bean tested positive for heart worm. That is when we got the call for help. Well, fast forward — Bella has finished all of her heart worm treatment and yesterday I received the following update:”My sweet sweet girl is heartworm free right now. No signs of microfilariae or adult heart worms. Best Christmas present I could ask for. We have another check on February 21, 2022 at 430pm. I can not thank you enough for saving my girl. You are truly amazing. Again, Bella and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts. God bless you, hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year. Here’s to a wonderful new year. – Danna”Wishing all of our vet partners, rescuers, fosters, and donors a blessed Christmas filled with love because without you these miracles wouldn’t happen. – diana.4paws1heart.org/donations/P.S. Here is Bella Bean today, last October, and when she was rescued in July.
12/21/21 – Belia had been kept on a chain for what may be most of her life. Her owner was shot and killed and the family did not want her. She was 11 years old, malnourished, and was allegedly used for breeding. She was rescued and tested positive for heart worm but last night she was found by her rescuer, passed away. She was scheduled for continued heart worm treatment this morning. May she finally rest in peace after years of abuse. But, at least, she had love and companionship for the past 3 months. – diana.4paws1heart.org/donations/
2/20/21 – Once again we were happy to be able to help our good friends, Streethearts Animal Rescue, who are always there for the abandoned and abused in the Flint, MI area. This is Deuce.He was found in a corn field in July with a broken leg that was not a fresh break. The rescue believes he was dumped there. He was only 4 months old at that time. Deuce did have surgery to repair the break and the bill was just received. We offered to pay for it in that the rescue has their hands full with another serious case. The rescue reports that Deuce is the sweetest but he’s very timid. He has fear of new people so finding him a new home has been difficult. His leg is not “100%” and he has a limp after he has been laying down for a while. He is so handsome and reminds me so much of our Hercules and another dog we helped quite a few years ago name “Dig Dugg”. If anyone is interested in opening their heart and home to Deuce, please contact Streethearts Animal Rescue. – diana.4paws1heart.org/donations/
This is a sad story of a human hard on his luck, homeless and separated, for now, from his young daughter but yet reaches out to save a cat he’s been caring for while out on the streets of a very tough area. May God Bless those who care and open their hearts and homes. – Diana.4paws1heart.org/donations/
This is Sandy and here is his story. He was rescued last year by a gentlemen and his young daughter. They recently just lost their home. The young daughter is staying with her grandma in a one bedroom apartment and the dad is in a homeless shelter. He reached out for help, he had no where to take him. He tried to go back to feed him as much as he could. He had no gas money and little food to give him. He said Sandy would come running up to his car. I am so happy he asked for help and did not just leave him. Steven Vandenabeele went to flint to get Sandy, he said it was a very bad area. Thank you for transporting Steve. The owner was sad to see him go but is very grateful for the help. Sandy was neutered and vetted yesterday through 4 paws 1 heart. He had no prior vetting. Sandy is now looking for his forever home. He is so sweet and so happy to be back in doors again. Please consider donating to 4 paws1heart.org/donations. This wonderful organization helps so many animals.He is located in Harrison twp.
12/15/21 – Meet Boomer (also known as Boomerang). He was found in Detroit, zipped up in a small cat carrier soaked in his own urine with a bone. He had urine burns which have been cleared up since he was rescued. He is having issues walking and seems to possibly have an old break, or a deformity from birth, or possibly injured by being kept for an unknown time in too small of a crate. He has an appointment at one of the best vets in the area to have his urine-burned skin examined and his leg. The finder says she “will do what she can to help this baby!” His rescuer, Chelseaa, tells us that he’s the “sweetest ever” and has been opening up more knowing he is safe and can actually stretch his legs out! We will provide an update when we get it. Prayers that Boomer’s damage is temporary. – diana.4paws1heart.org/donations/Your donations give those who had no one, get a second chance at life.
2/14/21 – Last month I received the following e mail requesting help:”My name is Stephanie and I am a new volunteer with PAAW rescue, I have only started recently this year. Unforeseen circumstances have led me to write you this email. Please bear with me and read the whole way through. It is a long story, and I apologize. A Detroit police officer was called to a scene of me trapping cats earlier this year. This police officer then contacted me to help out on Pasadena street because some neighbor was killing the caretaker’s cats who she feeds. He would cut off their heads and leave them in her yard. We weren’t going to leave all these cats defenseless and didn’t want him to hurt any more babies. So, with PAAWs help, I have been solely trapping and gathering kittens and cats as fast as I could. We couldn’t catch the man on camera, that is still awaiting investigation. Every TNR was given synergy. We raised money for the extensive amount of TNRs; we are over 30 TNRS, which is amazing! We are also over 30 cats/kittens rescued from the streets and brought in to foster homes to find loving forever homes. These are the happy details; unfortunately, misfortune has befallen this colony. Every cat/kitten rescued has had coccidia. We rescued a kitten — Domino who had a prolapsed rectum, she had surgery and is doing well. We have lost a few cats due to severe flea anemia, FIP, and we are here to beg for help with Flame. Flame is a small orange kitten, approximately 5-6 weeks old. He has a prolapsed rectum and a diaphragmatic hernia. His siblings and himself tested positive for coccidia. We have called every vet in the area, every possible vet has said surgery is 4,000-5,000 just for the surgery itself, not including the hospital stay. I had a dream to save every life here, but this is a lot for the rescue, and me. Please help me save his life. I beg of you. I’ll volunteer and do whatever I need to save his life, please. Any leads you can give me or any help, please. I don’t know what else to do. Please reach out, with any advice and help. – Steph”After suggesting some other sources for help, I committed to assisting but advised that we could not afford to cover the entire bill in that we had many other outstanding commitments. A few days later I received the following update:”OVRS has diagnosed him with an Peritoneopericardial diaphragmatic hernia (PPDH), which was explained to me as his intestines are inside his heart pocket and he has a hole in his diaphragm. They are suggesting that the reason he is unable to defecate on his own is that he is constipated, and completely separate from his PPDH. They want us to bring him back in 6 months to evaluate the PPDH because he is too little to undergo the surgery. They are keeping him to see if they can find out why he is unable to defecate on his own, they stuck a cotton swab up his little prolapsed rectum, and there was no constricting. The estimate is still 1,500. The rescue still needs help. Anything will help! Thank you so much for all you guys do. Saving babies lives. You are all wonderful people!!! – Steph”We were thankful to pay almost half of Flame’s bill and to help a caring rescue like PAAW and rescuer, Stephanie. I don’t know of too many situations where it didn’t take a village to make a difference. We wish a better life for this baby and we also pray for karma on the evil person who could be so cruel as to cut the heads of cats and leave their bodies to haunt the caring person who was just trying to help God’s innocents.A huge thank you to all of our supporters who give us the opportunity to make a difference. – diana.4paws1heart.org/donations/
12/13/21 – Meet Patches. This past weekend I received a text from a good friend of 4p1h about a beautiful cat who has been hanging around her yard for the past 3 weeks and using her shelters during these very cold and windy nights. During this time, Jo (our friend), has been trying to find an owner but only learned that Patches had been spotted at another neighbor’s house where the family also fed her. But no owner could be found. Finally, Jo couldn’t hold out any longer and contacted us for medical assistance. Today, Patches saw one of our partner vets and was found to have a double ear infection, an eye infection, and an upper respiratory infection — all of which, left untreated, could have resulted in going deaf, having difficulty with her balance, and losing an eye. We are so very thankful that Jo was able to get her and take her in. She was treated and sent home with medications and, paws crossed, Jo may have already found her a furever family. She is scheduled to be seen again in 10 days and if healthy will be vaccinated (and spayed if needed). Jo believes she may have already been spayed but that will be checked also. – diana.4paws1heart.org/donations/
12/12/21 – 2020 and 2021 will always be remembered as the years of the Covid Pandemic. Many lives were lost or changed. Restrictions were put in place for humans and animals. The subsequent result was that many more animals, especially cats were born on the streets needing medical treatment which often was unavailable, restricted, or delayed. The number of requests for help far exceeded my ability to post their stories. But eventually all of these beauties were helped by 4 Paws 1 Heart and, as always, every single one was spayed/neutered, tested, and vaccinated as a minimum. Some may have needed more serious medical treatment for infections and injuries but thanks to the generosity of our supporters we never had to say “NO”. Here is Waylon, Roman, Frankie, Gracey, Shadow, Chesterfield, Kit, Bernie, and Reese. – diana4paws1heart.org/donations/
12/10/21 – Last Sunday I was notified about a cat in Sandusky, MI who was rescued after being attacked by an unknown predator. The cat’s tail was severely damaged and infected. This little 4 lb. female was friendly but an owner could not be found. The rescuer brought Panther to a vet who treated her with antibiotics but within just a few days the finder reported that the tail was “falling off”. Although we have no veterinary partners in this area of the Thumb, we recognized the criticality of the injury and approved Panther’s tail to be amputated at a vet near the finder. The surgery was completed December 8 and Panther was also spayed and vaccinated at the same time. She was picked up yesterday and is doing very well. The rescuer, Jodi, can care for Panther until she is recovered but she doesn’t have the means to keep her.
