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.

12/9/21 – Meet Zeus, Tiger, Ursula, Athena, Buck, Lebron, Jasmine, Hades, and Cruella. They are from two litters who were brought to an independent rescuer in November after they were found on the street at about 9 weeks old. Tomorrow they will be going into the hospital to be spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and one of each litter will be snap tested.

P.S. Remember that a female cat can start reproducing at 4months old. And, that female can reproduce 3 times a year. What does that mean? For every intact female, 15 or more kittens will be born each year for almost her entire life. AND, with every female born from that one female, the cycle continues. Think about it — 1 female on the streets, even if she only lives for 3 years (the average for cats on the streets), she could produce 45 kittens who will go on to overpopulate our streets with innocent animals. Lastly, we all know that a female can’t reproduce without a male, so it is equally important to neuter all males. And this is why your donations and our community low-cost clinics are so very important. During this Christmas season, please consider saving a life from hunger, danger, and illness. May God Bless those who are the voice of the voiceless.

12/8/21 – Continued prayers for Noel. This poor baby who had surgery last week for a severe prolapsed rectum woke up this morning and her rectum had prolapsed again. Her rescuer, Kim, who tried for at least 3 months to catch this poor girl, immediately took her back to our veterinarian and here is Kim’s report:”The prolapse rectum was tacked up in there with a purse string which was removed this past Monday. The doctor did the surgery again today. This time the purse string will be left in longer–at least 2 weeks. If this doesn’t work there’s 1 more surgery the doctor can try. I feel so bad for Noel and who knows how many months she was actually out there like this. I know it was just days short of 3 months that I was trying to get her. – Kim”As an added note, our doctor is not charging for the repeat surgery and I add this so that our supporters know how amazing our dedicated doctors and their staffs are to the stray, abandoned, and abused. – diana4paws1heart.org/donations/

12/8/21 – Happy Update!! You might remember Rocky who was found on the streets last February, very sick. He had cigarette burns on his body and it was thought that his jaw was broken. The Village came together and he was medically treated and loved and taken in by Saving Innocent Souls Rescue. There he found his forever family. Here he is when he was rescued and today almost one year later looking forward to Santa Paws.

12/7/21 – Mama Leah and her 3 babies, Crunch, Marble, and Moose were found hanging around a local restaurant in Warren, MI. They were probably hoping to find food. Fortunately, Jennifer saw them and decided to rescue them but she couldn’t afford to pay for their medical. Fortunately, someone she knew was aware of 4 paws 1 heart and suggested she contact us. She did and we were happy to have feral mama Leah spayed, vaccinated and tested, and the kids were all spayed/neutered and vaccinated. Mama will be returned to her territory but Jennifer will be trying to find a home for the kittens. If you are interested, please contact her at: [email protected] Here is a message from Jennifer:”i just wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your help and kind generosity. knowing leah and her babies are getting the care they need to stay healthy is the best gift i could ever ask for. leah and her kittens send you a giant thank you as well. i’m also so grateful for Little Deb for setting this all up. much love and many thanks to you and your angel of a heart. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year – Jennifer”

diana