Although the mission of 4 Paws 1 Heart is to “Reduce the number of homeless animals by funding mefical treatment for stray, abandoned, and abused animals” many of our Board members have taken on individual projects. The 4p1h Village Kittyroom is one such effort started and coordinated by our Board menber, Dee Brown Gudenau. The room gives those individual rescuers, assisted by 4 Paws 1 Heart, an opportunity to promote the animals they have saved. A huge thanks to Dee and Pet Supplies Plus on Harper and 13 Mile, St. Clair Shores. Please stop in and meet your new best friend. – diana
9/8/23 – On August 10, 2023 Bandit was rescued from a colony and appeared to have only “one eye”. He was taken to our veterinary partner, Orion Animal Hospital, where his eye was removed. Yesterday the stitches were removed. Bandit now needs a home that can give him free home roam and love or Bandit will be returned to the colony. In an effort of transparency, I’m not sure we would have chosen this path had we known that Bandit would not have been kept, somehow, in a home. But now, this is where poor Bandit is. Unfortunately, many rescuers today are between a rock and a hard place — wanting to save animals but being overwhelmed because of a limited amount of availability for placement. If anyone is interested in this handsome boy, please contact Elizabeth at: [email protected]. – diana
As disheartening as this post is, I won’t let it stop me from helping the animals I have the honor of helping. If it weren’t for me doing what I do as an independent rescuer, Bandit would not have had really any chance of survival. As I stated in the public post I made about Bandits story yesterday on my page: I am grateful for this organization, I would NOT have been able to help Bandit without you guys.(I’ll add the link to Bandits story in a comment here as well- in hopes of finding a helpful solution to mine & Bandits situation) For more transparency, I’ll add screenshots from our conversations about Bandit through email as well. As of right now, I still have not received a response back since the last email I recieved from Diana at 8:24 yesterday morning. I’m disappointed as well, Diana. – Beth
9/8/23 – Creamcicle was rescued from a mobile home park. As you can see from the photo, a good part of his face had been ‘ripped off’ and turned out to be abscessed. We authorized his vetting as well as treatment for the wound with our veterinary partners at Five Mile Animal Clinic. Creamcicle is now with a rescue group and looking for his furever home. – diana
9/8/23 – Curtis and Eddy are two strays found, as always, in a mobile home park but they were rescued and taken to our friends at the Humane Society of St. Clair (https://www.facebook.com/HumaneSocietySnap/). Eddy will be looking for his furever home and Curtis will try to be socialized. – diana
9/7/23 – Athena was dumped along with two other siblings (?) in the yard of Jennifer’s neighbor. Jennifer took it upon herself to rescue all three and get them vaccinated/spayed/neutered but she saw that one was severely injured — Athena. She had what looked to be a deep gash on her neck. She was finally able to catch Athena and found that the wound was much worse than thought and filled with maggots. As she continued to trap the other two and get them medically seen, we agreed to help Athena. Fortunately, there was a vet in the area willing to work with us as a non-profit and Athena has been going through treatment and bandage changes there. She is doing good, gaining weight, and continuing to be treated before the wound can be closed. Jennifer caught one of the others shortly after getting Athena and will continue to trap the other and if needed, we will help them with their medical. – diana
9/7/23 – Sheba is a senior who was found wandering the streets of Detroit. She was rescued by our friends at Make A Difference Animal Rescue. Unfortunately, she had heart worm and was treated and got through that as well as her vaccines and medical care for chronic ear infections. On August 25 she went through a ‘routine’ spay but during surgery several tumors were discovered which needed to be removed which made her surgery more expensive. We were thankful to help Sheba and our friends in covering the majority of the invoice. We are confident that Sheba is in good hands now. – diana
9/7/23 – It was a year ago this coming Thanksgiving that Doorbuster was born to a chained mom who ended up having 9 puppies. (Doorbuster’s story can be found on the 4 paws 1 heart website). He was very sick and survived because of the love and care given to him by our friend Emily K. (a special needs foster for A Rejoyceful Animal Rescue), Dr. Zalac and the staff at Orion Animal Hospital, and of course, the funding donated by our generous supporters. Emily thought she had done her best to find Doorbuster the perfect adopter but unfortunately that wasn’t the case and Doorbuster was returned. The poor guy had unexplained puncture wounds with some behavioral issues.The adopters claimed to have trained him, etc. but that was obviously a falsehood and now Doorbuster is in training school and is with a foster who is also training him. Here is an update from Emily:
“Doorbuster is now 10 months old and doing fantastic in his foster home after being returned to the rescue. Doorbuster was born on Black Friday, hence the themed name. He was hand raised by a bottle feeder foster due to failure to thrive with nursing, so he’s VERY people oriented and such a love! He is working on training and learning the basics of doggo manners. He loves other dogs and has lived with cats in the past. He also loves kids and would do best with children who understand boundaries and may even be old enough to participate in training exercises. He has recently discovered the joys of playing with water, and he will play with any and every toy you throw his way. He is a bit of a dreamboat and would be a wonderful addition to almost any home! Apply to adopt this sweet guy at www.rejoycefulrescue.com/adopt“
Here’s some current photos and a couple from last December. – diana
9/6/23 – Last night I received a call from our friends at Streethearts Animal Rescue. They had gotten a call from a good Samaritan about a dog seen in a Genessee County park. The dog had been seen wandering the park for several days but about 3 days ago the dog was seen with what appeared to be a severe slash to his hip. The wound was infested with maggots of all sizes. The good Samaritan put the Park Ranger on the phone who confirmed the condition and Streethearts went into action to rescue him. The dog, who is very friendly, was picked up and immediately taken to Wilson Veterinary. The medical team reported that they had never seen a worse case of a maggot infestation. (the photo of the wound is much too graphic to post but you can spot some of it in the corner of his hip in one photo.
Gill continues to be in the hospital and we are thankful that because of the generosity of our donors we are able to help Gill with what will be a very significant medical bill. I will update as provided by Streethearts. – diana
9/5/23 – Dropped off at a person known for saving cats in her neighborhood. Queenie was very lethargic, malnourished and wouldn’t eat much. It turned out that she needed 8 teeth removed!! And, one tooth had been knocked sideways completely and was hanging only by a root. The doctor was pretty sure this was all due to an injury. Jennifer, the person who took in this sweet ‘drop off’, believes the person who dropped off the cat knew who Queenie belonged to but no one was willing to help her with her pain which was assumed to be going on for months. Although, Queenie was not in our usual network of veterinary partners, she was taken to a vet who works with rescues and we were very happy to help her get the help she needed. – diana
9/5/23 – On August 14 we were contacted about a beautiful stay who was found, very thin, looking very sick, but very friendly. Her finder thought she was abandoned because she was so very friendly. She appeared to have an upper respiratory infection but she also seemed to have “issues with her private parts” and a possible urinary tract infection. At first I authorized Broccoli to be seen at one of our partner veterinary hospitals who was faster to get into. The doctor there was able to provide antibiotics for a possible infection and calicivirus which resulted in mouth ulcers.. For follow up treatment, Broccoli was seen at Patterson Veterinary Hospital. She was kept overnight to prepare her for surgery the following day. Broccoli had a severe uterus infection which was treated with her spay. She will have one last follow up with our doctors for deworming and, I should also note, that Broccoli was found to be negative for felv/fiv. It appears that Broccoli will be kept as a permanent member of the family in that everyone has fallen in love with her. That wasn’t the original plan but I think we can all relate to how that can change. Wishing Broccoli the best life. – diana
