Happy Endings

Ella's Story

This story was born out of tragedy and has such a happy and fateful ending.
It started with an email from a lady called Fiona Fagan who offered to foster pregnant cats. We thanked Fiona and said that we would keep her details on file. The very next day a beautiful young stray cat was brought into the centre and she was heavily pregnant. We contacted Fiona who agreed to take the cat in and care for her. The poor kitty had a totally bald area on her back and top of her tail and it looked very much like someone had poured scalding hot water over her at some point (a fact which was also diagnosed later by a vet).
At first Ella (short for Cinderella) hid under the bed in the room Fiona had set up for her care, but as you can see from the photo below she quickly settled onto her new cosy bed.

On June the 6th Ella went into labour and the first born had died, it obviously stopped developing a couple of weeks prior. An hour later the second kitten was also born dead, it was in a breach position with the umbilical cord wrapped around its neck. The next day Ella had 2 more kittens, but sadly neither of them survived.
Initially Ella seemed to be resting and ok, but she then became very distressed and seemed to be searching for her babies. Fiona contacted the centre and we advised her to put out a plea for anyone with newborn kittens to see if she could “borrow” one. Luckily a cat with 3 kittens was happy for Ella to nurse one of them.

Ella took to her new baby, Sam, and was happy to nurse him – see below

Then tragedy struck once more as Sam’s original mother died leaving the remaining 2 kittens orphaned. Fiona offered to see if Ella would take to them a well and although at first Ella hissed and spat at them to stay away, gentle coaxing from Fiona (which included laying in Ella’s bed with her and Sam) Ella eventually relinquished and began to nurse and wash Amber & Sophie.
Below are photos of the new happy family.

Fiona has homes lined up for the 3 kittens and we are looking for a very special forever home for Ella.  
Leitrim Animal Welfare Ltd would like to say a huge thank you to Fiona for her kindness in fostering and caring for Ella and her new babies.

BONNIE

Hi all,

A few more pics of Bonnie at home and at work, she is doing just great and eating well too. We have found out a few things about her too! She likes been the centre of attention especially if we have any visitors with their dogs, loves playing with them but if we go to give them a pat on the head she will come between us! wont fight with them or anything like that but she is not to gone on us showing any attention to other dogs. Bonnie absolutely loves the water, wallows in it like a hippo and then off she goes at warp speed through the fields it’s so funny to see her running about, she gets so excited her rear ends nearly passes her out. Thank you so much you have helped us through a difficult time, I still miss Ross terribly and have my bad days thinking about him but then I look at bonnie and it gets easier, Again many thanks for all you have done for us I will keep in touch.

SUKI

In September 2009 a beautiful pregnant Akita was brought into our centre. We called her Bella. She had a litter of 8 stunning puppies and was a great mother to them and was also great with the staff caring for her and her babies. Below is a photo of Bella and her pups at 1 week old

A couple who live in Dublin and have a holiday home in County Leitrim came into the centre one day for a look around. They already had Yorkshire Terriers at home, but the gentleman wanted a larger breed that he could take out for walks. We showed them the litter of Akita’s and they were immediately smitten and chose Belle shown below.

The couple renamed Belle Suki, which means “one who’s loved” in Japanese

Suki’s owners regularly keep us updated and send lovely photos. Suki recently celebrated her first birthday and her owners sent us the photos below showing Suki being wonderfully spoiled on her special day.

The photos below show Suki happily settled in her new home.
Isn’t she a beauty?

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRUE UNDERSTANDING

Most of the time when people come to view dogs at our centre they choose the dog that they like, but there are those rare and very special moments when the dog chooses the person and it takes a very attuned and understanding person to realise that they have been chosen.

This happened recently. We had a black German Sheperd x who we named Duke in the centre, who was overlooked by everyone that came to view as he would race up and down in his kennel run, jumping at the fence, barking and carrying on. But one day a lady called Tina came to view and she walked by Duke and squatted down in front of his fence, softly called him and held out her hand. Duke quietened, walked really calmly over to her and nuzzled her hand. He pressed himself up to the gate to be fussed by her. She stood up and said that she thought that Duke liked her and had chosen her and that provided he got along with her other dogs, she would adopt him.

Duke had not been great with other dogs in the centre so we were a little dubious and allowed the Tina to take Duke on a trial basis. Tina worked very hard with Duke to socialise him with her dogs and the general public.

As you can see from the photo below, Duke knew that if he wanted to stay with this lady that he had chosen, he would have to relax and get along with the other dogs in the family. Duke (now called Spooks) is the dog on the right hand side, running along with his tongue hanging out looking delighted with his new family.

Frankie’s Story

A litter of 8 Pointer puppies came into the centre in 2008 along with their mother. They had been found as strays and were in the most appalling condition. They were desperately underweight and their mother had been trying her best to feed them all. Sadly we lost one of them, but the rest of them began to thrive and were all rehomed.

The photos below show little Frankie when he first went to his new home, he was still underweight, but in need of a loving home and a family who could give him the love and attention he needed.

Frankie’s owners have kept in touch with us and we received a lovely letter from Frankie telling us the following:

By the time you read this I will be over 1 year of age. I would like to thank you all for saving my life and looking after me whilst I was in your centre.
When I was collected I was cuddled in a blanket all the way to my new home in Devon.
Mum and Dad left food for me upstairs and downstairs so that I was never hungry, so I just helped myself - a little and often.
After my injections I went to puppy parties run by veterinary nurses at my vets once a week. I was awarded a toy at the end of the course for being the most improved puppy.
I went on from there to obedience training for 7 months. I have been on holiday twice and have always been on my best behaviour.
I go for 2 long walks a day to lovely places and have a short walk in the evenings.
I have lots of toys; I get lots of love and cuddles and play lots of games.
Thank you once again for caring for me and for all you do for the other animals that come into your Animal Welfare.

Love from
FRANKIE xxx

We were delighted to see the following photos of Frankie, happy and healthy in his new home.