Lilli called the Help Line in March because she had adopted a puppy in December felt she needed to surrender the dog because it was not working out. The puppy had bit her child when the child tried to take a toy away from him. He had also shown these types of behavior towards other members of the family around food and toys. We spoke about doing some basic obedience and private training to target the resource behavior issue. She was open to looking into to it so we referred her to our trainers. When we followed up with her, she had good news! Training had indeed helped he is doing much better and they are no longer worried that they may have to surrender!
Rachel called the Help Line considering surrendering her newly adopted cat because she is not getting along with their resident cat. They brought Joany home a little over a month ago. They have noticed over the past couple of weeks that she is not thriving. Her cat Jarvis initially was hesitant but seemed instantly interested. Joany in return hisses and growls and bats at him. Rachel was doing most of the right things to help introduce the cats. We validated that she was doing the right things and gave her a few new suggestions. We also talked about how every cat is different, some cats will adjust in a week, and some take longer. When we followed up with Rachel, she was happy to let us know “Things have been a lot better. Joany and Jarvis get into spats every now and again, but claws never come out. And we’re always able to intervene before anything escalates. She enjoys hiding out and watching us, and is extremely food driven. She also loves pets (when she’s in the mood for them).”
Kristen called the Help Line after taking her Kiki to the Healthy Pets Clinic. Kiki had bad gingivitis and was in desperate need of a teeth cleaning. Kristen was unemployed and looking for work, but she spent all she had just getting Kiki to the Healthy Pets Clinic. Staff at HPC referred her to us for help and we were able to find a vet, Shepherdsville Animal Clinic, that was able to do a dental for $100. We provided her with a voucher for the cost of the dental. When we followed up with Kristen she sent us this adorable picture of Kiki letting us know that she is well!
Michael reached out to the Help Line because his dog Bella, a 12 yo basset hound was very sick. He took Bella to Blue Pearl and they believed it was Pyrometria. He did have Care Credit credit card that he could charge up to $600 but due to his chronic illness and so limited ability to work his family lives paycheck to paycheck. We helped him contact some other vets to try to find a better price, and we were able to get him worked into Elk Creek Animal Hospital where the surgery would be $700. We approved $150 of financial aid for him to be able to charge the rest on his care credit card. When we checked in with Michael and Bella he thanked us for our help letting us know that Bella was doing great and that they were so happy that he was able to save his beautiful Bella!
Lorainne called the Help Line considering surrender their cat and her dog. The dog was playing too roughly for her kids and her cat would swat at the kids when they walk by her. We talked to the client about making sure she was teaching appropriate play to her young dog, how to keep both her pets active and provide mental stimulation busy, as well as some training she may be able to try with both. Neither pet was altered, so we also suggested getting both pets altered. The client was not sure she could get them altered due to the cost. While her husband works, she stays home with the kids to save on child care costs. We provided her with two vouchers so she would only have to pay $20 per pet to get them altered. When we checked in with Lorainne, she let us know that her dog Delilah, and cat Octavia “They are doing wonderful and they have actually calmed down dramatically and is much better with the kids now. Thanks so much for your help and helping us to be able to keep our pets!”