As a mother of 3 young boys and 8 fur babies (2 dogs, 3 cats and 3 guinea pigs) people often ask me why I would take on more by fostering. Yes, it is true, I am an extremely busy woman. I work full time at Park Road and I have a busy home life. I also help run the Love on Four Paws Rescue at our clinic.
I have always loved animals, for as long as I can remember helping animals has always made me happy. I always seem to find them and sometimes they find me. I can recall being a small child and seeing a cat catch a bird and hopping a fence to get to it and taking the bird out of its mouth and then nursing it back to health. These days I come across a lot more at the clinic.
They come into the rescue for one reason or another, sometimes they are healthy and just in need of a home. Other times though, they are sick and if they are being surrendered to our care, they are likely extremely sick. A good example would be a parvovirus case. Parvovirus requires intensive and costly treatment and long hospital stays and sometimes owners just can’t afford it. So, they make a decision to surrender to our care.
If we take in a case it is examined by the doctor and a treatment plan is set into place. This is where we as the volunteers come in. Their treatment can include medical testing, isolation from other at-risk animals, close monitoring, intravenous fluids, medications and a lot of love and care. They stay at the clinic during the day and at night and on weekends they are taken home by a trained team member to receive their care. This is a tedious and time consuming task and the outcome unfortunately can be very sad. However, the majority of the time the outcome is positive and the reward is a happy healthy animal who has a second chance at life!
That is why I do what I do. To see an animal on death’s door and being able to help give them a second chance to live, play and be loved. Yes, it takes a lot out of you to foster in these situations but I guarantee when you see that happy healthy little face in the end, it will all be worth it. And in the unfortunate times when they don’t make it, I take comfort in the fact that I made their last moments here warm, comfortable and loved.
My kids are part of the process, they love helping these little ones too and I think that it is so important to teach children how to love and help animals. Fostering is needed and I highly encourage people who are able to, to do so. If you are interested in fostering in our Love on Four Paws program please get in touch with us at Park Road Veterinary Clinic.
Below is a picture of Adira (our latest Parvo pup) when she came in very sick and the other is the night before she went to her new home, playful, feisty and attacking me with kisses
