ChipIn for Dorothy’s Pets: A Final Wish

Many people wanted to help Dorothy and her five animals, and while many would not be able to care for special needs pets they did want to donate to at least give Dorothy some assistance. Melanie has set up a ChipIn account to collect these donations, so if you know the story and would like to help, visit http://dorothyspets.chipin.com/dorothys-pets. If you don’t know the story yet, please read below, and visit the original post to read the volume of comments from people all over the world.

To date, Barney seems to have a good placement, and people outside of the Pittsburgh area have expressed interest in Sylvester, Lilibel and Petey, but for the purposes of home visits prior to adoption and for limited means of transportation, they’d like to keep the adoptions local if possible, or done with the assistance of a local rescue organization.

Here’s the original story…

In our rambles finding our forever pets, we’ve all encountered a lifelong animal rescuer, an individual so dedicated to capturing animals and making them well and whole that their life story is wrapped around with all the animals they saved. Such is Dorothy, who has saved and nurtured probably more animals than she can remember.

And in these extended families of rescued animals are always those who stayed with the rescuer because they were difficult to adopt with extreme or complicated medical needs, behavioral issues resulting from abuse or simply a personality that didn’t quite fit into another household. A rescuer like Dorothy would simply keep them on and care for them for the rest of their lives.

Dorothy has tragically developed brain cancer and is very near the end of the time she’ll be able to care for the five animals who still live with her, and as her final wish for their welfare she’d love to know they are in loving homes before she succumbs to her condition. If you can foster or adopt, or know of a rescue or shelter that has room for any of these special needs cats or dogs, Dorothy’s friend Melanie is the contact person whose information is at the bottom. Please share this as far as you can and hope that Lilibel, Mickey, Sylvester, Barney and Petey can find homes as nurturing as Dorothy’s.

From Melanie

My dear friend is nearing the end of her life due to cancer. She has 5 great pets that need re-homed soon. Dorothy would like to continue to care for her pets until she is too ill to do so. This could be a couple of weeks to another month or so. Dorothy has been a rescuer and friend to the underdog for most of her life. She is really trying to hang in there to make sure her pets find great new homes. I hope you can help make her final wish come true.

This gem is Lilibel. Lilibel is approx. 11-12 years old.

She was declawed by her previous owners. Lilibel tends to be a wall flower, but will come around to make herself known now and then. She is super sweet and cuddly with Dorothy, but takes her time warming up to strangers. Lilibel has an eye condition called chorioretinal scarring, but she is not blind from the condition. She also carries the feline herpes virus, but is managed well with Lysine.

This orange cutie is my absolute favorite cat! His name is Mickey. Mickey is approx. 12 years old and is just as sweet as can be. He loves cuddle. You can hold him like a baby and he’ll stay like that forever. He’s the sweetest cat I’ve ever met. Everyone loves Mickey. He’s just that cool.

When Mickey was younger he suffered from a urinary blockage. Since then he’s had a couple of surgeries to remove scar tissue from his bladder. This has caused chronic inflammation of the bladder and unfortunately does suffer from inappropriate urination. Some of this could be behavioral, but it’s mostly a medical issue. This could probably be controlled with the appropriate medications. He needs someone that is understanding and willing to work with him regarding this issue.

This is Sylvester. He’s approx. 5 years old. Sylvester suffers from allergic dermatitis and he had severe skin wounds when he was found. He allowed Dorothy to bathe him and bandage him. He is so patient and gentle. He really trusts Dorothy and is very close to her. He is extremely sweet, but needs time to trust someone new. I pet sat for Dorothy once while she was in the hospital. Sylvester hid most of the evening, but I woke up on the couch with him sleeping on my chest. Sylvester still has skin wounds from his allergies. Sylvester was under the care of a dermatologist at PVSEC and needs to continue care with them.

Barney is 15 and has Cushings, seizures, and cancer. He is really looking for hospice care.

Even though Barney has these health issues, he is still full of life. Barney loves going on walks, acts like a puppy when it’s time for “cookies”, and loves a good butt scratch. He’s a scraggle-butt cutie that still has a lot of fun left in him.

This little guy is Petey. Petey is about 3-4 years old. He’s a Jack Russell mix so Petey will require a home that can run him and wear him out. Petey requires a lot of attention and wants to be close all of the time. Dorothy is his third home.

Sadly, Petey may have been abused in his past. He required hip surgery on both hips because he “fell down the steps” in his last home. Though Petey went through a lot before getting to Dorothy, he is a snuggle bug and is incredibly sweet. Petey does need an alpha owner. He is very submissive with me and my husband, but tends to be more pushy with Dorothy. Since Dorothy has become more ill and has not been able to provide Petey with the exercise outlet he requires, he has become frustrated and has be-gun to take it out on the other animals in the home even though he’s lived with them for 2 years. Dorothy is ok with having Petey re-homed sooner rather than later because she realizes that he needs more than she can provide him in her current condition.

Download the flyer and send it in e-mail

Melanie made up a flyer to distribute so you can share it as an e-mail attachment or print it out and post it.

Contact Melanie

These guys currently live in Baden, PA. If you are interested in adopting one of these cool critters, Melanie will take them to the vet to receive an exam and if necessary update their vaccines prior to adoption. You can e-mail Melanie.