Journey’s End Ranch Newsletter February 28, 2013

Posted by: Cathy Ritlaw | Comments (7)

Honey, the senior chow chow mix we took in 3 weeks ago, with a lifelong history of “aggression”, is now weaned off the Elavil and has been on SAMe for 4 days, which seems to be transforming her. She is happier, playful towards me and was trying to play with several of the other females today ( I kept her on a long leash while I had her out in the big exercise yard with the other girls). She enjoys being brushed, lets me brush her teeth and let me cut her nails. She sleeps in the house at night, gets several hours a day of play time with Bear in the big yard and has her own large pen where she enjoys her privacy the rest of the day. I take her for a one mile walk every evening.

Honey enjoying a chewie

We had a great day Tuesday- Anne, the hoof trimmer/body worker did Big Rusty and Warrior’s feet and did a lot of body work on them…Warrior got so relaxed he fell asleep & fell over…Rusty’s neck, shoulders, ribs and hind end were out (years of no one noticing he was in pain before he came here)… he just loved the body work. got calmer, was yawning, and is now standing with his weight on all 4 feet and also eating better and spending more time eating…he needs to gain weight, but must have been too uncomfortable to spend much time chewing in the past….we vaccinated Julio for tetanus (he will be castrated soon), clipped Maggie’s nails… then, later on, Honey was actually playful towards me- first time since arriving 3 weeks ago….she was even wagging her tail at Anne, the trimmer.

Warrior

Carson’s abscessed carnassial tooth is responding well to Keflex, and our vet agrees that we should keep him on it and, hopefully, buy him considerable time… he is old and has numerous other health challenges (including Addison’s disease), is easily stressed and very aggressive towards strangers. We will manage him conservatively at home and will not put him through the ordeal of dental surgery. He arrived in very bad shape in June 2010 and has had almost 3 very happy years here and is feeling very spunky still.
Please vote for Carson so he can be featured on the Furever Rescued calendar! thank you!

https://www.facebook.com/FureverRescuedFoundation?sk=app_451684954848385&app_data=view-vote%2Cfor-255307

Carson's shelter photo May 2010

Carson Feb. 2013

Our hay supply is dwindling and we will be searching for the best deal we can get on hay soon. We may just buy several month’s worth of 2012 hay to get us through until the 2013 harvest becomes available.

Knickers, our 30 year old Arabian stallion, still puts on a show every day.

new Susan Monty painting using JERAS animals, almost finished

We want to thank all our supporters for being a part of the JERAS family and for enabling us to care for these formerly abused, neglected and unwanted animals. We can only provide them with a safe and happy home because of your generosity!

Love,
Cathy & the Gang

Categories : News

Comments (7)

February 10 th

Journey’s End Ranch Newsletter Feb. 10, 2013

Posted by: Cathy Ritlaw | Comments (22)

Journey’s End Ranch Newsletter Feb. 10, 2013

January was very busy at JERAS. Early in the month, our board member, Billie, took it upon herself to capture & rescue a stray/feral Mama dog and her 6 pups who had been living under someone’s porch in town. The Mama was scared and aggressive and the pups were scared, too. It took her a week, a trap, treats & multiple visits to catch them all. The Mama and 3 pups spent a week here. It was the week we had temps in the teens and wind, so we wrapped their pen in tarps and gave them heat mats and a heat lamp. The Mama was sick, but after 5 days of treatment, bounced back. In the end, all six pups and the Mama dog found new homes. The pups were caught in the nick of time for socialization. Had they lived as feral dogs much longer, they may never have been able to be socialized with people. Thank you, Billie! Great job!

I do the hoof trimming for the 19 horses & burros here, but sometimes I could really use some help. We consider it a huge blessing that we found a local gal who does a very good natural barefoot trim and is reasonable, too. Anne is also knowledgeable in holistic animal care. With her help, some of the more difficult to handle animals now have nicely trimmed feet. Her website is http://www.naturalhooftrimming.com

Speaking of the equines, we have had some rollicking good fun lately!

Here is another video- http://youtu.be/TUT3i9pPMkU

We have a new affiliate-

Valentine’s Day is coming! Get this YUMMY FUDGE and we get 25% of the sale! http://www.zaramay.com/jeras_fudge_fundraiser/

A large dog sanctuary in Az. is closing and is trying to place many special needs dogs.We offered to take an 11 year old Chow Chow mix who has been deemed to be people and dog aggressive for many years. Her owners of 9 years spent a fortune on vets and a behaviorist. All they came up with was to put her on a psych drug 4 years ago. She had received multiple yearly vaccinations over her lifetime, too.

Two years ago, the owners gave up and turned her over the the other sanctuary. There, she has lived in her own pen for 2 years and was aloof & sometimes aggressive. It was lucky for her that they took her, as she otherwise would probably have been put to sleep. At any rate, a kindly volunteer transported her here on Feb.5. Upon arrival, she snarled at me a few times. Within 20 minutes, she wanted to be petted.

I immediately put her on a grain-free, venison/potato food, supplements to help with detox, homeopathic remedies that can help with possible vaccinosis and reduced her Elavil to 3/4 pill. We will wean her off the Elavil over several weeks. Thyroid results showed her to be in the normal range for her breed and age.

We renamed her, “Honey”, because of her color and “new” temperament. She loves going for long walks and is living in a nice big pen for now, until we get to see how she will act with other dogs. Today, she met Bear, and all went very well.

Honey

Susan Monty did another portrait using our mustang, Rene’. as a model. It is called, “American Beauty”. You can buy prints and cards at Susan’s website. http://www.etsy.com/people/SusanMontyFineArt

We had to get a new computer, because the hard drive on our Mac laptop was worn out after 3 + years and I also had filled up the hard drive. We got another Mac, but a desktop, with a much bigger screen, which will help me see better, as my eyesight is not great anymore. I have not had the time to set it up yet, hopefully, I will do so this week. All the info from the old one will be transferred and the new one has TEN times the memory capacity..woo hoo!

We want to thank our supporters who allow JERAS to continue providing a safe & happy home to 31 rescued animals.

Love,

Cathy & the Gang

Categories : News