handicapped animals

Special Needs Pet Feature: Charlie

Posted by Barbara Techel

How old is your pet?

5

Where did you get your pet?

I lost my 10-year old long hair dachshund, Panama, to cancer in November 2005. My father bought Charlie for me in Mississippi in Jan. 2006 to help me get over the loss of Panama.

What is your pets physical challenge?

Charlie suffered three ruptured discs in his back the summer of 2010. He never regained use of his hind legs after back surgery. We did physcial therapy and he saw a doggie chiropractor for 3 months after surgery. We got him a custom wheelchair from Eddie’s Wheels. He can now go outside and enjoy life!

What is your pets favorite thing to eat?

When Charlie was in the animal hospital for 10-days he got spoiled to can food. I now have to mix canned food with is dry food or he will not eat. He also loves when we do take out from Outback! On my days off work I make him a scrambled egg with cheese. As most doxies, he loves to eat!

What do you love about your pet?

I love Charlie’s spirited soul! He has never let his physcial challenges keep him down. He is happy and loves life. Ove the holidays we visited relatives in Mississippi. My aunt and uncle have both recently battled cancer. My Uncle Wallace says that Charlie is an inspiration to him. That if Charlie can handle what he has been dealt with such spirit and love for life, he can also deal with his health issues.

What has your pet most taught you?

Charlie has taught me patience. After his accident, I did not know if I was up to the challenge of taking care of a disabled pet. I knew I had to learn, as putting him down was never an option for me. It has been a major life change, but so worth every minute.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Just that if you are ever faced with making a decision for a disabled pet, do your research first. There is so much information on the Internet to help pet owners learn how to take care of these pets. Dodgerslist was so helpful for me.

Thank you, Charlie’s Mom for sharing Charlie with us.  Wow, I could relate to everything you said!

***If you care for a special needs pet and would like your pet featured, please email me through my website contact. Send a photo and I will forward the questionnaire for your pet to be featured in an upcoming post.***

Special Needs Pet Feature: Cassidy

Posted by Barbara Techel


What is your pet’s name? 

Cassidy

How old is your pet? 

1 1/2 years old

Where did you get your pet? 

A lady contacted me and said, one of her dachshund puppies was born blind and asked if I would take it, because they wouldn’t be able to sell her like that.  They bred to dapples together and that is the result.


What is your pet’s physical challenge?  

Completely blind.

What is your pet’s favorite thing to do? 

She likes to play with her siblings, go for car rides and play at the bike trail.

What is your pet’s favorite thing to eat? 

Pumpkin or Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt Cubes.


What do you love most about your pet?  

She is VERY loving and VERY brave.

What has your pet most taught you? 

That you don’t have to be perfect….that you don’t have to see love, to feel it.  And that a disability doesn’t have to hinder you, from living and loving life.

Anything else you’d like to share? 

Cassidy is quite an inspiration.  Everyone that meets her, cannot believe she is even blind….she is courageous, outgoing and loves everyone….yes, I think she is amazing!


Such beautiful, beautiful photos of darling, Cassidy!  I’m so glad you shared her with me and my readers.

***If you care for a special needs pet and would like your pet featured, please email me through my website contact. Send a photo and I will forward the questionnaire for your pet to be featured in an upcoming post.***

 

Special Needs Pet Feature(s): Batty & Opi

Posted by Barbara Techel


What is your pets name?

Batty
(named such because she is blind as a bat)

How old is your pet?

8 months (born around June 2010)

Where did you get your pet?

We live on a remote Greek island and Dutch tourists found her at their hotel the day before they were flying back home. The owner didn’t want such an unsightly thing around his hotel and was glad when they left with the kitty in a cardboard box. They showed up with her at our volunteer clinic. Back then she had a fungal infection on her skin and much of her fur coat was missing. We could tell she was not able to see. (My husband Alf and I end up with most of the dumped kitties on our island. There is no animal shelter here. Also no vet. )

What is your pets physical challenge?

The fungus was cleared. She’s blind in both eyes (due to early cat cold)

What is your pets favorite thing to do?

Batty loves chasing a jingle bell on a string back and forth across the kitchen floor and she can do it until my arm hurts. She enjoys sitting on my shoulder/back of my neck when I’m at the computer. She often sleeps that way. She’s very verbal, so I’m aware if she’s awake or not! We have three dogs and 24 cats in our family and Batty has a few kitty friends she can cuddle with on a chair and all the dogs adore her and lick her. Her dog friendships formed immediately, but the cat friendships take a little longer.

What is your pets favorite thing to eat?

Kitty food beef or rabbit.

What do you love most about your pet?

She spends more time near her humans, sitting on our laps or on the back of my neck, than most of our other critters.

What has your pet most taught you?

Patience.

Because my husband’s sister Martina, who is a veterinarian in Germany, has two blind cats I knew before meeting Batty how blind cats navigate a room – walking close to the wall. Before Batty, I’d never been around completely blind animals, so this has been a learning experience for me.

Anything else you’d like to share?

If you’d like to link to my husband’s recent video of Batty playing in our garden and courtyard, you’re welcome to do so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN-tyEe3ocw

We have a few pets (cats and a dog, Opi) with one eye functional, so I’ve been introduced to blindness. I have a great interest in the general subject of disabilities in pets and am proud to be a contributing author to Almost Perfect: Disabled Pets and the People Who Love Them (http://almostperfectbook.com).

Note:  Roberta, Batty and Opi’s Mom, writes for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer if you’d like to read her stories.


To read about Opi, you can visit his story on Best Friends Network.

Thank you for sharing Batty and Opi with us!  So glad they have you, Roberta to take care of them.

***If you care for a special needs pet and would like your pet featured, please email me through my website contact. Send a photo and I will forward the questionnaire for your pet to be featured in an upcoming post.***