Forget Me Not Shelter Blog » lemutte

Shelter Pets by Kim – Executive Director, on August 12th, 2011

Trudy is a sweet mid-sized dog who is a definite “LeMutte” original creation! The vet called her a golden retriever mix, but she looks more like a hound/shepherd mix overall; she came in as a starving stray, all her ribs and her hipbones are prominent (but we’ll fatten her up in no time). She seems very grateful for the soft place to sleep and the regular meals.

We are estimating Trudy’s birth date as 2/8/09, making her about 2 1/2 years old – though her teeth are very white, so she may be a little younger. Trudy has an odd little “hitch” in her gait – when she gets moving fairly quickly, her rear legs sort of swing to the right side, and when she runs, she sort of “hops” with her hind legs while running normally with her . . . → Read More: New adoptable dog: TRUDY

Shelter Pets by Kim – Executive Director, on June 6th, 2011

DuQuella is named for one of our adopters/facebook friends; we chose this name because it rhymes with our other juvenile black dog, Ella – too cute! (We’ll occasionally be stealing facebook friends’ names for our pets; ideas are hard to find, ha).

DuQuella looks like a LeMutte dog, we can only guess that she may have some black Labrador and some sort of shepherd in her mix; she’s much smaller than a full Lab, approximate weight right now is 35-40 pounds, and we are guessing she was born around 12/1/10, so she’s just over 6 months old right now. She has some brown fur on the backs of her legs and her feet.

More photos and information

Shelter Pets by Sean – Technical Manager, on December 5th, 2010

Our kittens have completed their ringworm treatment, so they don’t have ringworm anymore.

Two new cats, female Cybele and male Eros, were listed.

Cats Wasabe and Alameda were adopted, as were dogs Sissy, Freckles, Kaa, Nagaina, and Bagheera. They can now be seen on our Adopted page.

Shelter Pets by Sean – Technical Manager, on November 29th, 2010

Nothing happened in the week of 11/14. Oh, well.

Two new dogs were listed: Sissy and Freckles, both ~50-pound females. Sissy is an adorable ~1-year-old border collie mix, and Freckles is a cute ~2-year-old Walker Hound.

In addition, six new leMutte puppies were listed: three males and three females. The males are Baloo, ShereKhan, and Mowgli. The females are Kaa, Nagaina, and Bagheera. They were all born on September 24.

For the (almost) latest updates, check out our Cats and Dogs pages.

Shelter News by Sean – Technical Manager, on November 14th, 2010

An October ringworm outbreak at the shelter has left eighteen of our twenty-one adoptable pets infected. Infected pets include:

Alameda Adriano (adopted after infection) Acosta Aguafria SilverBelle ChiangMai Siobhan Wasabe Lambert Fantasia Doolittle Melinda Six unnamed leMutte puppies

This leaves only Cupid (who is on “longtimers discount”), Surat (currently on “adoption pending”), and Zorro uninfected.

All of these pets (except, of course, Adriano, since he’s already with his new owner) entered treatment on Monday, November 1.

It is important to understand that ringworm is nothing to be afraid of. It is, in fact, even less serious of an infection than athlete’s foot or those mushrooms in your lawn. Stay tuned for a blog about ringworm and why it’s nothing to fear.

Shelter Pets by Sean – Technical Manager, on November 14th, 2010

Three cats and a dog were adopted: Slinky on Tuesday 11/2, Cavil on Wednesday 11/3, Chili on Friday 11/5, and Adriano on Saturday 11/6. Wish them long, happy lives with their new owners!

In addition, Surat the Siamese mix is on “adoption pending” status as of Thursday 11/11.

A ringworm outbreak at the shelter has left all our adoptable kittens and six new leMutte puppies infected. They are all in treatment as of Monday 11/1. Stay tuned for more details.

For more recent information, see our main site.

Shelter Pets by Sean – Technical Manager, on October 19th, 2010

New adoptable dogs: None.

New adoptable cats: None.

Re-adoptable dogs: None.

Re-adoptable cats: None.

Dogs on “adoption pending”: None.

Cats on “adoption pending”: None.

Dogs on “hold” for medical treatment: None.

Cats on  ”hold” for medical treatment: None.

Adopted dogs (see at 2010 Adopted page): Bear the Labrador Retriever mix (adoptable 9/8, adopted 10/16) Luna the Pug mix (adoptable  9/8, pending 10/8, adopted 10/16) Molly the Australian Shepherd mix (adoptable 10/5, pending 10/7, adopted 10/11) Rhianna the Border Collie/Irish Setter leMutte (adoptable 9/25, pending 10/1, adopted 10/16) Fianna the Border Collie/Irish Setter leMutte (adoptable 9/25, pending 10/9, adopted 10/16) Brannagh the Border Collie/Irish Setter leMutte (adoptable 9/25, pending 10/9, adopted 10/16) Sinead the Border Collie/Irish Setter leMutte (adoptable 9/25, pending 10/1, adopted 10/16) Enya the Border Collie/Irish Setter leMutte (adoptable 9/25, pending 10/1, adopted 10/16) . . . → Read More: Weekly Update for the week of October 10, 2010

Shelter Pets by Sean – Technical Manager, on October 10th, 2010

NEW ADOPTABLE DOGS: None.

NEW ADOPTABLE CATS: Slinky (adoptable 10/6)

RE-ADOPTABLE DOGS: None.

RE-ADOPTABLE CATS: None.

ADOPTION PENDING DOGS: Molly the Australian Shepherd mix (adoptable 10/5, pending 10/7) Luna the Pug mix (adoptable 9/8, pending 10/8) Enya the Border Collie/Irish Setter leMutte (originally adoptable 9/25, adoption pending 10/1, fell through 10/4 and re-adoptable, adoption re-pending 10/9) Fianna the Border Collie/Irish Setter leMutte (adoptable 9/25, pending 10/9) Brannagh the Border Collie/Irish Setter leMutte (adoptable 9/25, pending 10/9)

ADOPTION PENDING CATS: Cally (adoptable 6/21, pending 10/9) Agathon (adoptable 7/2, pending 10/9)

DOGS ON HOLD FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT: None.

CATS ON HOLD FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT: Jackson (adoptable 9/25, on hold 10/6) Yokozawa (adoptable 9/25, on hold 10/6)

ADOPTED DOGS (see at 2010 Adopted page): Gizmo (adopted before listing 10/8)

ADOPTED CATS (see at 2010 Adopted page): Dionysis (adopted before listing 10/3)

. . . → Read More: Weekly Update: Week of October 3, 2010

Shelter Pets by Sean – Technical Manager, on October 1st, 2010

Simon, Abdula, and Adama, the kittens; Honshu the Siamese kitten; Rhianna and Enya the Border Collie/Irish Setter leMuttes; and Sinead the blind Border Collie/Irish Setter leMutte have been matched with their new homes and are now on “Adoption Pending” status. Wish them the best of luck in their new lives!

Shelter Pets by Kim – Executive Director, on September 25th, 2010

SPONSORS NEEDED – BLIND PUPPY – We’d like to take her to an eye specialist in Spokane, to see if anything can be done for her sight

. . . → Read More: New adoptable dog: Sinead the blind Border Collie/Irish Setter leMutte Shelter Pets by Kim – Executive Director, on September 25th, 2010 (Click photo for larger version) Clockwise from upper left: Brannagh, Enya, Rhianna, Fianna Fianna, Brannagh, Enya, and Rhianna are Border Collie/Irish Setter/Unknown “leMutte” pups, born 7/27/10, who came to us as a “Stop the Cycle” litter (we spayed the mother dog at our expense, and took the litter to find them great new homes). We expect these fuzzy gals to be pretty energetic, and probably between 40# – 55# when full-grown, though it is impossible to guarantee adult size of “leMutte” pups! They are happy, friendly girls who were kept with their momma dog until weaned; they will now stay together until we find their forever homes, and are doing all the right “puppy play” things to help them become well-socialized family pets. They are currently in a foster home together. These pups will be ready to . . . → Read More: New adoptable dogs: Fianna, Brannagh, Enya, and Rhianna the Border Collie/Irish Setter leMuttes $

Ringworm in a shelter

While the dust has already settled somewhat on this matter, I would like to dig it up and comment on it. In early May last month, an Ontario SPCA shelter, north of Toronto, had to deal with an outbreak of dermatophytosis, or ringworm, affecting about 350 animals. The original decision to euthanize all animals in the shelter was amended to have many of these animals taken in by local clinics to have them treated (thankfully).
Ringworm is a fungal disease of dogs, cats, and many other mammals, which can be transmitted to humans coming in close contact with infected animals. There are no worms in ringworm, named for a classic round lesion in people with a raised perimeter, giving the appearance of a worm under the skin. No worms in ringworm. The disease is not fatal but can cause severe hair loss and skin disease that can often look horrific. But it’s not fatal.
The outbreak was blamed on human error, which lead to the dismissal of a manager there.

Here’s my take: ringworm can look like a great number of other skin disease: scabies, a severe bacterial or viral skin infection, allergic skin diseases, endocrine diseases (such as hypothyroid or steroid dermatopathy), paraneoplastic syndromes, etc, etc, etc. In addition, cats and dogs can be asymptomatic carriers of ringworm, posing a risk to other animals and humans handling them. It is my suspicion (though I don’t know for certain) that asymptomatic cats and dogs entering the shelter are not tested for ringworm, whose diagnostic tests requiring typically 2-3 weeks. Remember, this is a shelter, filled with rescued animals, not a single animal living the “good life,” in some downtown loft. The responsibility of the OSPCA workers is to take in animals and treat them, if possible. There is no guarantee that any animal entering the OSPCA will be successfully treated, especially if it has a disease (even a curable one) requiring a lengthy and impracticable treatment, for a shelter.
While the decision to euthanize many animals sparked outrage and condemnation, in no way should the OSPCA employees be vilified for, or charged with, cruelty to animals. Shelter medicine deals with a population, not the individual animal. As sad as it is to put a dog or cat down because of ringworm, the greater picture dictates that the culling of some animals will allow a more expeditious return to a normal shelter environment, allowing anew the entry and treatment of pets requiring the OSPCA’s services.

Classic lesion in a person: not hard to recognize.

Ringworm in a cat: not so classic.

What I have a huge problem with: the nutjobs who staged protests against the OSPCA, dressing their dogs up in black, who brought their children to a mock funeral (abounding with small coffins!) for the animals euthanized. This isn’t normal human behaviour.