Golden Hearts Animal Sanctuary

A Sanctuary For Elderly & Special Needs Animals    

 Shiloh, aka “Tane” came to live with us at the end of July. This sweetheart came from an animal shelter in Kentucky, where the staff was concerned he was first on the euthanasia list due to his disabilities. He left his sister and traveled close to 2,000 miles from Leitchfield Kentucky to southern California. How did he do it? Amazing people who love animals, that’s how! The Grayson County Humane Society volunteers in Kentucky would go to the ends of the earth, literally, to save lives.  One of their volunteers, Beth, loaded him into her car and drove from Kentucky very, very early one morning, to meet the next driver in Kansas City. Now who would be nutty enough to travel from Kansas City, by car, to southern California with a kitty he never met? Stacy’s dad & sister, of course! They gladly gave Shiloh a lift back to Colorado, then Stacy’s dad and his dog finished the journey, adding a couple of days and some adventure to their California vacation!

  Shiloh is absolutely wonderful! At the shelter, he was very shy around people, but he blossomed on his road trip. He now wants nothing more than wrap his little legs around you in a hug, prompting his new name!

  Shiloh suffers from urinary and fecal incontinence and has more severe joint deformities in his hind legs. He will be seeing our veterinarians soon to determine what his best health plan will be. We do know that Scooter will make sure that his physical therapy program is followed daily!

 

Update 9/22/05 ~ Shiloh gave us quite a scare ~ his urethra plugged, making it impossible for him to urinate. We were able to unblock him, fortunately without an anesthetic procedure and urinary catheter. He will be on long-term antibiotics to clear up the associated bladder infection. He saw our internist today to confirm that his bladder, kidneys, and other organs are normal ~ which they are. He will be receiving daily fiber supplementation to keep his colon working well in addition to daily bladder checks. He’s feeling much better now and is back to playing with Scooter and the catnip mice!

 

Update 10/28/05 ~ Sweet Shiloh crossed the Rainbow Bridge yesterday afternoon. He went to the internist with Jim for follow-up in dealing with his urinary tract infection. Shiloh was playing with his catnip mouse (his favorite) just before he (and Scooter) left for his appointment. He passed away at the hospital in my arms, with Scooter alongside, as we tried to figure out why he went so quickly from normal kitty to having seizures. It seems that his congenital defects caught up with him, and he was actually in massive kidney failure, and may have had Addison's Disease also; the extra stress of a vet visit brought it all to the forefront. I've never seen lab work like his from a cat (or dog) that wasn't already in the hospital and in critical care.
We so deeply miss this little angel ~ he taught us so much about overcoming physical challenges and unconditional love. I will miss his "hugs" as much as Scooter misses his wrestling partner. We were truly blessed to have loved him for the short time we had...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shiloh

Click here to see Shiloh’s Big Adventure!

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