This morning started with a call from our vet, telling us that one of our adopters from ten years ago who had adopted three kittens from us, had finally reached the breaking point with inappropriate toilet habits and needed us to take the cats back today. Evidently her husband has threatened to take all three of our cats, plus another they adopted a few years ago, to be euthanized if the cats don’t go today. Our vet told me he has been working with them over the past couple of years on ideas to stop the problem, but it sounds like bad chemistry between one or more of the cats has upset the apple cart, and because nothing has worked, hubby dearest is at the end of his rope. Hubby prefers to euthanize the cats because he doesn’t feel it is humane to bring the cats to a no-kill shelter because they may languish there. To be fair, the wife is devastated, but they are facing divorce at this point. Back to our reality. We don’t have a magic island! Where in the heck are we supposed to put three/four senior cats with one day’s notice? I am (almost) speechless. I can’t imagine what would make someone believe they could – with one day’s notice, call a rescue group made up entirely of foster homes and have them say, “Sure, we’ll drive right over and pick them up and take them to a beautiful cat island, where all the cats live peacefully together, and successfully use litter boxes.” So we’ll just try to figure out someone to take the cats, one at a time.

We also had a Mini Aussie show up at our ranch late yesterday. If you know the area, it’s a small possibility he wandered away from one of a dozen homes within a few mile radius, but more likely that he was dumped near our property because out in the country they believe our property is a rescue. I met “Timber” as Shannon named him, today, and he is very cute, and well behaved (aside from marking everything in sight), about 1.5 yrs old, and intact (and what a surprise, he’s marking everywhere!). His toe nails and pads don’t look like a dog who has been on the road very long. He was not wearing a collar and did not scan with a microchip.  We posted him as a found dog at Columbia County Animal Shelter and we’ll just hope someone is looking for him…

A couple of hours ago I got a call from someone who “found” a six week old Mini Aussie/Queensland Terrier puppy. When I asked where she found him, it turned out her 19 year old brother bought him from someone at the coast and five days later, he realized he doesn’t have time…the funniest part (as if there’s anything really funny about this nightmare)  is that the puppy doesn’t look like either a Mini Aussie, or a Queensland Terrier! As you know, normally we don’t take dogs from this type of dumb move, but I worry about a six week old puppy at the county shelter because of the potential for upper respiratory virus, etc., and when they’re this young they don’t have much immune system. So, we’re looking for a home for a really cute, smart little guy. Here are his pics. I don’t think we need to say much more about that!

Just a few minutes ago, the shelter called about a 3-4 month old Min Pin who came in with both front legs broken. They don’t have any history and don’t know what happened to him. I don’t have pics yet, but he needs to be rehabilitated and will be wearing splints for at least a few weeks. I will have pics tomorrow morning and will include those and blog about him as soon as I know more.

As an update, we’ve raised enough money for Elijah Blu to have his myelogram on Tuesday, October 12th. We haven’t raised enough money to do any surgery for him, but at least we will hopefully find out what’s wrong. Here’s a pic of Elijah from today. He just got a haircut!

Some of you may remember Jada, the young Boxer/Lab we intervened and took in to prevent her euthanasia by her former owner for having some obnoxious, defiant behaviors. Jada is actually a very sweet girl, with a very independent personality, and a very active brain. We placed Jada with a young, athletic couple about a month ago and it seemed like such a great match…that is until the woman of the couple found out her mom has cancer and was going to be staying with them during her cancer treatment. The couple was worried her activity level would be too much for their mom during her treatment and they vacillated for several weeks whether giving her up was the right thing to do because they really love Jada. Their mom didn’t want to be the reason they gave her up, but today they finally decided they do need to give Jada back. I’m sad for them and I’m sad for Jada, because it was an otherwise perfect match. So, back into the adoptable dog pool she goes…

We’re gearing up to take donations this Saturday, October 9th in Hillsboro, for our upcoming “Indigo Rescue Tag Sale” (we’ve decided to call it a tag sale so people don’t assume it’s just junk. After all, our donors donate some really nice stuff!!). If you have stuff to donate, we’ll be there collecting items from 11am to 4pm. The address for drop off is: 1942 SE Pine Hillsboro, OR 97123. This is a perfect time to clean up and clear out for the winter! The actual sale will be at the same address. This is a perfect time to clean up and clear out for the winter!

And if you’re a big fan of our Annual Fall Jewelry sale at the Cedar Hills Rec Center, that’s coming up, too! Our 11th Annual Fall Jewelry Sale will be this November 20th from 9am to 4pm and if you’ve never been to one of our jewelry sales, you’ve really got to try to come! It’s truly a spectacle, with jewelry of every type for every style, and TONS of it! We have jewelry sent to us year round from people from all over the country. We’ll have a flyer and announcement posted on the Home Page of our Indigo Rescue site very soon. Hope you can make it!

Last, as a reminder, next Tuesday, October 12th, OCU at Indigo Ranch will be featured in the Oregonian, as the last article submitted by Jacques VonLunen, the writer for the Pet Page. Jacques has taken a reporting position in the tri-cities and we wish him well. We’re also hoping he goes out with a triumphant story in us!

As always, we are faced with the moral dilemma in taking a dog from an0ther country when we have plenty of dogs who need homes right in our own backyard. In Derek’s case, a family who had already adopted one of our dogs from Taiwan last year, had recently inquired about rescuing another dog from Taiwan as a companion for the one they currently have. It was shortly after they inquired, that Mindy asked me about whether we might have an option for Derek. So, we all met at the airport last night and Jim took Derek as a ‘foster to adopt’; which we liken to a ‘rent to perm’ kind of deal, only with dogs. Seriously, barring any bad chemistry problems between the dogs, I’m quite sure Derek has a permanent home already, because:

a) He’s flippin’ adorable! He has really soft, cream colored fur with apricot tips, and a super long plume of a tail.

b) He’s less than a year old, playful and really sweet with other dogs

Derek took an immediate liking to Jim’s hat at the airport and we had a heck of a time getting it away from him (see pics). In the car, he turned his attention on tearing up a napkin, and tossing a “toy”, just so he could pounce on it. This was after more than 24 hours of time in a kennel in the belly of an airplane, traveling through three airports and layovers.

Here are some pics of Derek’s arrival for your enjoyment.

A funny thing had happened when I arrived at the ranch and was unloading my car. I had Wesley and tiny Mighty (4lb Chihuahua) with me, and I noticed that two of our Alpacas, Webber and Wyatt, were staring at the dogs. I mean really staring! They were craning their necks as if saying “What in the heck is that?” They were clearly facinated. So we walked over to their turn out with the dogs, and all five Alpacas started following the two dogs. Every where they went, the Alpacas would follow them along the fence line, trying to sniff at them. Initially, the dogs were very curious, too, and although I hadn’t had time to get my camera out, they bumped noses through the fence. Shoot! A great photo opp missed! Well, I did get one of Malynda holding Mighty up for Wallace to get a good sniff. That Alpaca stuck his nose between the bars and out as far as he could get it, and he and Mighty touched noses. It was sooooo sweet! A really nice experience between species…