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| Contributed photo HHPR volunteer Anne Price holds little Marmalade, who after a 3-month struggle to live, is ready for a well-deserved nap. |
Halfway Home Pet Rescue volunteers and friends report on the progress of little Marmalade’s 3-month struggle to live. “Marmalade came to the pet rescue as a lone stray weighing less than 3 ounces and his medical prognosis was not favorable, but one look into this little guy’s eyes demonstrated his will to live,” said HHPR President Norma Milton. The cat’s care was fostered by an HHPR volunteer and supervised by the Presque Isle Animal Hospital. Now that Marmalade has fully recovered, Stacy Trudel Nadeau, has decided to adopt him stating that “Marmalade needed such one-on-one intensive care, we cannot imagine life without Marmlade. He is doing great now. He is growing well and eating kitten chow now along with the canned kitten fancy feast, drinking water on his own (without the dropper). He’s very playful and active and looks a lot more like a typical 3-month-old kitten!” she said.
“Foster families have first choice of adoption of any kittens they have cared for in their homes. The fact that they have passed our foster family interview tells us that they are a fine home environment and since they already have a time and emotional investment in the animal and the animal in them — it is a win-win situation. Although most foster families do not actually adopt, HHPR encourages them to be part of the adoption process in choosing the right home for each kitten’s personality,” Milton said.
During the upcoming spring kitten season, HHPR expects several kittens will need the medical and comfort care that Marmalade has had with his foster family.
HHPR is currently organizing the Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Course, a 6-hour training in April (with three approximate 2-hour classes) of initial volunteer training and responsibilities, and appropriate care and feeding for the infant orphans.
The second class will be facilitated by Drs. Nick and Andrea Pesut of the Presque Isle Animal Hospital, on dealing with kitten health issues and how a trained volunteer can recognize and respond to early symptoms of life-threatening illnesses.
The third class will be facilitated by HHPR’s Robyn Smith and will cover the negative aspects of compassion fatigue on volunteers as well as how the volunteer can protect him/herself against that burnout by working within a team environment. The classes will be held on Sunday afternoons with the dates to be announced later. Class size will be limited.
For more information, call Mary at 999-1075 for an application. Visit HHPR on the Web at www.halfwayhomepetrescue.org or see their Facebook page.
