Happy Tails
Against All Odds Last September, a local man hopped out of his truck and a 10-year-old Australian Shepherd named Wiley hopped in. When the man brought him to the Seattle Humane Society, Wiley was quite thin with very little hair, as well as impaired vision and hearing. Despite his poor condition, Wiley leaned on our legs when he wanted to be petted, and his gentle demeanor instantly endeared him to everyone.
Wiley
Our veterinary staff gave Wiley medicated baths and a special diet for his skin allergies. Wiley seemed to be on the up-and-up until early one morning, our staff found him lying prone in his kennel. Wiley was suffering from an intestinal infection called hemorrhagic gastroenteritis — a condition only 20 percent of patients survive. Our veterinary team responded with immediate treatment and our staff veterinarian, Dr. Jennifer Buchanan, took Wiley home with her every night to keep an eye on him. After several weeks, Wiley finally began to walk on his own, his
beautiful fur started growing back in, and his tail wagged with appreciation. “Over the eight weeks that I fostered Wiley, I learned something new from him every day,” says Dr. Buchanan. “I learned courage, perseverance, hope and love. They come so effortlessly to him.” The day after Christmas, a happy and healthy Wiley was adopted into a family of two dogs and two cats. His new family writes, “Wiley asks for so little and gives so much. Whether he has a few months or a few years, we want to make them his best ones yet.”
A Brotherly Bond Tigger and Max, two 3-year-old orange tabby brothers, were surrendered to Seattle Humane when their owner could no longer care for them. During Tigger’s check-up, our veterinary staff noticed that his right eye was badly infected. It turned out that he had an ulcer on his cornea which had gone untreated for far too long.
Tigger
Our vet team treated Tigger’s eye and monitored him closely. In the meantime, Tigger’s brother Max was adopted by a wonderful family who promised to return for Tigger when he was feeling better. Unfortunately, Tigger’s infection had already progressed too far by the time he was brought to us, and our veterinarians had no choice but to remove the eye for Tigger’s own health and safety.
Max’s adopters had no hesitation about reuniting these handsome and affectionate brothers, despite Tigger’s impairment. As soon as he healed from his surgery, Tigger was adopted and now he and Max spend every day with their tails curled up, happy to be together again. Help us continue to give deserving cats like Tigger the extra medical care they need. Make a donation to the Grinstein Fund for cats by writing “Grinstein” on your check or visit seattlehumane.org/donate/now. Thanks to the friends and family of the late Keith D. Grinstein for starting the Grinstein Memorial Fund for cats in his honor. 4