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Foster Diaries
Kathy Crawford, Guardian Angel and “Fospice” Caregiver
Shelters sometimes receive animals who are not medically healthy enough for adoption, but still have the right to live out their golden years in a loving environment and with proper medical treatment. For these pets, the ASPCA supports finding homes that are part foster, part hospice—or “fospice,” as our Adoptions Team has recently coined it. Fospice care allows elder pets to enjoy as many comfortable and happy moments as they can with selfless ASPCA volunteers like Kathy Crawford.
Born in Pasadena, CA, Kathy was raised in Silver Spring, MD, where she first cultivated her love of animals with ducks, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs and dogs. A graduate of Trinity University in Washington, DC, she currently works in real estate and spends her free time horseback riding, biking, running and playing football. She first became interested in fospice care after meeting Vanessa, an arthritic, 12-year-old Lab mix at the ASPCA. She noticed the pup’s sweet eyes and gentle demeanor, and knew, given her age and lack of mobility, that she might not find a forever home. She signed up for a foster class and brought Vanessa home with her. Since then, she has provided fospice care for two other dogs, Bolo and Sophie.
Kathy describes her fospice experience in her own words:
Vanessa, Bolo and Sophie each touched me in their own way—they also taught my neighborhood a lesson or two. In my community of bouncy puppies and canine jogging partners, there aren’t many opportunities to meet a senior dog, especially an arthritic Lab or bow-legged Pit Bull. Enter Vanessa and Bolo. Adults could relate to their creaky bones on rainy days, while others admired their slow pace, calm and dignity. All questioned how I could get attached for such a short time. My answer: knowing that a senior dog gets a forever home—with lots of treats and belly rubs—until it’s her time to cross the Rainbow Bridge helps me deal with the loss of a loyal friend.
Children ask endless questions: How old is he? Why do you always have old dogs? What does she do all day? Will he die soon? Known as “That Girl with Old Dogs,” I answer everyone’s questions to show that seniors make great pets. Hopefully everyone will remember Vanessa, Bolo and Sophie when adopting their next pet.
Vanessa loved Greenies like no other—she also suffered from arthritis. She could walk only one block on a good day, so we spent a lot of time watching movies or lounging outside, watching children play and people walk by. She taught me to stop, smell the roses, and take time to rest when you need to. My biggest lesson learned: “You’ll get there. Even in New York.”
When I first brought Bolo home, neighbors would cross the street. They didn’t see his bowed legs or arthritic swagger, just a Pit Bull. I’d tell them, “He’s a good boy; he’s 16 years old…” Soon he became a neighborhood favorite, especially popular with grandmothers who called him Lobo, Coco, Bobo or Toto! Bolo passed away a few months ago, and acquaintances and strangers often ask about him. Just last week a woman yelled from her window, “How’s your old dog?” All are sad for the loss—even those who once feared him.
Sophie suffers from heart disease, but she doesn’t let it stop her—not for a second. She is a joy and loyal friend who lives life to the fullest, even on days when she’s not 100%. She leaps on beds, jumps on sofas, and dashes for “treats” that she discovers on the street. Sit on my sofa, and she’ll climb on your head and lick your face. This once vocal girl is now quiet as a church mouse—maybe because she knows she’s finally home.
To all potential volunteers, please consider a fospice arrangement if your schedules permit; working with the ASPCA Adoptions and medical team members has been wonderful. Senior whiskers have special needs, and it is never easy to say goodbye. But knowing that you have provided a loving home—maybe the first for some—makes it all worthwhile. We all deserve our golden years.
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Open for Business: Tarlan Ellis’s Kitten Bed and Breakfast
Tarlan Ellis is one of our superstar foster caretakers. Since November of 2007, she has fostered 61 animals in her home—including 11 at once—and has served as one of our most prolific “shelters outside a shelter.”
Born and raised in Nottingham, England, Tarlan moved to St. Louis, MO, for high school, and subsequently attended Princeton University to study economics. She now lives in Manhattan and works for a risk management company. In addition to volunteering with the ASPCA, Tarlan also contributes her time to the Audubon Society, Project Safe Flight and Tribute in Light, which monitors and prevents migrating birds from getting caught in the beams of light projected in honor of September 11.
“I grew up loving animals,” says Tarlan. “I had cats and a rabbit as a child, and loved playing with the neighborhood cats.”
Still, loving animals and opening your home to groups of them are a different matter entirely. “It’s a madhouse!” Tarlan laughs. “But one I’d never change. It’s such a wonderful and rewarding experience. The kittens adore you and look to you as an example. They want nothing more than food, warmth and love, and they return the affection tenfold. Plus, kittens provide hours of entertainment.”
She continues: “Bud was one of my favorite fosters. From an underweight runt who had to be force-fed, he grew into a gorgeous, loving kitten, who would jump up to greet you when you called his name. I think he thought he was a dog!”
Another character was Quagmire, a kitty with a head fetish. “He had a funny habit of sucking on my hair,” says Tarlan. “I’d fall asleep to the sound of him sucking away happily. Every day I woke up with chunks of hair standing up at funny angles—I knew exactly who to blame!”
Tarlan adds that the day-to-day fostering experience is rewarding, but the most fulfilling moment is when she reads the ASPCA’s monthly e-mail listing the animals who’ve been adopted. She says: “I feel that I’m being rewarded for my efforts—raising, socializing and teaching the kittens—by seeing them go to loving homes that are going to treasure them forever.”
The ASPCA is working on cloning Tarlan Ellis—or at least finding more dedicated fosters just like her to help with the program. She has done amazing work for the ASPCA, and we are so grateful for her dedication and commitment, and for being the hostess with the mostest of her very own kitten bed and breakfast!
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The Missy Chronicles
By Leslie Lipton
Update—On August 13, Missy along with her kittens, Uno, Mowgli, Tarzan, Aladdin and Annie, returned to the ASPCA. Leslie, our wonderful foster, completed her tour of duty as a foster mom and higher education was calling. Leslie relocated to Atlanta, GA, to pursue her PsyD in Clinical Psychology at Argosy University. She can’t wait for next summer when she will foster another family of felines.
Missy and her clan are now awaiting medical clearance and spay/neuter surgery before they become available for adoption at our Adoption Center. Mom and kittens’ hearts ache for their foster mom and her caring ways, but they will soon find their forever homes. Like the kitties, the ASPCA also misses Leslie and wishes her the best with her academic endeavors!
July 27, 2009—The kittens' eyes have now opened. It took about four days when all was said and done—with just the inside corners opening first and gradually spreading outward—but now I am greeted by five little heads and five little pairs of eyes looking up at me. They recognize sounds now, too, and will orient their heads toward the source of disruption. Personalities are beginning to emerge, and it's clear which kittens are more independent. All, however, are sweet and content to curl up in my hands.
Uno looks like a little bear with his round face and puffy, soft fur, and my guess is that he will be a joyous handful when he grows up. Aladdin is a little slower to stray from the nest than the others. His eyes were the last to open, and he can usually be found on his back playing with paws up in the air. Tarzan and Mowgli look nearly identical. Mowgli is the wanderer—often straying from Missy and his siblings to strike out on his own—and he has a bit of white on his nose. Tarzan is emerging as the quiet, confident type. He doesn't move around much, but he still seems like he would be the leader of the gang. And finally there is the only girl in the bunch: Annie Warbucks. Annie is the smallest kitten and the chattiest. She often walks around and mews as if commenting on everything, and she has eyes that will melt your heart.
In the two weeks since the kittens have arrived, I've had many visitors come to meet them. Missy has greeted all with open enthusiasm, wanting as much attention for herself as she can soak up. While other mothers might be protective of their kittens, Missy has allowed me to hold them from day one. She is inherently trusting. And now, when my friends and family pick up the kittens, Missy just makes sure to keep them all within sight, sometimes wandering over to offer a gentle lick.
July 16, 2009—Childbirth wasn't easy for Missy. She had been in my house nearly six weeks when she finally went into labor. All I could do was hope for luck and healthy kittens, and keep my fingers crossed. Unfortunately, only one of Missy's three kittens survived—a tiny little Tabby who I promptly named Uno. Right away Missy set to work being a mother, and when Uno began to nurse, I knew we were out of the critical stage. Many things can go wrong in the lives of kittens, but at least Uno had a chance.
Two days later, I brought Missy and Uno in for a check-up with Dr. Jennifer Lander, Director of Medicine at the ASPCA Adoption Center. She said Missy was in good health and that Uno seemed okay—for now. As I was leaving, Dr. Lander asked if we could try giving Missy another little kitten—one who'd been born premature and whose mother had no milk. Most mother cats hiss when you introduce a new kitten into the litter—even if they eventually settle down—but Missy didn't make a sound. When the little orange kitten was added to her litter, she set to work licking him and rubbing her head against him. It was as almost as if he had always been there. I named the orange kitten Oliver Twist and went home with Missy and two kittens.
But I didn't have two kittens for long. The next day, I got a call from Cindy Tomm, who said that someone had dropped motherless kittens at the ASPCA—they were about the same age as the two I already had. The kittens were in the ICU, being bottle-fed every two hours and in desperate need of a mom. As Missy was slowly introduced to each one, we all held our breath, but she never hissed or rejected any of them. She simply licked the kittens and rolled over so they could nurse. The staff applauded, and shortly thereafter, I left the ASPCA with six kittens and Missy in tow.
The saga didn't end there, though. Oliver Twist didn't survive the weekend. He was too premature and underdeveloped—in the end, he had had trouble swallowing, but Missy continued to nurse the others.
After only a few days, I could tell they were all growing. The adopted kittens were growing at the same rate as little Uno, so I knew that Missy was treating the new kittens as if they were her own. All the kittens nursed together and slept together, and Missy very rarely left their sides. Now the kittens no longer look like little, wet, squirmy blobs with legs, but are, instead, small balls of fluff. Missy keeps them clean and loves them. I, in turn, get to watch the way her instincts tell her exactly what to do at just the right moment. It really is amazing!
June 2009—Over the past five summers, I've fostered sixty-one cats and kittens from the ASPCA, and loved each of them as though they were my own. I've medicated and held sick ones, laughed at the antics of the healthy and dangled more "cat-dancers" than I care to count. I would foster year-round if I could, but I'm a student and my school schedule would interfere with raising kittens. So I look forward to the summertime when I can enjoy the beach, pool, sun and cats!
Sometimes my fosters stay for a few days, weeks or months. Missy will be one cat who stays for awhile. She is pregnant and will live with me until she gives birth and weans her kittens. Missy is a gorgeous Tabby, who's mostly black and gray with a smattering of orange that makes her look exotic. Her hair is long and soft, creating a softness around her long-whiskered face. Her tail poofs out in a way that says, "Yes, I know I'm beautiful." The only thing that matches her beauty is her sweetness. She sits in our laps, purrs in a low, soft rumble, and rubs her face against my own or presses her head into my hand. She lays on her back or draped across my back, perfectly content and trusting.
I loved Missy instantly and can't wait to love her kittens, too.
Leslie Lipton has been a volunteer at the ASPCA since she was 16 years old. This fall, she will begin working towards her doctorate in psychology (PsyD) at Argosy University. She plans to use animals in her future work as a clinical psychologist. Leslie has published a novel titled "Unwell," which is loosely based on her life experiences.
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