Jade 9/20/2010

Many volunteers over the years at Red Door know and remember Jade the cat. Originally Jade came to Red Door in 2004, after living on the streets and being cared for over a year by a woman. Potential adopters visiting the shelter over the years were always drawn to her because she was very striking and beautiful. However, Jade was always a bit of a wall flower, very sweet once you get to know her, but very shy to start with. For that reason, Jade was overlooked by adopters time and again for over 6 years.

Back in April, staff at Red Door discovered some tumors on Jade's underside. After having them removed by our vet Dr. Gia, she did a biopsy, and the results came back positive for cancer. The doctor speculated that even though we had caught the tumor, most likely the cancer had metastasized and spread. She said Jade most likely had weeks to months left to live, and it would be great if we could find a hospice foster home for the time she had left.

A family did step forward and offered to care for Jade during her last days. They provided over 4 months of love, attention, and care for Jade. They reported that Jade was frequently run throughout the house and loved to play. As you can see in her picture, she was absolutely content in her new home.

Sadly, Jade passed away yesterday. However, we can celebrate the fact that she was able to live in peace and happiness, as every animal should, for a brief time in her life. It really goes to show how living in a loving home environment can change any cats personality. So remember to give that shy or special needs animal a second look next time you're thinking of adopting...you could be looking at a wall flower turned social butterfly.

Special thanks to Jade's foster family and to all of Red Door's foster providers for the work they do everyday. We wouldn't be able to do it without you.

Coraline: From foster to adopt

Many volunteers at Red Door are familiar with Coraline, the cute little cat who showed up on our door one day with four newborn kittens. All of her offspring had been adopted, and Coraline still waited. Finally a lovely couple came along interested in adopting Coraline, but they had some reservations. One of them had experienced allergies to cats in the past, and wanted to be sure that adopting a cat wouldn't worsen those allergies. So they decided to try fostering Coraline first, to see if their allegies became an issue, and also to make sure that Coraline was the right fit for them. Needless to say, and as you can see from the photo, they felt Coraline was a wonderful fit (and she agreed), and the foster parents reported no allergy flare ups. The couple was more than thrilled with her, and they decided to move ahead with the adoption.

Fostering is a great way to try out an animal, especially if you're unsure if the animal is the right fit for your home, or if you're concerned about any issues. The process is very similar to that of adoption, though it's not as permanent. That way, if it doesn't work out with the animal for some reason, they can come back to the shelter, and we can say that they got a nice vacation from the shelter. Of course, everyone's hope is that it does work out in the end, and that their story ends the same as Coraline's.

Of course, some volunteers foster animals, long term or short term, for a variety of reasons. Some foster just to give the animal a break from the shelter, some foster because it helps to create space for more animals at the shelter, some foster because a home environment is always more enjoyable for an animal than a shelter environment, some foster for terminally ill animals or animals with medical conditions, etc. The reasons are infinite. Please consider opening your home to foster an animal in need.

At the shelter

At the shelter
Originally uploaded by reddoorshelter

Red Door wants your help in making great videos of the animals at our shelter. If you have experience with Flip videos, please send us an email at toni@reddoorshelter.org