Volunteer foster homes needed for special needs felines
The Buddy Foundation has defined itself as a "no kill" shelter since its inception. That was long before we even had hope for a permanent site in our village of origin.
What that means is that we rejected, out-of-hand, the way many townships and municipalities ran their shelters, which was catch and kill to control population overload.
We knew a commitment to saving all possible animal life would be difficult without a brick and mortar site, but a building to call our own seemed like a distant dream.
We began with using all options open to us, such as foster homes for adults, nursing moms and special needs, even with an insight to in-home hospice care.
Bottle-baby kittens are usually the first casualty in a kill shelter. We, on the other hand, were committed to recruiting volunteers that would care enough to feed formula every four hours.
Animals that need specialty care or expensive surgery are casualties in shelters not practicing a "no kill" philosophy. We regularly use specialty clinics to give every animal a true shot at their forever home.
We have two rooms at the shelter dedicated to specialty care for senior felines, or those that need an extra dose of tender, loving care.
Since June is adopt a feline shelter child month, I thought you might like to learn about a few of our special circumstance felines and our permanent foster care program for felines.
Felines that need temporary foster care are eventually brought to the shelter to be adopted from there. A permanent foster home is just that. We want to take a feline out of shelter care so it can have greater comfort, and perhaps a greater continuity of care for providing special foods, medicine and comfort.
When Buddy would like to place a feline in forever foster care, that means we still supply all the means to care for such an animal. We continue to pay for veterinary visits, medicine, special foods or therapy. Whatever an animal is diagnosed to need, we will provide it.
As the foster home, you provide that extra layer of love and care that all special needs felines deserve.
That means today's featured felines are special needs or are looking for a forever foster home. Buddy also defines animals that have always lived together as special need. We would not break up a pair of felines that came to Buddy together.
Feature felines
• Lucy and Ricky are both white and black in color, are 7 years old and are front-paw declawed. Twice, these two cute, outgoing felines have lost their home due to their owners moving into "no pets allowed" apartments.
This brother and sister have not had much stability in their life, except with us. We want these two sweeties to be never re-homed again. We need to adopt Lucy and Ricky to their real forever home as a forever pair.
• Cody is a mostly white feline with black markings on his head. He is an 11-year-old that is a front-paw declawed looking for a forever foster home. Buddy will supply his prescription feed (canned or dry) and all of his medications.
None of his meds are difficult to give. Cody has severe arthritis that is being treated with cosequin and tramadol. His constipation issues are treated with over-the-counter Miralax and prescription cisapride.
Cody is well behaved, patient, loving and a very calm feline. Cody's owner died and no one in the family would offer him a home. Cody has been with us since 2015 and has been a joy to care for. He is a volunteer favorite feline.
Cody's favorite toy is a box full of several sheets of tissue paper for resting on. He loves to listen to the sound it makes as he crinkles it. No worries, he does not try to eat it.
Cody should not be allowed to jump from high to low, except on soft surfaces with his arthritis.
• The Buddy Foundation, 65 W. Seegers Road, Arlington Heights, is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization with all funds directly assisting its animals. Its mission is to provide immediate safety and care to stray and abandoned animals. Call (847) 290-5806 or visit www.thebuddyfoundation.org.