What I enjoyed about Will Gilmer's guest lecture

The thing I was most impressed with was that he would actually make up these goofy songs about the things that he does on a day-to-day basis and post them on YouTube.  I think that is a fun way to inform people about not only your farm, but about agriculture.  If these videos were shown to a class of high school kids they would probably want to know more about what he is singing about and why he thinks these things are so cool.  He has taken an initiative to promote his family owned farm and is very proud of it! 

Parasites!

Today I want to talk about some of the parasites that can be cared in an animal shelters environment.  Giardia, tapeworms, roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms are some of the most common parasites that can be found in an animal shelter.  Some of which are zoonotic (can spread from species to species). One way to find out if your animals have these is to collect a fecal sample and  have it looked at under a microscope by a veterinarian.  Sometimes you can see the worms in the sample and all you need to do is identify them so that you can treat the problem.  To treat roundworms, hookworms and whipworms, you can use Panacur: given once a day for 3 days; 3 day treatment repeated in 3 weeks and again in 3 months.  If you are only dealing with hooks and rounds, then you can treat with StrongidT: 1 to12 weeks old: given every 2 weeks until 12 weeks old; 3-6 months old: dose repeated in 2 weeks, then given every 4 weeks until 6 months old; > 6 months old: dose repeated once in 2 weeks.  As you can see, neither one of these treat tapeworms.  That's because you must use Praziquantel.  This is a onetime treatment but it can be used daily or whenever needed, if needed. We haven't talked about Giardia.  You may be asking yourself what it is exactly.  Well, Giardia is a parasitic protozoan that lives in the intestinal tract of dogs.  They can be infected with giardia if they drink contaminated water or eat contaminated food.  Giardia gives them loose stool, with a foul smell and a mucus discharge.  This can be treated with Flagyl twice a day for 14 days.  All these medicines have certain measurements that need to be administered to your pet for these problems, so please, LEAVE THE TREATMENT TO YOUR VETERINARIAN!! And yes these are all zoonotic parasites.

Christmas!

Christmas is approaching fast and what better way to give thanks than to adopt!  Shelters are full and these animals need a warm, loving forever home to go to.  Parents, your kids want a little puppy or a kitten for Christmas; they ask every year.  Maybe they can tell Santa to bring them one on Christmas morning. :)  Or maybe you don't have kids and you would like to adopt one for yourself.  Someone to play with and love you.  It is better to give thank to receive.  Give a shelter animal a chance!  

Christmas Open House

Dec. 1st, Christmas Open House. Someone will win a Sanyo 46" flat-screen TV! We thank the following merchants who will have our $5 TV chances for sale: Coon Tattoo - Petal Pushers - Annabelle's Antiques, - Rose Drug Co. - Culin-Arts - West Point Animal Clinic and Frank's Package Store. If you would like to help the Shelter by selling tickets for us or if you would like to buy tickets please call 662-524-4430 or come by the Shelter. Thanks!

Fluffy

A cat that we have had at the shelter for about one month has been adopted.  She came in with a broken leg, but it was an old injury, so she had learned to walk on it.  When the MSU-CVM students came for our regularly scheduled Spay/Neuter day we asked them to take a look at it and see what we could do about it.  After they examined her, they told us that they could amputate it; we agreed.  After the surgery they told us that she had no more muscle left in that leg and that she was essentially walking on the bone, so we did the right thing.  After a few days of her learning to walk on just one leg on her front end, it was like she'd been doing it all along.  After another week a lady came in to our shelter and wanted to adopt her!  She took her home and we have been hearing nothing but good things ever since.

The things we do for our animals...

This is Meadow and she is a beautiful Boxer mix.  She was found wondering the streets of West Point and was brought in by the city.  She has been spayed and is now looking for her forever home with YOU! She is wonderful with other dogs and even cats! All she needs now is a warm place to call home! 

Beulah is an 8 week old female kitten that was brought into the shelter when she was about 3 weeks old. A wall had to be cut into to retrieve her and her siblings. She loves to be held and played with.  Looking for a best friend? You found her!!!

 

We have a Facebook page called Shelter Pet Profiles and our shelter posts pictures and short descripions of all the animals we have.  Not only do we do this, but we have various fundraisers throughout the year to raise money for our shelter.  We even have a lady who comes and dresses our animals up and does glamour shots of them so that we can have a booth set up at all of our events to showcase them off and try to get them adopted.  There are a bunch of people who are dedicated to getting our animals forever homes and we greatly appreciate your support and help!

Shelter Family

One of our best employees left us this week.  Not sure why or where he is going, but he was one of the best.  He never complained about what we needed him to do.  Whether it was bring a dog in for his/her shots or giving them a bath because they were stinky.  He was always willing to do anything that we asked him to do. Plus, he was the only male that we had working there.  Now, it is nothing but women and very stressful. You when people say there is too much estrogen, they should try working with them on a daily basis.  Going to miss that guy.  We still haven't found anyone to take his spot because no one wants to work for minimum wage and have to do all the work that they have to do.  Hopefully soon though!