Happy kittens - happy mum Pudsy

Early May, we received a desperate call for help. A lovely and friendly ginger cat had shown up at a house in Doolin.

For 3 days already, the cat had been around Isabella's house. She seeemd to be pregnant. She had a funny forehead which looked more like a brush, and she seems very young, very friendly (not wild), and very smart.

As much as Isabella would have loved to, she wasn't able to take the cat into the house because she was going to go back to Germany a few weeks later. She felt very sorry for her because "Ginger" was a wonderful cat.

We posted a request for help on Facebook, hoping that somebody would take the cat in for the few weeks following her giving birth. We got quite a few offers for help - that is saying quite a lot about the big hearts of our Facebook friends!

Mary in Kilnaboy saw the picture of "Ginger" and fell in love with her. She offered immediately to take her in - and keep her!


Once Isabella had brought "Ginger" to Mary, we got this update on this little lady:

"She is settling well apart from this morning, when she cried for about 4 hours as she wanted to go out. Now she has found a nice comfy chair to rest on and is sleeping. We can see the kittens moving in her belly so all seems to be well there & she has a great appetite. Bonus: she is also house trained x".

"We love her, she won't be going anywhere as this is her home. Amazing such a small thing can capture your heart so quickly. We have called her Kipper, we already have people asking about homing the kittens & of course we will be keeping one ourselves."

A few days later:
"Update on our lovely little ginger mum to be, kittens are moving about like mad in mums tum. We thought they would have made an appearance by now!! So we are just playing the waiting game. We have had to change her name as my husband kept calling her Fish Finger. He has renamed her Pudsy. I will update next week, hopefully with pics of the much awaited arrivals x."

And true to her word, that is exactly what Mary did. She sent a picture with "4 of Miss Kipper's 7 babies. Unfortunately 2 of her litter were stillborn, mum and all 5 babies are doing well."

So happy ending for everybody! The kittens will all go to good homes once they are old enough to be taken from the mother.

We want to thank Mary and her family for taking this cat in and making it possible for her to give birth and bring up her kittens in a safe and loving environment. If only all animals would be so lucky! 

Affectionate Little Wolf looking for his forever humans

Daniela is fostering one of Paw Pourri's gorgeous dogs who are looking for adoption. She gave us this account:

Meet Petit Loup (Little Wolf)! 
He is "Lahinch Lad" on our website. 

The current fosterer Daniela and occasional walker Karin tell us that he is a lovely and affectionate dog, who can walk without a lead where there are no cars. He is never going far and is always coming back when called. He is not a barker.

Daniela says this about her experience with him:

"Petit Loup is my first dog/foster dog. He is an energetic gorgeous young labrador and absolutely adorable. We have already made really nice memories by walking at Liscannor beach, running and playing in fields, cuddling sessions or just enjoying walks in the countryside.

He is able to learn new things, but needs a firm hand. Due to health reasons I need to find either a new fosterer for him, or better still, a forever home!"

Please tell your friends about him. He is one of our many animals who deserve to find a loving forever home. 

If you want to become a fosterer or adopt an animal, call us on 087 9460061 or send us a message on Facebook. We will then have a chat with you about the best options, and take it from there!

Fundraiser Photos - Summer fun in Lissycasey

14 June 2014 - Thanks to all supporters and sponsors we had a great day at Mauro's Splash Car Wash in Lissycasey where the cars had to double park to wait their spa treatment turn! 

Also on offer were archery, cakes, teas & coffees, bubbles, lots of bubbles, face painting and barbecue. 

Have a look at the pictures taken by volunteer Karin last Saturday. Again - we can't thank everybody enough who supported us with donations, helping, sponsoring and buying things! You really make a huge difference in the life of all those animals in need!

Archers of Ennis showing how to shoot an arrow.

Meadhbh from Fish Face Face Painting, Shannon

Mauro and his excellent team!

DJ Gary Hill behind a screen of bubbles

Double waiting queue

A big Thank You to all our supporters!

As you can imagine, we are in constant need of funds, kennels, food - or just the money to buy either or all of the above. We are trying to help all animals in need, those that were abandoned, those that escaped certain death, and those that were found wandering.

And to be able to help those who don't have a voice, we need help ourselves.

So many people understand this very well, and donated, supported and helped us in our quest to raise money. We had a fundraiser double event on 12 and 14 June, and want to thank all the individual people and businesses who made this fundraiser possible in the first place:

A big Thank You to... 

Splash Car Wash in Lissycasey - Mauro who initiated the whole idea, and his tireless helpers

DJ Gary Hill - for creating a lively atmosphere with music and heaven for the kids with bubbles

Clare Spring - who donated lots of water bottles

O'D Cleaning Supplies - for giving the much needed soaps for all the cars that needed washing

Rowan Tree - for donating a dinner gift voucher

Souper Café - they gave us cakes and a gift voucher

Archers of Ennis - they donated their time and skills to show interested parties how to become Robin Hood

Bar Code - for hosting our fundraiser & world cup kick off party on Thursday 12 June

Burren Free Range Pork - for donating sausages for the BBQ

Fish Face Face Painting - for painting all the faces

Burren Smokehouse - for donating a side of Irish Organic Smoked Salmon

C&C Executive Travel - for displaying their stretch limo

Pam McNamara - for helping out a lot and donating wine for the raffle

Burren Cake Club - for baking cookies and (cup) cakes

All the lovely people who brought things into the Paw Pourri shop to be used in the gift hampers, and who brought cakes on the day to be sold, and who bought raffle tickets and car wash vouchers.

Without all of you we would not 
be able to continue our work! 

More reasons to foster... Ruby

Another great reason for fostering:
If you are travelling or working abroad for months on end and can't have a permanent animal but still want the company of one once you are at home!

This is Ian and Ruby's story which illustrates another great reason why to foster. Ruby is a female, neutered English Sheepdog:

"I contacted Paw Pourri after deciding I would like to foster a dog. I have a big garden and lots of time while I am home here in Ireland. When I went to meet Ruby for the first time, out from the van jumped this wonderful, friendly, shaggy, tail wagging bundle of life and love. From that moment on I knew Ruby was a special dog.

Ruby is a very obedient dog, loving and always up for anything. She is happy on and off the lead. She will fetch until she drops and is completely addicted to water: She just loves to swim. 

She never runs after other dogs and is friendly to everyone she meets. Everybody we meet comments on how good she is. 

Guess who loves to ride in the passenger seat with her head stuck out the window watching the world go by? :-)

She lets me know when she wants to go to the toilet by either bringing me a ball or pulling at my hand and pointing at the door. It is quite remarkable just how well trained she is. 

Ruby loves cats! Loves them in a way dogs do. She will chase them until she can't find them, so it is her only flaw but what can I say - she is a dog.

It has been a pleasure. We have had such a great time, and I really made a friend, and I know she feels the same way. We would go on long walks and sit by the fire listening to music. Yes, she is a music fan.

Ruby is a perfect family dog and would relish in the affection a family would give her. For the outdoors person, she is also prefect. Except for cats, she is great with all other animals and will say hi to all the cattle, horses, other dogs and donkeys we have come across on our adventures. 

I am an outdoor person. I spend a lot of my time going surfing and walking. Ruby has been the perfect company. I will be sad to say goodbye and will hope every day she finds the home she deserves."

Ian is working on superyachts and might be gone sailing for many months at a time.

For him, it would not be feasible to have a full-time dog, or any animal really. But he still wants to enjoy the companionship of a dog, and the joy that a dog bring to his life.

But more importantly, he wants to help those who had been abandoned and have not found a forever home yet. 

So he pledged to help in any way he can - starting by fostering his first dog, Ruby. His motivation was to give her a holiday from her routine at the Paw Pourri animal shelter. 

Another very important reason for Ian was that Ruby was to learn that not all humans are bad. He wanted to teach her that trusting humans would work. 

If you want to become a fosterer, call us on 087 9460061 or send us a message on Facebook. We will then have a chat with you about the best options, and take it from there!

What is the point of fostering? - Meet Rusty

Walking with Rusty

Now here is one valid reason why fostering is a wise idea.  Fostering a dog or a cat is a handy way to find out if it is for you. You can take on an animal for a while and see if it is a suitable choice, and if not, you can give the animal back.

Fostering an animal - mostly dogs, but also cats - can be a life-changing and enriching experience. It can also be an eye-opener. Let me explain that in a little more detail. 

When I fostered Rusty, an older Springer Spaniel with some hound thrown into the mix, I didn't really know what to expect. I had never had a dog before, my only experience of a dog in the house was more based on hearsay than anything else. When I was a baby, my parents had a very loyal German shepherd that my father already had before he got married. That German shepherd guarded my pram when I was sleeping outside the house (no problem in those days!). So that was more or less the extent of my experience with dogs.

I consider myself a cat person, and my cat would wisely nod if he could read this. When I decided to foster a dog, my motivation was threefold: to help out Paw Pourri, finding a permanent home for the dog, and at least, give the dog a nice holiday. Those were my reasons for fostering but little did I know what would happen.

Rusty learning stuff about archaeology

Deliberately, I opted for an older dog, one that would not find a new home easily. Most people want young animals, animal babies if possible, and they want purebreds. Maybe they want them more as accessories than pets. I don't know, but I would always go for the "underdogs" and "undercats".

First, I had to get used to walking the dog before and after work no matter what. As I noticed that he was much livelier and happier when he could explore new walks, I often took him to the beach or the shore, or somewhere where he could just run around without any constraints. That of course took up quite a bit of time, but I got more exercise, and the dog got much fitter, too!

I took him to outings where there were people, to meetings and to any kind of gatherings of people who would tolerate a dog in their midst - for the simple reason that I wanted to expose him to as many people as possible. I was hoping that somebody would fall in love with his kind and happy temperament and offer him a permanent home. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Not on my watch anyway. (Don't worry, there is a happy end to the story!)

Rusty with his new fosterer - happy!

What did happen though was that after I posted a request for a new foster home for Rusty, a lovely foster family took him in who had read the post. He was very happy there, and he calmed their two terriers down a lot with him demeanour.

And then the totally unexpected happened! All of a sudden, weeks after posting on Facebook, there were two families interested in taking him in for good. One of them met him, and immediately fell in love with him. So now Rusty is living with his forever adopted parents, having the happiest time of his life with them. (Rusty had been abandoned just like that by his family when he was about 10).

But that was not all that happened. When the post on Facebook appeared asking for fosterers, we had a few inquiries of people who had never made contact before. They will now be fostering as well. And spread the word among their friends. A colleague of mine is now fostering a lovely dog. A family with two girls took on a foster puppy when they read about it.

And this is how the magic is being spread...

I have never wanted to have a full-time dog, and this foster experience - albeit a great one - confirmed that I am a cat person. Fostering a dog or a cat is a handy way to find out if it is for you. You can take on an animal for a while and see if it is a suitable choice, and if not, you can give the animal back. There is nothing worse than buying (not the best option anyway!) an animal and then finding out that it was the wrong thing to do. Paw Pourri is dealing with the fallout of such bad choices only too often.

If you want to become a fosterer, call us on 087 9460061 or send us a message on Facebook. We will then have a chat with you about the best options, and take it from there!