Showing posts in intake
A dog in your care bit someone and now there's a 10-day hold. Handled well, it's ten boring days and a clean release. Handled badly, it's a panicked adopter, a euthanasia order, or a rabies scare that didn't need to happen. Here's how to run it right.
Colony & TNRThe frightened cat pressed into the back of the trap could be a true feral who belongs back outside, or a lost house cat who's one bad decision away from being returned to fend for herself. Here's how to tell them apart before you make the call.
MedicalA skeletal dog lands on your intake table and every instinct says feed it, now, as much as it wants. That instinct can kill it. Here's how to bring a starved dog back without triggering refeeding syndrome.
Small animalsIt was sold as a "teacup" pig, outgrew the apartment and the local ordinance, and now it's a 120-pound animal nobody planned for. Here's how to run the intake so it doesn't bounce again.
MedicalThe rescue calls and asks if you can take a pregnant dog "any day now." Saying yes means you're about to run a delivery room. Here's how to prepare, what a normal whelping looks like, and the red lines that mean you stop watching and call the vet.
Colony & TNROne of the "ferals" at your feeding station walks right up and rubs your leg. That cat is almost never a feral — it's usually someone's lost pet or a dumped one, and the next 72 hours decide whether it ever gets home.
MedicalA dog comes in half-bald, scabbed, and scratching itself raw, and everyone assumes the worst. If it's sarcoptic mange, it's one of the most satisfying fixes in rescue — contagious, treatable, and dramatic. Here's how to tell, treat it, and keep it from running through your other dogs.
Small animalsA guinea pig arrives on a bag of muesli, in a shoebox cage, maybe already pregnant — and pregnancy in a cavy can be fatal. Here's the intake that keeps it alive, starting with sexing.
DogsEvery found dog you take in as a rescue case might be somebody's lost dog that's been missing for six hours. Before it becomes an intake number, run the owner search — it's faster, cheaper, and the right outcome for the dog.
Small animalsSomeone got in over their head, or the city sent a notice, and now there's a flock that needs to go somewhere. Here's how to intake surrendered chickens without infecting the birds you already have or breaking a law you didn't know existed.
Small animalsA ferret hides illness, escapes through a two-inch gap, can die from a virus a guest tracks in on their shoes, and was almost certainly fed the wrong food. Here's how to run the intake so it doesn't become an emergency.
Small animalsA domestic rabbit can't survive the field it was abandoned in, hides illness until it's nearly too late, and was probably an Easter impulse buy nobody planned for. Here's how to run the intake so it lives.
Colony & TNRIt's May, your phone won't stop, and every message is a box of kittens. You can't say yes to all of them. Here's a triage system that protects the kittens and keeps your rescue standing.
MedicalA single runny-nosed cat in a crowded room isn't a cold — it's the start of an outbreak that can sit in your space for weeks. Here's how to stop feline upper respiratory infection from running through your whole population.
MedicalA parrot is not a returned dog. It can outlive you, it hides illness until it's almost too late, and the last three owners gave up for reasons nobody wrote down. Here's how to take one in without infecting your flock or missing what's actually wrong.
Colony & TNRA transport run is the most dangerous hour your dogs will have all month — a parking lot full of strangers, open crate doors, and slip leads. Most things that go wrong are paperwork or process, not bad luck. Here's how to run one that ends with every dog where it's supposed to be.
Small animalsA single rescue rabbit is a lonely rabbit, and a bonded pair adopts out faster. But put two strange rabbits together wrong and you'll end up at the emergency vet. Here's the neutral-territory bonding process that actually works, step by step.
MedicalA positive heartworm test scares a lot of rescues into passing on a perfectly adoptable dog. The treatment is long and the rules are strict, but it's routine. Here's how to move a dog from diagnosis to adoption without losing your nerve.
Small animalsWhen a rabbit stops eating, the clock starts. GI stasis can go from "off his pellets" to life-threatening in under a day, and the only thing that reliably saves rabbits is catching it early. Here's what to watch for and what to do.
DogsThe dog your foster meets on day one is a dog in survival mode, not the dog they'll adopt out. Most failed placements come from judging a dog too early. Here's the decompression plan to give every dog before you decide who they are.
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