Special adoption weekend

Texas Hold'em

The next Texas Hold'em will be on February 14-17 at the 

The Lodge Bar & Grill Shelby

2812 Orchard Lake Rd.

Keego Harbor, MI 48320

#248 683 5458

Time: 6pm-1am. Walk-Ins welcome!

Mark your calendars:

Texas Hold'em in May (27-30) and August (12-15) at

Main Street Billiards

215 S. Main Street

Rochester, MI 48307

We have big plans for 2010...and need your help!

With the increase in the number of cats we’ve been rescuing from Livingston comes an increase of work on adoption days.

Every Saturday we are at Petsmart on Haggerty/14 Mile between 1 and 4pm showing our adoptable animals. 

Please contact us through this website, if you are interested in helping us on Saturdays, with our rescue animals. 

On Saturdays we need people at Petsmart for:

12-1pm: Set up of cages and tables for the cats and dogs

1-4pm: Helping with general adoptions  

4-5pm: Break down of cages and tables

Is fostering a cat right for me?

We're in need of fosters for our adorable cats. Read below to find out what it takes to become a foster parent.

While we want to make sure we properly explain the commitment that is involved in fostering, all of our fosters would immediately highlight how rewarding and fun it is to welcome a cat or kitten to your home and help them to heal and blossom.

Sometimes one foster experience is all it takes to keep you coming back for more. But if not - we really do understand and appreciate your effort and giving it a try!

If you're interested in becoming a cat foster home, please contact us! We will gladly talk with you, go through an interview (in person or on the phone); a home visit will be required at the time of the drop off of your first foster animal (dog or cat). 

Becoming a foster provider to homeless cats or kittens can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience, and may be an ideal situation for families that are unwilling or unable to make a long-term commitment to a pet cat.

Finding cat foster homes is an important part of our work. We don't own a facility or shelter of our own. The foster home becomes an important stepping stone from the time the cat or kittens are rescued until they can be permanently placed for adoption.

Before you decide to become a foster provider, it's a good idea to take stock of your situation and decide if fostering a cat is really right for you. If you have young children or dogs, or if you work long hours, you may not be able to provide a suitable home for some cats, and fostering a kitten may be nearly impossible. It helps if the whole family is committed to the process of fostering a cat, because each cat might be with you for several months. If you have a cat of your own, you should make sure its vaccinations are up to date, to guard against exposing it to infectious diseases. It may also be wise to quarantine incoming foster pets until their health can be adequately assessed and they can be tested for infectious diseases like feline leukemia.

Keep in mind that the cats coming to you may have been abandoned by previous owners or may have spent several weeks caged at a shelter. These cats may be frightened, stressed, or poorly nourished and will need love and attention to help them become socialized. Some may need to be re-trained in using a litter pan or may need to be coaxed to eat. You may also be called upon to administer medicine to a cat with a health problem, or care for an older, special needs cat with diminished eyesight or hearing. 

Usually, we'd expect you to "donate" the food and kitty litter used by the foster cat. We will reimburse you for the cost of any veterinary care that is needed though.

In some cases you may be asked to provide a foster home to a mother cat with a litter of very young kittens. This is not as much effort as it may seem to be, because for the first month of the kittens' life, the mom will do most of the work, nursing and grooming her offspring. Kittens can generally be weaned at four to six weeks, and separated from their mother by the age of four weeks.

One of the greatest challenges is taking in unweaned or orphaned kittens. Not only are newborn kittens fragile and vulnerable, but they'll be depending on you to take the place of their missing mother. For the first two weeks of life, before kittens even open their eyes, they are completely helpless. You'll have to keep the kittens very warm, and feed them every two to three hours, around the clock, with a syringe and commercial kitten formula. Mother cats also stimulate the bodily functions of elimination in their kittens by licking the anus and urinary tract opening-you'll have to replicate this function with a warm, wet terrycloth washcloth.

Fostering a cat comes not only with a time commitment and some amount of expense, but with the risk that you'll become attached to your foster charges and will feel sadness or a sense of loss when it's time to let them go. As each one is adopted out, it's key to remember that you provided a safe haven to a homeless cat that is now going on to a safe and permanent home.

Thank you for considering!

Problems with litterbox mishaps?

Urinating in the wrong places is the number one reason cats are surrendered by their owners. There's a lot you can do to prevent or fix the problem - so before you send your feline friend packing, check out the newest article in our medical section.

Our newest rescue: Autumn

Little Autumn was found as a stray - as you can see in the pictures, something got a hold of her. We don't know what, but we know she has some recovering to do, physically and mentally. She is very sweet, but afraid and shy still.

Right now Autumn is with her foster mom, being pampered so she will be the happy, sweet dog that we're sure she really is - and then will be looking for her permanent home.

URGENT help needed: these animals are dying!

Animals at the Livingston County Animal Control, by policy have up to 7 to 14 days to get adopted before they are euthanized.

Some don’t even get posted on the website in time. The LCAC is only open on week days and only during business hours, they're not open on weekends when most adoptions take place. 

These are beautiful healthy sweet animals! For example: Take Penny. She was a young, healthy, spayed, front declawed tabby. A woman called LCAC on her death day wanting to adopt her. She rushed after work and made it there by 5:02pm. The doors were locked. Sadly she walked away. She called the next morning when they opened. Penny was dead. They have a ton of cages available. Lots of room but they stick firm to their policies.

Another incident with a female elderly dog: She was a senior and her owner did not show up. Even though several people wanted to adopt her - but because of policies she had to be put to sleep instead.

There were several good people that have attended town meetings with LCAC and they won a huge victory which will now allow rescues to come in at a discount and rescue the animal on the death date. 

Guardian Angel is the only approved rescue group at this time. Even with the discount, the pull fee is high: $80 per animal.
 

Oakland County Animal Shelter has presented them with a no-kill option and is willing to work with them to achieve this goal. It is unknown at this time if they are willing to commit to this proposal.  Unfortunately it will take time. And time is what these babies do not have. 

Please check out the ones there right now, please take notice of the death dates:

http://www.co.livingston.mi.us/animalcontrol/adoptablecatviewer.asp

Please help these animals in Michigan by donating $80.00 to pull one of these babies on their death date. We need your help, until other rescue groups step up. If you do, please indicate it on your check or include a note. You will then receive a confirmed letter and picture of what animal was saved on the day they were to be killed.

GAAR is begging for your help with these animals who have very little hope of surviving once they end up at the LCAC.

Please do not call the LCAC and express your opinion on this or blame their employees - they certainly didn't make up these rules and policies. They HAVE to work by them. 

Changes have been made already and by showing your support via adoptions/donations we will hopefully get even closer to keeping these animals alive! If you want further information or want to know how you can support to change these policies, please contact us!

Please forward this to everyone you think may want to and is able to help. Step up! This has to stop NOW!

The Jessica Nagle-Wilson Foundation

Jessica Nagle-Wilson was a Hazel Park, Michigan Police Officer, who was shot to death after responding to a disturbance call on July 28th, 2002 at the age of 26.

Her family formed the Jessica Nagel-Wilson Charitable Foundation to support the things that Jessica loved. Animals were close to her heart.  Jessica provided homes, love and food for the animals in the Hazel Park animal shelter.

The Jessica Nagel-Wilson Foundation made a very generous donation to Guardian Angel Animal Rescue. 

We are very grateful and honored to help animals in need in Michigan in Jessica's name.