Author: Ashley Douglas

We Were Adopted! August 4th – August 10th.

Posted on by Ashley Douglas

Marley found happiness!

Many of you had probably seen our previous posts about Marley, but if you hadn’t, Marley came to us with her sister that she had shared her entire life with and unfortunately, Marley’s sweet sister passed away not long after arriving. So not only did Marley lose her home at 12 years old, but she also lost her best friend.

Marley had been a little down in the dumps as you can imagine, and our staff made sure to do everything they could to make her feel loved while being with us. We took her on a trip to Kline’s to get a pup cup. She got to take a trip to the news to be a featured pet on Living in the heart of Virginia. Marley even got to have a senior photoshoot, all while waiting on her new home.

Little did we know, her now mom had been looking for a senior pup. She had been coming in for a couple weeks just trying to find the right fit, and the moment she locked eyes with Marley she knew she was the one. She asked the staff about her and the next day she came in to adopt during our Sun’s Out Tongue’s Out adoption special! We are so happy for Marley and her new mom and can’t wait to hear updates on their journey together.

Thank you so much to everyone who adopted this past week and thank you Bank of the James for being this month’s sponsor! Check out who else found happiness below!

Pets that were adopted!

Cats that were adopted:

Achilles, Alfredo, Babs, Bacchus, Beatrice, Beetroot, Bolognese, Brittany, Broccoli Cheddar, Bronx, Bubbles, Cape, Carla, Cheddar, Chicken Noodle, Clark, Clownfish, Crookshanks, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Dora, Eenie Meenie, Ella, Francis, Frodo, Gabbro, Grace, Honey, Jackie, Jamie, John West, Jukebox, Jules, Kay Kay, Kenny, Kiki, Korra, Lorraine, Lupita, Mama Rose, Marfa, Mary, Mask, Minestrone, Money Mo, Momo, Moscow, Muffy, Myra, Noir, Noodles, Oats, Paul Francis, Percy, Pluto, Presley, Provolone, Prune, Ragu, Sable, Severus Snape, Shawn, Simba, Spencer Reid, Spicy McChicken, Spike Ball, Spots, Squid, Stefano, Storm, Swiss, Toph, and Venus.

Dogs that were adopted:

Acrobat, Beano, Bubble, Colorado, Edie, Iris, Lovebug, Marley, Nova, Pippy, Pirate, Primrose, Rosco, Snowy, Spike, William, Willow, and Zorrino.

We Were Adopted! June 30th – July 6th!

Posted on by Ashley Douglas

Sweet Caroline and 37 of her friends found Happiness!

Sweet Caroline came in as a stray who had been hit by a car and badly injured. A special thanks to a member of the community who saw her, pulled over and brought her to us for help. With the hard work from our medical team and our friends over at Animal Emergency and Critical Care, we got her the care she needed. She was matched with a wonderful foster took great care of her and nursed her back to health and let her learn how to just be a dog! Sweet Caroline’s high spirits and happiness brought us all pure joy! Then she finally was healthy enough to be adopted and found her family.

Thank you so much to everyone who adopted from us this week and thank you to Piedmont Floor Show for being this month’s sponsor!

Pets that were adopted!

Cats that were adopted:

Altavista, Alvin, Birdie, Dusty Daniels, Elastigirl, Eleanor, Kit, Laken, Lilith, Lyre, Pamela, Priscilla, Rita, Sabrina, Salem, Samwise, Sandra, Smokey Mountain, Soren, Spindrift, Tayler, Terry, Teryn, Tinkerbell, Tofu, Tulip, Tumbleweed, Valene, and Zumie.

Dogs that were adopted:

Blue, Ducky, Granite, Little League, Maxwell, Salsa, Scarlett, and Scrabble.

We Were Adopted! 10/28 – 11/3

Posted on by Ashley Douglas

Minerva and 57 Pets Found Happiness this week!

Have you heard Minerva’s story yet?

After being adopted from us as a kitten in 2019, 6 months ago Minerva was surrendered to Bedford Animal Shelter. Once they realized she was our cat we arranged to have her transferred back to our care. Only when we saw her, she wasn’t the same tiny kitten we once knew. Minerva was 16 lbs of mush and love. We decided to put her on a diet and give her as much exercise as we could until she was adopted, but it wasn’t much.

Because of her special diet, she couldn’t be placed in the larger rooms, so her exercise was limited to her small crate. After months of no adoption interest, we decided to give her a shot in one of our offices with the Volunteer Coordinator. She loved it there! She was social, active, and talkative. As much as she loved it she still wasn’t losing weight, and customers were no longer seeing her. Minerva’s best chance of losing the weight was being adopted.

Finally last week after we moved her to the very front of our lobby she was adopted! We are so proud and excited for Minera, and so thankful to her adopters. We’d also like to thank Bank of the James for being this month’s banner sponsor.

Pets that were adopted October 28th through November 3rd.

Cats that were adopted:

Apple Bourbon, Belushi, Blossom, Boots, Bullseye, Caboodle, Cahoots, Cheez-it, Cherry, Doxie, Farley, Harbor, Hemlock, Hickory, Kermit, Limeade, Macy Gray, Maple, Martin, Mila, Minerva, Oakum, Oyster, pacific Cooler, Phione, Pika, River, Salma, Sassafras, Sugar Apple, Tadpole, Triscuit, and Waldo.

Dogs that were adopted:

Alfie, Blondie, Bowie, Charlie, Chilli, Chocolate Croissant, Copper, Delia, Dussell, Gabriel, Kona, Luck, Midnight, Millington, Nala, Pearl, Philadelphia, Priest, Reeka, Scooby, Simba, Stevie, Wild Bill, and Wishbone.

We Were Adopted! September 23rd – 29th!

Posted on by Ashley Douglas

Our longest stay cat, Pinhead, finally found a home!

We are so happy to report that our longest-stay cat of four years, Pinhead, has finally been adopted! You may be thinking, four years is way too long for a cat to be in the shelter. Don’t worry, Pinhead had a devoted foster who cared for him for the better part of those four years.

Pinhead was found as a kitten, he was sick with a cold and had diarrhea, which our medical team treated routinely. While we were able to get Pinhead’s respiratory problems under control, his digestive problems continued for months despite treatment. Our staff was perplexed but continued to search for a resolution. Finally, four months later, our medical team discovered Pinhead had megaesophagus. Megaesophagus is a condition that makes it difficult to get food down to the stomach.

This diagnosis is what kept him in our care for so long. At the beginning of his foster journey, he was on a liquid diet and needed to be fed at an angle until he was able to swallow. It took a lot of trial and error before he was healthy enough to be adopted, and after all that time, his foster couldn’t dream of bringing him back to the shelter. He was a second choice for many people, until this week.

A sweet girl saw him on our page and reached out. She got to meet him and speak with his foster, and she fell in love. After one more meeting to get them acquainted, she took him home last Tuesday.

Pinhead has come so far, and is practically eating like a normal cat! He still needs a soft diet and a stool to eat, but his new mom is prepared and willing to take on whatever’s to come. We are so grateful for Pinhead’s foster for caring for him for all those years, and his new adopter.

If this story speaks to you, and you want to help a kitty with megaesophagus, we have another one! Mouthra who’s also been waiting in foster for years, is ready for her happy ending. Just email [email protected] today.

Pets that were adopted September 23rd through September 29th.

Cats that were adopted:

Agatha, Archie Ray, Atticus, Bahama, Biscuit, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Cordelia, Dawn, Fitch, Honeydew, Izzy, Laffy Taffy, Marks, Mila, Perry the Platypus, Petunia, Pinhead, Rhaenys, and Rocky Balboa.

Dogs that were adopted:

Akira, Atlas, Avery, BamBam, Barney, Benji, Clarice, Elliot, Leo, Magenta, Poseidon, Socrates, and Stormy.

We Were Adopted! August 20th – August 26th.

Posted on by Ashley Douglas

Lux and 59 of her friends found happiness this week!

Lux came to us as a fearful, three-legged stray over a year ago. We do not know what her life outside was like or how she lost her leg, but she did not trust people. We categorized her as a barn cat or an indoor working cat who would rather be away from the company of people.

We learned quickly that Lux loved other cats. They seemed to help with her confidence, so we moved her into our porch room! She remained fearful of people for months to come but over time, she stopped hissing and stopped running away from staff. She soon started accepting chin scratches from staff members and started to learn that humans aren’t so bad.

Recently we decided to give Lux a chance in a more trafficked room, the living room. She quickly became friends with another living room cat named Hollis. When you walked into the room, you could always find the two of them together. Hollis gave Lux so much confidence! With the spotlight in the living room and some help from her friend, Lux got adopted over the weekend!

We are so happy for Lux and all of the pets who found happiness this weekend! Thank you to everyone who adopted and thank you so much to this month’s sponsor, Petco Love for their unwavering support.

Check out who all was adopted below!

Pets that were adopted August 20th through August 26th.

Cats that were adopted:

Belle, Bo, Buttercup, Cat Stevens, Cheddar, Colin, Daisy Duke, Dora, Dorothy, Firefly, Ghibi, Hip, Jaylen Hill, Jeff Lee, Kilimanjaro, Kitana, Knight, Little Rock, Lux, Maury, Miley, Naveen, Pip, Raiden, Roy, Scully, Seastar, Sequoia, Skinner, Smuckers, Sparky, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Sugar Apple, Tamworth, Taylor Tot, Treelo, Wichita, Wilma, Winslow, Yuki, and Zuri.

Dogs that were adopted:

Allikai, Angus, Brownee, Cedar, Cowgirl, Curvy, Harmony, Judy, Keena, Lena, Marlow, Mimic, North, Poker, Rudolph, Shrek, Tuco, Unna, and Wallabee.