An Orange Kitten and the Ringworm Saga of 2010

This is the story of a little orange cat with a few patches of missing fur. She came to the shelter in July 2010 as a stray at about two months old. We named her Mia Bella. She had an upper respiratory infection and some fur loss in patches. We began treating her for her cold, and in early August a test confirmed that she had ringworm.

Ringworm is not caused by a worm. It is an infection of the skin caused by a fungus. Ringworm is contagious. It spreads when you have skin-to-skin contact with a person or animal that has it. It can also spread on things like towels and clothing. So we began weekly lime dips and systemic treatment with intraconazole. Then another cat came in with patchy fur loss, and another. Finally, we had 21 cats with confirmed ringworm that were all undergoing weekly dipping, weekly testing, and systemic treatment. The cats also had to be quarantined from all other animals and people. So we converted our cat sick bay room and previous dog receiving room into ringworm quarantine 1 and 2.


Animal care technicians have to wear protective clothing including hair and shoe covers to go in these rooms to clean and care for the quarantined cats. Of course, this is in addition to caring for the 60-80 other cats in the shelter. We also began completely stripping, cleaning, and disinfecting the rooms with a bleach solution once a week. Sometimes animal care staff came in late at night to disinfect after everyone else was gone. Even with precautions, a few staff members caught the fungus themselves. We also instituted some new cleaning protocols in our other cat areas to reduce the possibility of contamination.


After five months of treatment and a set-back with a serious jaw infection that required surgery, Mia Bella finally was healthy enough for adoption. She moved out of quarantine into our main cat room and was soon adopted into a loving home. To date, nine of our 21 quarantined cats have fully recovered and eight of those have been adopted. We expect to have a few more weeks of treatment before all the cats are ready for adoption and we can close the chapter on the ringworm saga of 2010.


Our animal care technicians have risked infection, bleach fume overload, and exhaustion to save these cats and make them healthy. Administrative staff have helped out with regular cleaning so that animal care technicians could focus on the extra cleaning that the ringworm requires. We all hope we never see ringworm again, but if and when we do, we certainly know how to handle it.

League Adoption Featured in novadog Magazine

Read about an adoption success story in the Spring 2010 issue of novadog magazine. Shadow came to the League in March 2009 because his owner could no longer care for him. He was five years old, thin, and had a chronic skin condition that caused patches of fur to fall out. After we shaved down his fur, began treating the skin condition, and neutered him, he became available for adoption. But few potential adopters took interest in him.

Finally, at the end of June 2009, an experienced chow chow owner saw Shadow on our Web site. She came in to meet him and fell in love with his mellow personality. Since July 2009 Shadow has enjoyed a stable and loving home.

Thanks to novadog for promoting shelter adoptions!

Parakeets Die From Kitchen Fumes

An adopter has sadly notified us that her four parakeets all died on a recent evening while she was cooking. She believes the fumes from a non-stick oven liner are to blame. Although she knew the danger of teflon-coated pans to birds, she did not realize that many other products contain the same "perfluorinated" chemicals (PTFE).

Some Common Sources of PTFE:

Non-stick pots, pans, and other cookware
Stain repellants
Space heaters and heat lamp covers
Non-stick irons and ironing board covers
Hair dryers
Non-stick oven drip pans and broiler pans
Non-stick griddles, woks, waffle makers, electric skillets, tortilla presses
Non-stick hot air corn poppers, coffee makers, bread makers
Non-stick slow cookers, roasters, pizza pans
Ceramic cooking stoves

Source:http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=15+1912&aid=2874

While heartbroken over the deaths of her parakeets, she wants to warn others about this danger. See avianweb.com for more information.

51 Spay Day Surgeries

Thanks to the generous support of donors to our Hantke Memorial Spay/Neuter Fund we have subsidized surgeries for 51 cats and dogs for Spay Day 2010. Low-income pet parents paid only $25 for the surgery and the Hantke Fund paid the remainder. The Washington Metropolitan Spay/Neuter Center and Fairfax Animal Hospital performed the surgeries at very low cost for us. We plan to do four more surgeries on Friday at Arlington Animal Hospital.

While Spay Day brings attention to the need for low-cost surgery in February each year, the League offers reduced cost spay and neuter year-round. The best way to solve the pet overpopulation problem is prevention!

Cairn Terriers Get New Lives

In mid-December an owner brought in two older Cairn terriers (10 and 12 years old) and requested that they be humanely euthanized. Because they were older dogs and the family could no longer care for them, he thought euthanasia was the only choice. We noticed that although older, the dogs seemed in good condition. We explained that we would like to investigate the dogs’ health and possibly place them in an adoptive home, and he was glad for us to try.


Both dogs were slightly overweight, had matted coats, and had severe dental disease. After examinations by one of our volunteer visiting veterinarians, they went to a local animal hospital for blood tests and dental cleanings. Our Woody and Mickey Healthy Pet Fund provided the $600 needed for their treatment. A volunteer groomer gave them baths and new haircuts. They looked like different dogs!


After all their treatments, Skye and Brie went up for adoption as a bonded pair that needed to be adopted together. Probably because of their age, there wasn’t much adoption interest. Fortunately, the Cairn Rescue League, a national nonprofit based in New Hampshire, saw the dogs on Petfinder and contacted us. The rescue group found an available foster home in New Hampshire and even found a driver who would pick them up and take them to their new home.


Six weeks after arriving at the League, Skye and Brie left for their new lives in the northeast. Years ago this rescue probably would not have been possible. Our Healthy Pet Fund allows us to determine older pets’ health with diagnostic tests and to treat them for correctable problems. The growth of rescue groups devoted to specific breeds and types of animals often makes it possible to find homes even for animals with manageable medical or behavioral issues. Our adoption team has devoted a great deal of effort establishing relationships with rescue groups and will continue to work for the best outcome for every animal in our care.

TV Appearance Results in Adoption

Last October an owner surrendered two five-year-old Siberian huskies because of moving. Muska (male) and Sierra (female) turned out to be sweethearts. They needed to be spayed and neutered and Muska had an eye abnormality called entropian. We had the neutering surgery done and at the same time Muska's entropian was repaired thanks to our Woody and Mickey Healthy Pet Fund. We were all so excited when the pair were adopted in mid-November.

But two days after their adoption, the huskies were returned. They had whimpered and cried and had housetraining accidents in their new home. Although this behavior is not that unusual during a period of adjustment, the adopter did not think that he/she could work through it. Everyone here was disappointed but we believed that our lovable pair could do well with someone who could be patient with them.

On November 30 we had the chance to bring animals on Fox 5 TV and we chose to bring Muska and Sierra. Of course, they charmed everyone at the TV studio and showed off their adorable natures on camera. We posted the video on the dogs' detail pages on our Web site and also on Petfinder.

Miles away in Long Island, New York, a man searched Petfinder for a Siberian husky and found Muska and Sierra. He told us that as soon as he saw the video, he thought, "those are my dogs." He contacted us right away about adoption. We don't usually place animals that far away, but no one locally had shown interest in adopting them. The husky lover in New York sent us a reference from his veterinarian (he had owned a husky before) and sent us a video showing us his home.

On December 16 the man and his son drove down from Long Island and had their face-to-face meeting with the dogs and an interview with our adoption manager. They took Muska and Sierra home that day! They have since sent us reports that the dogs have settled into their new home beautifully--and they love all the snow!

Technology has made it a small world, and we're grateful for all the means available now to find that perfect home for a deserving animal.