June 15, 2007, Fresh starts, By Mauri Formigoni

Spring is hot in San Miguel and so are our baby animals! This week I would like to suggest you look at several babies who are growing up before our very eyes (or NOT as in the case of our small mini-kitten, Zipper). Zipper was born to a mother who was herself severely malnourished and so had little milk to give her single baby.

Thus the kitten struggled to survive and did, testing her mettle and immunity by surviving to become a beautiful small kitten (though she looks much younger than her 3 months). She has a good appetite and romps and plays with vigor, showing no signs of her difficult babyhood, except for her small stature. We do not expect she will be a large or even regular size cat, but most possibly a perfect miniature female calico cat, a perennial kitten, so to speak. Many people adore kittens, but lose interest in grown cats. Here is an opportunity to own a constant kitten, healthy as far as we can tell, but not much interested in growing. Could you be interested in her?

A baby dog, growing fast and getting cuter, is Titania, a three-month-old female puppy who is fun, playful, healthy, secure and promising. She appears to have some mixture of Golden Retriever and Lab as relatives, common ingredients to make our local puppies. At the Humane Society Shelter Expo in Dallas a few weeks ago, one exhibitor showed that it was possible to test a small blood sample for DNA and find out which breeds made up your pet. Clearly this is an expensive proposition, but intriguing, and definitely better than guessing as we do. Maybe in the future this will be an accessible option for new dog adopters, but we currently cannot guarantee anything, except that they are lovable mutts, and we have many of them. Titania came in frightened as do most new animals, but she is growing into a lovely little girl, confident, hearty and promising to be a medium-large dog who loves to play with others. We hope you will consider her as a possibility in your household. Come see the choices in Puppy World! It is
a wonderful place to spend time.

As the weather changes in our pueblo, heat and rain make for difficult times for animals in cages. We appreciate any old towels, comforters, blankets, or newspapers you may have on hand. Also, if you go to Querétaro, remember to pick up a large bag of Kirkland dog food or Whiskas cat food, or a couple of stainless steel feeding dishes to help our animals.

Check our website at www.spasanmiguel.org and prepare for a major fun event in July at Rancho Los Olivos for dancing, food and great music and raffle tickets to win major prizes to the beach, to Pozos, or a balloon ride! It’s fun to party and win and donate to help the animals at the same time.

Though I worry that I appear to be studying in order to become a dog, I recommend the following books to dog lovers, especially: Best Friends, The True Story of the World’s Most Beloved Animal Sanctuary by Samantha Glen (MJF Books, 2001) Animals in Translation, Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior, a Harvest Book, Harcourt, Inc. 2005, The Hidden Life of Dogs by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, a Peter Davison Book, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1993. I find these all jewels in understanding animal behavior and encourage you to read them.

We are located at Los Pinos 7, just off Calzada de la Estación (formerly Canal) just before the Central de Autobuses. The clinic is open Monday–(N)Friday 10am–(N)2pm, call for an appointment: 152-6124. For animal visitation or for volunteers to walk dogs or play with animals, always welcome, come Monday–Friday 11am–2pm or meet us in the Jardín on Thursdays from 11:15am–1:15pm.

Is anyone interested in visiting “Best Friends in Utah” someday with a few of us? Please let me know at 154-5930 or mauriformigoni@yahoo.com.