There are moments with everything comes together just right. Mom caught me in one of those moments yesterday. Enjoy me practicing my MEOWDEL skills!
And just a reminder... PLEASE donate here and share so that I can continue my cancer treatment! I have three chemotherapy treatments left to go at least.
And please check out our sponsors!
Greetings Everypawdy!
I admit that I don't post here as often as I should. Things have been... well... challenging lately for Mom, and that certainly doesn't help any. First things first, I finished my radiation treatments and have moved on to chemotherapy. The radiation did EXTREMELY well and the tumor continues to shrink as a result!
As you can see, I've got a few shaved patches now so I can get my treatments. I'm glad that it's summer or else this could get a little chilly!
The chemotherapy upsets my stomach a bit but I get medicine to help with that. I'm still eating!
Other than that, you'll want to make sure that you join my Facebook page because every Wednesday, we're trying to have live "Coffee With Basil"! You can join and get updates, as well as ask any questions about me. Come on along!
We also have new friends and sponsors that we invite you to check out!
Please donate to the GoFundMe campaign so that I can continue my cancer treatment! I have three chemotherapy treatments left to go at least.
And please check out our sponsors!
I want to talk to you all about something that can be a confusing topic... The differences between Emotional Support Animals, Therapy Animals, Crisis Response Animals, and Service Animals. Let's get started!
Emotional Support Animals
ANY animal can be an Emotional Support Animal (ESA). Their job is to comfort their owner, one person, and can be for a variety of reasons such as anxiety, PTSD, depression, etc. The biggest trouble with this category is that it requires no training, no registration, no licensing, no insurance, and no evaluation whatsoever. As a result, the ESA classification is HUGELY abused. All you have to do is do an online search and there are countless sites that will give you a ESA certificate for a fee. This can be an enormous problem when people take these animals out in public and the poor animal becomes the one who is traumatized. This can create situations that lead to aggressive behavior such as biting. Mom has seen this many times. ESAs are NOT allowed in places like restaurants and are not protected in the same manner as Service Animals are. In our opinion, EVERY loved pet is an Emotional Support Animal!
Therapy Animals
Crisis Response Animals
Mom and I were one of the very first Animal-Assisted Crisis Response Teams to use a cat in the entire United States! Only dogs and cats can be in this category and they must be similar to Therapy Animals in that they are trained to perform Animal-Assisted Therapy but the animals who qualify for this work are the cream of the crop. The animals in these teams must achieve a rating that says they will be unshaken by going into situations that could go beyond the controlled environments of a business or school. The handlers in these teams have to complete additional training involving how to assist victims and First Responders in stressful situations ranging from fires, earthquakes, flood, hurricanes, tornados, civil unrest, and even domestic violence and abuse. Mom even had to complete additional training and pass tests from FEMA!
Service Animals
Service Animals serve one person only by performing tasks that the owner cannot do themselves. By law, Service Animals can only be dogs, miniature horses and believe it or not (while rare)... Monkeys. These animals go through lengthy and rigorous training and the animals themselves can carry a price tag of over $10,000 (USD) once that training is complete. Service Animals can go anywhere their owners go and that is protected by law. Unfortunately, there are FAR TOO MANY people who go online and buy a vest for their very untrained, unclean, unsocialized dog to go with them out in public. The good news is that some states have made it against the law to misrepresent an animal as a Service Animal. When you see a Service Animal out in public, you should NEVER pet or distract it in any way. There have been multiple cases where a distracted Service Dog missed its owner having a seizure, or other episode, that the dog is trained to catch and alert the owner. In these cases, the outcomes can quickly become life threatening.
Links:
Pet Partners - www.petpartners.org
Love On A Leash - www.loveonaleash.org
* Some of this information is specific to Pet Partners and our participation as an Animal-Assisted Therapy Team with them.
Hi Everypawdy!
I know that it's been an awfully long time since Mom helped me post here but there has been A LOT that has been going on...
Covid kept us from visiting for a long time and I was not happy about that but kitties can get Covid from humans and it becomes an upper respiratory virus that can be spread to other cats (but not back to humans at that point). Since Therapy Animals get pets and love from so many wonderful peeps, we couldn't visit them safely. The virus could also get on my fur and then passed to the next peep.
Then, we moved to Colorado during all of that time! To be honest, the moving part wasn't much fun... I don't mind going for car rides, it's a part of what happens to go to visit peeps. This was ridiculous though - we were in the car for 26 hours! I must admit, our new home in Colorado is pretty sweet. We have SO MUCH ROOM and a lot more sun than in Oregon.
I wish all the news was good but there are some tough things going on right now too.
Mom was laid off a few months ago and has had a hard time finding another job. She gets worried about paying the bills and sends out lots of things called 'resumes' every day. I wish she could get paid for being the best Cat Mom ever because she'd be a gazillionaire! She is interviewing for a job that looks pretty cool as far as those things go, so we are keeping our paws crossed.
Also, Mom has had a few procedures for some abnormal stuff in her left breast and has to have one more. She tries not to worry me about it but I'm experienced in seeing patients with stuff like this so I can tell. I've been giving her all my Therapy Cat medicine.
Lastly...
I have been diagnosed with something called FISS - Feline Injection Site Sarcoma. It occurs in approximately 1 in 10,000 cats in the US, and is exactly what it sounds like. Mom is taking me to Colorado University Veterinary Teaching Hospital tomorrow for my first consult appointment with the Oncology Department peeps there. The next step will be a CT scan to see if the tumor is operable. Mom is trying to raise money for all of this since the scan alone will run $1,000 to $2,000. If they can remove the tumor, then I will be getting surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, which will probably run over $15,000 to $20,000 dollars.
We asked the Bissell Pet Foundation for help since I did multiple commercials with them but they won't help. That made me sad...
I know that is a lot of human dollars but Mom says that I have helped so many people with my love and purrs, she hopes they can help me have a lot more years - I'm only eight right now. She has started a campaign to help pay for everything and we would really appreciate your help! You can click here to donate (it also helps pay for gas to get me to my treatment appointments since the teaching hospital is over an hour and a half away) and please share with your friends so they can help too. If you prefer, you can also call the finance department at the University Veterinary Hospital and tell them you would like to donate to the care for me:
Basil, Therapy Cat (Tina Parkhurst)
Colorado University Veterinary Teaching Hospital
(970) 297-1263
Even though Brother Mack hates to leave the house, he helps take care of me at home.
Hugs, purrs, and love to all!!
Mom here: I'm sorry to end on a sad note but what Basil has is a big deal for us right now. I need Basil so much - and Basil needs all of us. We would truly appreciate your help. Hugs from me too.
