Harley (previously Celine) came into the Home in December 2019 as a stray with lots of aches and pains. As an older girl of 14 years, she had a few health issues, so the SDCH team started her treatment right away.

Harley was desexed, had seven teeth and some breast tissue removed and underwent hernia surgery. The team also did some investigative procedures, discovering she has end-stage kidney disease, worsening tracheal collapse and degenerative joint disease in her front legs. While these issues mean Harley has problems with frequent urination, breathing and arthritic pain, she can still enjoy a good quality of life with proper care and health management.

Harley was put up for adoption as a palliative care patient, meaning her new owners would need to provide her with medicine to help manage her disease symptoms. After a total of 62 days at the Home, Harley found her perfect match, Rebecca. After Rebecca lost her dog of 15 years, she started volunteering at SDCH, fostering animals including Harley.

Rebecca said her and her partner fell in love with Harley’s sweet personality.

“We felt we could give Harley a good home for her ageing years,” she said.

“She brings us lots of love and keeps us entertained… She is lots of fun, she loves attention and walks. She will also chase a ball and play games. She is a great companion for me.”

Having a senior dog doesn’t come without its challenges, but Rebecca said having Harley works well with her lifestyle and is very rewarding.

“She needs a bit more care than a standard adult dog with medicine, being careful on the stars, exercise and entertainment, but she is well trained and loves people and other dogs,” she said.

“Mostly she naps all day so she is good for our busy lifestyle, and she’s happy to just tag along to whatever we are doing.”

Harley still had a few issues such as frequent urination, but with a bit of TLC, she’s become a much happier and healthier dog than the one that arrived at SDCH.

“I got Harley just after surgery and she had a few residual issues… but once we gave her the love she needed, all those issues were resolved as I think she was less anxious and happy… She improved leaps and bounds with a bit of love and attention!”

Harley’s been a very busy girl in her new home, shaping up her own Instagram account @harley_in_the_hills – make sure to check it out!

As Sydney’s only charity pound it’s not just cats and dogs that the Council rangers bring in to us. Last financial year, we welcomed more than 60 rabbits into the Home. Sadly only a handful were reclaimed by their owners, leaving our team to find new loving homes for the remainder.

As with all the lost and abandoned pets that come into our care we try to set them up for success, investing thanks to the community’s support, in providing them with the veterinary treatment and care they deserve. One recent recipient of this support is Bunjamin.

Bunjamin arrived at Sydney Dogs & Cats Home as a stray bunny with a weepy eye. Upon further investigation by our vet team – which included sedation and X-rays, before his desexing procedure – it appeared that Bunjamin had an abscess in the root of his tooth. This infection was causing his eye to weep.

The team put Bunjamin on pain relief and anti-biotics and organised for Bunjamin to see a specialist as dental work on a bunny is difficult and requires an expert with specialist equipment. Further investigation by the specialist revealed that Bunjamin had an elongated tooth root that is likely impinging on the right tear duct. Although the tooth does not need to be extracted at this stage, potentially it will need to be removed in the future.

Bunjamin’s dental disease also involves malalignment and malocclusion, leading to the abnormal wearing of the teeth. The specialist vets have burred-down Bunjamin’s teeth so that they are now wearing normally. However, they have advised that Bunjamin needs regular dental checks and further treatment as required.

The overall prognosis for Bunjamin is positive. With appropriate ongoing care and treatment, he should have a happy, healthy life. And after spending five months in our care, we are excited to announce that Bunjamin was adopted early in the new year.

We currently have three rabbits in our care waiting to find their forever homes. If you are interested in adopting a rabbit or other pet please check out our website.

Tiger, a 9-year-old stray is one of the recent residents of Sydney Dogs and Cats Home to benefit from our new South Strathfield facility, our very own vet clinic.

Picked up and brought into the home, it was immediately apparent to the team that Tiger was not in the best of health and would have been in extreme discomfort. Tiger was suffering from severe dental disease and would require surgery for extraction of many of his teeth.

However, even more concerning was the fact that he presented with his right ear full of pus. Tiger was put under general anaesthesia, and his ear flushed. What became apparent was that Tiger had a mass in his ear. A biopsy was taken and sent off to the pathologist for further investigation.

Thankfully the mass was diagnosed as a benign polyp, but surgery was necessary to remove the growth. Although it was benign, the mass located in Tiger’s middle ear if left untreated could become larger and obstruct the normal flow of secretions through the ears, causing constant pain, damaging the nerve structures and causing a secondary infection.

The surgery Tiger required was called a ventral bulla osteotomy. It is the removal of the polyp from the middle ear along with the middle ear lining, to minimise the risk of recurrence.

Fortunately for Tiger and our team, specialist small animal veterinary surgeon Dr Mark Newman of Sydney Veterinary Emergency & Specialists volunteered his time. Dr Newman performed this successful, skilled surgery and taught our new vet, Dr Michelle Smith, how to conduct such a procedure.

Following the surgery, Tiger was placed into a foster care home to recover before conducting a second surgery to treat his dental disease, which resulted in the extraction of a few teeth.

We’re pleased to report that Tiger – a friendly, smoochy older gentleman – was adopted shortly after Christmas and was able to welcome in 2020 in his new home.

South Strathfield Vet Clinic

The South Strathfield Vet Clinic is currently not open to the public. The clinic is being utilised to perform the necessary veterinary treatment and surgeries for our shelter residents in preparedness for their forever homes. Previously Sydney Dogs & Cats Home and our furry residents were dependent upon the availability of a third party veterinary practice to gain access to equipment and operating facilities to perform the required vet surgeries.

The 19th October 2019 marked the one year anniversary of Dorothy’s arrival at Sydney Dogs and Cats Home. Abandoned at a veterinary practice and brought into the Home by the council ranger, Dorothy was in terrible condition.

Estimated to be a six-month-old pup, Dorothy had a serious case of demodectic mange and a terrible skin infection. She was also extremely underweight. Having lost almost her entire coat of fur, nearly every centimetre of her body was red raw, inflamed and covered in scabs, and there was a strong odour emanating from her infected skin.

Thanks to the care and dedication of the team at SDCH, Dorothy made a full recovery, but sadly more than 12 months on Dorothy still has not found her forever home.

As a member of the Getting 2 Zero movement, SDCH doesn’t place a time limit on any animal awaiting adoption. Whilst in the Home’s care Dorothy has been adopted and returned twice. She is currently residing in a foster care home, where SDCH still provides her and her foster care family with support in terms of behavioural consultations, veterinary treatment, and the provision of Hills Prescription Diet Zd Skin and Food Sensitivities dog food.

If you’d like to learn more about Dorothy please check out her full profile here.  Or if you think you can offer our beautiful girl Dorothy a forever home please contact the team on 9587 9611 or email info@sydneydogsandcatshome.org

We found loving homes for 20 cats in a single day thanks to our Super Caturday Adoption Event which was held last month. Partnering with PETstock Rockdale we were able to rehome 10 cats from their location as well as clear our cattery of all but one cat – Lettie.

Lettie, we are pleased to report, has now found her forever home too after being in our care for more than seven months! As we head into kitten season being able to empty the cattery is a welcomed event as we will need the space and more in the coming months.

Bottle babies have already started to arrive at the Home and our Foster Care Coordinator Sabrina has created a Bottle Baby Brigade in anticipation of what is to come this kitten season. The Bottle Baby Brigade will be looking after the neonatal kittens – new born to four weeks old – that find their way to us.

Neonatal kittens require rigorous and intensive care. This includes feeding every two hours around the clock as well as stimulating them with a warm moist ball of cotton after each feed to help them eliminate waste. If you would like to join the Bottle Baby Brigade for this exhausting but highly rewarding task or if you are interested in becoming a kitten or cat foster carer please contact Sabrina on foster@sydneydogsandcatshome.org.

Everyone loves a kitten, a cute cuddly little ball of fluff, however adopting a kitten may not be the best choice for you or your family.  Kittens have tonnes of energy and raising a kitten may not suit a busy, time-poor person or family.  As we spend the week focusing on all things cats – with our LOVE CATS campaign, we want to highlight the advantages of adopting an adult cat.  Some of these benefits include:

• Adult cats require less supervision than kittens and are less likely to destroy your home if you are not around to supervise them.

• Their personalities are fully developed so you know what you are getting.

• Adult cats are more likely to be litter trained.

• Most adult cats have come from a home so they may be accustomed to children or other pets (NB: they may initially be shy, but they have experience interacting with humans and are likely to be friendly).

• Adult cats are better with children as they don’t have the very sharp teeth and claws of a kitten, and they will be more gentle-natured in their play and interaction.

• Older cats still like to play in-between their naps.

• Adult cats still need love and attention and are affectionate and loyal companions.

So if you are thinking of adopting a kitten please also consider the advantages of adopting an adult cat.

Imagine coming back from holiday to find that your beloved family pet has gone missing. There are messages on your phone from the local shelter and a notice in your letterbox explaining that your pet is in their care and if you don’t reclaim your pet within two weeks it will become available for adoption by someone else. You call the shelter immediately, but it is too late! Your pet – in their care for 20 days – has been rehomed.

If another 24 hours had passed this would have been the reality faced by Fonzy’s family.  Fonzy’s family had been on the overseas holiday of a lifetime, only to return and find their precious pooch missing.  Fonzy had been entrusted into the care of a family-friend.  Somehow Fonzy ended up wandering the streets and was picked up by a council ranger who brought him to Sydney Dogs and Cats Home when he was unable to reach Fonzy’s owner.  The pet-minder who lost Fonzy, didn’t tell the family he’d gone missing and didn’t know how to find Fonzy.

Fonzy’s story, unfortunately, is not a unique or isolated case.  The following week we had another occurrence of an owner leaving a dog in the care of a friend while they went overseas for three days.  The dog went missing on day number one and the minder didn’t tell the owner.  Thankfully this dog was picked-up, unharmed and brought into Sydney Dogs and Cats Home. We were able to reunite this dog with his owner during the two-week hold period.

These two instances both had positive outcomes for the pets and the owners.  However, this may not always be the case. To help safeguard your pets should you leave them in someone else’s care, we have developed the following precautionary checklist:

1. Make sure your pet is microchipped and the contact details are current; updating your details is free and can be done at your council or online at petregistry.nsw.gov.au.
2. Add the carer – or a trusted friend who isn’t on holiday with you – as a ‘secondary contact’ on the microchip; this can also be done at your council or online via petregistry.nsw.gov.au and there is no cost.
3. Ensure your animal has a collar with a tag with your contact details and that of the temporary minder; do it yourself don’t rely on the carer to add their details.
4. Leave the carer with the number of your local impound facility as well as contact details of your local vet; you can find contact details of your local impound facility from your council or via a google search.

Additional advice for people leaving their dog in someone else’s care:

• double-check the carer’s fencing to ensure it is secure with no means to escape;
• brief the carer to leave the dog’s collar on at all times;
• advise the carer to only ever walk your dog on lead – even at the off-leash dog park; and
• ask the carer to stick to your routine as closely as possible (e.g. feeding timing, walking, etc.).

Tips for people leaving their cat in someone else’s care:

• never let the cat out whilst it is being minded by someone else, even if  it is in your own home; and
• ask the carer to stick to your cat’s routine (e.g. feeding, toys, litterbox cleaning, etc.) as much as possible.

Accidents can happen and if you reside in one of the eight council areas (i.e. Bayside, Fairfield, Georges River, Inner West, North Sydney, Randwick, Waverley, Woollahra) service by Sydney Dogs and Cats Home please go to the lost page of our website if your pet is missing.  Nothing can ruin a post-holiday high faster than finding out your pet is lost.  We hope the above can help safeguard that from happening or at least ensure that if it does you and your pet are reunited.