tuscawilla oaks

“Bun Bun came into our lives in September of 2016.   Her original owner was moving to Israel and planned on taking her cat with her.  However, when she was checking in for her flight, she was told that she had missed one of the shots that were required for the cat to be allowed into the country.  She spent 2 days staying at the hotel in the airport trying to work it all out, but ultimately decided she would have to leave her behind.  She couldn’t bring herself to take her to the shelter though.  Instead, she came down to the lobby on the way to her flight and told the concierge, who was my sister Melissa, that she had left the cat in her room and asked her to take her to the shelter.  The cat was scared but very sweet.  My sister couldn’t bring herself to take the cat to the shelter either.   

Our mom had lost her cat and had considered getting another one, so my sister sent her a picture of this white kitty with tiger-striped ears and matching heart-shaped marking on her side.  My mom fell in love with her immediately.  The cat had thick, soft fur like a bunny, so she changed her name to Bun Bun.   My mom passed away in October 2019 of lung cancer.  Before she passed, she asked me to take Bun Bun because my daughter Lauren loved her and had always wanted a cat.  She also felt that Bun Bun would be happy at our house because we have a big screened in patio.  Bun Bun loved to be outside on my mom’s screened in deck, chasing lizards and squirrels that often ran across the screen. We took in Bun Bun and introduced her to her new sister Murphy (our Chihuahua/Min Pin rescue dog).  They didn’t care much for each other at first.  Murphy is very alpha and thought she would dominate this relationship, but a few whacks from Bun Bun’s quick paw gave Murphy healthy respect for Bun Bun.   

After losing her first two owners, this, unfortunately, was not the end of the turmoil in Bun Bun’s life.  On September 4^th of this year, our lives were shattered as our sweet kitty was severely injured in a car accident.  The right side of her face was crushed, and we did not think she would live.  Dr. Fullenwider and the incredible team at TOAH sprang into action and have practically performed a miracle.  They took this beautiful creature who was on the brink of death and helped us nurture her back to life.  She has had a difficult journey, as she lost an eye and her jaw was broken.  She had a feeding tube in for over two months and a wire that was in place for weeks to set her jaw.  She had numerous laser treatments to heal her shattered nasal passage and jaw. Bun Bun’s mental state was very fragile after the accident, as her life and abilities had changed drastically in an instant.  Dr. Fullenwider and the team at TOAH has helped us address all aspects of Bun Bun’s healing – physically, mentally, and emotionally.  When I bring her in for an appointment, I feel as though I am bringing her to a friend that loves her as much as we do.  She has made a better recovery than any of us expected in our wildest dreams.  Initially, after the accident, she was hesitant to venture out of her room and would not dare try to jump on even the couch. She now is living her life almost as she did before the accident.  She jumps on the back of a chair to perch and keep an eye on things around her.  She is the ruler of the patio once again, chasing squirrels on the screen and hunting down lizards that now realize that even with one eye, she is super quick and not to be messed with!  She is also back to putting our dog Murphy in her place.  Above all, we are happy to see that she is back to being the loving kitty that adores laying with us and getting a good scratch. 

We can’t thank Dr. Fullenwider and the team of TOAH enough for giving Bun Bun her life back.  We are forever grateful for their talent, kindness, and compassion that saved our beautiful kitty.”

Congratulations to TOAH’s May 2020 Pet of the Month, Pepper Redfield!! Read her bio below:)

“Pepper has been a beloved member of our family since the fall of 2009 when she was adopted from the Dane County Humane Society in Madison, Wisconsin. Having been pet parents of smaller “apartment friendly” critters (cats, ferrets, gerbils, and fish), we decided it was finally time to add a dog to the mix.

We originally were looking to adopt an older dog that needed a good home. As a volunteer at the Humane Society, I knew that puppies find homes faster than older dogs, so we purposely tried to not fall in love with an attractive puppy with ears comically too large for her head and instead turned our attention to an older Husky named Shelby. We tried to spend some time with Shelby, but she did not seem too interested in us and mostly stood by the door to the meet-and-greet room, waiting to be excused. We went home that evening to think it over and when we returned the next day, we found Shelby was being adopted by another family that had Huskies in the past and had fallen in love with her.

To our surprise, the puppy was still available, and we decided to spend a couple minutes with her “just for fun.” In the meet-and-greet room, my inexperience with dogs prevailed as I attempted to pet this puppy while my husband laughed at my clueless attempts at interactions with the little dog the facility had named “Petals.” Petals then took a deep yawn, went over to my husband’s lap, curled-up with her belly high, and promptly fell asleep. She clearly knew who the dog person was between the two of us. I looked at my husband and knew he had already fallen in love.

We adopted “Petals” changed her name to Pepper, a name that was much more appropriate for her spunk and energy, and finally brought her home to join our family. Training and socialization were important to us so we enrolled her in puppy classes early and spent many afternoons and weekends at dog parks and around as many people as we could. As a puppy, her potty training was perfectly timed with the melting snow of winter leaving her to desperately search for a patch of snow to do her business as the warmer Wisconsin weather set in. To this day, she still uses a Staples Easy Button to let us know when she needs to go outside.

Pepper has brought us years of fun as we’ve watched her learn and grow. In 2010, she made the long trip with us to Florida where she has enjoyed the last 10 years playing fetch, hiking in the conservation, going for walks, bike rides, and car rides, swimming in the pool, and protecting our yard from squirrels, birds, and the occasional delivery driver. Pepper has been a wonderful big sister to her feline siblings and in 2017 helped us welcome our son, Benjamin. Every night Pepper puts Ben to sleep, not leaving his room, until he drifts off to sleep.

Pepper is now 10 years young. She still has the spirit of a puppy with a body that isn’t quite as fast, but she still does impressively well. Pepper is lovingly cared for by the great team at the Tuscawilla Oaks Animal Hospital. Although she is starting to slow down in her older age, she still enjoys daily walks and swimming in the summer. She is adored by her family and we are so grateful for the joy she has brought to our life!”

Congratulations to our April 2020 Pet of the Month! Luke Thomas!!! Read his bio below:)

“Our sweet boy Luke is a six-year-old Sheltie who is full of personality, more energy than you can imagine and also, a fair amount of mischief. He is as handsome as he is sweet, not to mention extremely smart and he brings so much joy and laughter to our lives.

His favorite hobbies include car rides, camping trips, walks to the park with his brother “Fave” and chasing anything that moves, i.e. his brother Ripley (the cat), lizards, ALL the squirrels and even flying objects…yes, he loves chasing birds and he will even run full speed across the yard looking up the whole time at an airplane flying overhead. He loves to run laps in our back yard, making sure to look at us each time he passes by, just to be sure we are watching him!! And after that much running he loves jumping onto the top step of the pool for a quick cool down. He loves playing ball….catching balls, chasing balls and occasionally bringing them back to you. His current favorite game is bouncing a ball back and forth with his dad.

Of course, this much energy requires a good bit of rest and sleeping late in the mornings is another one of his favorite things. He waits patiently for one of us to get up and then assumes our position in the bed and goes immediately into Do Not Disturb mode!! His adventures usually leave him worn out at the end of a fun day and if I didn’t know better, I would swear he could tell time. Without fail, at about 10 p.m. every night, HE IS DONE and ready to go to bed. Of course, this is fine….except that he wants all of us to go to bed!! He stands in the living room and barks at us, as if to say…”Do you people know what time it is?”

He has been featured in two different Sheltie calendars but we’ve tried not to let it go to his head. So far, he remains humble!! 😉

Since the day we brought him home Luke has received outstanding care by Dr. Fullenwider and all of the staff at Tuscawilla Oaks Animal Hospital. But recently, we experienced TOAH going above and beyond in their exceptional care for our sweet boy. After an unfortunate encounter with another animal in January, Luke was left with some significant wounds that required surgical repair. After the initial surgery, he continued to have some necrosis of the tissue (which was explained to us and we understood was a distinct possibility). Dr. Fullenwider told us about the success they had experienced with something that she called Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) treatments. She shared some before and after photos of the healing process in other animals who had received PRP treatments at TOAH and we were sold.

After the necrotic tissue was removed, Luke started weekly PRP treatments and the rate of wound healing he experienced was nothing short of miraculous. It’s been right at 60 days since the initial injury and today Luke’s wounds are 100% healed. He still has a few scars, but as soon as that long, flowing, calendar star hair grows back, the scars will be completely covered. He is back to running, jumping, chasing and everything else that makes him our special boy. We can’t thank Dr. Fullenwider and everyone at Tuscawilla Oaks Animal Hospital enough for loving our boy and providing him with the very best pet care in Central Florida!!”