tuscawilla oaks

“Thank you for honoring my sweet little girl. Lulu is a pure bred Maltese with abundant energy.  She has congenital mega – esophagus which prevents her food from entering her stomach. She eats in a little high chair and then has to remain in an upright position for 20 to 30 minutes after her meal.  Thank goodness she is small.  Lulu loves to play with stuffed toys that are almost as big as she is and she throttles as if she were a lioness attaching her prey.  Her funniest action is a great deal of walking on her hind legs.  Thanks to the wonderful staff at TOAH, she has remained very healthy.  Although she requires a lot of time, I wouldn’t change her for the world.  She is beyond loving and there are times when she acts as if she is an appendage to my body.”

Brownie was first found wandering the campus of Jackson Heights Middle School during after-school hours. Mom and sister were there for a club potluck event and, after seeing her roaming around and finding out that animal services had been called, decided to coax her into the family van. We decided to take her in temporarily while we worked with Pet Rescue by Judy to find her a forever home. In the meantime, through the pet rescue, TOAH spayed Brownie for adoption. But like many a pet love story, we decided to keep her; and so she joined mom, dad, three two-legged sisters, and one four-legged sister of the same age. She came to us in very rough shape – severely underweight, riddled with fleas, covered in deep wounds and gashes – and a little over a decade later, she’s now thirteen years old. Despite her “senior” status as a dog, she still has the personality and energy of a puppy!

Brownie absolutely loves food; we know all dogs do, but she really, truly adores food. She particularly loves her special homemade peanut butter dog cookies, watermelon, chicken, her post-bath hamburger patty, and eggs in any form. Brownie loves when she gets her daily snack of a hard-boiled egg, or an occasional poached egg (yes, poached!) when her humans make some for breakfast from time to time.

Her favorite things to do are sunbathing, going on walks, cuddling with her stuffed animal, spreading out and nesting in dirty laundry, and following her humans around the house. Brownie’s trademark features are her adorably large, upright ears, little potbelly (due to a floating rib cage), and big chocolate-brown eyes.

Just recently, we found out that Brownie has a very rare cartilage mass that had grown to a size and in a location that was obstructing her airway. Therefore, in her case, it caused sudden and extreme breathing difficulties. Due to its inoperable location and unsuccessful attempts to identify the mass before it continues growing, Brownie underwent a permanent tracheostomy to first and foremost allow her to breathe again and be able to leave 24-hr hospital care. Brownie will be spending the remainder of her life living comfortably at home with her family. Though she is still in recovery from the procedure, she is doing very well and has regained her energy and spirits to her normal food loving, trotting, and cuddly self. We don’t know how much time she has left, but we are very grateful that she made it through the roughest patch in her life and that she is enjoying what time she does have with her family.

Brownie has been through a tremendous amount this past month, so we’d like to say a big thank you to TOAH for selecting Brownie as June 2018 Pet of the Month. Thank you so much for helping us get Brownie the emergency care she needed. Brownie made it through everything so far because of the amazing care of Dr. McPherson-Hurt, the TOAH staff, and the doctors at AVS.

Congratulations to our May 2018 Pet of the Month. 

Read her bio below:)

“Morgan is a registered therapy dog. She always shares her toys with her friend Emma. She says thank you when we give her food. When she digs a hole in the backyard she rinses her paws in the pool before coming in the house.

Morgan came to us at age 6 as a retired mom from Magik Golden Retrievers in Sorrento, Florida. She had 3 litters and was a very good mom to her puppies.”

We adopted Abigale from Animal Control in January of 2017. Along with some minor health issues her biggest concern was her weight.

Weighing in at 20lbs she was unable to walk or play for more than a few minutes at a time or make it up the steps without taking several breaks. Shortly after adopting her, we brought her to TOAH. After a much-needed haircut and a strict diet of Purina OM (Overweight Management). (Only getting carrots or green beans as treats) Abby lost 8 lbs in 8 months! (That is a lot for a small shih tzu!!!) She is now a very flattering, 12 lbs.

Today, Abby is a thriving, ornery, rambunctious little spitfire. She enjoys playing with her brother for hours. We are so happy😊

Congratulations to our February 2018 Pet of the Month!!

Mii Rodriguez.

“Mii came into our lives rather unexpectedly (a common trend among cat owners, I’ve noticed!). My wife and I had recently moved back to Miami from a short time living in Raleigh and were living with my parents for a bit.

One night, I went to the backyard with my mom and heard the tiniest of meows followed by a splash in the pool! I quickly run over and scooped Mii out of the water while his brother crawled his way to me at the same time. It seemed the local neighborhood cat had a couple kittens and left them in our yard. They could not have been more than a couple weeks old at the time. We nursed them for a bit until momma cat came back, at which point we introduced her litter back to her. While she would let Mii’s brother nurse on her, she would constantly push Mii away and just outright rejected him. Eventually momma cat left with Mii’s brother, at which point he became ours to love and care for.

When we moved out of my parent’s home, there was a small debate as to who would keep him, but he had ultimately developed a bond with our older cat, Knowme, and so we could not split them up.

Shortly after making the move from Miami to Orlando last year, Mii started having difficulties and was getting notably skinnier. My sister in law had recommended TOAH where Dr McPherson helped us finally get to the root cause. Mii had developed a tumor in his intestine and was also diagnosed with lymphoma. After much stress and many tears shed, Mii went through surgery to have his tumor removed by Dr Fullenwider. I’m so happy to say that thanks to lots of love and an amazing staff at TOAH, Mii has reacted very well to his treatments and has plumped back up to the usual cat we have known and loved this last decade.

Mii lives to hide under sheets and blankets, leaving a comical lump on a freshly made bed, keeping anyone company when they are on the couch or lying down on a bed, and, though I know the TOAH vets will shake their heads at me, he has an unusual affiliation with pancakes (I promise that we only give him a nibble the rare times pancakes are made!).”

After losing our German Shepard, Duke, we were looking for a new pet and came across this cute puppy which was a breed that we had not seen before. After doing our research we found out the breed is called a Shib Inu. We quickly decided he would be a good match for us. So Rusty came home to live with us in September 2010. 

Rusty has become a great addition to our family, everyone he has come in contact with falls in love him.  When our grandson visits he calls him his “cat/dog” since Rusty is so cuddly like his cat, except he barks occasionally.  Rusty enjoys sitting on your feet and if you move them he will move with them. 

In August 2015 we adopted a brother for him, Yoshi, which is a Shib Inu/Husky mix and they are great playmates for each other.

Thank you for choosing Rusty as the Pet of the Month.

Monica and Jeff Zawacki

Yoshi and Rusty