Over the last few days our little puppy Sparkie has been fighting a battle with the highly infectious virus, parvo. On Wednesday, his lab work showed that he was losing protein from his system and that several of his blood chemistry values were changing for the worse. Sparkie's vets determined that it was important for him to have a blood transfusion and Jasmine stepped in to help. Thanks to Jasmine, Sparkie had the blood transfusion he needed and we're hoping it's put him on the road to recovery.

A Nanaimo veterinarian is warning dog owners to vaccinate their pets after a parvovirus outbreak that has already led to the deaths of two dogs. Canine parvovirus is contagious among dogs and can even live on inanimate objects, such as cage floors or food pans, for days. Symptoms can include severe vomiting and diarrhea. In the last two weeks, two dogs have died of the disease and several others have been sick, according to Ken Langelier of Island Veterinary Hospital, which recently held a vaccination clinic to help stop the spread.

Sparkie is VPAS' newest puppy and he needs help. He is a young Chihuahua X who has been hospitalized with Parvo. Parvovirus is a serious infection that can cause vomiting, diarrhea, fever & lethargy. Sparkie was lucky enough to find his way to VPAS before his symptoms were severe and he is undergoing medical treatment. Sparkie's medical treatment will be costly and extensive but we've all got our fingers crossed for this little guy's speedy recovery.

"Pirate" is lucky to be alive. She is a 6 week old kitten who was found running down the barrier in the middle of the Trans-Canada highway earlier tonight. Not only was she scared and infested with fleas, but one of her hind legs was completely severed. Later named "Pirate" by her rescuers, this little girl is in the veterinary hospital awaiting surgery to amputate the mangled end of her leg. With such a terrible injury this little girl is very lucky to have survived.

Cash is one of VPAS biggest success stories for 2010. He came to us as a 6 month old puppy with a badly broken leg that needed major surgery to fix. Cash was in the vet hospital for a number of weeks before beginning his slow recovery in a foster home. Almost 2 months after Cash arrived at VPAS he found his forever home, and he has continued to attend rehabilitation sessions at the doggy pool to make his leg strong. Here is a letter from Cash (that his new parents helped him write) telling us of his adventures in his new home.

Dear VPAS

VPAS has several young bunnies that are now ready for adoption. All are very social, friendly, and easy to handle. Please see our Other Animals adoptable page for photos and bios of our bunnies.

P&G Pet Care has issued a voluntary recall on all of their dry food Eukanuba & Iams Veterinary Diets with best before dates between July 1/10 – Dec 1/11 (in all sizes and varieties.) This is a precautionary recall only. Earlier this week P&G determined that some products made in their dry food facility may have the potential for salmonella contamination. No salmonella-related illnesses have been confirmed, however, the P&G company has voluntarily stopped all production at the plant in question until the concern has been resolved.

Update July 28th/10: Tiger Paws' eye is healing, but the progress has been slow. She still has clouding over the eye, and she is still suffering from some minor conjunctivitis, but her "cone of shame" is off and she's bouncing around like a happy kitten. Tiger Paws has another several weeks to go on meds before she can be put up for adoption, but she is headed in the right direction and at this point it looks like she'll be able to keep her injured eye.

Did you know that according to a study in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, black cats are about half as likely to be adopted as tabby cats and two-thirds less likely than white cats? We've heard all of the reasons before: "They're not as eye catching as the patterned cats," "they're bad luck," "they're so plain." Well we think black is beautiful and we're out to tell the world about some of our gorgeous black cats and kittens.

We have 4 adorable kittens for adoption; three firecracker red tabbies and one sweet little torti. They are now about 9 weeks old and are excited to find their forever homes. Please see our Cats & Kittens page for individual bios of our kittens.

VPAS is looking for donations of new or gently used towels, blankets, and thin comforters for our dogs. They just love having large blankets to curl up on while in waiting for new homes, but unfortunately, with the amount of washing we do, our blankets wear out and need to be replaced from time to time. If you have new, or gently used blankets that you'd like to donate to help keep our adoptable dogs comfortable, please drop them by any of the 3 Shaw Pet Hospitals (Central Saanich Animal Hospital, Vetcetera Pet Hospital, & Hollywood Pet Hospital), or bring them by our adoption centre.

After a long 6 weeks of recovery from a broken leg, Cash is finally ready for adoption. Applications are now being accepted. Please see his full bio on the Dogs page for more info.

It has now been 6 weeks since Cash come into VPAS' care with a broken leg and he is well on his way to recovery. Cash began his physiotherapy regime this week, which included a swim session at the K9 Fit Fur Fun pool. We are hopeful that Cash will be ready for adoption very soon. Click here to watch Cash swim in his new YouTube video.

Cash has had his surgery and is doing very well in a foster home. Despite our efforts to keep him quiet, Cash is full of energy and wants to get back out there and start running and playing again. The next step in Cash's recovery is for him to begin water therapy. He will begin a post-operative swim program at the end of May at K9 Fit Fur Fun (www.k9fitfurfun.com.) This will allow him to slowly increase his activity level and build up his strength so he can get back to just being a puppy. We're hopeful that after only a few swim sessions, that Cash will be ready for adoption.