Amityville, North Amityville, Copiague, East Massapequa, and Long Island, New York

At times rescued pets have the power to help other homeless pets, though these animals may never meet. Call it “clout by adoption.” Their cosmic connection may be fewer than six degrees of separation. The story below illustrates this pet power:

When I arrived at Last Hope on Saturday, I received a phone call from Ana. I hadn’t spoken to her in a long time and panicked briefly when I saw her name on my phone. I thought something may have happened to her dog, Luna. Two years ago, Ana adopted Luna, a young, paralyzed Pekingese mix from Last Hope. Luna, the victim in an animal cruelty case, had been rescued from a neglectful home and vetted by Babylon Town Shelter.

As soon as Ana spoke, she assured me Luna was fine, but said she had another situation. She was at work at a restaurant on Hempstead Turnpike, and they had grabbed a young kitten that ran in through the back door and hid behind the bar. He was tiny, hungry and had fleas. They were holding him in a towel because they weren’t set up with a carrier.

They couldn’t keep the kitten at the restaurant, and Ana couldn’t take him home and expose Luna or her cat that just had surgery to fleas. Then she mentioned she was having a baby next month. I knew I had to help this kitten because he was desperate, and especially since Ana took on so much responsibility when she adopted a young, paralyzed dog.

Even if you volunteer at a rescue and are a board member, it is difficult to get permission to squeeze in another kitten at the end of the summer which is the glut of kitten season. Rescues are teeming with kittens and cats, plus they have plenty more in foster care and on waiting lists.

Intermezzo-More about Luna: In April 2020, at the start of the COVID shutdown, this tiny one-year-old Pug/Peke appeared on rescue radar with an untreated, broken back and severed spinal cord, most likely via blunt force trauma from an unknown source, that left her hind legs paralyzed. She had lived in a multi-family house on Sunrise Highway service road. Other people had seen Luna, dragging her hind quarters, under fences, off the property and near the service road. She was surrendered to Babylon Shelter at the house and brought directly to NY Veterinary Specialists in Farmingdale where she spent the next month.

Luna wearing a drag bag 2022.

Luna was emaciated. At NY Vet, Luna was built up, given physical therapy and learned to race around in a wheel cart donated by clients whose paralyzed dog passed away. At first, the underside of Luna’s trunk and legs were covered with open abrasions from scraping her skin on different surfaces.

Luna regained some feeling in her back paws but was not a candidate for spinal repair surgery because her injury was not treated soon enough. (In other words, her former owners ignored it.) Luna was in foster care with vet tech Jenna, who also had a paralyzed Yorkie. Luna wore pup PJs to protect her skin when she was on the move and a “drag bag,” which is an outfit with increased padding. Luna had some control over her bodily functions but did better if her bladder was gently expressed three times a day. She wore pants with a diaper when inside.

Woody at Last Hope last weekend.

When Ana adopted Luna, Jenna mentored Ana, and was Luna’s pet sitter if Ana went away, until Jenna moved to Florida. Over the last two years, Luna’s made progress and can climb on the bed, though the princess prefers to be picked up. She still uses the pet wheelchair at times outdoors. She loves her family and every kid she meets.

Luna’s present life is the polar opposite of the existence she had previously. Residents in that house didn’t know her name.

Back to the Kitten: Ana sent me photos of the restaurant kitten. He was an adorable, orange tabby wrapped in a towel, so it was hard to judge his age. My plea to take this kitten gained strength since most at Last Hope remembered Luna, and some volunteers had seen her speeding around the lobby in her wheelchair the few times she visited our dog center.

Our kind cat coordinator Doreen was agreeable to taking the kitten into Last Hope. She knew all about Luna. First the kitten was supposed to enter Last Hope at the Monday evening cat intake clinic, but his invitation got better because of an empty cage in the holding room. And even better when I offered to go get him because no one at the restaurant was free to leave, especially Ana who was working until midnight.

The restaurant was toward the back of a shopping center filled with asphalt, dotted with dumpsters. How did this lone kitten get there? Was he dumped? The little guy was waiting for me in a cardboard box inside a pod belonging to the restaurant. He gave a phony baloney hiss when I scruffed him by the neck to put him in a carrier.

He had entered the beer garden and hidden in the corner. When they tried to grab him, he headed inside behind the bar during Disco Night. We decided to call him “Woody” because like Woody Harrelson from “Cheers,” he spent time behind a bar. With Woody waiting in his carrier, Ana and I caught up on happy news about Luna and the baby’s delivery date.

It was fortuitous that Woody got to Last Hope sooner rather than later. Woody was quite dirty and thin, as if he were on his own some time. Leslie, Last Hope’s feline medical ace, gave him a grand welcome. She lovingly flea-treated and combed him, cleaned his ears, gave him worming meds and his first vaccine. He weighed 2.5 pounds which puts him at about ten weeks old, but he was dehydrated so he got subcutaneous fluids before settling in his cage to wolf down a fancy feast. He will see our vet tonight at clinic.

Rescues like Last Hope receive scores of calls to accept kittens in September. We help as many as we can. Meanwhile, our adopters become part of the extended Last Hope family. Ana readily took on a 15-year commitment to care for Luna, a paralyzed pup. Luna’s legacy includes Last Hope embracing Woody, this needy kitten that crossed Luna’s mom’s path.

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