i heart tripods

Mutts & Mitts of Brooklyn Fundraiser

If you're in Brooklyn next Friday, April 25th please stop by Memories Out of the Box in Prospect Heights for a fundraiser supporting my friend April's new adoption agency, Mutts & Mitts of Brooklyn.

Tripods Helping All Kinds of Pods

So after the amazing shout out on Daily Candy I collected loads of donations and got an email from a rescue agency down in Texas. Karen and Allan of AKC Animal Shelter in Quinlan have been collecting unfortunate pups for some time now, putting all medical costs on their own credit cards. When they emailed me they had two cases who had just put a big dent on their finances and a third waiting resources in order to get a costly eye procedure.

Bullet is a homeless dog who when found by AKC was thought to have been hit by a car.

When he was x-rayed at the vet they found that he had actually been shot in his right rear leg! His leg was completely shattered, leaving no option but to amputate.  The cost for the amputation was $555, which the I Heart Tripod fund just sent out a check to cover.

Bullet's doing really great now. He's sharing his run with his spayed girlfriend, Lady.

Next up if Buffy who was attacked by two pit bulls. When her owners could not afford to take her to the vet AKC agreed to take her in. The beautiful husky was hospitalized for nine days, during which her severe bite wounds were treated. The final cost for all this was $632, which the I Heart Tripod fund covered.

And finally little Cloie, a full blooded Cocker Spaniel who was left in her cage on the side of the road. She has a prolapsed gland, basically her third eyelid has popped out of her eye and she needs surgery to have it removed. She may also need to get a tear duct replacement. When AKC contacted I Heart Tripods they didn't have the money to take her to a specialist in Dallas, so the fund sent a check for $1000. She's going in for surgery on Wednesday. Fingers crossed!

It's thanks to people like you, who have bought t-shirts and totes, that we were able to help these three dogs. Thank you so much for you support!

Hopping Down Memory Lane

I went back home to my parents house back in early December and brought back a bunch of photos. I found this one of a wee Lulu at obedience school. Do you like how she's the only one not sitting? And to think that some 13 years later I'm studying to become a certified dog trainer? Oops!

Daily Candy Hearts Tripods

It's been awhile because I've been so overwhelmed with orders. On December 18th, Daily Candy kindly wrote-up about I Heart Tripods and over 250 orders were made for tripod gear! Thanks DC!

Tripod Love Turns to Feral Love

While I'll always be a tripod lover, in the past week I've turned my animal love in another direction. I've been knee deep in a trap-neuter-return project in my neighborhood. There's a large colony of feral cats in on a specific street in my area where I've already rescued and adopted out five kittens. Instead of continuing to catch the kittens, I thought it may make more sense to nip the real problem in the butt -- working eggs and sperm! You can read about the entire project here. Check back both on this site and the Bergen Babies site for a new shirt in the works to support feral cat colonies. It's going to be almost as rad as the tripod line!

A Ralston and Lulu Update

Sorry for the delay in getting an update to you all. It's been a bit crazy over here in the tripod household as I've been volunteering for Slope Street Cats, a trap-neuter-return organization here in Brooklyn . I've trapped four kittens so far, finding homes for three and deciding that the bitchiest of them all, Gizmo, would stay with us. So now there are three furry friends at my house. Oy! But at least Dim Sum has a young boyfriend to slap around. I always knew she was a cougar.

I'm venturing out on a major TNR project next week that will involve neutering and spaying an entire colony of feral cats (think: 10 to 15 cats) a few blocks from me. I'll make sure to post a link to the blog I'm starting in order to chronicle the TNR adventures.

Enough about cats, lets talk about our fave canine, Lulu. We're due to go in for an x-ray check-up next month, but so far she seems to be doing really well. Her only problem is that she tends to slip a lot on the hardwood floors in my apartment. I've gotten a large rug to help keep her steady, but I may need to get some more for the rest of the apartment. Otherwise her spirits are up, despite all the feline attention that's been happening over here the past few months. To give her credit though, she's been a great grandma to these little kitty critters.   

Ralston is also doing great. April, who originally took him in as a foster, has decided to keep him as he's getting along so well with the rest of her gang. Here's to Ralston having a better life on three than he did on four.

Don't forget that the holidays are coming up and there's sure to be a tripod lover in your family who's itching for a shirt to show their support. Order from the store by the 14th and you'll be in good shape to get your gift in time.

Ralston Gets the Amputation He Needs

A new tripod needs help and a home. Each Saturday, Brooklyn Animal Foster Network takes animals from Animal Care and Control and tries to find them either adoptive or foster homes. Ralston, an 8 pound orange tabby, was lucky enough to be one of those who went out with BAFN, and he happened to be missing his right hind foot. During the adoption event it was discovered that he had an awful contact wound at the end of his limb from trying to use it as he normally would, which was causing him tons of pain. April Biggs, BAFN’s Foster & Adoption Coordinator, took Ralston home to foster him and get to the bottom of what to do with his leg. After visits to several vets it was suspected that Ralston didn’t have a genetic defect, but rather had suffered some type of abuse – either someone cut his foot off or Ralston got caught in a trap and detached his foot in order to save himself (hence his heroic name).

It was decided that the only way to help Ralston be more comfortable was to completely remove his leg so that he didn’t try to use it. If he did continue to try and use his stump it could lead to a serious infection from the constant reopening of the contact wound. Thanks to all our t-shirt sales, the Tripod Fund was able to fully pay for the $1019.73 surgery, which happened at Fifth Avenue Veterinary Specialists (Lulu’s hospital) yesterday. Fifth Avenue was kind enough to give BAFN a 40 percent discount!

April visited Ralston last night and he was already walking around, purring, and licking her face. At between one and two years old, Ralston is expected to make a full recovery.

I got the opportunity to spend some time with Ralston pre-op and I can’t tell you how sweet this guy is. Ah, it just melts my heart. He’s the biggest cuddle bug.

Here he is with one of BAFN's volunteers.

April plans to nurse Ralston back to tip top shape, but after that he needs a really great home to go to. He’s been neutered, has all his current vaccinations, and is microchipped. He also tested negative for FELV/FIV.

If you live in New York and are interested in giving Ralston the amazing life he so deserves please contact April Biggs. If I had a bigger home I would scoop this guy up in a second.

Also, if you're looking for a pet, please check out Brooklyn Animal Foster Network's adoption events every Saturday in Park Slope. They are set up weekly at John Jay High School at 7th Avenue and 5th Street.

Now go buy some more shirts so we can help all the Ralstons of the world!

A Dachshund Warning

My friend Sarah found out some really awful news a few nights ago and wanted to pass it along so that this type of tragedy doesn't happen again.

Chuck, a sweet and loving dachshund mix who seemed as healthy and spry as can be, had to be put down. I'm not completely aware of all the details, as I didn't hear it from Chuck's owner himself, but a mutual friend explained that Chuck was put down due to a back issue that arose suddenly, causing the pup excruciating pain. The cost of the surgery that needed to be performed was out of his owner's ballpark, somewhere in the $6000 range, and so Chuck's dad was forced to put him down. When I heard the heartbreaking news, I immediately thought of another dachshund I know named Mabel.

Mabel is a dog I met through Karen, a former co-worker. Karen used to bring Mabel with her into the office on a weekly basis. The first time Mabel and I met, it was love at first sight, but Karen had to restrain my affections for the lil' pooch. My first desire -- to bend down and pick Mabel up by her front paws to give her a big, sloppy kiss -- was quickly cock-blocked by Karen, who let me know that I could be hurting Mabel this way. She gave me a lesson in the right and wrong way to love a dachshund. Mabel had also experienced back problems, I believe a slipped disc, but was lucky enough to have had the pricey surgery that saved her. Karen warned me that many daschunds (and other long-bodied dogs like basset hounds and corgis) experience back and spine problems, but that there are ways to avoid, or at least lessen the chance of, aggravating their backs.

First of all, never pick up a dachshund like you would a toddler. That is, don't pick them up by their front legs and hold them up vertically. Instead, gently scoop them under their bellies, horizontally, with maximum support to their backs/spines. I've seen so many people holding up their dogs like little rag dolls, shaking them around, not giving their backs any sort of support. This is asking for trouble. Dogs aren't meant to be upright like this, especially ones with really long bodies and short legs. Another piece of advice is that if your dachshund has to go up and down a lot of stairs, it's probably a good idea to either take an elevator, when possible, or carry the dog up or down the stairs, since this activity can put a lot of strain on their backs. Lastly, keeping the dachshund at a healthy weight can prevent back and other health problems.

I wanted to share this information with people who might not realize that they're putting their dogs at risk. Thinking back on it, I recall seeing Chuck's owner holding him up improperly and I regret that I didn't say something at the time. It makes me really upset that I might've said something that could've changed what happened, but I can't change the past. Hopefully, though, I can help prevent another dog and dog owner from experiencing a similar tragedy.

Below is a video someone made on how to pick up dachshund's properly and here's some extra info.

Tripods in Chicago

For all you living in Chicago, Renegade Handmade in Wicker Park is now carrying I Heart Tripod shirts. They currently only have Lulu versions of the shirts, but I'll be sending them cat versions very soon.

Where's Your Money Going?

It's a good question and I have an even better answer. So far we've raised $2,000 in extra cash (that's minus what I took to pay for Lulu's surgery and chemo). Over the course of the past three months we've donated money to Sheila and Gravel and most recently to Ginger, an 11-year-old Golden Retriever.

Lizzi found Ginger as a stray 10 years ago. At the time she was scared of everything, but over time and with lots of work, Lizzi taught the pup not only to get over her fears, but trained her to be a therapy dog. The two volunteer with two organizations, one that helps hospital patients with physical therapy goals and another, which is a reading literacy program for kids. In short, Ginger is the Angelina Jolie of dogs.

About a month ago Lizzi noticed a swollen mass in Ginger's leg. Like a good pet owner, she took her to the vet where Ginger received x-rays, but the film was inconclusive. The vet recommended a bone biopsy, so the two visited an oncologist. More x-rays, blood work, and biopsies all came back inconclusive, but the mass was still there.

To make things worse, after attending a dog event Ginger began to drool. By morning she couldn't eat. Lizzi, a college student planning to go to vet school, looked at her tongue and saw that it was twisted to the side. The vet assumed Ginger had squamous cell carcinoma, the same type of cancer poor little Gravel succumbed to in July. That's when Lizzi came to me asking for help. She had already maxed out her and her parents' credit card. After confirming with her vet that Lizzi was who she said she was I sent her a fat check in the hopes that this would be the start of some good luck.

Well, in what can only be described as bittersweet, biopsies and multiple vet visits concluded that Ginger didn't have SCC, but rather had an infection in her tongue that could be treated with antibiotics. This was a relief, but her leg was still swollen. Lizzi is now trying a different antibiotic in the hopes that what's going on in Ginger's leg is actually a bone infection. Fingers and paws crossed.

Here's a photo of Ginger.

Ok, now with all that said, Ginger wiped us out. We've slowly been revitalizing the fund with the new catpod shirts, but please, if you haven't bought one already, get yourself some Tripod Gear, because there are plenty or people and pets like Lizzi and Ginger who need help.