More harm than good: The orphan dilemma

Spring has sprung! Love (and pollen, and lots of rain these days) is in the air! Unfortunately, the more down-to-earth side of love being in the air is that babies are on the ground. Several times a year, we have infant animals brought to us as orphans - kittens and rabbits, most often, but sometimes birds, too - by folks who are just trying to do the right thing and save a helpless animal. What a lot of people don't realize, though, is that babies that appear orphaned often aren't, and separating them from their mother can do more harm than good. Before you take a lonely baby under your wing, make sure it's really as lonely as you think it is.

If you come across a baby animal, let your brain direct you instead of your heart. We're all hard-wired to protect something so tiny and cute, but nobody is better equipped to take care of a baby than its mother. Nursing babies don't just get a balanced diet from their mothers' milk, they also get a healthy, functional immune system - something we can't provide if we bottle-feed them, and something that often is the difference between life and death at such a fragile young age. They also learn the ways of the world from observing their parent: how to hunt, how to play, how to fly, when to hide, when to run...although these things aren't necessarily vital for a kitten who will spend its whole life indoors, they are essential for any animal that will be outdoors, even intermittently.

Litters of babies are not continuously accompanied by their mother; she has to venture out to hunt, and it's neither safe nor practical for her to take her young with her when she does. Mothers also frequently will relocate a litter one baby at a time, leaving the babies in each location unattended while she makes the move. And, if she sees you in the area near her baby, she's unlikely to make her presence known until you leave. The point here is that a baby that appears to be all alone in a big, dangerous world, might actually have a mom nearby, just waiting for you to move along. If you find a litter or an individual baby, the best thing to do is leave it alone, and come back later to check on it. If the baby is still there, contact your local humane society, animal control office, or your veterinarian and find someone who can care for it. Bringing orphaned wildlife to a humane society is not usually the best way to go, because organizations like ours just aren't prepared to meet the needs of wild animals; Fish and Wildlife staffs wildlife rehabilitators who are trained to do just that, however, and some vets may do pro bono work for injured or orphaned wildlife.

There are, of course, times when a litter or baby is actually in need of immediate help, whether they're orphaned or not. Babies with visible injuries need more care than their mother can provide. If you find a baby that feels cold or is visibly shivering, that's a good sign that their mother has been gone for too long - it's her body heat that keeps them warm. Dog owners, if it's your dog that brings you a baby, you're not likely to locate the mother and she may be injured or dead; seek help for the baby as soon as possible. And, of course, if you see evidence that the mother has been injured or killed, her young are in immediate need of assistance.

In the end, the decision to take in or leave a baby or a litter is always a judgment call, so make the right observations and take it from there. Remember, though, that time-honored (and true, although it's sometimes hard for us to admit it) saying: Mama knows best. If she's around, let her do her job.




Adorably pictured: Xia (an orphan who was bottle fed from 3 days old by a WHS foster) then (above) and now (below). She's still waiting for a home.

Furry is the new green!

Earth Day is 4/21, and if you're both eco-conscious and a pet-lover, it probably fills you with a mixture of joy and guilt. Pets get a seriously bad rap in the green community, and not without reason: they require lots of resources, they make lots of waste, and they can be hard on native ecosystems. Don't ever let anyone tell you you have to choose between your pet and your planet, though - there are simple ways that you can make your furry friends more eco-friendly (and as an added bonus, you'll make 'em healthier too).

Spay/Neuter, Spay/Neuter, Spay/Neuter!
Biggest reason that pets are hard on the environment? There are way too many of them, and there aren't homes for them all; we would love it if people would spay/neuter us right out of business! Overpopulation is rough on the environment simply because the more animals there are, the more resources they require, but we should also consider the impact of roaming populations of strays or ferals: although they're not necessarily creating demand for petroleum-based pet toys or factory-farmed pet foods, they can decimate local wildlife populations. If you've got an unaltered pet at home, the greenest thing you can do is get him/her fixed immediately. It's also important to be a team player in your community and take steps to get roaming ferals fixed as well - most humane societies have trap-neuter-return programs that provide very low-cost or even free surgeries for unowned animals.

Don't shop, adopt
At the risk of sounding like shameless self-promoters (actually, we are pretty shameless about promoting adoption), the easiest way to get a green pet is to get a recycled one! Adopting a second-hand pet means you're certain you're not encouraging irresponsible breeding operations to continue bringing litter after litter into the world for the sake of making a buck, and that's a big deal: not only are you standing up against inhumane breeding practices, you're also doing your part to discourage operations that go through vast amounts of poor-quality pet food...pet food that uses ingredients from unsustainable, definitely NOT eco-friendly or humane farming operations. Which leads us nicely to our next point:

Feed good-quality food
It's easy to not give a second thought to what goes into your pet's food, but it's worth doing your homework for the sake of your pet and your planet. Poor-quality pet foods contain the worst kinds of ingredients that are at best nutritionally useless and at worst physically harmful for your pet, simply because they are the cheapest. The meat, grains, and (shudder) by-products that go into these foods come from huge factory farms that use tons of pesticides, hormones, preservatives, and who-knows-what-else to keep their yields and profits high; they're bad for the environment and they're bad for your pet. High-quality pet foods aren't hard to find if you know what you're looking for (see our nutrition guide here), and as a rule they're a lot gentler on Mother Earth: look for foods that boast organic ingredients and humane practices with livestock, and you're heading the right direction!

If you've spent as much time as we have taking care of animals, the logical next step after talking about food is talking about...

Poo!
As we all learned as toddlers, everybody poops. How we deal with our pets' poo is what makes the difference, though! Dog poo collected in plastic bags and thrown away becomes dog poo that sits in plastic bags in landfills for literally decades, because those bags don't break down, but leaving it out to wash away isn't an eco-friendly solution either; fecal matter that washes into storm drains goes directly into our rivers and streams, and fills them with dangerous fecal coliform bacteria (the most famous of which is the dastardly E. coli). Clean up after your pooch with biodegradable bags so his droppings can decompose naturally, or, if you're feeling especially adventurous, build a dog-poo compost bin in your yard! Just don't use that compost on any plants you plan on eating...remember E. coli?

We would definitely be remiss if we ignored cat poo here, and the biggest offender on that front is litter. Clay litter (the kind made up of little gray rocks) is more or less a disaster, both from the perspective of your cat's health and from the perspective of the environment. The dust that billows up from clay litter is a known carcinogen (strike one), and clumping litter is a serious health risk because it can clump inside your cat's intestines and cause a fatal blockage (strike two). Oh, and did we mention that much of the clay is harvested through strip mining (serious strike three)? Luckily, all-natural cat litters are becoming more and more popular, and there's an ever-broadening selection available at just about any pet supply store. Here at WHS we use pine pellet litter; it's healthier, it's cheaper, and the pine totally wipes out pee smell. Added bonus: it's biodegradable and septic- and sewer-safe, so you can flush your cat's poo instead of bagging it up and sending it to the landfill! Other options include litters made from wheat, corn, and recycled newspaper. For more info, see our guide to all things litter here.

If you've gotten this far, you're a pretty dedicated blog-reader. Although we could go on for days (seriously, days) about other ways to green your pets, we'll wrap up with one last, extremely important tip:


Keep your pets indoors
Cats in particular get blasted by environmentalists all the time for the damage they do to native bird populations, and while we're quick to come to their defense, outdoor cats are pretty much guilty as charged: in the state of Wisconsin alone, Fish and Wildlife credits cats with the demise of about 39 million birds every year, and they've helped nudge 41 species of birds to the brink of extinction. It's not really their fault - they're just being cats - so it's time for us cat-lovers to do the responsible thing and keep our cats indoors. The indoor life protects your cat against predation by larger animals (dogs, coyotes), traffic, and fatal diseases, too...we think your cat will be ok with trading a few feathery meals for the average 12+ years extra life expectancy that comes with living strictly indoors. Dog owners, you're not off the hook on this one either - although dogs don't make as big of a dent on native wildlife as their feline counterparts, they can still do a number on small mammals.

Alright, we won't burden you with any more words - just get out there and green your pets so you can celebrate Earth Day with pet-lover pride this year! Drop us a note if you want more info on keeping your pets eco-friendly, or any other pet care questions, and we'll be happy to help you out.