Austin Pets Alive!

Today is an important day for a cause that’s very near and dear to my heart. Through their #raiseaday campaign, Austin Pets Alive! works to raise one full day's worth of operating expenses - $53,000! - directly from supporters.

Candela has pledged a meaningful share of matching funds that will help APA! lovers get twice the mileage from their donations today. Now, we'd like our network to help them absolutely crush their goal by donating here: AustinPets Alive! | Home

If you’re ready to take my word that this is an organization worth supporting, just click the link above now. But if you need a little nudge, read on to learn about Munster, Merlin, and Ralphie.

Munster

When my wife Sarah and I moved to Austin in 2020, Sarah instantly became addicted to Austin Pets Alive's Instagram account (@austinpetsalive). Most posts are of adorable animals in need of homes, but the account also calls for help when staff or facilities are overwhelmed.

On one such occasion, APA!’s neonatal kitten nursery desperately needed foster families. Much of what APA! has been able to accomplish — taking Austin from 98% kill to 98% save — has its roots in the foster-centric model they’ve pioneered, so we felt this was the right opportunity to get involved. We had never cared for a cat before, but we bought some supplies, cleared off our bathroom floor, and submitted our application to take in a kitten.

When we picked up Munster, he had been rescued very recently and was underweight, matted, and suffering from an eye infection. This is him:

APA! provided us with detailed instructions for his care, along with a calendar full of vet visits and every dose of medication he needed for recovery.

Munster lived in our bathroom for the next six weeks, where we spent hours hand-feeding him mashed-up gruel from a syringe and administering medication that he very much disliked. We weighed him several times a day, measuring his progress one gram at a time.

His health rapidly improved. By week three, he’d developed into a mischievous little character and began to look decidedly less werewolf and more kitten. Though… still pretty werewolf.

When he reached a healthy weight and was medically cleared by APA!’s vet staff, it was time to find a forever home. It happened quickly (a few tears may have been shed), but our reward was this photo, sent by his adoptive family a month later:

His name is now Lycan. He never actually stopped looking like a werewolf.

Merlin

Merlin was our next foster. He arrived at APA! with a batch of kittens shipped from an under-resourced shelter in the process of being shut down — which in most cases would have spelled tragedy for the animals it housed. Instead, APA! stepped in. The kitten nursery was overwhelmed and again asked for foster volunteers.

Merlin was profoundly underweight, with ringworm and an eye infection. He was covered in his own waste and clambering for as much human contact as he could get.

As with Munster, APA! gave us all the support and medical supplies we needed. We began the gruel regimen and spent a lot of time on the bathroom floor. He doubled in weight in just a few weeks.

When the time came, Merlin was adopted instantly thanks to APA!’s extraordinary marketing machine...

...with some credit due to those handsome eyes.

Ralphie

If you follow Candela on LinkedIn, you might recognize this face:

We adopted Ralphie from Austin Pets Alive! in December. He was part of APA!’s program to save dogs with parvovirus — a disease that kills nearly every dog who gets it and is an instant euthanization sentence at most shelters. He contracted the disease in another shelter but was transferred to APA! for treatment in their specialized Parvo ward.

Fortunately for Ralphie (and for us), he’s a tenacious little guy and recovered completely. He entered the foster program and was featured on the very Instagram account that had introduced us to APA! over a year earlier. We fell in love with his story and met him at his foster’s apartment the first morning adoption applications opened. Then well fell in love with him and made him part of our family.

While getting a third dog made it impossible to continue to foster kittens, we continue to support APA! by volunteering, donating copious amounts of Sarah’s gently used (new?) clothing to their thrift stores, and supporting events like #raiseaday. 

How You Can Help

Now that you know more about what APA! can do, let’s get them the funding they need to continue to save our furry friends. 

Visit their website to donate or learn more about APA!'s story here: Austin Pets Alive! | Home