Enrichment for All Species (Black Tie & Tails Enrichment Items)

Providing enrichment to your pet gives the pet an opportunity think and use his senses.  A new or unusual toy each day stimulates the pet’s mind. 

Rabbits:         

Hay carrot: Gather a bundle of hay into a log about 6” long.  About 1/3 of the way down the hay log, begin to wrap the raffia.  Leave a loose tail of raffia which will be used to tie off the raffia when finished.  Continue to wrap the hay with the raffia, tying additional lengths of raffia as needed.  Gradually pull the raffia tighter and to create a carrot shape.  Cut excess hay to shape of carrot if too bulky at bottom. Continuing to wrap the hay, work the way back to the top and tie ends of raffia together to secure. Trim “leafy” carrot top.

Bunny Sushi Roll: The rolled toy moves, is textured, and provides a challenge to reach the treat.  Cut a 2” by 6” piece of corrugated paper.  Tightly roll up the herbs or hay in the paper and secure with the raffia

Cats:

Origami Lucky Stars: Check YouTube for easy Origami instructions on how create stars, ball or other paper toys. (See here for a tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4Woj9oP3AI)

Pipe cleaner pretzels: Twist a pipe cleaner into a pretzel shape.  Add a slight curve to the pretzel so it wobbles when pawed. Cats also enjoy a corkscrew shape! 

Dogs:             

Treats in a Box: Present treats to your dog in a box and let them tear it open to discover the treat.  Any size box (cereal box or tissue box), wrapped or unwrapped, with a treat inside will provide them with a challenge.  

Help Them Heal: Billy

“Just hold on, little guy. You can do it.” An Animal Friends vet tech is holding a small bundle of fur in her hand – no more than a few days old – named Billy. Frequently called “bottle babies,” this neonatal kitten has just been brought to Animal Friends and is in dire need of medical attention. His breathing is shallow and his body is cool to the touch.

Billy’s needs help immediately so the kitten is rushed to the trusted emergency vet clinic. He recovers, slowly but surely, there for a few days. It’s the crucial first step that began the journey to his second chance.

Animal Friends’ staff veterinarian fell in love with Billy and is currently fostering the little gray ball of fluff. She dubbed him such his unique-sounding meow was reminiscent of a billy goat when he was being fed.

Now that Billy’s of sound health, he must learn another important part of growing up for a kitten – socialization. Animal Friends’ medical staff matched Billy up with Ken, another underweight kitten that needed a friend. The two get along fantastically and just by playing together, they are both learning important social skills they’ll need to be great companion animals when they grow up.

Billy is one lucky kitten. He made it to Animal Friends just in time. Now he’s well on his way to a happy, healthy, carefree life every kitten should know.

At Animal Friends, we promise to make an investment in the health of every one of our animals regardless of their level of need. Yes, every single one. But to be able to provide this kind of care we need your help. Now through Oct. 10 – thanks to the generosity of Bob and Janine Fragasso – every dollar you give in support of our residents’ medical care will be matched 50 cents on the dollar up to $125,000. Click hereto help more animals just like Billy.

Please give generously. Please help them heal.

Help Them Heal Challenge: Patches

“Here you go Patches. There’s yummy treats in there.” An Animal Friends’ volunteer sat with the 6-year-old Calico, feeding her from a cup. Each time she took food, the volunteer would click, thus beginning Patches’ clicker training. Each click catches or marks the desired behavior that the animal should repeat.

Patches was surrendered to Animal Friends this past January and has since been through the respiratory ringer. Twice our staff rushed her to the emergency vet because of severe asthma attacks. She wasn’t responding well to oral medication and even underwent oxygen chamber treatments. She needed something more manageable and immediate in event of another emergency.

She was prescribed an inhaler to help her get through her asthma attacks. But Patches needed to get used to it so she didn’t refuse when she needed it most.

That’s when our medical staff and volunteers teamed up. Together they devised a plan to desensitize Patches to her inhaler. And of course the best way to do this was to treat (and click!) Patches from a device that resembled her inhaler. So the bottom of a clear-plastic cup was lined with food and the training began.

At Animal Friends, we promise to make an investment in the health of every one of our animals regardless of their level of need. Yes, every single one. But to be able to provide this kind of care we need your help. Now through Oct. 10 – thanks to the generosity of Bob and Janine Fragasso – every dollar you give in support of our residents’ medical care will be matched 50 cents on the dollar up to $125,000. Click hereto help more animals just like Patches.

Please give generously. Please help them heal.