This is a story about perspective. It’s about loss and pain and struggle. But what stands out is that it’s also a story about unconditional love. And that friendship really matters. What doesn’t matter is how many legs those friends happen to have. … I first met John sitting in our waiting room. Ramona, our community cat and resource coordinator,...Read More
With summer upon us (maybe earlier than we wanted, right?), a lot of folks will have their dogs around the water. And a great many of those dogs will want to give swimming a try. It’s a great way to cool off, of course, but also one of the most fun things you and your dog can do together. Trust...Read More
Nine a.m. arrives relatively quietly on this Wednesday. Surgery check-in goes until 8:30, and there aren’t too many people running late, so we’re actually a little quiet in the waiting area. One man is already waiting, though. James has two pups, Finnley and Veda, and he’s an eager pup dad, not super familiar with puppies and a little nervous, but...Read More
Joel first showed up at PRCKC with Soco when she was sick with pyometra, a uterine infection that is life-threatening for a dog. He had been to a vet clinic and, after recently losing his job, realized that paying for emergency care wasn’t going to be easy. He needed help but wasn’t sure what to do. All he knew is...Read More
Here in Kansas City, we keep flirting with spring before winter tightens its icy fingers around us one more time. Still, just a couple of days of warm weather is all it takes to awaken the parasite parade. That includes fleas and ticks, but also some others we don’t hear that much about. As scary as parasites can be, there...Read More
Tom says his rescue dog, Maggie, was miserable. “Maggie had a friend next door,” he says of his puggle. “But the neighbors had to move and her best friend, Molly, left. Maggie just started moping around. She had her tail between her legs and her head was down all the time; she was so sad.” Maggie and Molly were together...Read More
(or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Hiding Poisons from my Pet) As humans, we have the ability to read a package and say, “Oh hey, this is poison. I won’t eat it.” Our pets aren’t so lucky, as much as we may want them to be able to read our favorite novel because we’re absolutely sure they’d...Read More
From the moment I arrived here just a few months ago, I could tell there was a level of commitment from the staff that wound itself around everything that was happening. Even during the tough days when chaos sifted like sand into every nook and cranny, there was the unspoken focus on doing the right thing for the people and...Read More
Volunteering is all about giving back, right? It’s all about helping out and doing something good for someone else. That’s so true! Volunteering makes our communities stronger, smarter, healthier, kinder, and more beautiful. But there’s another side to this coin. Volunteering has benefits that extend both ways – out to the community and back to the individual volunteer. For instance,...Read More
Barbara lives alone now in a quiet house, except for when her son comes to stay with her occasionally. It used to be different, though. Much different. Several years ago, her husband passed away. Five months later, her father. Five months after that, her mother. And then just two months later, one of her sisters passed. When she recounts the...Read More
