Adoption Stories

Age is just a number: Lexie is adopted!

At 12 years old, Lexie, now known as Roxie, got the home she deserves!

Lexie, now known as Roxie by her new adoptive mom, came to the Animal Coalition of Delaware County after a good Samaritan found her on the streets of Philadelphia. When she was found, Lexie had recently had a litter of puppies and was having some problems with sores where her puppies had nursed. It turned out that Lexie was quite an experienced momma. She was 12 years old and had been having two litters of puppies a year for most of her life. Can you imagine?! Her puppies would end up for sale at a local flea market and Lexie would continue on living in the same poor conditions year after year. As a result of all this frequent nursing and inadequate weaning of her puppies, poor Lexie’s problems were chronic and she needed surgery to cure them. She also had a few broken and infected teeth from living on the streets and needed extensive dental care. And last but not least, she needed to stop having puppies.

After taking antibiotics for over a month to fight the infections from all her long standing problems, she finally had surgery and had everything fixed all at once. Her foster mom was more worried for Lexie than she was! She picked her up the day after surgery expecting to find a sore and tired senior dog that was going to need a lot of TLC to nurse her back to health. Instead, Lexie came flying through the waiting room door like a puppy herself! She was almost uncontrollable with licks and kisses and hugs for everyone. Her foster mom thinks Lexie was just so grateful not to be sick anymore and was thanking everyone the only way she knew how.

While waiting for Lexie’s scars to heal and her stitches to be removed, she met up with her new adoptive mom, who had been waiting for Lexie to become available for adoption for two months! Lexie’s new mom knew that Lexie was the four-legged friend for her the minute she saw her. She joked that they were both senior ladies and were meant for each other! These days, Lexie, now known as Roxie, is a happy girl indeed! She has been living with her new mom for almost a month.

Doc is Adopted!

Doc was adopted in November 2009 after being cared for by ACDC for two years

Good things come to those who wait. In November 2009, after almost two years, Maxine (who you may know as Doc—her new family has renamed her) found her furever family. The former Doc came to ACDC in 2007 and soon had a litter of six kittens. While her kittens tested negative for the feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), Maxine tested positive. Hear directly from Jan Carfagno, whose family adopted Maxine, about just how they came to know and love her:

It had been a year and a half and after perusing the pet section on Craigslist daily, I knew it was time for us to adopt another cat. I went to the PetSmart in the Marple Crossings Shopping Center last spring and saw a female, ”Doc,” who was FIV positive. I asked to pet her, still not ready to adopt another cat. I was informed that if you have one FIV cat and you are looking for another cat, it’s best to adopt another FIV cat because of the way FIV is spread.

When I visited Petsmart in the beginning of November, I saw that “Doc” was still up for adoption. I checked out ACDC’s website and saw her there too so I went back to PetSmart to pet her and my decision was made then and there. I submitted my application and very soon after, I met Doc’s foster mom, Kim. I completed an application and once we were approved, we adopted “Doc” and renamed her Maxine.

Today, Maxine has adjusted beautifully to our family. She has her perfect place on a holiday pillow on our couch and she watches the the flicker and glow of the fire perfectly content. She is vocal and mews and coos to let us know that she is happy and content. Of course she lets us know when she is hungry, too, which seems like always. She is our chub-chub. She has fabulous fur that is always available to be touched, and she grooms us when we need it! We love her!”

Editor’s Note: FIV is a slow-moving virus that can gradually affect a cat’s immune system. It is passed through blood transfusions and serious, penetrating bite wounds—mainly by stray, intact tom cats. Although there is no specific treatment for FIV, cats with FIV can live long and healthy lives so long as they are fed high-quality diets and are taken to a vet at the first sign of illness. It is not possible for cats who are FIV+ to pass the virus to humans.