We had an Arctic front sweep in late yesterday, delivering a blizzard overnight and then sub-zero temperatures today — with snowdrifts everywhere.  Sub-zero for us is fairly routine and our horses are used to it, but we continued to have wind throughout the day … and that’s a problem for the horses when it’s this…

That’s our deaf cat Snowball, shown in better times.  He had come to us a few years ago from a ghastly animal hoarder case, the conditions of which had made him chronically sick.  Ever since he arrived we have treated him for stomatitis, an oral inflammation disease that is very difficult to overcome.  He’s been…

This is another in our continuing series called "mismatched dogs and beds."  For some reason, we find the big dogs like sleeping on small beds, while the small dogs have taken over the big beds.  Although it’s easy to understand why the small ones want the big beds, what is it about being squashed into…

That’s Oliver and Twist, the new Dachshund arrivals, enjoying some snuggle time together.  These two guys are closely bonded with each other, and it’s really cute to see how often they’re looking to see where the other one is.  Once out of quarantine, they moved right in — they may not have had much human…

This weekend we found Smoke, one of our barn cats who lives in Lena’s Barn, limping on a front leg and acting like he hurt.  I gathered him up and took him to the cat house.  Typically our barn cats do not … repeat do not … like being confined, but Smoke didn’t protest when…

Remember the blind cat from the Helena shelter we picked up the same day that the Dachshunds Oliver and Twist came?  Well, we named him Herbie — a suggestion from one of our regular blog readers, Andrew in New Zealand.  I had mentioned that this little yellow cat was a real "lovebug" — and that…

Here’s an online contest that  could bring in a lot of money for the animals at the ranch! Sanctuary supporter Kim Taylor just informed us that her dog, Summitt, has been selected as a finalist for the mascot of Firedog, Circuit City’s technology support service.  The great news for us is that if Summitt wins…

Popeye, the cat who came from Lebanon a few months ago, has ruptured the cornea in his left eye.  Not just a nice little treatable corneal ulcer, but a hole that goes right through the cornea and into the anterior chamber.  The internal fluid in the eye, called the aqueous humor, was leaking out and…

Today I took our little blind-and-deaf Cocker Spaniel, Ellie May, to see our internal medicine specialist in Missoula, Dr. Dave Bostwick.  For the past couple of weeks, Ellie May has had blood in her stools.  At first we thought it was colitis or some kind of other intestinal bug, but she didn’t respond to antibiotics. …

I got this shot of blind-and-deaf Spinner staring at the wood stove in our living room, looking expectantly at the non-existent fire.  Now, what she’s thinking I can only guess, but she does know where she is and she does know the wood stove is in front of her … because she sleeps every night…