Supporting pet owners
Together for Animals member Mayhew work hard to keep people and their pets together. This can mean offering extra support to those going through a temporary crisis. For the individuals who need it, Mayhew’s Pet Refuge programme is a lifeline.
There are many reasons why people request the service, but often it is because a pet owner is in desperate need of hospital treatment and has no one to ask for help. Mayhew step in to look after pets for short periods of time and make sure that every animal admitted through their Pet Refuge programme receives the best possible care, so owners can get the care they need knowing that their dog or cat is in safe hands.
For Jacqueline, a series of extremely unfortunate events led her to entrust Mayhew with her three beloved cats – Vince, Violet and Tegan – for almost three months at the beginning of this year.
After undergoing multiple surgeries on an arthritic knee, Jacqueline was urgently admitted to an intensive care unit with sepsis, a life-threatening condition. Her neighbour was able to visit and feed her cats, taking a weight off her mind for the first couple of weeks; however, when Jacqueline was discharged into a rehabilitation centre to recover, her neighbour caught Covid-19 and was no longer able to leave her house. With nobody close by to check on Vince, Violet and Tegan, and Jacqueline not yet ready to return home, she was understandably worried about their welfare. Her care team thankfully found the Pet Refuge programme.
Jacqueline unfortunately had a few more roadblocks to navigate before they could all be reunited. A few days before she was due to be discharged, she caught Covid-19 herself and had to extend her stay at the rehabilitation centre until she and her fellow patients and staff were given the all clear.
Throughout Jacqueline’s ordeal, Vince, Violet and Tegan were safe and happy together at Mayhew. After two and half months, the team were thrilled to hear that Jacqueline had recovered from Covid-19 and was once again preparing to be discharged from hospital. Luck was on her side this time, as she finally made it home and was reunited with her beloved cats at long last.
“I don’t know what would have happened without Mayhew’s help,” Jacqueline said. “I probably would have had to rehome them all, and that would have been absolutely heartbreaking. My cats are my reason for living and they gave me the determination to get better and walk again. I don’t know what I’d do without them.”