Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/denver-and-his-clowder/

If you’ve gotten the warm fuzzies from the Instagram, account @denver_and_his_clowder, you’re not alone.

Denver is one of the most kind and fun-loving dogs on the platform. Living in a house with 20 cats and a new puppy sister, he’s got plenty to stay busy with. Pet parent LaDale Ramsey says taking care of Denver has been nothing short of a dream.

Ramsey works in the healthcare field as a physician assistant. She’s driven to help people, and is passionate about doing the same for animals.

“If I had unlimited funds and could do anything with my life, I would want nothing more than to open an animal sanctuary and save as many animals as I could,” she says. “That would be my dream life.

“I would save all the dogs in the world, too,” Ramsey says. “But cats are easier and right now I don’t currently have space for a bunch of dogs in the house.”

The cats may be easier to care for, but Denver turned out just as easy to love.

Ramsey says she first met Denver nine years ago when she went to the animal shelter with a friend. While her friend looked at cats, Ramsey walked around and looked at the dogs.

“I had walked all around the outside, looked at all the kennels and there just wasn’t one that I felt a connection with. I walked around for a second time and it still didn’t happen,” she says.

Back inside, Ramsey found a litter of 10 puppies that had just been dropped off after being abandoned on the side of the road.

“They looked like lab puppies and we always had labs when I was growing up,” Ramsey says. “There was one little yellow one. I had a yellow lab growing up who lived to be 17 years old.

“The guy came in to ask if we needed anything and I asked him if I could just hold the yellow puppy and I never put him down,” she adds. “He went home with me that day”

Ramsey says her experience with Denver has put a lot in perspective, now that a new puppy has been added to the family.

“Denver now has a sister, and I’m realizing what a real puppy is like,” she says. “He’s been the best dog. He’s never as much as chewed a sock. He has been the best dog in the world. And he now has a 6-month-old little mixed breed sister Eden. Eden is teaching me what raising a typical puppy is like.”

Though Eden needs a little more socialization training, Denver doesn’t play rough with the cats, at all. Ramsey says she can put a kitten right down in front of Denver. He will sniff it and walk away, or just lay there.

“They love Denver,” she says. “They love, love, love Denver. They do not love Eden, yet. Eden has wanted to chase the cats to play with them, but is learning that the cats don’t enjoy being chased.”

Denver and Eden currently live in a home with 20 cats, each once an animal that needed a home, which Ramsey has been grateful to give them.

“I see an animal that needs a home — I see an animal that that needs shelter and needs food — It needs love and needs a good life and I can give it to them,” Ramsey says.

Ramsey says it’s often easier to bring in a kitten as opposed to an older cat, as they’re much easier to integrate into the pack. Otherwise, pets tend to get more territorial as they get older, and may not fit well in a home with other animals.

“Most of these cats come from living on the street,” Ramsey says. “When you have an adult cat who’s lived on the street and has had to fend against other cats for an area or territory or even fight for food, they aren’t always very friendly to other cats. Sometimes, unfortunately, those are cats that do better in only-cat homes.”

Ramsey recalls one time when she had to return a cat after a month. Even separating the cat from the others in her home with child-proof gates wasn’t enough.

“I gave it a good month and did everything I could do to introduce them,” she says. “I finally just had to accept that I think this is a cat that needs to be in a home by herself. I cried a little and it broke my heart, but I think it was the the best thing for her and for my cats.”

Though this goodbye was tearful, the cat was eventually adopted and went to a good home, and that’s the best outcome Ramsey could hope for.

This compassionate pet parent offers some great insight on her experiences with adopting and fostering cats.

“If you’re going to adopt a pet, you have to realize that this is a lifelong commitment,” she says. “These are animals that are going to be in your life for 15+ years. You have to be prepared for that. It’s a lifestyle change.”

“As much as I love dogs, I can’t just pack up and leave for the weekend without making arrangements, to take them with me or have somebody to watch them,” she continues. “With cats I can go out of town for a night or two and the cats will be okay. But dogs can’t do that.”

Caring for a pet is a “huge responsibility” that requires preparation, Ramsey says.

“They are also not cheap and there will be times that they do tear the screen out of your back door or eat through your hammock or dig in your flower bed and bark nonstop at a neighbor dog,” she says. “There are times that you may want to pull your hair out. But that’s just part of it. When you accept that animal and you accept that responsibility, it’s up to you to train that animal. They don’t come trained. You have to train them and you have to teach them how to behave.”

Ramsey says she recently learned that for every homeless animal in the world to have a home, each person on earth would need to rescue 7.5 animals.

“So, I’ve done three people’s work,” she laughs.

The reality is, this work isn’t always easy.

“I see a poor animal who’s in a bad situation and it literally breaks my heart,” Ramsey says. “Animals aren’t sick or injured because of something they’ve done wrong. They don’t have entitlement, they don’t have expectations.”

Thankfully, these pets have found a caring owner and a loving home.

Within her pet family, Ramsey is currently fostering four little kittens who will one day be sent to new homes. She says she’s “been in tears already three or four times over the past week,” thinking about putting them up for adoption.

She knows she is doing the right thing in caring for these animals, though.

“It’s so rewarding,” she says.

Hear more from Ramsey in the video below!

[embedded content]
Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog