Austin Pets Alive!

The Dog Behavior Program’s mission is to provide the dogs in our care all available resources to enhance their quality of life and prepare them for life outside of APA!.

Based on the Dogs Playing for Life model, our dog playgroups are a great way for dogs to socialize with one another and exercise while our APA! staff gets a better idea of their unique traits. This staple of the Dog Behavior Program has made a significant impact on the number of high energy dogs throughout Central Texas that APA! has not only been able to save, but offer a lifestyle improvement while they are in the shelter.

The CGC Ready Program has been a part of APA!’s lifesaving efforts since 2012. It was started with the intention to further enrich the lives of dogs who face societal stereotypes of being behaviorally challenged and show that they can make great additions to a family. The goal was – and is – to lessen these dogs’ length of stay – and it’s been wildly successful. The program teaches eligible dogs the ten tests of the Canine Good Citizen, which equip dogs with the tools and confidence to behave appropriately out in the world.

Parallel to our CGC training is our TOP (Total Obedience Program) Dog program, developed by our Behavior Team, which works on skills similar to the ten real-world scenarios but also on additional skills that each individual dog needs. TOP Dog is volunteer-based and geared towards the dogs in our shelter that might not qualify for CGC, but will benefit from a foundation of individualized obedience training prior to adoption. Check out a video on APA's CGC program, on which the TOP was based: https://vimeo.com/89434193

A unique and creative approach to saving an entire class of especially fragile, homeless animals – orphaned, unweaned kittens.

APA!'s Neonatal Kitten Nursery, affectionately called the Bottle Baby Program, is the first of its kind in the nation and began in 2009 in a trailer. It is now located at our Tarrytown Facility and is kept as a sterile environment open only to staff and volunteers to protect these tiniest lives.

Each year, especially during breeding season, also referred to as kitten season, (which spans from March to October), shelters are overwhelmed with orphaned kittens. Prior to APA!’s introduction of the Neonatal Kitten Program and Maddie’s Lifesaving Academy’s Bottle Baby Nursery Apprenticeship Program, nearly all of these kittens were euthanized because neither the shelters nor local rescue groups in the community could provide the intensive care that these special little ones need to survive. By feeding, treating, and providing shelter to kittens that would have otherwise been euthanized, this nursery fills the gap in the shelter community that is necessary to save the lives of thousands of kittens each year. Our amazing team of staff, volunteers, and fosters provide round the clock care for these tiny lives, including feedings every two hours, and teaching our lifesaving methods to shelters and communities across the nation.

The first of its kind in the nation, Austin Pets Alive!’s Parvo Puppy ICU provides care and rehabilitation to puppies that contract parvovirus.

Austin Pets Alive! began saving dogs with parvovirus in 2008. Although parvo is completely preventable through proper vaccinations, when puppies do contract parvovirus we provide an alternative to euthanasia, which is what many of these vulnerable animals face at shelters across the country. Since then, we have pulled all dogs diagnosed with parvovirus from the city shelter, have been able to create a first of its kind Parvo Puppy ICU at our Town Lake Adoption Center, and have treated nearly 5,000 dogs. Before the existence of our Parvo Puppy ICU, all dogs in the Central Texas area with parvovirus, or who were suspected of having parvovirus, were euthanized immediately.

The FeLV Adoption Center provides a home for cats that have been diagnosed with feline leukemia virus. Our ultimate goal is to find each FeLV+ cat a home to call their very own.

Our Feline Leukemia Adoption Center is the first of its kind in the nation. Since 2011, we’ve been taking in FeLV+ cats from the Central Texas area, as well as all over the country and continent. We are currently participating in humane research studies in partnership with the University of Florida to learn more about feline leukemia virus, and are regularly making new discoveries about the disease.

Historically, cats with this virus are euthanized upon diagnosis; but here at APA!, we know that FeLV+ cats live normal, happy lives; and though their lifespan has the potential to be shorter, we believe their lives matter, too. So, we are dedicated to the humane research and improvement of shelter knowledge on the virus.

Our goal is to ensure each of our animals receives medical care, kindness, and solicitude that we would give our own pets.

Austin Pets Alive!’s Medical Triage and Wellness Clinic operates at least 70 hours a week — not including the on-call staff. We have five vets on staff, and typically three vets on site each day; additionally, we have fifteen vet techs on staff, and anywhere from five to nine techs here each day. While APA! houses many specific programs, our clinic touches and interacts with every animal that comes through APA!’s doors.

The medical staff at Austin Pets Alive! has revolutionized the management of shelter care by using careful budgeting and agreeing to save them all rather than fall back on euthanasia (except in extreme cases). In one year, our medical staff sees, on average, 7,500 animals, ranging from simple intake procedures to medical emergencies.

Maddie's® Cat Adoption Center: Treatment and Care for Ringworm Positive Cats is designed to treat cats with ringworm, as they would have likely been euthanized in other shelter settings.

The Austin Pets Alive! Ringworm Program rescues cats and kittens at risk of euthanasia for having ringworm, treats their skin and mends their spirits, and adopts them into loving homes. It is the program’s mission to educate on and advocate for these underserved cats, reduce the stigma of ringworm, and save as many lives as possible while putting the Fun in Fungus.

APA! believes that cats with ringworm are highly adoptable pets and that their lives matter. Potential adopters just need to receive some education and resources related to the fungus! Instead of holding cats with ringworm until they display no more symptoms, our philosophy is that animals heal best in a home setting where they’re surrounded by love and support, so we adopt cats straight out of our Maddie's® Cat Adoption Center: Treatment and Care for Ringworm Positive Cats and provide ample counseling on how to continue treatment at home (lime sulfur dip and oral medication).