Jenny has always had rescue pets. From her childhood pets in England to those here in Australia, Jenny has loved and cared for them all equally.
"I have had animals all my life – but never one as naughty as Ollie!" Jenny says, smiling.
She found the ten-month-old silver tabby medium-haired cat and his two abandoned littermates in January. He was the biggest of the three.
Ollie is a lively cat who will jump on the bench looking for a smooch if you're close by, and Jenny always obliges.
"Last night he was chasing a ball down the hall at midnight, and this morning he hid my keys!" Jenny laughs.
Gizmo is just as active. The six-year-old black schnauzer cross has lived with Jenny for the past three years. A chance event brought the two together.
"I was with a friend who was looking for a house to buy when I noticed Gizmo," remembers Jenny.
She struck up a conversation with Gizmo's previous carers, who were leaving town. They could only take one of their two dogs, and immediately offered Gizmo to Jenny. "I said I thought Gizmo was cute and the woman said 'take him' – and I did."
Lort Smith is a beautiful place. Great care from great vets.
Jenny
Tough times
Jenny has spent most of her life caring for friends and family, helping to make tough times a little easier. Sadly, she has been through some very tough times herself. She recently lost a beloved son and sister to cancer, has battled multiple cancers herself, and is now helping her daughter through breast cancer.
"I've had cancer on my foot, back and breasts. I also have a blood disease which can turn into leukaemia," she says with stoicism.
Both Jenny and her daughter have ongoing treatment at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre for their double mastectomies.
It was after arriving home from treatment that Jenny discovered Ollie and Gizmo were both unwell.
"I was at Peter Mac on the Wednesday. The next morning [Ollie] kept vomiting green bile. I picked him up and he felt like a bag of bones," Jenny sadly remembers. "Gizmo didn't look so well either… I thought they had eaten poison."
Two surgeries
Jenny brought Ollie to Lort Smith, where our vets discovered he had a foreign body in his abdomen. Ollie had emergency surgery with Dr Tracy. After removing the object, staff couldn't work out what it was. But as soon as Dr Tracy described it to Jenny, she knew straight away: it was part of a foam toe separator, used when painting nails.
"He gets into everything!" Jenny says, shaking her head.
While Ollie was at Lort Smith, Jenny realised Gizmo's symptoms were just as bad. Our staff urged her to bring him in, so the very next day Gizmo was admitted.
Gizmo had several tests. Soon enough, an ultrasound revealed a mass in his abdomen, and he needed surgery too. Like Ollie, he had an exploratory laparotomy, where Dr Adrian removed two pieces of leather from his abdomen.
"I have checked everything in my house – Giz must have picked them up on one of our walks," says Jenny.
After surgery, the pair are doing well, and Jenny is very thankful.
"The hospital staff were so good with Ollie and Gizmo. I received regular updates telling me how they were both going," says Jenny.
"As soon as Ollie was home he was back to normal, eating food and using his litter tray," she says.
It was similar for Gizmo, apart from his Elizabethan collar.
"He didn't like his collar – but I made him keep it on. I would scratch his itch every time he needed."
Jenny wasn't sure at first how she'd go financially with the cost of surgery, but was reassured when our staff talked her through her options.
"Lort Smith is a beautiful place. Great care from great vets."
Keeping pets and people together
But we couldn't provide long-term, interest-free payment plans without ongoing support from our donors. Thanks to generous, like-minded people, we can tailor affordable plans so pets can stay with their carers, giving everyone choice and flexibility, as well as excellent vet care.
Increasing access to quality care for animals is deeply rooted in Lort Smith's mission. We don't want any pet carer to be forced to give up a pet, or make the heartbreaking decision to euthanise, because they can't afford the cost of complex surgery upfront.
Jenny's lifelong dedication to animals, and never giving up on them, aligns powerfully with the spirit of Louisa Lort Smith.
"I read about her on the plaque outside the Hospital – she sounds like me," Jenny proudly says.
Jenny is the type of person who's there for everyone in their time of need. So when she brought her cat Ollie and dog Gizmo to us in their time of need, it was time for Lort Smith to be there for all of them. And thanks to generous supporters, we can keep doing this into the future.