Reflections
For me, growing up in a family that only consisted of my mom, sister and brother and no other living relatives - that's right no aunts, uncles , grandparents, nor cousins. I guess with this background it was only natural both my sister and I brought home oodles of strays without blinking an eye - my poor mom whom was busy supporting the family never knew what she would come home to. We filled up the house so much it finally consisted of 13 cats, 2 dogs and 2 birds when I was in my early teens. Not wanting to be a finacial burden to her, my sister and I both got part time jobs - baby sitting and banquet waitressing. Even tho I was only 14 we paid the 200 a month necessary to feed them all. There were the dogs Snoopy a Samoyed/Lab X (who I got as a 10 year old) and who passed away 17 years later. Turkey, a Basset Hound/ ? whom suddenly dissapeared one night at age 5 Pony,Squeekie,Minnie, Liquerice, Grissette, Shalomie,Shalomie 2, Mama Puss,Ralph, Kisser, Oscar and Fe'line. I learned an extremely hard lesson at this age as I had neglected to have them innoculated and thus 4 of the cats died of Distemper - a terrible thing to watch. It so affected me, I swore I would never again own another animal unless I could provide the best of care for them. Yet, even with the best intentions sometimes medical conditions do not present themselves right away. My beloved Snoopy had a cancerous tumor in his tail that I had not seen until it was too late. His beautiful Samoyed tail hid the lump and I still regret I was not there to say goodbye and he died alone in my basement. MamaPuss, a wonder of a cat that was quite famous in the neighborhood for hopping like a kankaroo and without exageration could jump 5 ft straight in the air when startled. (I found out later her condition was encephalitis at birth.) She had no sense of balance and Snoopy remained her life long guardian, protecting her and her kittens at all cost. After his death a dog ran up to our porch and snapped her spine as she was unable to get away. Her death at 15 was incredibly hard to take especially since Snoopy died only a few months before she did. I was no longer living at home at the time and never got to say good bye either. Her children Squeekie, Shalomie and Grissette lived to the ages of 19. Ralph, a three legged cat passed away last year at 19. He would balance himself up on two legs and tap my mom's window with his third leg to be let in. :O) Oscar, saved at the last possibly min from death at the Humane Society and for the first 15 years never even climbed on furniture was the best behaved cat I've ever had. He would gently tap you with his paw when he wanted your attention. Oscar lived until the age of 21. I returned home after attending a three day convention and it appeared he had hung on to say his goodbyes to me. My kids told me he just waited by my bed for me. I laid him on the bed beside me and he gently placed his paw over my hand until it was time to take him to the vets for his final visit. Fe'line prounced Fehleen , had a hard start in life. Her mother was a feral cat that had kittens. My sister kept an eye on them and fed the mom. One rainy night the mother cat was killed on the road and homes were found for all of them but not Fe'line as she was extremely feral and wild. For all of her life 19, she only came out at night - spending her days hiding from everyone. With me however, she'd leap into my lap when no one was around and purr, try to groom me and curl up into a little ball purring so noisy on my lap. Shaggy and Big Dog , My previous OES's that I've spoken about on this site. Shaggy, a beragled stray from the Pound as was Big Dog. Through them, I gained a love of Sheepies of which I'll never recover from. Bear, a gentle 10 year old Lab whose family gave him up simply because they didn't have time for him. I adopted him from the shelter and made sure his last year was a happy one. There are many others whom came into my home for a short time and lived their last days in my house - the very aged or sickly ones. Each time an animal passed whether it was a tiny gerbil, guinea pig, rabbit, cat, or dog I experienced grief. With those I didn't get a chance to say my last goodbyes there is a regret but also wonderful memories of each. Each one allowed me more knowledge to be a better upright to those in the future. In total there has been aprox 7 dogs and 25 cats that have passed my door since I was a kid and each was unique. I have often said it doesn't matter what age they passed we always wished we had more time. I also learned the importance of innoculations, and spaying and neutering if you are not planning on entering a show ring or breeding. There are literally hundreds of unwanted animals and not enough homes. Currently there is Panda, Blue and Merlin in my home and the four cats Daisy, Lil Girl, Paris and Asia aka Mama Kat. I never planned on having so many and with the exception of Merlin each needed a forever home. I dread that I will have to face the end of their lives some day but until that day I will enjoy them all. With so many animals that I have had the opportunity to know and to grieve when they passed I understand fully well the process. Each of us is different how we grieve - for some the thought of going through it again is unbareable. For others, getting another pet that desperately needs a home consoles us in some way. Time does heel but our memories are forever. Lastly, my heart has currently been broken with the theft of Merlin,Panda's and Blue's brother, a tiny little 4 pound chihauhau. It's horrible knowing he's "out there" and I pray he's being treated well. The computers that were stolen were not even a consideration as was my utter dismay that probably as an afterthought they took him from his family and his home. Austin, I think about you everyday and perhaps you may be returned to me some day. I pray the horrible person that stole you sold you to some unsuspecting kind soul. Not knowing is the worst. May all my furried friends be playing happily together over the Rainbow Bridge. Marianne |
|
|
| Marianne,
What a lovely tribute to the many animals who had the privilege to call you their person. You are a rescue angel. Thank you for sharing their stories with us, our four-legged loves live on in our hearts forever. |
| I have to agree this is a great tribute to our buddies in the past. For me growing up I had a very abusive mother whose idea of loving words was calling me a [nasty name] at the age of 8. Telling me to get off my [rear end] and clean. I have an older sister who my mother and her were very close and still are this day. My dad and I were very close, and I saw my mom treat him [poorly] also and doing this he worked ALL the time, so my outlet was my pets. I remember in the 4th grade we had a gray toy poodle his name was Salty and he was so cute, well he got sick from out of the blue, come too find out he had a female tick on his jugular vain and even after several blood tranfusions he passed. A few weeks after my dad came home w/ this dog named Lucky. She was about 1yr old, and he got her from the shelter in West Palm beach Fl. Evendentlly she was in the shelter a long time in fact her time was running out,the day my dad adopted her was going to be her last alive  She was wire hair terrier and 1/2 schzier *sp?She lived to be about 15yrs old we renamed her katie and what a wonderful animal she was. Man she would carry our baby ducks around in her mouth and she was just a mommy to everything.I truely hope when I pass I will be reunited w/ my buddies.I miss all of them so much,they were truely my only means of love,and I really think I learned how to love through my pets. Thanks for this post Mar. |
| Hi,
Thanks Henry's mom and Tanya, Yes, animals are great aren't they? They love us unconditionally and make us laugh with their antics. They keep us well balanced in time of chaos and bring smiles to children and are great companions to seniors. Tanya you experienced a difficult childhood but I'm glad you had your dogs to make it a little easier. One of my favorite quotes is "The same fire that melts butter, makes steel strong." Some people fall apart in the face of adversity while others become stronger people and also more compassionate. I see you as both. Marianne |
| You've certainly had an interesting life, especially with all your furry family members!
Did I miss something about the chihauhau? I last remembered that you were trying to get it from that family/ or they gave it to you, but now it was stolen? Please post the link if you've posted about this already. Thanks! VerveUP |
| Mar. I have thought for many months now that you are truely a compassinate and beautiful person. Thank you so muc for your words. Tanya |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|