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We have a Jack Russell Terrier named, appropriately, Jack. He's very sweet and un-Jack Russell like.
He's adorable! My grandmother had a sweet little Jack Russell named Snuffy. He always used to try to mount my Newfoundland, Bailey, back in the mid-80s. Sadly, all three have passed on.
I've always been a dog person, but somewhere along the way, cats have taken over my life.
Yes, it's all about cats now. We're like a Brady Bunch family with cats. I brought in Fletch and Flynn, litter mates that I've had since they were born back in '87. Sadly, Fletch died from kidney failure about a month after moving in with my then fiancee/now wife. It's a year later and I still grieve for him.
Flynn is a co-dependent cat with feline dementia (think alzheimers for cats). Yes, he is a handful at times, but he's always been very sweet. He's a bit crankier now in his old age (17). He's been diagnosed with kidney disease and we've had to inject fluids every other night (under the skin, not the vein). It makes him more comfortable. Unfortunately, his condition will only get worse over time.
We just had him into the vets last weekend because he hadn't been looking so great. When the vet said she felt an unsual mass around his stomach, we thought, game over, he's done for. So while the vet was taking xrays of Flynn, me and the wife were prepared to have him put down - unfortunately, the thought of having to say goodbye to Flynn got the tears flowing. However, the vet came back in and said good news, it's not time for him to go yet. Turns out he was backed up (i.e., full of ****). So he's on Metamucil and things are back to normal.
Still, it's only a matter of time (a few months at best) that it will be time to say that final goodbye. I don't care what anyone thinks about pets, but to me they are like my children (granted, our own children would take a higher priority if we had any yet, heh).
That weekend we also had to run up to my wife's sister and hubby's place to let their dog, Rudy, a sweet elderly American Cocker Spaniel out for walks while they were out of town. He's got boat-load of health problems. We could tell that he definitely is diminishing. Sadly, it turns out he passed away Monday in the middle of the night. So the grieving bullet we dodged from Flynn got re-directed to my sister-in-law and her hubby. We're glad we got to have that last little visit with Rudy. Unfortunately, they don't have any other pets so their house felt very empty for them when they came home from work Tuesday night. We're consoling them as we totally understand this heartache.
Anyhoo, then we have my wife's cats: Muffin, Angela and Pepe.
Muffin, like Flynn, is about 17. She hates all other cats so takes up residence in the garage and our bathroom. Or, when the weather's nice, she'll sit on a chair out in the back yard. She has the most exotic looking eyes (my brother-in-law says they are in fact evil eyes). I feel she should have always been a single cat. She sleeps most of the time but we give her as much attention as we can (mainly when one of us is sitting on the throne, heh. Whoops, TMI).
Angela is our 14 year-old princess, co-dependent like Flynn. She lost an eye due to an infection when she was a kitten and one of her ears is a little stiff and bent due to an ear infection before she was given to my wife. Otherwise, she's in good health. I like to call her "Winky" or "Popeye". She and Flynn have a sibling rivalry thing. Unfortunately, their bickering is usually around 5:30am and is used as a signal to have one of us to get up and feed them breakfast. Yes, cats do rule the world...
Pepe is our half-feral 5 year-old youngster. He was born outside in the field behind my mother-in-law's house. He's the sweetest little guy. He hangs around outside a lot with his father, who we call Pappy.
Yes, then there is Pappy. Although we think he is Pepe's father, he could in fact be Pepe's brother. It's hard to say, but he and Pepe are definitely related. Pappy is a round-faced cutie and I've been playing "Cat Whisperer" and feeding him twice a day. As he is full feral, he's a bit skittish yet, but each day he gets more and more comfortable with my feeding him. He's even come into the house while I'm in the garage preparing the cat meals.
As Pappy and Pepe are so tight, we will probably shanghai Pappy when we buy our own house later this year. The vet totally supports this act of cat piracy and will provide us the sedative to put in Pappy's food when the time comes (if needed). Hopefully, my leet "Cat Whisperer" skills will have him become part of our family on his own. Of course, he'll be really pissed at us for neutering him once we get him to the vet's office.
Sorry this was long, but it gave me something to do while killing time at work today.
Edited, Fri Jan 16 14:17:31 2004 by Smoggy