And so it begins…
On the 1st day of Christmas my true dog gave to me…
a climbing cat in a pear(less) tree.
Tag Archives: cat
Santa Watch 2018: Day 22
Day 22, and Rosee’s so close to seeing the man in red with her own two eyes.
But since she’s a little too big for some hiding spots – it’s time to bring in the reinforcements!
Santa Claus won’t even notice him sitting under the tree . . .
Day 8 of 13 Days of Halloween
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” Thomas Campbell
Halloween is not the only holiday to celebrate this October.
Dia de los Muertos is also set to begin on October 31st, and it’s a holiday that holds special meaning. Even if you don’t really celebrate or observe this time period, I like to think that this holiday can at least serve as a reminder to remember our loved ones that have passed on.
This year I’d like to dedicate this post, in honor of Dia de los Muertos, to Artemis.
Artmeis is a very special cat who we lost earlier this year. We may have only had a short time with him, since we adopted him last year around this time, but he was a special cat that made quite an impact on all of us—yes, even Simon and Rosee.
Artemis started to come around last Fall when we first began to leave a bowl of cat food and a bowl of water on our porch for George (our other cat, and you can read about him here). He looked terrible when he first showed up. He was practically skin and bones with scraggly, matted fur, watery eyes, and a runny nose. We thought all he needed was some food, water, and TLC. It wasn’t long before we took him inside, because it was just too cold for him to be outside without barely any body fat, and he became an official part of our family.
He proved enthusiastically helpful when it came to making our annual batch of tamales for the holidays.
He loved sitting on the couch with us, and cuddling with George.
However, we quickly figured out that food wasn’t necessarily Artmeis’s main problem, or even his only one. After a trip to the vet, we found that he was pretty old, probably late teens, had no teeth at all, and despite his love of food, he just wasn’t able to absorb anything he ate, rather his food just ran right through his system. He was able to gain a bit of weight, but he always seemed to fluctuate and no matter what we tried, he only improved marginally.
We knew Artemis’s days were numbered, but we were determined to make his last days his best. He got extra special treats, extra cuddles, and even some cream here and there—our vet said it was okay and told us since he was old he should get anything he wanted.
While, Artemis may be gone, he is definitely not forgotten. He is remembered in all of our hearts. His perseverance and zest for life reminds us all to enjoy the moment, never give up, and to always be kind.
1st Day of Christmas 2017
On the 1st day of Christmas my true dog gave to me…
…a Georgie in a pear(less) tree!
Day 1 of 13 Days of Halloween (2017)
Hello blogsphere!
It certainly has been awhile, but what can I say…life happens.
However, now that it’s October with Halloween not too far away and the holiday season just around the corner I thought I would get back into the blogging habit by celebrating the 13 Days of Halloween!
So for the next 13 days until Halloween on October 31st we will be posting Halloween and Fall inspired blogs every day.
To kick off the event I thought I would introduce a new member to our family:
GEORGE
George is a neighborhood cat that we pretty much adopted as our own a few months ago when the neighbors that were caring for him (I thought he belonged to them because he was always in front of their house and they kept bowls of food and water, and had a cat house) moved away. Unfortunately, these neighbors did not take George with them and so we decided to start leaving out some food and water for him in our front side yard, and before we knew it he had adopted us as his new family.
George is a super affectionate cat who loves attention, head scratches, and almost acts like a dog in his enthusiastic greetings whenever anyone arrives home. He is an outside only cat as that what he has been all of his life, at least from my observings, but while all us humans love him, Rosee tends to get a little too excited around him (and really any cats she sees). Yet, she is starting to get used to seeing him in the front yard as he never runs away when she barks at him and just rolls around on the front lawn despite her.
And the best part about him…he loves having his picture taken just as much as Simon and Rosee!
Make sure you stick around for the next 12 days to see what we have in store.
Pawndered Thought: February 3, 2016
Top of the couch cruising isn’t just for cats or small dogs you know…
Pawndered Thought: November 6, 2015
Of all the parks in the city…she had to walk into mine
(Rosee sniffing out a cat at the park.)
Tying It Together
Originally, I had a completely different post planned for this week. In fact, I even wrote most of that other post (which I’ll share next week), and I was pretty happy with how it was coming along (I can be a bit too much of a perfectionist sometimes). Then, today something happened. It was unexpected, obviously, and quite upsetting. It even inspired my Pawndered Thought for the day, and the most surprising thing was that it had really nothing to do with Rosee or Simon. (I know this blog is dedicated to all things dog, specifically if those dogs are named Rosee and/or Simon, but I felt the need to share this particular experience.)
You see, what happened today had to do with a cat. It’s a cat that I see almost every morning on our daily walk, and she would always be playing or laying around with her three kittens. The cat and her kittens had made their home by a garden shed that was located in a local elementary school’s garden. Every morning we (me, Monica, Rosee, and Simon) would walk by the school’s garden, and notice these four. Unfortunately, today as me and Monica were driving by after running some errands in town we passed by and saw the cat lying in the middle of the road. It was apparent that she had been hit by a car and that it had happened recently. We immediately pulled over to see if the kittens were okay, but we were unable to see them anywhere. I suspect that they were hiding underneath the garden shed and just too scared to come out. Needless to say, I was pretty upset. It was dumb, ridiculous, senseless, and should have never happened. Not only was it a school zone, so cars should not be driving that fast anyways, but it was pretty much right next to an intersection so cars would be just taking off. Therefore, if a car was coming down this particular road, they should have been able to stop or swerve out of the way. Yet, none of this happened. Instead a car hit this cat and just kept on going.
I must admit that at this point I was disheartened. I felt let down by my fellow humans. I wanted to yell at someone, and demand an answer for what happened. My brain couldn’t comprehend the fact that some people seem to care so little, even though studies show that the majority of drivers will try and hit an animal in a road rather than swerve to avoid it. So, I did what any normal person would do. I went to talk to my mom. I needed an ear to listen, and possibly a shoulder to lean on.
Afterwards, I felt better, meaning that I didn’t feel the urge to cry. Yet, I was still feeling let down by humankind, and it didn’t help that I was having one of those days. The kind of day where every person I encountered seemed to be inconsiderate or just plain rude. I mean I try my best to have faith in the goodness of others. Usually, it’s not hard. All I have to do is look around my neighborhood and see how almost everyone leaves a bowl of food and water out for the neighborhood cats to know that there are people that do care. Still, some days it’s hard to hold on to this hope, and today was just one of those days. Simon and Rosee did their best to cheer me up, and neither one complained when I smothered them with hugs. They really are the best medicine sometimes.
Then my mom called. She said that she went driving by where the cat was and stopped to see if she could see the kittens. While she was there a man came out from one of the houses from across the street, and he took the time to move the cat from out of the middle of the road. He took care of this cat that wasn’t even his. He didn’t have to, and nobody expected it, but he did. He cared. Suddenly, the day didn’t seem so bleak.
Earlier today when I posted my Pawndered Thought it wasn’t necessarily meant to be optimistic. It was a thought in reference to someone’s callous action that cost three kittens their mother. However, I realize now that I shouldn’t give up so quickly. There are caring people out there. So, I’m going to end this post by saying Thank You to all caring people out there. Thank You for loving your animals, and for taking care of them.
Pawndered Thought: June 17, 2015
It only takes one person to make a significant change in an animal’s life.
Another Pit Bull Attack(ed)
It was ugly.
Hair flying everywhere. Snarls and growls emitting from all around. Sharp claws swinging wildly, trying to hit anything they could. And the blood. It was like a red river running down the sidewalks and across the street. It was warm and sticky, and free-flowing. I remember the screaming the most, the way its high-pitched sounds left little else to be heard. I remember feeling like I couldn’t breathe. Time stretched on forever, no beginning or ending, just a middle full of blood, sweat, and tears. Then, quiet.
No birds chirping. No dogs howling. No cars whizzing by. Just quiet.
The only color I could see was red. Red scratches running down my arms. Red marks marring my hands from the tight grip I had to maintain on the leash. The deepest red however, was littered all over the street, the sidewalks, and my own legs, leaving an ominous trail from where we had been to where we were.
Suddenly harsh panting broke through my fog and I could see. I could see Rosee sitting on the concrete, staring at me. Her eyes were wide, her breathing irregular, her throat emitting strange little strangled whines. On shaky legs I kneeled down in front of her, using trembling fingers to try to assess the damage done.
Eyes glassy, but unscathed.
Chest pink from exertion, but unscratched.
Front legs unsteady, but untouched.
Then. . .
Her ears had nail marks in them with blood dripping off the tips.
Her muzzle though. Her muzzle got the worst of it. Her nose and upper lip were smeared red, it just falling down her mouth like a torrent. At that moment all I could do for her was press the tissue from my pocket to her mouth to help stem the bleeding and continue my mantra of “It’s okay, Rosee, it’s okay.”
The day had started out deceptively normal. Wake up, eat breakfast, take dogs out for daily walk. See? Normal. The weather was warm, but not too hot. Both Rosee and Simon were behaving themselves nicely. All in all it was a good start to the day.
Working our way down a street lined with slightly older homes, made mysterious with their large front yards surrounded with shrubbery and short picket fences, we were suddenly put on the defensive. Our attacker came out of nowhere. Lithe and speedy it went immediately for Rosee’s face, not even giving her (or me) a chance to realize what was going on before it was too late. Going straight for the face, moving forward with wild abandon, all I could do was pull Rosee between my legs and plant my knees on the ground in an attempt to hold all of her 75 lbs. back from further attack. Once I gained a better grip on Rosee’s collar I successfully worked at pulling her across the street to safety with her attacker following. It wasn’t until we hit the middle of road that the attacker finally trailed off going back to hide like the little coward that it was.
What happened? Why was my dog’s muzzle spouting blood? How did I get covered in scrapes, bruises, and blood?
The answer: a cat.
Yeah, that’s right. We got attacked by an extremely forward cat. We were ambushed as we walked down the street by a cat stealthily hidden in nearby shrubs who thought we got a little too close to it. Jumping through the plants it had used as camouflage this huge cat (seriously, it must have been a Maine Coon or something) launched itself at Rosee. This cat screeched and screamed, digging its sharp claws into Rosee’s muzzle, at one point I was worried they were actually stuck! Rosee freaked out, unsure whether to go forward or backward, so she settled for just jumping up. Never once did she bark, whine, snarl, bare teeth, or snap at this cat. She just was. I pulled and pulled, and eventually got her away from the assault, but the damage was done. The cat had left her torn up and bloody.
A thirty minutes’ walk from home, I could barely contain myself to move let alone pull a stunned dog along with me. Theresa, who had been holding Simon back from the attack, quickly called our mother who was able to immediately come and pick us up. In an effort to right herself while we waited for our ride Rosee would shake her head and red droplets would just go flying. My hand, arms, and legs were covered in her blood and mine. Dabbing Rosee’s dripping face I could only tremble and stumble until we walked through our front door.
Once home Rosee’s face finally stopped bleeding, but she still had terrible scratches running across the length of her upper lip and nose. She was still breathing harshly and didn’t know whether to sit or stand. It’s like she was no longer comfortable in her own skin, and frankly, I knew the feeling. What should have been a comfortable morning routine was inexplicably boiled down to a terror-filled few minutes that would stay with all four of us for a long time. For weeks afterwards every time Rosee or Simon saw a stray cat wandering the street they would go crazy, pulling and whining after it. Every time we passed “The Spot” Rosee would dive for the fence where the cat had emerged. Suffice to say, the next few weeks of walks were spent trying to undo the damage this attack had taken on poor Rosee’s otherwise burgeoning relaxation she was finally starting to associate with walking.
As for me, I carried a paranoid air around me for a while. If this was what one wayward cat could do to Rosee, what would a dog do? Besides that, big or small or anything in between it is truly a terrible thing to see your beloved animal bleeding due to no fault of its own.
And so much for all those “Vicious Pit Bull Attack” storylines. This experience has certainly made me wonder how many of those “vicious pit bulls” were simply moved to defend themselves, because that is what normal dogs, animals, and even people do when they feel threatened—they get defensive. I feel as if I have been given a glimpse of clarity and understanding. How does that saying go again? Oh yeah, don’t judge a book by its cover. More aptly stated perhaps, don’t judge a dog by its breed.
Because seriously, a cat!
Play Hard, Bark Often 