The parents of fallen soldier Justin Rollins adopted the dog that spent his final days with him in Iraq.
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From the category archives:
Pet Stories
Meet Frank and Louie
A two-faced “Janus” cat had entered the Guinness World Records at 12 years old, for being the longest living cat of his kind. Frank and Louie’s condition is a birth abnormality, and most cats born that way do not live long.The record holding cat is doing well and living in the area near Worcester MA with his pet-mom Marty, who has a background in veterinary medicine. Marty was working at Tufts Veterinary Medical School when she got Frank and Louis, who was brought in at one day old to be euthanized.
Frank and Louie the cat was born with two faces, two mouths, two noses, three eyes — and lots of doubts about his future.
[continue reading about Great Pets…]
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He was a very special dog in Gold Canyon, loved by everyone in this beautiful community of about 16,000 people. Numerous articles in the The East Valley Tribune, The Arizona Republic, the Gold Canyon Ledger, Gold Canyon Lifestyles and other local publications and newspapers. He was also quite famous in events such as Special Olympics as a therapy dog.
Kramer died of complications from Coccidioidomycosis, commonly known as “Valley Fever”, a disease of the lungs that is common in the southwestern United States, it affects humans and animals as well. For more information please visit:
http://www.goldcanyondog.org/valleyfever.html
IN MEMORY OF KRAMER
1992 – 2005
by “Dad” Curt FongerI guess the best way to refer to KRAMER was that he was a “Good Will Ambassador”. He did his magic by way of gentle demeanor, wagging tail and those beautiful brown eyes with those golden eyelashes. Never bashful about going directly up to a man, woman or child which in and by itself, was nothing less than amazing in that – he was abused by people when he was a “Little boy” himself.
He won the hearts of everyone he came in contact with. He had a calming affect on the mentally challenged, the elderly, children with serious illness, and other dogs. Kramer’s canine intuition told him just what to do with and for “that” person when he was by their side. He was an absolute charmer and his “smaller than most” stature among the larger dogs was deceiving as his heart was the biggest part of him. He instantaneously won everyone over the moment they touched his silken head of reddish gold hair – people and children bonded to Kramer upon contact.
Yes… Kramer was one of those “Once in a life time” creatures to come into your life and you always went away with a smile and better for the experience. He did what many psychologists and psychiatrists practice to do and that was to: relax the mind, forgive your anger and live a little happier and why not?
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In China, Tibetan Mastiffs are in demand. A local website, qingdaonews.com, says a Chinese coal magnate spent ¥10m ($1.5 million) in March for a Tibetan mastiff named Sensation (Hong Dong in Chinese).
Source: BusinessWeek
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Here’s a cat story by excellent writer Pacifica, who lives in France.
Ostensibly nothing has changed – Wednesday might just be bad dream, a crazy memory, or a lesson learned. That’s how lucky we were.
I look at Siena, my dainty 11-month old calico, moving in her cat ways around the house with absolutely no difficulty, and THAT is what seems like a dream. I still have to make myself remember she is NOT a ghost, not just a memory moving through the space, but flesh and blood and consciousness, still utterly herself, still very much here, still very much alive.
While holding her, feeling the warmth of her body, the strength of her affection and the deep bond between pet and owner, I also feel how very thin the boundary is between what IS right now at this moment and what might have been, the short distance between one eventuality and another, between having her here in my arms, safe and miraculously healthy, and having her somewhere else, or maybe not anywhere at all any more.
***
I had come back from the market on Wednesday afternoon and the cats, Siena and Napoli, were restless. It was a beautiful day so I let them out on the balcony to get some fresh air. They eventually fell asleep in the shade and I went back inside briefly to get my computer and a few notebooks. A minute or two later Napoli came in to find me. I knew in that moment something was wrong; I could tell from his face, his body language. I had the strange contradictory feeling of immediately sensing what had happened, while not believing it could be possible.
Siena, Napoli’s sister, was no longer asleep on the balcony. After a thorough search it became clear she was no longer in the apartment at all.
The story is continued here: After the Fall – This Version of The Story
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Labrador Retriever
They told me the big black Lab’s name was Reggie, as I looked at him lying in his pen. The shelter was clean, no-kill, and the people really friendly.
I’d only been in the area for six months, but everywhere I went in the small college town, people were welcoming and open. Everyone waves when you pass them on the street.
But something was still missing as I attempted to settle in to my new life here, and I thought a dog couldn’t hurt. Give me someone to talk to. And I had just seen Reggie’s advertisement on the local news.
The shelter said they had received numerous calls right after, but they said the people who had come down to see him just didn’t look like “Lab people,” whatever that meant. They must’ve thought I did. [continue reading about Great Pets…]
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Nearly three months ago, my husband and I went to our credit union to conduct some business. As he waited in the car, I went inside. Standing at the teller’s window I couldn’t help but notice the stifled but evident excitement around me. No. Sorry to say it wasn’t because of something great I was wearing or my new hairstyle. It was because another one of the employees was bringing in a bin of tiny kittens to bid one last goodbye before she took them to a “no-kill shelter.” Uh-Oh. I knew I was in trouble. I knew that I would end up taking one of these babies home. Having had two wonderful cats for over 14 years and lost them, I wasn’t inclined to try and replace them and their space in my heart. But this was certainly different. These were the tiniest kittens I had ever seen.
Apparently the mother had delivered her litter somewhere in the bushes next to the credit union. The employees kept watch over them and when the mother went away for more than a day, they even attempted to feed them. But one little black and white rascal wasn’t eating. I knew that if someone didn’t take her, who would be willing to hand-feed her every couple of hours, she wouldn’t make it—even at a no-kill shelter. So, I plotted with the employee to go out to the car with me so that I could show my husband the kittens.
As I approached my husband, and he was able to recognize what was coming out, you could see him bracing for the inevitable request. Before I could even make it to his open window he delivered a firm “No.”
The rest of the story… What the Cat Taught
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