daily dose of dogs (aka cats with your coffee)

Smokey

A couple of weeks ago, I told you that I would start doing stories about the cats who will live out their lives here at Winnie’s Wish.  But before I start this first story, let me tell you how much it meant to me to have your support over the loss of my sweet, sweet Tad.  I was going to post another picture of him (here, today) but I find myself unwilling at this time to look at any pictures of him.  I had a real bond with Tad.  I miss him terribly.

On to happier things.  Winnie’s Wish is now a sanctuary.  The cats here will live out their lives in the comfort of one of the rooms in the cathouse or kennel, or in a dog run converted into a kitty condo.  Every single cat here has access to an outside deck (which they enjoy more when it is NOT Winter).

I guess there’s no real rhyme or reason for the order in which I will be re-introducing to you the cats of Winnie’s Wish.   I’m not even sure why I chose Smokey to be the first.  But here he is. 

Smokey came to Winnie’s Wish in June of 2013.  He was part of a litter of four, three boys and a girl, who were already about 3 months old when they were captured.  They’d had no human contact, and unfortunately they already had the ways of ferals.   As is SO often the case, one of this group tamed (Toast, and he was eventually adopted).  The other three (Snowflake, Slate, and Smokey) have lived their lives here.  Smokey used to live with his two siblings, but when another feral cat moved into that room, he started bullying Smokey.  So Smokey was moved to a different room in the cathouse.  He has lived there happily ever since. 

Smokey LOVES me.  I have some sort of a relationship with every Wisher here (even the three I can’t touch).  Some of the Wishers are quite happy to see me every day, but after a little attention and a few pets, they are off to do other things.  There are certain cats here, however, who really show their affection to me.  Smokey is one of them.

In addition to being in love with me, Smokey really likes all of the cats in his room.  He is absolutely huge and could bully any cat he wanted to.  But he is sweet (always has been) and enjoys the companionship of the other cats.  I’ve discovered him sleeping with various ones at different times.   Smokey has a favorite cat tree.  There are windows between the rooms in the cathouse.  Even though Smokey is in the third room, he sees me (through those windows) come in the front door.  He runs and jumps up on his cat tree.  That way he can be in position for his daily shower of love.

 

 

Smokey.  Winnie’s Wisher since 2013.  When you support Winnie’s Wish, you’re helping to take care of Smokey.  When you care about Winnie’s Wish, you care about Smokey.

 

Speaking of support . . .

 

Heather and Zach have TWO Wishers living The Good Life in their home.  And they sent this gift.

 

Heather and Zach – THANK YOU.

 

And Cynthia – THANK YOU for your paypal gift in memory of Tad.

 

See you next week.

 

Tad

Maybe you remember a little foster kitten of mine – Tad.

 

This is one of the first pictures I took of Tad.

 

He is now nine months old.  I’ve had him for eight of those. And I’m about to lose him.  I didn’t write about Tad’s illness at the beginning in early January.  I didn’t write about his continued illness as it drug on.  I didn’t write about it because I knew Tad would get well.  As each new stage appeared, I knew that we would beat it.  There have now been four weeks of vet trips, antibiotics, immune boosters, blood work, etc.  He has steadily declined.  Now, in this final stage, Tad is completely blind and deaf.  He hasn’t eaten on his own for days.                 Force-feeding him was torture – for both of us.  Now I will let him go.

All of you reading here know what it’s like to lose one of your furry family members.  I have written about loss many times on this blog.  It’s hard to lose a senior dog or cat.  So many years.  So many memories.  It’s also hard to lose a tiny kitten after only getting to know him or her for a few weeks.  But losing a cat that you’ve been with for eight months . . .  plenty of time to deeply bond, too short of time together.

When things got really bad, I railed against it.  But during these last few days of force-feeding, watching Tad in his silent, dark world has moved me to a new place.  I told my husband that if Tad could get well, but remain blind and deaf, we would accommodate him.  But he will not be getting well.  And he is getting weaker.  He continues to have around-the-clock fever.  This morning, he is crying in his sleep.

My heart aches with the pain of losing him.  But he will soon be at peace.

 

 

Tad – Farewell.

 

 

Winnie’s Wish Sanctuary

 

You Winnie’s Wish supporters and daily dose readers are the best!  Your comments and emails have contributed to the relief I feel about my decision to transition from shelter to sanctuary.  You can trust that the Wishers HAVE a home – right here.  Their comfort and happiness is my ongoing goal.

What I will do in the months to come is write about the glorious group of cats who call Winnie’s Wish home.  I will try to go back and find pictures of each one when they first came into my care, and I will add fresh new pictures as well.  I can tell you all about each one’s personality and their relationships with other cats and with me. 

But before I start re-introducing you to the Wishers, let me remind you how all of this started. 

The cathouse itself was once upon a time only a single room.  My husband and father built a tiny little one-room house for me when I took in a family of five that I simply could not add to our household.  This is how the cathouse started.

 

 

It wasn’t long after that I started blogging.  Early into that new endeavor, I rescued a kitten who only lived two days.  My blog readers at the time suggested I do something to honor her memory – something that would endure.  That’s when my rescue and shelter got its name.  The kitten’s name was Wintergreen, but we called her Winnie.  When she died, Winnie’s Wish was born.

It wasn’t long before my tiny one-room cathouse wasn’t big enough.  With the help of contributions, we added a second room on.  At that time, I thought surely I had enough space to last me forever.

 

 

As I moved forward in time, I started realizing that I needed a small space devoted to nursing moms and tiny kittens.  Without sharing this on the blog (because I knew you wonderful people would want to send your money and you had already helped me build onto the cathouse), Husband and I built a small room onto the kennel, adjacent to my office.  This was a place mostly for the foster cats and kittens that I took in temporarily to help the shelter where my daughters work.

And then, finally, it was decided that my cathouse needed to expand again to accommodate the growing number of Wishers.  You helped me with that endeavor.

 

I have since turned my kennel office and some kennel runs into comfortable living spaces for Wishers.  My goal has always been to make EACH individual cat here as happy as possible.  This has required me to find creative ways to house cats of all persuasions – those who enjoy the company of other cats and those who do not.  I spend my mornings and evenings attending to the 29 Wishers in all of their various locations.  At this time, I find them to be quite content.  And as this year moves forward, I will share with you the stories of each and every kitty living here at Winnie’s Wish.

 

See you next week.

 

 

 

 

The TNR Project

Let me start with this.  THANK YOU for your VERY kind and supportive comments on my blog post yesterday.  I deeply appreciate what you wrote, and I feel extremely blessed to have you wonderful people out there in the world caring about what happens to the cats of Winnie’s Wish.

 

Next, a Wish List gift came over the holidays with no ID. Mystery solved.

Tracey and Kevin (and Gracie & Ava) – THANK YOU.

 

Ginny – THANK YOU for your gifts to Wild Angels and to Winnie’s Wish (to help with the spay of the newest Wisher). 

 

I hope, if you contributed to my TNR fundraiser, that you are reading here today.  I’d like to ask those of you who gave your money to this cause if you are OK with what I would like to do with the balance of that money.  The elderly couple on the property report to me that they have not seen that last tomcat any more.  I was hoping still to get him, but he seems to only pass through occasionally.  I also had the couple on high alert for ANY cat they saw on the property that did not have the marked ear (meaning that cat HAD been spayed or neutered).  As far as I can tell, we managed to sterilize all of the cats in this colony, with the exception of the big elusive yellow tomcat.  The last two to have their surgeries were the two black kittens that I have had for a couple of months now. 

 

 

 

I have almost $400 left.  If those of you who gave to this cause agree, I would like to put that money aside and periodically buy food for the elderly couple feeding this colony on their property.  But I don’t want to use all of the money for food.  I’d like to keep a little chunk saved back in case we are ever able to get that yellow tom, or any other unspayed/unneutered cat that might show up there.  If this is agreeable to everyone who contributed, I will hold that money for a possible future spay or neuter and use some for the occasional food delivery to the property.

 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU you wonderful people – for being the kind of people that you are and for reading here and supporting me in my mission to create better lives for as many animals as I can.  See you next week.

 

 

2019 - Transition

Last month I mentioned I would be sharing with you some changes that would be taking place here.  I want to do that today.  This may not come as a surprise to some of you.  I’ve talked differently about Winnie’s Wish during the last year or two.  Winnie’s Wish has been a rescue and shelter for all of the years of its existence.  Something I was never willing to do was to overcrowd.  On any day I could have gone out and easily discovered a cat or two (or a dozen) who needed to be rescued.  There is no end to the number of cats in my part of the world (and nearly everywhere) who need to be rescued.   To give every Wisher a good life while waiting for the possibility of adoption, I did not allow my place to become overcrowded.  Of course, this limited the number of cats I could save.   Any time I was at my ceiling number, I couldn’t save any more cats or kittens until some of the Wishers were adopted.  That worked for many years.  But over those years, I rescued some cats who were not terribly “adoptable.”  Some of those (like Hope and Spritz) were adopted anyway.  Against the odds, those cats stayed in those homes because of amazing humans who didn’t give up.  At the beginning of this month, I received a message from a years-ago adopter who took two of those “less adoptable” kitties.  Mary sent me a message via Facebook.  It had been years since I’d heard from her.  As with ALL Wishers, I now and again wondered about Sunshine and Orange Juice.  This is what Mary had to say –

Sunshine and Orange Juice still love each other and I love them. Sunshine is definitely my sun and brightens my day. Juice lets me pet him and really enjoys it but picking him up makes him so nervous so I just respect his space and what he can allow in his life. There is no reason to stress him. But, the brothers are still bonded and love each other very much. I love my boys. They are both the sweetest boys. Sunshine is a blessing. And OJ blesses me in his own quiet way. I can pick him up but I can feel his tension so I don't push it. I am thankful he lets me pet him and he will lay at the foot of my bed. I let him determine the comfort zone.

 

I can’t imagine much that can make me any happier.  But as happy as permanent adoptions have made me over the years, I have made some mistakes as well.  I have sent Wishers into homes where they were not cared for.  I have sent Wishers into homes from which they were returned.  This has only happened a handful of times, but each time was a complete heartbreak for me.  This might sound dramatic.  I hope not.  I can’t help how I am.   The stress of adopting out cats has taken a toll.   Sometimes Wishers went to people I knew through the blog.  This was such a relief.  But many times, adopters showed up through Petfinder.  I was never able to know FOR SURE that I was sending a cat into the kind of loving home I felt each one deserved.  Most times, these adopted Wishers ended up EXACTLY where they were supposed to be.  But it would be weeks, sometimes months, before I would know that for sure.  It was a huge emotional stressor in my life.  Of course, I had to do it.  I couldn’t take in more than I could get adopted out.  And for so many of these cats, their lives were deeply enriched by joining the families who adopted them.

One time, when I was really struggling (emotionally) with getting a Wisher back (Hope, before she went to her wonderful current home), one of my dear friends said to me in an email - Maybe Hope is already home (meaning here with me).  You see, that’s how I’d always felt. I never would have adopted out a single cat if it had been possible to keep them all.  The problem, of course, was that I could only take the number in that I could get adopted out.  So if I wanted to keep saving lives, I HAD to do the adoption thing.  And don't get me wrong.  It was the right thing to do.  I have gotten over 60 cats into good homes.  But the toll it has taken on me has been great.  And I can't do it anymore.  I am emotionally exhausted.

Back in October, I got Halo back.  And I may be getting another Wisher back as well (no final decision has been made yet in this situation).   The cats I have here currently are the types of cats who need VERY special people.  These are not cats who would be “easy” adoptions.  So I’ve made the decision to go 100% sanctuary.  I will no longer adopt out. That means I will not be able to rescue future cats.  This took effect on January 5^th.  There are currently 29 cats here at Winnie’s Wish.  I will care for them like my own (always have anyway).  I will take all of these cats through the ends of their lives.  The current Wishers are very settled, happy, and content here.  I am relieved, overjoyed really, that each of these sweethearts is staying right here.

I hope you, the readers of this blog, can understand.  I hope beyond hope that you will continue to support me.  The costs here will not change at all.  I will be providing for the same number of cats.  There will be no more spays and neuters as there will be no new intakes.  But there will be vet care, especially as this group ages. 

My plan for the blog is to begin to highlight the Wishers here.  It’s been a long time since I’ve written about most of these sweethearts.  I will write about a different Wisher every week, hoping you will fall in love with each one all over again and understand why your support is still so needed and so appreciated.

 

I’m going to be back tomorrow, briefly, to talk about the TNR project.  If you gave money to that fundraiser, please tune in. See you then.

 

The 29th and Final

I’m going to tell you a sad story today.  Well, it has a happy ending, but knowing that things like this are real is hard to take.  There is a hero in this story – a sixteen year old girl who is trying to do the right thing.  Let me start at the beginning.

This sixteen year old girl has a cat.  The family she lives with allows her to have her cat in the house as long as it stays in her room.  She loves her cat.  But there is another cat who lives outside.  This cat is not spayed.  She has had multiple litters in the past, and the girl has been worrying and worrying about the upcoming Kitten Season, knowing that this outside cat will be pregnant again.  In the past, the kittens have disappeared or gotten sick and died.  The girl wants all of this to stop, but the family will not get the cat spayed. 

I was made privy to this situation when my daughters told me the story.  We decided that the right thing to do would be to get this cat spayed.  The sixteen year old is feeding the cat, but she can’t afford a spay surgery.    I called and got the cat scheduled and she will be spayed tomorrow at my veterinary clinic.  This brought great relief to the girl who delivered the cat to my daughters on Saturday morning. 

I picked the cat up that afternoon.  Unfortunately (or fortunately), I received more information about this cat’s life when I showed up to get her.  This sweet little cat is being treated horribly by this family.  A while back, her foot was broken.  I have not been told HOW the foot got broken, but my imagination has taken me to some dark places.  They did NOT seek treatment for the break.  So this cat went through that on her own.  The foot has healed and she is able to use it.  She does not appear to be in any pain.  It is slightly crooked.  The rest of the story is this – the people kick this cat off the front porch.  When she slips up onto the porch to get out of the weather, and the family members see her, they kick her off the porch.  I don’t mean that they shoo her away.  I mean kick – as in with their feet.  The only person in the home who is nice to her is the girl.  The cat has learned to run from everyone coming and going to the house except for the girl.  As I stood looking into the carrier at the cat while being filled in on the details of this story, I already knew I couldn’t send her back after the spay surgery. 

 

The front right paw is the one that was broken.

 

You can see that paw turning slightly in.

 

I spoke with the girl and she wants this cat to go somewhere else.  She wants her to have a chance at an indoor life, but more than that she wants the cat to live where she will be treated with love.  So it is done.  This kitty will not go back there.  She will become my 29^th (and final) Wisher. 

My plan for today’s blog post was to fill you in on some changes here at Winnie’s Wish.  I will do that next week.  This sweet kitty came into my life just in time.   Unfortunately, she is definitely damaged.  She is afraid of me (and many things) at this point.  But I will make sure that this sweetheart is allowed to learn that people are NOT going to be mean to her.  She will never again live outdoors.  And she will never be kicked again!  I know this kind of stuff is out there, but to come across it firsthand makes it too real.

Note:  For those of you reading this who are hoping that I will try to pursue charges against the family for animal abuse, I will not be doing that.  I will protect this sixteen year old girl by quietly taking in this cat and leaving the issue alone.  But I did tell this girl that she is a hero - a sixteen year old hero in the midst of “adults.”   I applaud her courage.   The girl was thrilled when I told her that when she is old enough to move out on her own someday, we can talk about her having this cat as her own.

 

 

See you next week.  If you are a supporter of Winnie’s Wish, please tune in.

 

Post Holiday Season

I hope your Holiday Season was spectacular.  Ours was great.  Younger Daughter made special (healthy) holiday treats for her dogs, our dogs, and Older Daughter’s dogs. 

 

(And no – those are not chocolate chips)

 

We only have the five dogs now – my two ferals Frank and Apples, my ancient Miracle, and Rolly & Ressie.  Rolly and Ressie are the only ones of our current group who play with toys.  So they each got a new Christmas toy. 

 

 

Our kitties got some new toys which were immediately batted all over the house.  But the favorite toys for our cats were the cardboard boxes that brought Wish List gifts to the Wishers.

 

And that brings me to the amazing gifts that arrived over the holidays for Winnie’s Wish.

 

The family who adopted Wisher Annie (now Luna) celebrated Luna’s adoption anniversary by sending this gift to the Wishers.

Luna and Family - THANK YOU.

 

This gift came with no id. *Mystery solved

*Tracey and Kevin (and Gracie & Ava) – THANK YOU.

 

Mindy Slimmer and mom CJ (who have THREE Wishers) sent this gift.

Mindy and CJ – THANK YOU.

 

Beth and Mike sent their annual Christmas gift to Winnie’s Wish.

Beth and Mike – THANK YOU.

 

Cynthia – THANK YOU for your paypal gift in memory of Mandy.

 

Karen L - THANK YOU for your card and gift in memory of Mandy.

 

There is one more gift to mention.  You all know Andrea (Celestial Kitties).  She and husband Greg sent a gigantic gift to Winnie’s Wish for the holidays.  It’s too much to get into one picture so here it is in three.

 

Andrea and Greg – THANK YOU.

 

I sure hope your Holiday Season was as wonderful as ours.  See you next week.

 

 

Happy Holidays

If you read here, it must be because you love animals.   I want to take today to thank every single person who cares about my work.  The fact that you read here and care about all of the animals I write about is what helps me do the work I do.  I’ve always felt a strong need to help/rescue/care for our furry creatures who cannot care for themselves.  Over the years, those animals have included dogs, cats, puppies, kittens, livestock, and wildlife.  The most recent addition to my work has included my first-ever TNR colony.  Couldn’t have done that without all of the money that you gave.  (more on that situation in a minute)  There are currently 28 cats here at Winnie’s Wish.  It takes a ton of money and supplies to care for so many.   Your monetary and Wish List gifts help me so so much!  And as I’ve said many times – it helps knowing all of you are out there reading and caring about what happens to the animals that come into my life.  You daily dose folks are the best!

Let me give you a quick update on the TNR colony.  We have failed to get that big tom that the man saw a while back.  He is keeping an eye out.  I think this big guy roams and only shows up occasionally.  I will keep trying.  Also – all of the TNR cats have been marked (ear) and the man and woman on the property are watching for any cat that does not have a marked ear.  As I recently reported, 22 cats from this property are no longer able to reproduce.  I’m pretty excited about that.  But I’ve explained to the people that we need to keep watching.  They know they can call me at any time and I will come.  We will move forward on a one-cat-at-a-time basis.  I’m determined that this colony will be a zero-growth population.  Keep your fingers crossed.  It feels good to have so many cats sterilized.  Then there is also the dog on the property.  I got her spayed way back at the start of all of this.  And finally, the woman told me that they were getting too old to continue to care for their chickens.  She was able to give four of them to her daughter.  There were three left.  And it was MY daughter (Younger) who came to the rescue.  She has chickens (that she loves) and she took the final three.   We went and picked them up last Thursday night.  That felt really good, and I was feeling great about this property – cats, dog, and now chickens.  But while we were there, the man said he saw a gray-and-white, a black, and a tabby that he didn’t remember me having.  I said all of those sounded like cats we had already done and that if he could get close enough he could check the ears.  He said he would pay attention, but he wondered if they were new cats that hadn’t been done.  I sure do hope not.  I feel like these are ones that have already had their surgeries and that maybe he has forgotten.  But I told him not to hesitate to let me know if he saw ANY cat without the marked ear.  As I said earlier, Friends, keep your fingers crossed.

Here are the two little black kittens (from the property) that I’ve had for some time now.  They are nearly old enough to have their surgeries.  I’ve been calling the male “Cole” and the female “Raven.”  They are not nice friendly kittens who could be easily adopted.  But now that they’ve lived here for so long, it would be heartbreaking to return them to the property.  They play constantly with two foster kittens from my daughters’ shelter who are in the same room with them.

 

 

 

Last Tuesday I posted about Tad and Enoch being “Best Buds.”   Two things about that story.  One, I said that they were little Christmas angels, not bothering my decorations much or the tree at all.  Well, that has changed.  I guess they just had to warm up.  I replace ornaments every single day.  And some of the time, I find them IN the tree.  That’s a whole lot more normal than what I previously reported.  Second, I had to smile when a few of you commented on that post – you said you hoped they get to stay together because they are such good friends.  That decision is long over.  I’ll refer you to my post Double Foster Fail from back in September. 

 

Ginny – THANK YOU for your gift in memory of Mandy.

 

When I get back here in the new year, I have some changes to tell you about.  Until then, I wish all of you the best of whatever holiday(s) you celebrate this time of year.  See ya in 2019!

 

 

 

Best Buds

(Let me start with this.  Thank you for your sweet and supportive comments about the loss of our Mandy dog.  I always appreciate you all so much.)

 

Tad and Enoch were best buds from the very beginning.  They started out in my bathroom.  And they were immediately friends – eating, playing, and sleeping together.  I took no pictures of them together because I was advertising them for adoption on the shelter’s Facebook page.  Looking back, I wish I’d have taken some cute pictures of them together instead of always as singles.  This is about all I got.

 

 

As they grew and ventured out of the bathroom, they explored everywhere and made friends with our other cats.  But they have remained best buds.

 

See two lumps in the couch cover?

 

Here are those lumps revealed.

 

 

 

 

Many of you have had the experience of a kitten in your home.  Maybe that experience even included what it was like at the holidays . . .    kittens and Christmas decorations usually don’t mix well.  Tad and Enoch have been little Christmas angels.  Except for rolling a glittered pine cone around a couple of times, they have not bothered the decorations or the tree.

 

 

 

Speaking of Christmas, let me share with you the spirit of the holidays.

Winnie’s Wish received this gift from Alyssa for Giving Tuesday.  Alyssa has supported Winnie’s Wish for a very long time.  She even gave the greatest gift of all – a home for a Wisher (Bobo).  The gift came with a note that said – Happy Giving Tuesday! Love Bobo and Family

 

Alyssa and Family – THANK YOU.

 

Also received a paypal gift from June.  The note said – “Could not forget the Wishers on Giving Tuesday!”

June – THANK YOU.

 

See you next week.

 

Mandy

Mandy was 14 years old.  She had struggled with a hip problem for months.  Of course, I had her on all of the meds appropriate for the condition.  About three weeks ago, I noticed that she started having trouble with the front leg on the same side with the bad hip.  That was rough.  It started to become difficult for Mandy to pull herself up and walk.  But once she got going, she did ok.  I worried, though, that this might be the beginning of the end.  She had “old dog body,” if you know what I mean.  She still had a good appetite, but she had very slowly lost weight over the last year of her life.  I knew, at her age, that we didn’t have lots and lots of time left.  As I’ve said on this blog before, I tend to wait too long before assisting an animal to The Rainbow Bridge.  I always hope I will know when that time comes, but I have definitely waited longer than I should have on more than one occasion.

Mandy was a swollen-bellied, mange-covered, skinny puppy with two sister littermates in December of 2004.  My daughters were exploring in a wooded area close to our home when they came upon three tiny puppies hidden in the root system of a great big tree. (That story here.)  They got the puppies on a Sunday, and on Wednesday it started snowing.  It snowed throughout Wednesday and Thursday.  The storm set a new 24-hour record.  We got 20 inches, and North winds produced drifts up to five feet deep.  Interstates were closed. People were stranded all throughout the region.  The blizzard brought record cold, too.  Temperatures were as low as 10 below zero on Christmas morning that year.

The three pups – Mandy, Mindy, and Muffin – stayed cozy and warm with us.  I got their mange under control and wormed them, of course.  They put on weight and learned not to fear humans.  Muffin lived her entire life with us.  Mindy was adopted.  Mandy was adopted, too, but her adopter died from cancer, and Mandy came back here.  Muffin and Mandy lived out the rest of their lives together.  Then in July of 2017, I lost Muffin to lymphoma.  Mandy marched on.

Last Friday, I had to coax Mandy to eat.  This was a new development.  No matter what else was going on, Mandy always loved to eat.  On Saturday and Sunday I had to lift her to get her on her feet.  Out in the yard, she struggled to hold herself up while she took care of her business.  On Sunday evening, I had to hold her in place (which she did not care for) because she couldn’t hold herself up any longer.  That night I told Husband that it was probably time to help Mandy leave that old, broken-down body.  But I said I just couldn’t do it yet.  She doesn’t stand at her raised food dish to eat anymore – I said - but if I hold the food in front of her while she stays lying down, she still seems to want it.  I hope I don’t let this go on too long.  I hate this part.

The next morning she was the same.  Walking had become impossible without help.  And she could no longer stand to eat.  I worried all day that I shouldn’t be keeping her alive.  It was clear that her pain meds (now increased) were not keeping her pain levels down.  I knew that this would be the week, but I didn’t make that call.  Not on Monday.

Then on Tuesday Mandy wouldn’t eat.  It was the sign I needed.  After sitting with her, trying to get her to take even one bite, I put the bowl down and just sat beside her.  I petted her and petted her and talked to her for a while.  I told her I knew she was in pain and that I would help her get out of that body.  I told her she would see Muffin again, and that I hoped they would romp and play together.  Then I went and called my clinic.

Husband drove and I sat in the back seat with Mandy.  When we arrived at the clinic, Husband went in and said we’d just stay in our vehicle.  Dr. O came out and gave Mandy the injection to make her drowsy.  I repeated what I’ve said to Dr. O so many times before.  This never gets any easier.  He gave us a few minutes and then came back out and we assisted Mandy to The Bridge.  She went peacefully.  I know she and Muffin reunited right away.  (This is Muffin on the left and Mandy on the right.)

 

Mandy – Farewell.