Willow Oak

[gini]

Uh, I have nothing against anyone else who would, but I don't sleep with anyone named "Larry."

Sorry to barge in here - but "Larry" was found for me - so no worries on this count!

Also, couldn't we call this Pet Talk book - THE BOOK OF TAILS?

[Catty1]

Well, it would be worth sleeping with 9 dogs as long as I was closest to the pack leader!

Slick and I are from a rather chilly country, can you tell?

But my pillow-buddy-heart-cat Oscar....what to do, what to do????

[Willow Oak]

I recently discovered a treasure trove of wonderful "tails" that need to be retold. John is no longer with us, but his wife Randi was kind enough to point me the way to a few of his posts.

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=29901

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=29962

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=29333

For those of you who have already read them, they are certainly worth re-reading. I'm still laughing at one of the "tails" I read in that second post. Here is an excerpt:

"Poor old Batman was often getting into scrapes, always through absolutely no fault of his own. We still occasionally had problems with one of the wild cats in the beginning, he would wait until Batman wasn’t around, hop up into our window and mark out his territory This REALLY annoyed me. So one day I decided to teach the intruder a proper lesson. I thought that I had seen him out in the yard (he was also big and black), and when I saw a black shape hopping into our window, he got a whole bucketful of water right in the face. Unfortunately I wasn’t aware that Batman was out too, so it was he who received my little present. Poor fellow, he just COULDN’T understand what had happened and wandered around for a quite while in a daze. On another occasion we had a visit by a girl with a little baby. He was lying on the bed getting his nappy changed when Batman decided to check him out. At that very moment the baby let out a huge stream of diarrhoea which hit Batman right on the head. He stayed well away from babies from then on!

Another time I was woken early in the morning by one of our neighbors. “Your cat's out here on the stairs” she says. “Thank you very much” I say, and sleepily let the big black cat in. He wanders straight into the kitchen and begins to eat. I return to the bedroom, and who wanders out but Batman! I luckily managed to get the intruder out before Batman saw him, otherwise I’m sure the fur would have been flying! Some cats do have a lot of nerve."

[gini]

Oh Willow Oak, I am so happy that Randi has directed you to some of John's threads.

Pet Talk is such a very special place - and the boards have been graced by some of the funniest, kindest, and most intelligent people. John was right up there at the TOP!!

All of us loved him and we still grieve his loss along with Randi.

Perhaps she will direct you to his grave - as it is a magical place, tended lovingly by Randi - if you see it, you will understand.

[Willow Oak]

Our family always had a pet around, dog or cat, since before I was born. Personally I didn't possess a pet between the time I graduated from high school and just a few years ago, when I began collecting this motley crew that now lives with me. And what of me? I was the third of three children. My older siblings were sisters. Susie was the middle child, and Susie was stricken with Down's Syndrome. Even for that, Susie lived until the very healthy age of 54. For all the dire prognostications by doctors when Susie was born in 1951, it was pneumonia that got her in the end on July 2, 2006.

For a mentally handicapped individual Susie was blessed with at least one very unique gift. Even though she was not easily understood when she spoke, a person had no difficulty understanding her when she sang. Susie could flat sing. Our father was a minister, and we grew up in church, listening to and singing all the old-time gospel hymns. You grow up like that and you learn to recite all these songs by heart. Susie was no exception to that, but she managed to take it beyond.

Susie's "discovery" came in the summer of 1971 at a summer camp. She was "allowed" to enter the talent contest. Susie simply blew away the field. From then on until she got too old to perform Susie was a celebrity. I saw Susie sing in front of thousands. Susie has sung in front of crowds as large as 8,000 or more. Susie's heyday would not last for very long. During the final 15 years or so of her life Susie's health prohibited her from performing or even attend church much, for that matter.

All of her life Susie lived with our mother, and they always had pets. Susie had her own special pet, a black cocker spaniel she named Marwen. For most of her adult life Susie's two closest friends were named Marlene and Wendell, so it was only natural that she name her dog after them. Marwen hung around for about 20 years or so. Actually, Marwen was three dogs. When Marwen, the first, passed, Susie got another black cocker and named him Marwen. The last of this line was, naturally, Marwen III. Susie loved her Marwens -- all three of them, and they loved her. About three years ago, Marwen III passed on, and I buried him in Mother's front yard in front of Susie's bedroom window. Two years ago Susie finally passed away after a short illness. There will be no Marwen IV.

This past weekend after running a few errands in town I drove over to the cemetary and visited with Susie at her grave. Before I left I knelt beside her tombstone and whispered, "See you in heaven." Mother's place is near mine, and on my way home I stopped. I walked out to where I had buried Marwen, her burial spot still easy to find because of the large rocks I placed there. Before I left I knelt down beside Marwen's tomb stones and whispered, "See you in heaven."

[chocolatepuppy]

I'll bet your sister Susan was a wonderful person. I'm sure she is missed. That's funny how she kept naming her dogs the same name, Marwen.

[Randi]

It sounds as if your sister had a great life, in spite of living with Down's syndrome, and her three Marwen's must have wonderful for her to have. Her grave looks beautiful and I see there's a nice wooden bench where you can sit and "chat" with her. Her gravestone is pretty much the same shape I chose for John.

Thank you for sharing.

I'm glad you enjoyed about Batman, I met him only a year before he was put to sleep - 11 years old.

How is the little newcomer, Taz, getting on? He's SO cute!

[Willow Oak]

How is the little newcomer, Taz, getting on? He's SO cute!

I don't know if you are aware, but I made a few posts regarding him in the dog rescue forum:

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showpost...9&postcount=14

http://petoftheday.com/talk/showpost...1&postcount=15

Basically, Taz is beginning to show his personality. Although he does play a lot with the other dogs (or attempts to) he does not mind being alone. I'll find him alone outside under a tree chewing on a stick when all of the other dogs are inside enjoying the air conditioning. He has himself a habit of crawling under the couch when he is inside, but he is getting too big for that. One day either he won't make it in or he won't make it out.

Every morning as I leave for work I tell the dogs to go to their rooms. I'll say, "Go to your room." At that each dog goes to his respective kennel or cage. I've learned to confine the dogs when I leave. Taz has his own kennel and he dutifully goes to it his just like the others go to theirs.

[Willow Oak]

I am not dumb. After all I am a college graduate. Of course, I didn't actually graduate until I was 35, apporximately 14 years after I originally enrolled ..., so maybe I ain't so smart after all. But I have learned a lot, and a lot of the lessons I have had to learn the hard way.

I saw the cats beginning to multiply. They weren't mine. They were someone else's. I lived with my mother, and my sister lived on the same property, and it was they who had been collecting these dogs and cats all these years, so let them deal with it. But they weren't dealing with it, and that's why there were so many dogs and cats. Sheba had recently borne her litter of four males, and there were a few more cats that had showed up since, among which were Charcoal, Boots, BKI and BKII (Black Kat I and Black Kat II), and others, and I had assumed the role of caretaker.

So I set about looking for a vet who would help me out and not require that I turn over my checking account number. I did eventually find someone who would do the lot for $200, so I loaded up the cats -- nine in all and headed for the vet.

I know that you sitting there with all of your years of experience, saying to yourself that you do not carry one cat, let alone nine, loose in your car, but hey, I was a newbie. I didn't know.

As long as I did not pull the car over and open the door I was okay, but when I finally arrived at the vet's office I knew that my car would never smell the same again. On the ride over most of the cats had pretty muchy freaked out -- almost all of them except for Socks. From birth Socks had been the calmest, coolest, most laid-back cat of all. Early on in life he had crawled into my lap and lay there. Everyday my lap was his destination, and if he was not in my lap he was in the chair next to mine. Without a doubt, Socks was my favorite. And on the ride to the vet Socks was the only calm one of the bunch.

As a matter of fact, Socks lay in my lap during the trip to the vet, and naturally he would be the first that I would carry inside. So I gathered Socks up first, opened the door very carefully so that no one else would escape, and headed for the door. I was carrying Socks in my arms when the door opened, and when it did Socks bolted. Off he ran into the woods adjacent to the building. That was seven or so years ago. I looked for that guy for days, and for weeks I returned and went all throughout the woods looking for Socks, calling out to him, but I never found him nor did I ever see him again. My heart was thoroughy crushed over that incident.

I managed to successfully deliver the other kitties to be neutered and spayed, but I really learned my lesson that day.

Lesson #1: When transporting your pet ALWAYS CONFINE YOUR PET TO A PET CARRIER OR LEASH until safely delivered inside.

This next lesson required required several incidents in order to be driven into my thick skull. Occasionally we would find the body one of our cats off in a field or some such place, seemingly in one piece but mussed up nonetheless. I was always puzzled as to the nature of the death, but eventually I did figure it out. Evidently sometimes a cat will get itself into a scrape with a pack of dogs, and this has happened several times. To be truthful, this is what happened to Shadow, Curiosity, and Sheba, as well as at least three other cats of which I am aware.

I made a decision long ago that I would not confine the cats to an outdoor pen. This has mostly worked, but there have been failures. Most of my cats understand how to navigate among the dogs, but even among my own dogs, who are mostly very friendly to the cats and each other, "accidents" can happen. So whenever I leave the house now I confine the dogs to minimize the incidents of "accidents."

Lesson #2: CONFINE YOUR ANIMALS WHEN AWAY FROM THE HOUSE..

However, I had to endure the demise of poor Yella Fella and poor Goldie and almost the demise of Cathy before I learned that even among friends, accidents do occur. I acquired first Yella Fella from the neighbors. He was in bad shape -- full of ticks and fleas and mange. I bathed him and administered Ivomec as I have done so often before, and within a couple of weeks he was well on the way to recovery.

I always quarantine a new animal for at least two weeks, and such was the case with Yella Fella. Within the allotted time Yella Fella had recovered well enough to introduce to the general population, and after the initial sniffing and snarling, the other dogs settled back into their normal routines. When I would go to work I continued to confine Yella Fella behind a child gate, but one day when I arrived home I found Yella Fella running loose but in one piece. I decided to leave him out. This worked for about a week, and then one day I arrived home to find his lifeless body in the back yard. Evidently, the other dogs had not quite accepted Yella Fella fully, but I was not aware of this. Poor Yella Fella. I truly did not know any better. Even so, I feel that your untimely demise was my fault.

Shortly after losing Yella Fella I acquired his sister. This time I would make sure not to make the same mistake again. "Goldie" was in much worse shape than her brother had been. She was all over sores and welts and fleas and ticks, but as with her brother I was quickly able to set her on a right course. In her case I decided to extend the quarantine period and observe the other dogs' behavior before I trusted them to be all together while I was away. Over the extended period Goldie grew and I observed on my days off and my time at home that the other dogs genuinely seemed to accept the newcomer. So the time came that I felt like it would be safe to leave her out with the other dogs when I left for work.

The day came to leave Goldie loose, and all day at work I worried. That was the longest day of my life -- all day I worried and sweated and wondered: had I done the right thing? After all, wasn't I risking Goldie's life by taking this chance?

When I arrived home all was very quiet. Eerily quiet. Too quite. Slowly and nervously I exited my vehicle. The dogs were all in a very abject mood as I entered the house. Ordinarily I would have expected Goldie to be bouncing around outside, as with all of the animals, but there was no Goldie. I knew before I even got out of the car. I knew before I even entered the house. I knew. I found Goldie's lifeless body under my desk. I cannot describe the rest of the scene. I cannot think about that now.

Lesson #2: NO MATTER THE DISPOSITION OF YOUR PETS(S), EXPECT ACCIDENTS TO HAPPEN..

I do often think that I have done a good job of rescuing a few animals and helping those in need to receive help. I do have a few success stories. But I have a few failures also. Sometimes failure is the only way to learn. Even so, learning can be so painful. I cannot blame myself for Yella Fella's demise, but I knew I was taking a chance with Goldie. With Yella Fella I sincerely thought all was okay, but with Goldie I knew there was the possibility of a bad outcome, yet I took the chance anyway.

There is a footnote to this story. Yella Fella and Goldie were litter mates. Their mother belonged to neighbors. She and I never met until one morning about 5:00 am. As I was pulling out of my driveway to go to work, Yella Fella and Goldie's mommy decided to chase my truck. Another vehicle was approaching from the opposite direction and hit her. I pulled up and exited my truck. She was in very bad shape. Here it was, 5:00 am, and here was this dog lying in the road, all beat up. What could I possibly do to help her? Well, I had to go to work; It was too early to find a vet open; her owner's were not awake yet; she was in very bad shape -- she couldn't possible survive.

As I was kneeling next to the mother of Yella Fella and Goldie I recalled an incident that had happened a few weeks before. Another dog, owned by the same neighbor, had been hit in approximately the same spot in the road. I had arrived shortly after it happened, and the owner had arrived also. The dog was in very bad shape and could not survive, but it was alive. After some consideration I retrieved my .22 rifle, and she called another neighbor to come and do the deed. I recall asking the guy if he would please put several bullets into her head, but macho as he was he assured me that one shot between the eyes would do the trick. I didn't argue, but against my better judgment I decided to stay and observe. He shot the dog once in the head. What happened after that I wish I could forget. The dog required several minutes to expire, but it was a long struggle. Oh, it was probably unconscious during the whole time, but I decided right then that the next time this situation presented itself I would do the deed myself.

Now here was the next time. I retrieved the rifle from my house and returned to the dog who lay beside the road. She was alive and conscious, but it was ovious that she would not survive. Never in my life had I done what I was about to do. It was very early in the morning and still very dark. The air was cool and crisp, and I love dogs -- all dogs. Yet I was staring down the muzzle of a loaded gun with the bead set squarely between the eyes of one of God's precious creatures, and I was about to take from it the greatest gift on earth. I had been in the same position a few years earlier when Sam first showed up at my place, and in his case I couldn't pull the trigger. But now -- there simply was no other choice. This time there was no long struggle. It was over in seconds. I pray God forgive me for doing what I felt like I had to do.

Yella Fella:



Goldie on the day I brought her home:





I give Goldie a bath in my kitchen sink:



Goldie, a few weeks later: