I'm a proud pet mom! Having grown up with pets, I've never considered a family complete without them. Each animal that's come into my life has taught me so much about unconditional love, about giving, about loss. The good times with a pet are some of the best moments of my life and the bad times have been some of the worst. Still, I would never want a day to pass when it's not filled with wagging tails, sloppy kisses and a furry snuggle.
Here's a peek at the wonderful pets that complete my family!
Angel is my fifteen-year-old Birman cat, called the Sacred Cat of Burma, who, legend has it, acquired its striking appearance through the intervention of a blue-eyed goddess, who rewarded a temple cat’s love for and devotion to his priest by turning his white coat golden and changing his yellow eyes to blue. Angel is quite the character. He hides when strangers come over, but when it's just family, he runs the household and is the alpha pet despite only weighing about nine pounds! He loves Christmas because he can lay under the tree like a lion in the Savannah and pounce on my poor, unsuspected dogs!
He's addicted to whatever chemical is on photographs and will lick anything glossy. He also loves to pull off present bows, wrestling with my puppy, laying on his back by the fire, and pressing every bit of his body against yours while flicking his plume of a tail in your face. He's quite the character and we adore him.
Lizzie is my fourteen-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel. She's always had health issues and we nearly lost her in her early puppy days because of low blood sugar. When she was ten, she was diagnosed with diabetes. Despite being a little fussy about things, Lizzie shocked me by never complaining or giving me a hard time with her twice a day insulin shots. I was actually more squeamish that her and her stoicism helped me! Lizzie loves to bark at her toys like they are real threats. It's sometimes so convincing that I'll race to her "rescue" only to find her distress is over a small, purple dinosaur... haha.
She hates going outside in the rain, though she loves a warm bath. She lives for car rides, walks and anything peanut butter flavored. In the past few years, Lizzie lost our other dog, Little Bit, lost her hearing and, most recently, her sight. Despite all of this, she follows my lead when I take her on walks, going on trust and love alone. She still goes outside a lot, navigates the house and will bark like mad at a toy she can only smell. I know my time with her is coming to a close, but I can't imagine my life without my little fighter who loves us too much to leave us yet.
Zoey is the latest addition to our family. A year ago we drove to an Amish farm in PA to buy a breed of puppy we'd never heard of: Cava-poo. She's half Cavalier King Charles spaniel and half mini poodle. Since we'd lost our dog, Little Bit, the previous summer, I wasn't in the mood for a new dog. However, my husband surprised me with her because he saw how much I still grieved and was also down about Lizzie losing her sight and hearing. The farmers had named her Courtney, but her picture was so zany and I knew instantly she needed a quirkier name; eventually, we landed on Zoey. It fits her perfectly. She's a very upbeat outgoing dog who loves people, kids, and other dogs--even really big ones.
When she met a huge German Shepherd recently, she was wiggling all over in delight and the Shepherd put a massive paw on her shoulder as if to say "Stop moving!" and she froze, lifted her chin, and sat there like a statue until he'd sniffed all around her. We all agree that her coat is softer than fleece and her dark eyes in her blonde face is so cute. She loves to walk, run errands with us, and is addicted to Wendy's Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers which has made her a little chubby lately :)
Most of all, she has a HUGE heart and caring nature that makes her never retaliate when a defensive and insecure Lizzie growls at her. In fact, Zoey, from a very young age, must have realized that Lizzie was blind, deaf and diabetic because she always sticks by Lizzie's side, guiding her down the stairs outside and watching out, even if she doesn't need to go out herself. She also brings Lizzie toys and stays by my side as I feed Lizzie, as if she knows how important it is that Lizzie eat to keep her sugar up. She only eats once Lizzie has her shot and will actually bark at me if Lizzie starts to go upstairs without getting it. In that way, and others, Zoey is a little bossy, but in a funny way that just melts my heart.
I love all my pets, past and present, and I hope you enjoyed getting to know my pet family :) Please tell me who's in your pet family. I'd love to meet them!
