Coping With Pet Grief, Advice from Spark of Life

If you are in grief over the loss of a pet, you are not alone.  An organization called “Spark of Life” deals with grief and has a video on it.  See YouTube link below.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=HSFq7BJZtFo&feature=share

Illustrations of Grief

I found a couple of graphic illustrations of the grief I feel for my dog, Bogie.

Sadness and Grief: My Dog Bogie died.

The most beloved dog of my life died on October 6. Bogie was my constant companion for 12 years, dying of lung cancer at the age of 14.  My grief over his loss has been the worst of my life and the pain deep and terrible.

Yes, he was old and it was just his time.  Nevertheless, his absence is glaring.

Bogie was diagnosed on a Monday and died the following Wednesday. So it was sudden and unexpected.  We were driving him to the vets to be put down but he died in the back seat just as we arrived.  We had to watch him in his death throes, and it was devastating and traumatic.

The pain is less now, 5 weeks later, but has been replaced with an omnipresent feeling of sadness.  

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My Birds Have Flown: Young Robins Strike Out On Their Own

Bye Bye Birdie

My major project since last Thursday was to care for two adolescent Robins that I found in my back yard.  Both I and the mama bird fed them, until yesterday, when only the mama bird fed them while I stayed out of the way.

Yesterday I put the Robins into the branches of the persimmon tree where they were born.  They spent the day exploring the branches, occasionally fed by the mother Robin.  At the end of the day, I retrieved them and put them into their cage, to keep them warm and safe.

This morning I again released them into the tree.  This time, the mama bird did not show.  I guess she figured the young ones are ready to go on their own.  She was right.  One flew away within the hour.  The other stayed for awhile, and I was worried about him, so invited him onto my finger.  He allowed me to pet him and feed him a couple of pieces of a cherry.  Then he flew onto my shoulder, then flew to a perch on the patio.  Then he flew away into the sky.

Mission accomplished, now I can get some work done besides bird watching.

Merry Christmas from Bogie and Missy! (Warning: Sickeningly Cute Pets Photoshop)

Wake us when the eggnog's ready...

This is a Photoshop of my two pets. The original picture of them relaxing on a pillow on the sofa is real, but I changed the pillow color from blue to beige, Photoshopped a couple of Santa hats onto them and added the fireplace as a background.

Need a holiday Photoshop?  Email me the picture you want and how you want it changed (in general, no need to be overly specific).  I can put your blog or website message in it too, all for a small contribution to this blog (say, $25).

You can also take the graphic to Target or any department store that handles pictures and use it to make your family Christmas cards.  (I can duplicate the image with the name of your family for no extra charge.)

PETA Using Sex to Sell Puppies from the Pound

PETA, (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has a new ad featuring a nude model (see right).

The model is Joanna Krupa, a Playboy model and regular on "Dancing With the Stars" TV show.

Critics are annoyed at the use of a crucifix to hide Krupa's critical body parts, saying it is a misuse of Christian symbolism.  They have a point.  When you want to motivate people to do something, it is best not to insult them first.

I say, do indeed adopt a puppy from the pound.  Or even an older dog.  My last three dogs were adopted, one of them old and deaf (I had him for seven great years).  Our latest dog, Bogie, was adopted from the Los Angeles pound by my son.   Bogie is without a doubt the best dog of our lives.  We also have two cats, both adopted.  One was a feral kitten captured by our son.  The latest is a kitten adopted from a cat rescue organization.

Animal shelters are reporting a large influx of pets that have been abandoned by their owners, probably due to the deep recession we are now experiencing.   Go get one of them.  Your life and theirs will be much better for it.  Nude model not included.

Via:  Fox News

Helping an Injured, Feral Cat

Yesterday morning I got an early start and was on my way to work. On Frazier Lake Road, just over the line into Santa Clara County, I saw the car in front of me hit a cat. Two feral cats, one black and one gray, were fighting on the side of the road and suddenly both darted in front of the car; it couldn’t stop and hit the gray one. The black one escaped injury. I saw both cats as the car hit them with its right front fender, then both cats dashing to the other side of the road, the black one running and the gray one dragging its paralyzed rear legs behind it as it propelled itself forward with its front feet. I knew at once that the collision had injured the gray cat’s spinal cord and probably broke its back. The black cat ran and squeezed through a fence and disappeared. It seemed to be uninjured.
..
I stopped my car and looked for the gray cat, thinking that maybe I could take it to a vet or animal shelter to be put down. I didn’t want to leave it to suffer. The driver of the car that hit them made a U turn and came back and we both looked for the gray cat. It wasn’t immediately visible in the tall weeds by the roadside, so he left. I kept looking and found the cat hiding in the grass. It was a pretty cat with a nice coat, but it hissed at me and tried to drag itself away. It had no where to go, and stopped at a fence alongside the road. I was hoping to pick the cat up and take it somewhere for medical attention. However, though I spoke to it kindly it kept hissing at me, its ears back and its pupils fully dilated. I knew I couldn’t try to pick it up. It would undoubtedly bite and scratch me, and though it didn’t appear to be rabid, I couldn’t take that chance.

I called Mrs. Chomper and asked her to call the Animal Shelter. However, since I was now in Santa Clara County, the San Benito County officials couldn’t act. I gave Mrs. Chomper the precise location of the cat, latitude and longitude, from my GPS system. She called the Santa Clara Animal Shelter and they said they would pick up the cat.

The poor cat couldn’t be saved, not with those injuries (it clearly had a broken back or injured spinal cord), but at least it wasn’t be left to starve or die a slow and miserable death. Poor thing. Sometimes the only thing you can do for an injured animal is to end its suffering.

After work I returned to the place where I had left the cat; I wanted to see if they had indeed picked him up or just left him to suffer. He was gone, however, and I could find no sign of him anywhere in the immediate vicinity. I presume that the Animal Shelter made good on its promise.

I wish I could have done more for that cat, but sometimes you have to acknowledge your limitations.

Both of my pet cats -- one a black, 15 year old cat and the other a five month old tabby kitten -- were both feral cats. My youngest son captured the black cat when it was but a kitten, and my wife bought the new kitten from a private cat rescue society. The kitten had been born under a dumpster four months before. She is a frisky delight, an endless source of comedic antics and purring affection. She is also busily shredding my couch into rags, but that's another story.

I can't save all cats but at least I saved those two (with the help of my family).