Pets are people, too

Mark, you win the newly minted IMTBTrails PAPT Curmudgeon Cup!

Your addition here is honestly appreciated. Congratulations to Dixie on her new forever home, and of course to your lass on her new forever friend.

 

I like it!!! It will be prominently displayed, thanks!!

 

Heavy northern autumn sky
Mist-hung forest -- Dark spruce, bright maple --
And the great lake rolling forever to the narrow gray beach

I look west along the red road of the frail sun
Where it hovers between shelf of cloud and spiky trees,
Receding shore;

The world is full of seasons; of anguish, of laughter
And it comes to mind to write you this:

Nothing is sure
Nothing is pure
And no matter who we think we are
Everybody gets a chance to be nothing

Love's supposed to heal, but it breaks my heart to feel
The pain in your voice --
But you know, it's all going somewhere
And I would crush my heart and throw it in the street
If I could pay for your choice

Isn't that what friends are for?

We're the insect life of paradise:
Crawl across leaf or among towering blades of grass
Glimpse only sometimes the amazing breadth of heaven

You're as loved as you were
Before the strangeness swept through
Our bodies, our houses, our streets --
When we could speak without codes
And light swirled around like
Wind-blown petals,
Our feet

I've been scraping little shavings off my ration of light
And I've formed it into a ball, and each time I pack a bit more onto it
I make a bowl of my hands and I scoop it from its secret cache
Under a loose board in the floor
And I blow across it and I send it to you
Against those moments when
The darkness blows under your door

Isn't that what friends are for?

 

I'm always so hesitant to click on this thread in fear of sad news...

 

I feel the same way. But without the incalculable joy from and the trusting bond with our friends, there would be no sadness. Thank you, @Mikie.

 

Shoes are still hanging, @Cyclotourist. This lad is doing a positively wonderful job of working through losing his bonded mate. We of course never suspected it would happen to four-year-old siblings. But he recognized the situation as we all did because it happen over a few weeks. We miss that little girl fiendishly. But time is doing what it does.

 

Sorry to hear.

 

You all probably do some heavy lifting right now...

 

Awwwwww man! so sorry Bud...

 

Just kicking it and taking in the morning sun… Elsie.

 

I had a horrible experience about one month ago. I stopped at a client's house on a usual route to work my magic. They have an old cat who had been there ever since I started the account (nearly twenty years ago). The cat and I had a routine. He would greet me at their front door to be let inside. Sometimes he would be inside wanting to go out. Well, last visit, I let him in as I was entering to start work. This time, he followed me to where I was going inside and then he rubbed on my leg more than usual. I knelt down and pet him. He then went on his way, to the room where he usually goes when he is inside. Moments later, we heard a loud commotion. The cat had a stroke and was convulsing violently and then he stopped and died. It broke my heart. Im still thinking about him, one month later. I was the last person to touch him while he was still alive. The owners were extremely upset. It was an awful day for them and for me. I know the cat knew the end was coming and Im glad he gave me a formal goodbye.

 

@RIGID Missed your post on this thread from earlier. We have been successful treating red foxes in our neighborhood for mange. We had been using ivermectin, but the local wildlife shelter set us up with fluralaner (Bravecto) which is a systemic that works for six months (the ivermectin we had to dose every five days).

Outside our master BR window:


One of the kits about six months later with bad case of mange:


Same kit about a month later after treatment. Just got fur back prior to cold weather.

 

@BonsaiNut FTW.

 

I don't know who's idea it was (ex wife or ferrier), but we switched to super expensive glue on aluminum shoes on my horse. Good news is, they are working. He looks so much more comfortable, and is back to his usual bad attitude if I ride him farther than a few hundred feet from his barn. Bad news is, they are working, which means I will be continuing to spend more money than I like on shoes.

 

The dogs after a swim in Maple Springs Canyon


Ivy undergoing desensitizing with my daughter

 

Nice read. Thank you for the write up.
@BonsaiNut How so you dose a wild animal?

 

We were fortunate that the sick foxes (two of them) would come through our yard at different times of the day. We would set out paper plates with some pieces of rotisserie chicken that had been treated with the meds on the days that they were supposed to be treated. When they were really sick they didn't move around the neighborhood much. Now that they are healthier they disappear for days at a time... but we still see them a couple times a week. Sometimes at dawn, sometimes in the evenings.

The wildlife sanctuary does not take foxes with mange because it spreads so easily to other animals. However they provided us with the advice to care for them, and once we shared photos showing our progress, they were willing to provide better medicine. The Bravecto costs $60 per tablet so they don't like to give it out unless they are confident it is actually going to be used. It helped considerably that we were around the house most days.

 

Quick fox update... this morning I was up at dawn and Fox 1 was just sitting in the back yard looking up at the house. She looks great - nice and thick fur - which is a good thing because it is 29 this AM. The photos above are Fox 2. There are at least two other young foxes who we see (much more rarely) though we can't tell for sure whether they are from our litter of kits or a different one. Fox 1 and Fox 2 are kits from our litter. They will occasionally show up in our yard at the same time and will sometimes play together or snooze in the sun together down by the lake. Since the kits were whelped we've seen the vixen one time in the middle of the summer, but have not seen the dog (the male).

Didn't know this until we started, but it is impossible to tell the sex of red foxes by field observation. We know the parents of the litter just because we saw the female nursing the kits and got to recognize the two parents by their markings. But the two young foxes we treated for mange we don't know their sex. We refer to them as females but we don't know.

(Image of fox kits tearing around our back yard while daddy fox keeps watch)

 

Had to put my boy to sleep today. House (and heart) feel empty). I know all the pet lovers out there know how I'm feeling. He had a great life for 13.5 years. Pic from Tahoe.

 

I hate this thread...

So sorry for your loss. It's the price we pay for the love and joy they bring.

 

Rest In Peace, lieber Schäferhund...

 

Sad to hear. It is the worst part about dog ownership. My boy Rocket just turned 16 and he is slowing down considerably. I am trying to enjoy the time we have left together.

As far as the next chapter in the circle of life goes...

Activity noted at the fox den this AM. Ten degrees colder than average for this time of year - and has been for two weeks. Momma fox is currently sleeping in a ball in the meager warmth cast by the rays of the rising sun. She looks very pregnant.

 

Thanks everyone. Even though it was his time, it still sucks. I hope that all the pet owners on this site give their dogs and cats a little extra love today, and let them play with their favorite toy or give them a special treat.

 

We’re going to get our new puppy Jolene in about an hour. A female Basenji ( barkless dog ) to keep our boy Basenji Jax company. We had to put down our female Basenji 4 months ago and Jax could use a new playmate. Also, Courtney just got a female Basenji from a different litter so Jax can rough and tumble with them both when Dolly Pawton visits. Jolene with me in the blue shirt holding her for the first time while we picked up Dolly from the breeders. Dolly pictured in the pink blanket at 9 weeks. We brought Dolly with us to the desert because Jax is calming and we didn't want Courtney to be distracted driving the 395 to Ridgecrest in her Chevy Tahoe driving alone.

 

Awwww - congrats!

 

I've been sleeping on an air mattress now for 2 weeks in our back sunroom potty training Jolene and also giving our older Basenji boy dog space while they get used to each other. All is going well except our new puppy likes to play at 4:00 am. Yay! I'm missing that precious rem sleep you get between 3 and 5:00 am. Frankly I'm pickled but it's getting better. Here's a pic of Jax and Jolene.

 

Here's a pic of my daughters Basenji puppy, Dolly, with her 2 Siamese cats, Bo and Willy, eagerly waiting at her door for the mischievous squirrel to come by and taunt them nearly every day.

 

My over sized meatball says “ hello. “ Clyde is doing a couple of laps around our back room after eating fresh Strawberry’s. Jolene is wondering what is with this slow moving rock.

 

Was he in hybernation?

 

Yes he was. He comes out in early spring and goes back down in November to his burrow. It takes him about 2 weeks after waking up to be social. He goes down into his burrow every night.