Companion animals make such a difference. We have three cats, a 14 year old female Maine Coon and two rescues that we think are about 7-8 years old. I do not care for waking up in the mornings, except that we have kitties that are sooo excited just by us getting out of bed. Running around our feet, purring like crazy, looking for rubs and good mornings. They can’t know how much pleasure they bring to their hoooman servants.
One daughter we have only has animals no kids. At one time she felt somewhat bad about not giving us grandkids. Oh please, honey have ten grand kids and 11 great grand kids.- your doing just fine
My iPad just brought up a picture of the kitty we recently lost. He was a male Maine Coon and lived to 14 years old but developed severe congestive heart failure. I just instantly teared up when the pic popped up. The pain never goes away.
Over 40 years ago a local Cop who I knew came to me and asked if I wanted a dog as this little long-haired terrier had been ejected from a car and it was over an hour trip for him to the pound, I said OK and he became my first dog. On the way home he chewed both my truck window trim and my buddys sleeping bag when we stopped for lunch and left him in the truck, not a good start but he turned in to the most lovable dog and that was the first of a long line of four legged friends. A few years later after our first child was born he would lay along side my daughter then at the crawling stage as she grabbed handfuls of that hair and calmly look over his shoulder at her and not even try to move away. I now have a new chewing challenge in having recently had a young Collie join us at around 8 weeks, he is the first dog we adopted as a pup as all the long line of previous friends were mature dogs when they came to us. A little lap full to start Shadow is now around 7 months and at the nose to table height stage but still thinks he is a lap dog. All you dog owners will know exactly what I mean!
I have had dogs for most of my adult life except when it wasn't possible. We are now dog-less for the first time in almost 50 years except for a period when we first moved here. I miss having a friend to talk with and to take for walks around the place.
The 3 or 4 months that I was without a four legged friend after loosing Nikki to cancer was quite hard but my daughter saw my need and found Shadow for me. I found it very difficult for those few months often holding the door open behind me when going out for the mail for her to follow ......
@Don Alaska .. Could you maybe consider getting another dog but not a puppy .maybe an older dog that was like Radar slept most of the time
I doubt I will ever get another puppy, but I am open to an adult dog. The wife doesn't want any animals--or so she says--but she would jump at the chance for an indoor cat I think. We have seen an adult calico hanging around some lately. We had a feral calico some years ago who had a litter in one of our outbuildings and we wonder if it is the same cat back again. I think we should start feeding her to see if she will stay around, especially with winter near, but we don't want to attract a lot of feral animals.
I have sadly reached the point where I have to acknowledge that Bubba may well outlive me, given that my last four cats have lived into their mid to late 20s. Otherwise, I can't imagine myself without a cat.
Tia one of the our three dogs was about 6 months old when she became part of our life. She is a rescue dog who was found wandering around South Carolina after hurricane, she did not have a microchip and no attempt was made to claim her.They drove her up from South Carolina to Long Island New York, we met the van in a local Shopping Center and picked up one of the best dogs I've ever owned. The day we brought her home my daughter who lives with us was having a birthday party for our grandchild. We were told she was sweet and loving but I still kept her on a leash because we had a house full of company. She showed no signs of aggression as people came over to her to pet and Greet her. After seeing her temperament realizing she was not aggressive I let her free, she immediately went to every guest and greeted them with a hug and a kiss. She's 75 lb of pure love and I couldn't be more proud and happy to have her in my life today.
Our Emma came up from Kentucky, I think, with a local rescue. She was part American Eskimo and looked it save for a smattering of pale sandy. Her owner had gone to a nursing home leaving Emma and a roomie alone. We chose Emma and a sweeter dog we could not have found anywhere, except maybe for your Tia. Sadly, we only had her for three years. She was pretty old when we got her, but that is how we like 'em. Those rescues do amazing work, finding the nicest dogs and fostering them to put the finishing touches on them.