PAST
FRIENDS
They might
be gone, but they will never be forgotten; past friends that I have
loved throughout my many years.
Goober (tabby
and white) lived to be 15 years old and was never sick a day in his life
until one week before his death. He was euthanized in my arms after
a liver tumor was discovered. Goober was my oldest living friend.
He was a feral kitten, untouched until we took him home at 6 months of
age. He used to find the smallest places to hide and one day I thought
I had to "rescue" him and he bit my hand all the way to the bone.
From that day forward he and I were best buds. In his life he was
very accepting of other animals (dogs and cats) and helped raise some orphan
kittens, one of which was Shadow (see below). Cat (white cat) was
a rescue from a clinic I worked for. He had broken his leg and his owner
opted to euthanise rather then spend the money so one of the doctors kindly
"claimed" the cat as his, fixed the leg and neutered him. After a
few weeks of recovery time I brought him home with the condition that he
must get along with the resident basenjis and Goober. He walked in
the door as though he owned the place and never looked back. A few
months later his former owner heard how great he was doing and had the
gall to ask the doctor if they could have him back. He was euthanized
5 years later due to congestive heart failure complications that came on
suddenly and would not abate. He was guess-timated to be about 6
or 7 years of age at time of death.
Talamar (doberman)
was my first ever adult dog. We bought her from a backyard breeder who
put two dogs together and left them in the yard to fend for themselves
and their offspring. As you can tell from her collar (with tags!)
I was one clueless owner. I had no idea how to train, how to
socialize or the benefit of either. Due to my ignorance she grew
to be extremely scared of children. To compound her insecurities,
she fractured her femur at a young age, and though we spent mucho dinero
getting the leg fixed she never walked on it again which limited her outside
exposure even more. Eventually the plate in her leg, or perhaps the
break itself, caused osteosarcoma. We opted to have the leg amputated
to save her life but once under anesthesia we got a call from the veterinarian
with the recommendation that we euthanise as she was moaning and groaning
while under full anesthetic - the fear was that it had progressed too far.
Lugsy (dachshund) was a pet store puppy - his cost was greatly inflated
- over $1,000 and this was almost 20 years ago. I knew nothing about
puppy
mills, the conditions these dogs are bred and
raised in, nor the role pet stores, and ultimately the public, play in
supporting these inhumane establishments. Lugsy ended up totally
blind at age 6 and had disc (back) trouble for the remainder of his life.
The pain became unmanageable, and pain relief could no longer address it.
Sadly Lugsy was euthanized around the age of 10 years.
I was a senior
in high school when Samantha came to live with us. My high school
soccer coach Mike had a litter of kittens born in his van (the mom was
killed when he started the engine) and needed to find home for them.
I carried Sam around in my jersey after the game and then approached my
parents with the story that I had a found her - could we keep her.
Only later did the truth come out - by then my folks loved her. She
was great cat and ended up with kidney failure. She is buried in
the yard of my parents Tucson home.
Shadow was one
of 4 orphan kittens I found at my place of work in Phoenix. The mother
had been killed so I took them in and hand reared them. Shadow was
the one we kept, placing the other three. Goober was Shadow's surrogate
parent and they loved each other. Shadow was used to being an indoor/outdoor
kitty which did not change once I ended up in Tucson. One day she went
outside and never returned. While there are coyotes, bobcats and
mountain lions in the area I would like to think she got picked up by a
family and lived her life somewhere else.
Evak was a
cat I owned in Phoenix. He went out one day and never returned.
:O(
Ashleigh was a
humane society kitty. Goober was lonely after Shadow disappeared
so we went and got him a friend. Despite being very careful not to let
any of the cats out, Ashleigh slipped out one day and never returned.
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