Poor Dewie!

That right there is a cat that is hating me right now! Instead of paying for an e-collar, we decided to make a custom one! It's softer and it's free! Who doesn't like that??  

Why does he have an e-collar on? Well, he pretty much licked himself bald on his belly, front and rear legs so we're keeping it on him until his fur starts to grow back (whenever that may be!). We originally thought that it was related to stress, but after a while, it got worse so we brought him to the Vet and they said that it's allergy related dermatitis.  He's had seasonal allergies down in KY but up here, he never seemed to have any problems.  It turns out, we just needed to switch his food.  So, we're seeing how he does on Taste of the Wild.  

When we initially put the e-collar on, he was NOT a happy camper.  But he seems to be doing ok with Justice keeping him company!  All he's been doing is sleeping and low crawling around the house.  

We will see how he does this next month!

SNOW!

It has been a weird winter up in the New England area.  It's been cold but all we've been getting is a small amount of snow with rain...so we get mainly ICE!  Adam and I have hit the ground way too many times lol.  The dogs just ice skate around when we go for walks.  Yesterday, we got a decent amount of snow so we took the dogs to the ski mountain for a walk UP the hill! Let me tell you how exhausting that was!! Thank goodness I had Juno because she pretty much pulled me up the hill.  Man, did she LOVEE the snow! Surprisingly, Rocko and Ciera didn't mind it either.  They were running around, eating the snow, and enjoying themselves.

 Juno enjoying herself and Ciera watching her go crazy! lol

 So happy!!!!

Unfortunately, we didn't take pictures of Rocko and Ciera.  It was more of a Juno day! lol

Christmas week

For Christmas this year, we packed up our 6 animals and headed down to Massachusetts to visit Adam's family.  We hate to intrude with all our animals so we stayed at a hotel for a few days.  Our cats hate the 3 hour drive but we can't leave them behind.  Our dogs on the other hand, wants to go for rides all day long!  We finally bought a car big enough to fit all our stuff and our animals comfortably so the trips have not been so bad!

 The dogs after our 3 hour trip in our Land Rover! :) I think they love it as much as we do!

 The dogs have their own bed at the hotel so we don't have to fight for our spot on our bed!

 The cats like to be by my side, especially when they have no idea where they are! or they'll hide under the bed as most cats do.

 The dogs later that night passed out! So peaceful!!

Juno thinks she's going for a ride on the trolley LOL

Lazy Days

It has been so cold outside that all we want to do is curl up in front of the fire place and sleep allllll day! So, that's what we've been doing.  Our days have been going something like this...

We go out in the morning for some fresh air...

 Then they go straight to the couch as soon as we come inside and fall asleep!

 Bleu loves to snuggle with Rocko! lol

 Then they all wrestle for a while...

 Dewie sleeps in the cave all day and comes out occasionally. (It's right next to the heater so it's extra toasty under there!)

 They switch spots sometimes lol

 Beg for some food...

Played some more...

and we go for a walk again a few hours later...and a couple more walks throughout the day just to get them out of the house! Sometimes we have to fight them to come with us lol.  But really, can we blame them? :)

Sweet memories

Even though it's been over a year since Edith passed away, I still miss her like crazy.  To this day, I have a hard time talking about her without shedding a tear.  I know she is in a better place and is taking care of all the animals that had to leave this world.  Adam and I were ready to take in another foster, so we went to the pound to look at the dogs.  In the first pen was an old Golden/Lab mix that was brought in as a stray and was in heat stress.  We immediately knew that she had to come home with us seeing as she was a very old dog...probably around 10 or 12 years old.  We originally were going to just foster but after a few weeks, I decided that she was here to stay.  

 We made a nice comfy bed for her

 She was pretty nasty and matted so we shaved her down, and thank goodness we did because there was a big tick on her that we wouldn't have seen through her thick fur!!

 Edy and Rocko became friends...he looked after her

 Edith and Copper.

Copper was a 1 year old Beagle that needed back surgery.  She had IVDD (Intervertebral Disk Disease) which was causing her pain and unable to move her back legs.  She needed physical therapy after surgery so I fostered her until she was ready to go to a rescue or a home.  After 2 weeks of therapy, she started using her rear legs! About a month after she went to her rescue, I got a video of her WALKING!!  She was like a brand new dog! It was amazing. :)

 These two needed constant attention so I brought them to work with me all the time.  Because I worked in Emergency, it was nice having them around to help me stay awake! Especially around 4am...that seemed to be the rough hour for me! haha.  Edith never left my side.  I felt bad because she was so arthritic but HAD to be able to see me at all times so she would get up when I got up.  

This is a picture of everyone minus Justice!

After about a month of having her, she started hacking a lot.  She already had laryngeal paralysis, a big subcutaneous tumor on her neck, a dent on her head, and arthritis.  I was just hoping that it was just kennel cough.  I took xrays of her chest and found out that she had mets (cancer) in her lungs....I was devastated.  I knew from the beginning that taking in a senior dog meant that I wouldn't have a long time with her but I didn't think it would be this short.  The doctor told me that she probably would have a few months.  The only thing I could do at this point was to keep her comfortable.

Edith and I were together 24-7...she was my shadow.  She was pretty much a clinic dog too and everyone at work loved her.  She was such a silly girl...she would pretty much bite our hands off when we gave her treats, and she would do a half jump for joy just so we would give her a treat faster!  Ciera actually reminds me a lot of her.  We call Ciera "shark bite" when she gets treats because she rolls her eyes to the back of her head and  chomps down like a shark! haha.  She was also very stubborn too...she wouldn't eat her food in her run so I'd have to take her out and feed her in the room just so she wouldn't hurt herself by trying to cover it up with her nose!

I got to spend two GREAT months with her until the cancer took over.  One day, you could just see that spark in her eyes were gone.  She wouldn't eat, she was losing weight, and she couldn't get up anymore.  When I was helping her up, I felt a big mass on her liver and I knew then that she was in more pain than before.  She was on all sorts of medications to keep her comfortable but I couldn't let her suffer.  When I looked into her eyes, I could tell that she was saying that it was time and that it was ok.  I didn't want to accept it but I knew that the right thing to do was to let her go.  I brought her to work and layed on the floor with her until she left this world.  I've never had a dog affect my life so much like Edith in such a short amount of time.  It was like I've had her her whole life.  Her loyalty to me and the love and affection she showed me will never be forgotten.  Because of her, Adam and I always look for senior dogs in need of homes. People always look past the senior dogs because they don't want to get attached to a dog that may only have a few months or years and it's really unfortunate.  I think they are the best!  It really takes a toll on you though...it's rewarding and heartbreaking at the same time. I'm just glad that I got to spend quality time with Edith.  She really was a special dog!  All the good memories I have of her will last forever. I hope to adopt another senior dog sometime in the near future!

I love and miss you Edith, every single day!

Our poofy kitty Bleu (or at least we thought)

Bleu, along with his 2 siblings were born on March 20, 2010 under our neighbors porch in Morehead, KY.  Our neighbor had a feral cat, Callie, they had been feeding for several years now.   I have been involved with the Trap-Neuter-Release program in Lexington, KY so we informed them about how cheap the spay cost would be for her.  Callie is just too smart for live traps so we had a really hard time catching her.  In the meantime, we agreed to take the new litter of kittens when they were about 5 weeks old and adopt them out ourselves.

The kittens under the porch...it was a good time to catch them since they weren't fast enough to get away from us yet!  The orange and white kitten was adopted by my friend Daniel and the Dilute Calico was adopted by Troy. :)

                                       

Rocko loved the new kitties!

 They all got a bath after we caught them, but surprisingly, they were VERY clean.  Momma Callie did a great  job taking care of them.

                                       

Bleu is a pimp in this picture! haha

Kitties enjoying the cat stand!

Dewie is so big in this picture compared to the munchkins!

Bleu has always been food motivated since day 1!

How could we NOT keep this poof ball?

Daddy Rocko took wonderful care of the babies!

Bleu when he was about 7 weeks old.

Since they met, they have been best friends...

Growing up with dogs, he thinks he's a dog!

How many cats would allow being smooshed like this? haha

His favorite movie is Milo and Otis...no lie! 

Justice and Bleu are like momma and son! Don't they look a like?

We really thought Bleu would grow up to be a domestic medium haired cat.  He was such a poof ball with a triangle tail when he was a baby but he definitely grew up to be a handsome man!  He isn't scared of anything, which we're not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing!  haha

Now, he has a new best friend, Ciera!  It's so cute to watch them together.  He nudges her while she licks him like crazy!  Here's some new pictures:

   

Even Juno joined in on the snuggle fest! :)

Last of Mariah's puppies

The last male black and white puppy that was treated and recovered from Parvo went to his home tonight!!!  His new owner, Norm, had been waiting for him for over a week now.  He was so bummed when he couldn't pick him up last week but we were not about to adopt out a sick puppy.  He thinks that he is going to name him Tank  because he's a Thanksgiving dog.  Tank is going to be a great pup for him.  Tank will get to see his brother, Harvick, from time to time so that's exciting!

 Ciera being a momma to the pups

Tank earlier today!

As much as we love puppies, it has been a long 2 weeks.  Now it's time to get a good night sleep!!