The Animals Who Enrich My Life—Part 1

Normally in this blog I would tell you about the events or happenings at the or about the animals currently living there.  But this time I would like to share with you the stories of the animals who have lived with me and have enriched my life in a way only animals can. I'm hoping my animals will help others to understand how bringing an animal into your home can enrich your life, and sometimes, they even teach us a thing or two about life. 

Lucy is a black and white “tuxedo” colored cat named after Lucille Ball.  She came to my home 18 years ago with her sister Ethel, as in Ethel Mertz from the “Lucy” show.  For those of you old enough to know who Lucy and Ethel were, the personalities of these cats definitely fit their namesakes.  Lucy the goof ball, always getting into trouble and Ethel the wiser more level headed of the two.  Lucy and Ethel were sisters and the best of friends.  They came into my home as tiny kittens and were so much fun, hours were spent watching and playing with them. They played constantly, cuddled with each other when they would sleep, and occasionally got into a spat just like human sisters.  Ethel passed away at the age of 8 from renal failure.  I was concerned how Lucy would handle loosing Ethel as they had been together their entire lives.  The veterinarian told me to let Lucy see and smell Ethel prior to her being buried.  I brought my sweet Ethel home and laid her on a rug for Lucy to see.  Lucy walked over to her, smelled her, lay down beside Ethel’s lifeless body and began to lick her, gently grooming Ethel’s fur.  I watched this cat mourn the loss of her sister.  I have always loved animals and always believed they loved as well and here on my kitchen floor was proof that they not only have love for us humans, but also for each other.

After Ethel’s death Lucy became the close companion of my dog, Bailey, a Springer Spaniel.  Bailey and Lucy slept in the same bed, played together and even groomed each other.  An odd pairing as far as friends it would seem, but friends they definitely were.  My sweet dog Bailey was with me for 11 wonderful years.  Bailey came from a very neglectful and abusive situation prior to coming into my home, something I will never understand, even though in my job I see cases of this on a regular basis. Bailey was scared and shy when she first came to live with me but she immediately became my best friend.  All Bailey ever wanted out of life was to be loved and to give love. She was a small Springer with a very large heart. Bailey was so loving and so sweet that I really only remember hearing her growl once as if she were very upset. There may have been other times that she growled when hearing something outside at night but otherwise she never growled at a person or other animals. Animals are very forgiving, that is a trait that we see at the shelter on a daily basis. Some things however, understandably cannot be forgiven.  One day Bailey was riding in the car with me, we stopped outside a local business and her previous owner happened to be walking past us. I recognized him, he recognized her and came over to the car to talk to her.  Bailey growled at him.  He told me she must not remember him.  I believe she did remember him and that is why she was growling.  I had seen the conditions she had lived in and heard of the treatment of her prior to living with me; she had every right to growl at this person. Bailey never had to worry about that kind of treatment ever again. 

Bailey loved to play in her “kiddie” pool in the back yard, ride in my car and lay in my lap.  Bailey died of cancer at the age of 13. On the last night of her life, she and I shared a pizza, her favorite "people" food to beg for, although on that night she got whatever she wanted, no begging needed. I slept on the floor with her and the next day she passed away. Lucy lost her companion as well and spent the next couple of days searching the house for Bailey.  Both of us were missing her.  

Lucy and I then shared our home with a rabbit named Bandit.  Yes I had a rabbit living inside my house.  Bandit was a large French Lop rabbit that seemed to think she was a cat and not a rabbit.  Bandit was litter box trained and had the run of my house when I was at home.  When I was at work or during the night Bandit stayed in her rabbit cage in the back entry to my house with her numerous toys, which included a bell she would bang around at all hours of the night, until the bell was finally removed so that I could get some sleep. Bandit liked to follow Lucy all over the place.  Rabbits are very social animals and she loved to just be around other creatures. Bandit and Lucy would play like kittens, I’m not sure they realized they were different species.  I spent many hours being entertained by the antics of these two animals playing together. Another odd pairing of friends. Bandit passed away of a stroke at the age of 8.  Once again, poor Lucy had lost a playmate. Once again, Lucy searched the house looking for another lost companion for several days. Lucy and I mourned together once again. 

Lucy is now almost 19 years old. With her age she does have some health issues. She has Thyroid disease, bladder stone issues, arthritis, is missing some teeth and is completely deaf, but other than that, as I like to tell people when I explain Lucy to them, “she is great!”  She takes her Thyroid medicine twice a day, gets a shot for her arthritis once a month and eats a special diet to control the bladder stones.  If you were to meet her, you would never realize she has this many health issues as she does not look or act like it. Her medical issues are controlled, I would never allow her to be in pain, she is taken very good care of and I keep a very close watch over her.  She leads a very stress free, comfortable, lazy life; typical for most cats.  She sleeps a lot, but at 19 years old, she deserves to sleep as much as she wants.  I have step stools in various places around my home so that with her arthritis issues, she can easily get up on the bed, the couch or her favorite chair, which no one else is allowed to sit in. Lucy’s veterinarian has nicknamed her “Lucy the wonder kitty”.  Lucy is the sweetest cat you could ever meet, loves to be combed, loves to be held and will roll over on her back if she thinks you might tickle her tummy.  She likes to sit next to my computer screen and watch the cursor move, occasionally batting at it with her paw.  She has also been known to lie down on the keyboard resulting in some interesting characters ending up on the screen or at times deleting something important. But that’s ok, she seems to be telling me it’s time to take a break and pay attention to her, which I do. Her favorite toy is the toilet paper dispenser, unrolling a full roll of toilet paper and leaving it for me to find. Her favorite treat is vanilla ice cream and although she seems to be completely deaf any other time, as soon as the freezer is opened she will come running looking for her treat. Lucy has been with me the longest of any animal I have ever lived with.  We have shared joy and sadness and she always purrs for me in either case.  Even with all of Lucy’s medical issues and her age, she still rules the house and the two dogs who now live with her.  She regularly torments them by laying down in front of their water dish so that they cannot get to it.  They know better than to chase her away so I often have to rescue their water dish for them from the cat. 

Sophie and Molly, my two dogs, are known in various ways by people who know me; they are “The Vesledahl Hounds”, “the Union Street Bassets”, “the Girls”, the subject of most of my Facebook postings, and simply to me…my best friends.  I will share their stories with you in my next blog post.  They’re Basset Hounds so they have some good ones. 

If you have not experienced the joy of living with an animal, I hope sharing my animals with you may entice you to consider bringing a pet into your life.  There is no guarantee of how long these animals are with us, that is their one flaw, however I can tell you that there is a guarantee of unconditional love and companionship. There are many animals at the Prairie’s Edge Humane Society just waiting to enrich your life with their unconditional love.  Please consider adopting an animal into your home.  Life is great, but pets make it better.