Pets

I'd like to dedicate this post to the three little ladies that greet me and love me everyday. I'm speaking of my cats, and they are truly companions for me. Each of them is so full of personality that is distinctively their own. Somehow they know when they need to come and sit with me and be still. They are playful and will get in my way for attention when I ignore them too long. They remind me to take time and appreciate their presence and their love. They remind me that spontaneous play is a good and necessary thing. I love them as my family.

All of my life I have loved animals. When I was little I had some dreams of being a veterinarian. I remember thinking how wonderful it would be to help all the sick animals and make them better. My mother, wanting to protect me from disappointment, reminded me that while vets do help animals they can't always help. I think she was afraid of me getting hurt because she could see how sensitive I was to the lives of the animals around me. Perhaps she was right. I cannot imagine not being able to help an animal or worse seeing the ends of so many animals lives be it natural or not. I'm not sure what would be worse, the animals death or the animals family's grief. And I gave up the idea of being a vet and respect those that do it all the more.

All through my life I have had a pet of some sort or other. I have had animals of all shapes and sizes from fish to dogs, cats to snakes, and even a tarantula. I am awed by animals and their simple nature. I truly see them as happy beings and they don't seem to worry about anything. They just are who they are. I know that some may argue that it is because they are "simple" creatures and they just run on instinct. I have a hard time believing that. How does a dog know to come and sit by your side when you are depressed even when they don't normally do that. Why does a cat but heads with me and begin purring when I've had a bad day. I can't help but see these signs that they understand the emotions that I go through and want to be there for me. Doesn't this imply that they understand the emotions as well? When I spent over a month nursing Jacks back to heath, feeling my heart break every time I had to force food into the feeding tube she had implanted, she would resist. However she seemed to know that I was trying to help and tried to tell me how she was doing with her cat language. (I am grateful for her full recovery) I have asked many people the question as to whether birds enjoy flying. I'm always interested to hear the response because it would seem that few people ponder this or even think it is a valid question. Do they? I truly believe that they do. I think that animals feel emotions as we do and react to the world in their own ways. Next time you see a bird hovering on the wind, diving in and out of it and not moving forward, or watching the ground, ask yourself why. It has no reason to be doing this unless it just feels good.

Animals I find are a great reminder of how we all should live. I've seen several pictures and stories of animals that have crossed boundaries to help each other. Animals that selflessly help their owners by cheering them up or guiding their way. Cats helping dogs to live their lives. Deer finding a playmate in a orange tabby cat. A dog rescuing his friend from traffic. I believe that we all should take more notice of our family friends and learn from them. They seem to have this life thing pretty well figured out (many of them even have human servants waiting on them like mine do). Selfless love and compassion, living life to the fullest, napping and being alone often, eat when you are hungry, and snuggle with someone as often as you can, all can be learned if you pay attention.

In Memory:

Mandy - Childhood Dog
Scratches - Cat (trained herself to use a toilet!)
Ginger - Dog (best friend to Shadow) she was so sad after Shadows death
Shadow - Big black childhood dog... I smile thinking of her caring for scratches kittens one by one
Patches - Grey Manx
Hazel - Silly mutt that couldn't avoid cars
Mopsy - Childhood dog
Nutmeg - Childhood dog that saved me as a friend in high school...when I felt so alone
Killer - Sweetest dog that earned her name jumping from fear of a moving flower
Joseph - Red Tail Boa that decided it like the heating rock a little too much
Checkers - my first pet as an adult who taught me about pain, compassion, and death
Tonsils - Calico that loved me so, right to the end

Thank you to all of you for the love you gave myself and my family. Thank your for your lessons on life.