Shadow: Sweet Shadow dog has really had a rough winter. After her best friend died, life just hasn't been as peachy. Between the two dogs, I truly feel like I haven't slept in a year. And, now, the furry friends seem to think that 5am, sometimes 4:45, is a nice time for breakfast. I've had so many nights up I can't even remember the last time I slept a full night. Since Christmas, Shadow has had an anal gland abscess (that I thought was a deadly tumor at first and thought I was taking another trip to the edge of rainbow bridge,) had some kind of terrible food poisoning or gastronomical event that kept both of us up around the clock for about 5 days, and had a small stroke or seizure of some kind. I was with her when it happened. I thought she was dying. A few hours later, she was back to her normal self. I don't know how much more I can take.
She has struggled to walk very far with me, but David and the girls took her on a 3 mile hike in the volcanoes a couple weeks ago and she did great. So, she has her moments and definitely goes up and down from highs to lows. She continues to be a most loyal friend and is always, exactly, one step behind wherever I am.
Shadow celebrated her 14th birthday this month. She is still in really great shape for that age. She has definitely out-lived her life span, but still enjoys most of life. I took her for a bath last week and she's all soft and fluffy again. Scruffy dog!
Shadow's "party" - a bowl of ice cream with a dog bone on top, and her good buddies.
hmm... not so sure how good this buddy is, but she's the only other one in the house who has 4 legs and fur, so Shadow is making the best of it.
Kit Cat: "THE CAT" has acquired a few new names. Some can be repeated in front of children. (no, really, she is a pretty great cat, as cats go.) Her official name now is: Kit Cat Sunny Ray Dandelion Chapman. (Honey Bee Fuzz?) We think we will just keep adding names as we think of them. We weren't too creative in the beginning, but now keep coming up with things we might have named her.
Kit Cat has been a funny addition to the house. It is very weird and has changed the dynamic completely. I can't believe that an 11 (ahem, 13 now) pound cat can be everywhere you look. She has kept her promise and has never had more than the one accident from that first weekend. She has not shredded anything, and has not laid a paw on my new couch, so she is earning her rent. Her only flaw is that her purr is silent. No cuddling up with a purry kitty! You can feel it if you touch her neck. The other morning, she had a frog in her throat and lost her voice and couldn't meow, but then she tried to purr and her purr worked! So, we've heard it once. Crazy cat.
Now that it is warm, she thinks she might like to hang out outside with the chirping birds instead of inside. But unfortunately for her, she now has the hearts of 2 little girls who adore her and can't risk losing her. So, the inside cat she begged to be in December, is the inside cat she shall stay.
Harriet wrote a story about her at school. "The Lost Cat" - all about how Kit Cat found us and was adopted and lived happily ever after.
Harriet left her overnight for the first time last week. We left her while we went to Carlsbad for one night. Hattie was dying to get home to her. When Harriet is home, there is rarely a moment when she's not doing something with the cat. Harriet also spent a night at Grandma's, away from home last week. I got a text in the middle of the night from her that she was crying and missed the cat. I had to take a picture of the cat in bed with me and text it to Harriet so she could hold it and go to sleep!
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