7 stray and abused animals turn into beloved pets: Before and after pics

[Emit]

The amazing results of love plus animal adoption…

Before



After



~snip~

Before



After




More: http://twentytwowords.com/2011/08/05/7-stray-and-abused-animals-turn-into-beloved-pets-before-and-after-pics

OMG, if this doesn't make you want to go out and adopt a stray, I don't know what will! I want to give them all a warm, loving home!!

[NYC_SKP]

1. /.

[UtahLib]

2. Thank heaven for the kind souls in this world.

How can anyone treat the best of earth's creatures in such a way. It makes my heart ache.

[MotherPetrie]

3. Killer....

[dkf]

4. What are they doing to these poor things to make them look so awful?

[Rainforestgoddess]

10. quick guess on the dog

obviously starvation, but probably mange too. Poor babies. Glad they found good homes.

[dkf]

24. Yes poor little guy.

[Emit]

59. Thanks to easychoice's post #27 below

The first dog is Tad and here's his story:

Tad's path crossed with mine on March 26, 2011. He was basically hairless, bloodied, and severely starved. He was infested with internal parasites, and two different types of mange, which is very, very rare. He also had deep wounds on his front legs and neck, which required four weeks of antibiotics to help deal with the massive infection. We are still trying to overcome the severe ear infections. Tad is the true definition of a fighter, one who never gives up.

More here - well worth a look: http://the-abandoned-dog.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html

[tblue]

5. I cry for happy!

I got a pound dog and have her to a cousin who lost her 17 yo doggie. I miss her so. I need to go get another one.

[Emit]

7. We've been considering a pound dog for several months now

My son turns 12 this year and I promised him two years ago that by the time he was 12 we would get another dog ("Mom, every boy needs a dog!!&quot . We had three cats, and since one adopted us, we've had some pissing wars in our house - literally, so I've delayed in bringing yet another animal into the home. Sadly, our older cat that adopted us passed away a few months ago. So ... I've been going with the kids to the pound every other week and visiting with various dogs (and cats and rabbits and ...) and donating a few dollars when we go. We haven't found the right fit yet - my son is actually a little skittish around dogs but wants one so badly, so we're looking for the right fit. It'll happen when it happens. I love 'em all!!

[cilla4progress]

13. Bless you!

Cats, dogs and horses here. Only strays from now on!

[calimary]

19. Yep! Animal shelters all the way!

Our dog and four cats are all rescues. And they're WUNNNNNNNNNNNNderful!!!!!!!

[MsPithy]

14. Petfinder.com

is a good place to look if you don't know exactly what kind of dog would be right. Dogs that are in foster care sometimes have detailed descriptions about their temperaments written by their foster parent.

http://www.petfinder.com/

[BrotherIvan]

28. Yay for petfinder!

Helped us adopt out many stray cats. Spay and neuter if you love your animals!

[alstephenson]

38. +++ for Petfinder.com

That's where I found my two wonderful rescue kitties.

[Rob H.]

40. Great recommendation!

That's where I found my cat almost five years ago, and adopting her was the best decision I made that year.

[Emit]

61. Oh, MsPithy, yes! Thanks for the recommendation!

I love how they include the descriptive details. I can spend hours on petfinder!

[Honeycombe8]

6. Thank you for this post! I have 2 rescues.

I can't handle any more, right now. But I plan on getting more in the future. My babies had been thrown away like garbage, although they don't seem to have been abused to any great extent. But that was then. Now they are happy babies who know they are loved...and they need to go on diets! There's no better dog than a rescue dog. (I've also had rescue cats...my beloved Puddin'head - my heart still aches from missing him).

[Emit]

67. So nice to hear, Honeycombe8!

Love to hear your babies are very much loved and have such a happy home! Pains me to see people abandon and mistreat these babies.

[mythology]

8. The people who take in strays

remind me that sometimes our species doesn't just entirely suck.

[Warpy]

9. I loved adopting adult cats

Sure, kittens are cute but the cuteness doesn't last all that long. The adult cat might come to you depressed and/or traumatized, but he or she also knows some manners and recognizes words like "no" and "get down." I taught them "good kitty."

Adult cats who've seen the big cruel world also have the sense to be damned grateful.

[Emit]

11. Last time I was at the pound, I was visiting the cats in the cat colony

and a man walked in with a bag of turkey on his hip and a cat carrier and he started training two or three cats in the room to go into this carrier. I just sat there and watched for a while as he rewarded them with bits of meat and got these cats to do what he wanted - mostly. I asked him what he was doing and it turned out he was an animal trainer - Joel Silverman I think his name was - and he was training some cats for a cat show that the Human Society was having. I took my kids to the cat show a few weeks later to see the end product - it was great!

[Snarkoleptic]

12. We've got 2 shelter dogs and 2 shelter cats.

Find your fur babies here-
http://www.petfinder.com/

[DeSwiss]

15. K&R

HOPE4PAWS: Fiona

A Stray Hero
http://vimeo.com/59077214

[life long demo]

30. Fiona's story

I remember the first time I viewed Fiona's video, I think it's a minute or two before the tears started. From tears of despair to tears of joy. Go to Eldad Hagar's web site.

[Agschmid]

16. Love my shelter kitty...

She's famous too! Well at least her namesake... She is named after Kylie Minogue! (Not such a pretty voice, but I love her no matter what!)

[kas125]

17. Thanks for posting this, it can never be said enough. There are way too many animals in shelters

who would make wonderful pets, but don't get the chance. I had one dog and one cat. Two years ago, I took another dog from the shelter that nobody else wanted because she's deaf. She's turned into an absolutely amazing dog. I met wonderful people who worked at the shelter then and have kept in touch and donated my services for their fundraisers ever since. Last year, one was unjustly fired for doing her job, so two of them started their own rescue.

Now I have three big dogs and four cats. The third dog, a white Husky, was in a shelter and listed as "too busy" to be adopted and had to go to a rescue. I asked my rescue friends to pull him for me and he was a great dog within 24 hours of being here. I have a kitten who was left in a plastic grocery bag on the front porch of one of the rescue people, I have a huge grey cat who was found as a stray with barbed wire wrapped around and embedded in his front paw, too. Someone was feeding him for months outside in their yard without bothering to take him to the vet and get the damned barbed wire off until it was so bad that he needed two surgeries. The things people do to animals shock me sometimes, but I am lucky enough to know an entire circle of friends who spend their lives rescuing them and I am so glad that I do because my house and my life are filled now.

[gordianot]

18. Two years ago a young feral female moved in under our deck proceeded to drop 4 kittens.

She would not allow anyone within 10 feet of her. One night in a driving rain storm she rescued her kittens while I tried to put up tarps. All four kittens survived I caught them brought them in and all four were adopted. Neighbors and family were encouraging me to catch and have her put to sleep which I did trap her, took her to the vet and had her spayed. I told everyone she can live under the deck even if I cannot approach her. Momma Cat as I call her kept up her nasty feral attitude about 6 months ago I could pet her for about 15 seconds before I got slapped. 3 months ago she would seek me out for maybe 2 minutes of petting then I get slapped. In the last month I can pick her hold for maybe 30 seconds and never get slapped. So far I am the only one who can get near her. She has been a lot of fun a real challange and is all over me when I go outside. Even in bad weather with an invitation to come in she refuses one of my next challanges.

I will never forget the night Momma Cat saved her 3 week old kittens. You have to earn her trust and I consider her heroic, best $95.00 I ever spent, she eats very well.

[japple]

45. Bless you for having the patience to keep on working with Mama Cat,

for not giving up on her and for making sure she got spayed. I'll be she loves you a lot and is looking forward to that day when she will be brave enough to sit in your lap. Several of my cats are strays though not feral. They enjoy sleeping in my lap and on the bed with me, even if they don't like being picked up. One, however, must have been around children, because she will let you do just about anything to her. She loves to be picked up and cuddled, draped around your neck, slung over your arm, whatever--she's dead weight.

[gordianot]

52. She is my first adult feral, we took in a kitten half frozen about 9 years ago just a few weeks old.

Had no tail and my son who was doing paramedic training took care of him. So probably a Manx most probably something else. My son gave him to his Supervisor when he could walk. Four months later he asked my son "what is this thing"? He was gentle enough let his youngest dress him up in doll clothes but weighed about 12 pounds. A couple months ago he met up with his supervisor and his daughter who got the cat when she was 6 she is now 15 and met up at a friends wedding. It seems this cat may be a mule according to their vet who nuetered him who doubted he would have been able to father kittens. He now weighs 27 pounds without an ounce of fat and likes to wrestle with their German Shepards. They have never heard what sounds like a meow and is as gentle as he can be with people. The other cats are scared of him. My son got a hug from the now teenager who considers this rather peculiar giant cat her best friend.

I am both a dog and cat person have convinced my wife she is a cat person. She does not get along with Mama Cat will work on that also.

[japple]

56. That's a great story about the no-tail kitty. A lot of the time, cats who have been bottle fed

will turn out to be so sweet and gentle. They have no fear of humans or other animals and can't be left to their own devices or they'll get into trouble.

I do a bit of work with a group that tries to get animals out of our county high-kill animal shelter. We coordinate with rescue groups, and try to raise awareness in this rural area of the need for spaying, neutering. It's an uphill battle, but the volunteers are the best people, big hearted, kind and caring. Looking forward to the day when there will be no need for Animal Control Dept. in this county.

[Emit]

63. Nice story, gordianot!

We have a Momma Cat, too! Well, my elderly father does. Our Momma was a feral young cat that would hang around my father's feet when he went out on his porch. I was always afraid she would trip him - he had just had a stroke a few months before and was unsteady on his feet. Anyway, I kept telling my dad we needed to catch her and spay her at a minimum - and find a home for her if possible. She would come near our feet but wouldn't let us pet or pick her up. We fed her.

Too much time passed and perhaps there was not enough effort on my part to make it happen (spaying, that is) because not less than a month went by when my dad called me, asking me to visit because he was concerned for the little black cat (she wasn't a Momma Cat yet!). He thought she had a tumor!! "Duh, Well, Dad, she's probably pregnant!" I said. She became the size of a basket ball! That poor little cat birthed 7 kittens! The good news is that in her pregnancy, she welcomed our invitation into his home and she had those kittens under his bed! Long story short, he kept her inside until she was old enough to get spayed and I tell you now she will not step foot into his house! We call her Momma Cat now. I found homes for each and every one of her kittens (one sadly died). She keeps her distance but Dad still feeds her.

[gordianot]

68. Cats are truly fascinating. I could not imagine ours having kittens in the house.

Our Moma will go in the garage. We kept her in the garage for three weeks as instructed by the vet after being spayed. I did see swipe her paw under the door but when I opened the door she took off for the rafters. When i finally opened the door she stayed in the garage all day.

If there is snow she goes to the back door cries and follows me into the garage. She comes out the next morning but never attempts to come in the house.

Feline instinctive survival strategies are very effective unique creatures all. I wonder who teaches who they seem to really think this out.

[Zax2me]

20. WONDERFUL!

I'll sleep happier tonight...

[Milliesmom]

21. I have three rescues

Goofy, Mugsy and Millie, all three are rescues. They have pretty much taken over my life and I couldn't be happier.

I also had Rocky Balboa, and Princess who both passed away at ages 15

Goofy was chained the first 6 months of his life, he is an amazing little guy, he runs, falls down and gets up and runs and falls down, his back legs do not do what they are told to do by his brain, he never gives up and never stops trying or being the smart, happy little guy he is, Mugsy and Millie both were 3 lbs underweight when found running the streets, full of fles and bad teeth, they are happy spoiled babies now.

Here is a link to their pictures

http://www.dogster.com/family/379907

I do not understand what makes people do these things to any animal, I hope they rot in hell for what they have done, I have no compassion when it comes to abuse of animals or humans.I'm happy they are in loving homes, they are amazing as they forgive us humans and give us love and companionship.

[catbyte]

26. What a beautiful family, Milliesmom!

[Milliesmom]

29. Catbyte

Thank you, are you a cat owner?

[catbyte]

33. Yes, I am. I love dogs, but have never lived with one. My dad was a "cat man", so I grew up with

them and the longest I have ever lived without one was 6 months in a college dorm until we figured out how to smuggle a kitten in--she stayed with me for 20 years!

[Emit]

60. Thanks so much for sharing Milliesmom

What an adorable family you have and what a good soul you are for rescuing these dogs. I have a dear friend who has taken in rescue animals - she has 3 Maltese, all from horrific breeding situations or from previous situations where they were neglected or mistreated or abused by previous owners. I, too, cannot understand what makes people do these things to any animal. It hurts my heart so. I love going over to her house because her little dogs rule the roost! First they bark (fiercely) at me then when I sit they are on me giving me lovely kisses and vying for my attention. I love all the love! They each have their unique story, and sadly, the physical and emotional scars to show for it, but they are all precious and I am so lucky to have such a good, kind friend. Thanks again, Milliesmom! By the way, "Emit" was the namesake of a dear cat I owned for many, many years. He was a big black and gold tabby with an 'M' on his forehead and we named Emit as in M-it.

[Milliesmom]

71. Emit

Love how you came by the name M-it The 3 Maltese sound like my three, barking and loving. Millie and Goofy are lovers, Mugsy not so much, he has been through too much to warm up to anyone but me. I love my little guys and do everything I can to make sure they are safe and happy.Thank you for telling me about your friend and her three little loves. Here is a link with all my little guys, once there the links on the left all have pictures and stories if you care to read.... Goofy came from Best Friends in Kanab , Utah.

http://www.bestfriends.org/Get-involved/Guardian-Angel/Animals/Goofy/

We belong to Dogster also where you can post pictures and tell stories about your pets.

Thank you for writing

[SheilaT]

22. It is hard to believe those animals survived,

let alone become such wonderful, healthy creatures.

I had three cats. Two from a shelter, one who adopted us. They have since gone on, but all were wonderful. I am always encouraging people who want a cat or dog to go to the shelter and adopt an older one.

Right now I am without any pets, but someday when I'm ready again, I will go to the shelter and take home the very oldest cat they have. Even those willing to adopt adults often want a relatively young one. I would like to take in much older ones, and give them the last few years in a good home.

I have done volunteer work in an animal shelter, and often the oldest animals wind up their because their human has died or been put in a nursing home and there's no one available or willing to take their pets in. Those are the ones I'd like to help.

[DonCoquixote]

23. keep this in mind

The GOP sees all of us as animals to be abused. They want us all to look like the "before" picture. Rest assured, if any of us get enough abuse, we can be the strays.

[catbyte]

25. I am hugging my currently spoiled princess, formerly discarded kitten,

Sammy, right now as I read about these other very lucky beauties. A co-worker found her in the woods when little Sammy was a parasite-infested, 4-5 week old baby. She was too friendly to be feral; some creep dumped her in the woods. She was starving, desperate, and all alone when rescued, but very determined to survive. The vet said that Sammy probably had about 24 hours of life left in her--that is if she managed to avoid the forest full of predators. My co-worker has a severe dander allergy and is asthmatic so she couldn't keep her. A few other people wanted to take Sammy, but I was the lucky one chosen to give her the forever home she so deserves. Now her biggest dilemmas are whether to play with her Undercover Mouse, her Stretch-n-Squeak, her Cat-it Track Ball, or watch birds out of the window on her carpeted perch, LOL. Her dietary dilemmas consist of whether she will dine on Fancy Feast or Sheba. She is a pampered, indoor only girl with a magnificent black, brown, and gold spotted and striped coat with gold/green eyes to match. She is the light of my life and keeps my grumpy gray & white 18 year-old tabby, Nigel, on his toes. Oh, she is also a laser pointer fanatic.

Some of the most special friends come from the most desperate beginnings. Thanks for posting such an inspiring article & pictures.

[easychoice]

27. that first photo is Tad (the abandoned dog)

you saw day one in the first photo,
here is a video of day seven
and another 60 days later in june ...
Tiffany is an Angel,no?

DON'T BUY WHILE SHELTER DOGS DIE!!!

[Emit]

58. Thank you so much, easychoice, for posting those videos of Tad!

And, yes, Tiffany truely is an angel!

Here's a link to her blog if anyone is interested~

http://the-abandoned-dog.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html

Thanks again, easychoice!

[easychoice]

65. You are welcome Emit

We need a lot more of these rescues to happen...
Never underestimate the love of a Dog.

[CanonRay]

31. Thanks for posting this, it cheered me up.

[lunatica]

32. I just sat here and cried

The after photo of the first dog looks just like our Montana. She's a rescue.

[mikeytherat]

34. We've got a house full of former ferals, hard strays, and rescues.

Here's a few:

Charlie - plucked from middle of bridge during rush hour:
Day One

Today:


Crosmokitty:
Former feral, now fat, sassy housecat


mikey_the_rat

[gordianot]

37. Why do they want to sleep in the litter pan on Day 1?

Have had that same experience with two rescue cats. Am looking forward to the day our current feral rescue cat Mama Cat decides to accept an invitation to come into the house. She will visit the garage but never the house. She has been like the life of Pi only much smaller it is questionable to continue to call her feral.

[Rob H.]

42. Those are some handsome devils you have there!

We've had several black cats in my family, but no gingers. I keep telling myself that one day I'm going to have a ginger cat of my very own.

[Blue Owl]

35. K&R a million kazillion times

[Tom Rinaldo]

36. I so miss Vincent, our once feral cat.

There is something surprisingly profound and moving about winning the trust of a feral animal, especially an adult who has never known human companions. I wrote about becoming close to Vincent for an online newspaper. Here is the link for anyone interested:
http://www.watershedpost.com/2012/remembering-vincent

Vincent was a black cat with stunning green eyes. There is a photo of him with the story (but his eye color is washed out). He would maintain full direct eye contact with us at close range once he grew to trust us, the only cat I have known who would do so for an extended period while relaxed. He was very very special to us.

[Luminous Animal]

64. That was lovely.

I too had a rescue cat with remarkable green eyes. Some people would gasp when he looked up at them with his shockingly emerald eyes. His name was Two-Tone. He was a two-toned mover, a ska kinda guy. He loved music.

[Emit]

66. Tom, thank you so much for this post and your lovely story.

Very well told!

It brought to my mind the many quasi-feral cats I tried to tame as a little kid in Monticello, AK and all the scratches I earned as a result! I spent most summers there at my grandparents' house and they had a perpetual colony of cats living in the honeysuckle bushes out back of their house. We'd lure and try to catch the babies - convinced we could tame them. I was driven to earn their trust.

I can hear my grandma now - "Don't bring that nasty cat inside, now, ya hear?! They got fleas!!" But she always fed them - leftover beans, rice, rinds, old cornbread - whatever we had for dinner is what those cats ate. I imagine they couldn't be considered completely feral because they'd come around during feeding time and rub up against. We were able to hold and pet some of them, especially the younger ones who'd had more human contact. Sometimes it'd take me all summer, though, just to get one to trust me enough not to bolt. I agree - there is something profound and moving about winning the trust of a feral animal.

[bobclark86]

39. I only buy "Walmart" dogs and cats...

... the joke in my family from the mid-'90s was Walmart was home to "used and broken goods" for their practice of placing returns back on the shelves to save money.

I only buy "Walmart" dogs and cats... occasionally, they are free if the shelter keeps them too long and they are starting to go stir-crazy.

[jsr]

41. Wow. Amazing.

[smirkymonkey]

43. Those poor babies!

What amazing transformations! Thank god for the kind souls who nursed them back to health.

I don't know why anyone would get an animal just to abuse it. It's just sick.

[Helen Reddy]

44. ^^^^^

Bless all of you who have opened your homes to these neglected and tortured fur friends.

[kimmylavin]

46. Awful to amazing.

How, how, how do these sweet creatures come to such ends?

Only pets I've ever had were strays.
When I got married, we joined my four cats (two found outside in NJ, two found as teeny kittens on the Sony Studios lot) with his pound puppy dog.

Then I found a kitten at a rest stop in Barstow.
He was an absolute mess - the vet told us he probably wouldn't live six months.
That was almost six years ago!
Yes, the little guy has a deformed pelvis and walks like a bunny, and yes, we give him three medicines twice a day, but the little lovebug makes it all worth it.

So we know we take in the sucker cases.

When our dog was laid to rest after 14 wonderful years, we waited a bit and then went to the pound.
We had seen a picture of a puppy who had been there for 10 days, and couldn't figure out why.
When we asked about him, they said, "Well, about this puppy... he's in isolation."
After being adopted and BROUGHT BACK, this poor eight-week-old thing was skinny and exposed to Parvo.
We said we'd take him!
That was last June.
Our "baby" now weighs 70 pounds, and just bowls us over with happiness every day!

And I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but we owe a huge part of the health & happiness of all our pets to our amazing vet. He knows we'd beg, borrow or steal to take care of these animals, so items somehow mysteriously fall off the bills. I'm sure the animals in these photos got a lot of love and care from their forever homes, but also some help from some great doctors!

[Liberal_in_LA]

47. OMG

[Lobo27]

48. Stop cutting onions already!!!

So happy for these animals.

[RedCappedBandit]

49. Beautiful

I will always adopt my.. masters. I certainly don't own the furballs, anyway.

[NastyRiffraff]

50. Made up my mind for me

I have been pondering adopting a shelter cat, and this has made up my mind! I may get two older cats.

Thanks for posting this wonderful thread.

[REP]

51. Want to adopt a stray? All my companions have been strays/rescues/throw-aways! :-)

And it's great to see these cats and dogs looking the way they should - loved, happy and healthy

[FedUpWithIt All]

53. Every pet that has ever joined our family was a stray or pound animal.

We lost our last cat to old age a few years back after he'd been with us for 14 years. When he was a 6 week old kitten we were told to put him down because of a bad case of ringworm. It took us over two months, with him separated and cared for only by myself, but we got him all healed and he was my baby for the rest of his life. He lived with us and our older cat, a real character who'd been brain damaged since birth and lived with us for over a decade before he passed.

We currently have a 7 yr old dog we adopted from the pound in October. He is a gorgeous chow/pit mix and he is the sweetest and best behaved dog i have ever known. He is such a beloved part of our family now. Our cat is a feral cat that was dropped off at a neighbors house. He found his way to us when he was about 6 mos old. For the first year and a half he still held a bit of a rough edge but now he is becoming lazy and cuddly and we cannot imagine life without him. He and my 5 yr old son play "fetch"

The last dog that lived with us was an abandoned beagle who used to roam our rural neighborhood. He was terribly skittish and it took me well over a month of tempting him with beef to get him to finally allow me to touch him. At one point it was obvious he'd been hit by a vehicle and was quite banged up. Eventually i was able to bring him inside and he healed slowly and adjusted to being indoors. A family member ended up taking him in after he healed. He had seizures for about a year but slowly those went away and he is now just a contented lap dog that is terribly spoiled and loved.

Over the past twenty years i have also bottle fed several litters of abandoned kittens. They would typically find their way to me no older than a few days. It is a very hard and time consuming job but it is always such a reward when they are finally safe and have found loving homes.

When you have personally loved animals that have suffered from the indifference of humans it makes the images like those in the OP quite heartbreaking. I am so glad to see that tragedy was overcome in the lives of those poor animals and that good people cared enough to take the time for them.

[BeHereNow]

54. In the words of our beloved John Lennon....

All you need is love.

All of my fur people are rescues, and let me tell you,
they KNOW it- their love and gratitude is overwhelming.
Makes me tear up just thinking about how well it has all turned out for all of us!

Good to see you Emit!

BHN

[Emit]

62. Yes, so true, BHN ~ all you need is love

One of the strays we took in was always so keen to show his appreciation for a warm home, food, love and affection...and more food.

He bonded with my daughter and she named him Gato. We had him for about three years. He was a huge, heavy orange tabby - old and worn with freckles on his lips, harboring the breath of fish when he meowed and licked your lashes in the morning. He was tough as nails ~ he'd walked right past the raccoons at night in our backyard without flinching. After all, he owned this place; he owned us!

We tried to find his owner but best we could figure, he was abandoned by neighbors - we had a rash of foreclosures in our neighborhood over the past several years.

When we took him to our vet for shots and check up, we learned he was microchipped. I was so excited that I'd found his owner! Then, I laughed so hard I cried when I found out the name his original owners had bestowed on this massive hunk of orange fur - Snowball. Snowball!?! Even my vet got a kick out of that. Surely there was some mistake with the microchip thingy? No, they double checked it - that was his given name. She surmised he had been a much lighter complexion as a kitten - perhaps a fluffier creamy peach? Anyhooo ... We called and called the number on file and I left messages with no response. They obviously didn't want him. So, we kept him and loved him.

Gato passed away this winter. Sadly, we had noticed his decline one evening. As many cats do, he went off and hid that very night. We searched and searched. Two days passed. My daughter found his lifeless body under our deck. I rushed home to be by her side and to make arrangements for his cremation (we have a sundry of urns with all of our fur friends who've passed). Trying to be stoic when making the calls, I hadn't wanted to cry. After all, I had to go back to work. I had to keep my composure. When the woman on the phone asked if I wanted the rainbow urn, my first thought was, wow, how did she know my daughter might like that? Then I asked, "What's the rainbow urn?" and she explained. When she got to the "Until we meet at the Rainbow Bridge..." part, I just lost it and stared bawling!!

Anyway, sorry for the ramble... So good to see you, too, BHN - it has been a while and I'm glad I'm back, lurking and posting a bit at DU!

[BeHereNow]

70. In case you did not know....

So good to hear from you.
I have recently taken VERY long breaks from DU,
but it is people like YOU that keep me coming back-
What a ray of sunshine you always are!
BHN

[fizzgig]

55. we had one of those when i was younger

he was a long-haired russian blue we named marley. he was so thin, matted and scared when he came to us, but he became the picture of how love can heal.

[xchrom]

57. Du rec. Nt

[a la izquierda]

69. It's Tad!

If you want to see the evil and wonders of humanity, volunteer at an animal shelter. It will break your heart and make you smile at the same time.

[sagat]

72. Nice to see they cured 'zombie-ism' in animals.