Patch
My family got Patch in 1993 from one of my aunts (I was 7 years old). Her two chihuahuas had a litter of puppies. Patch was one of the four that survived. He was larger than most chihuahuas and people sometimes mistook him as a boston terrier. He also did not act like a normal chihuahua. He was calm and friendly and only barked if the door bell rang. He liked meeting new people, squeaky toys, and laying on the couch with Griffin. The last three years of Patch's life were rough. His health went down hill after a Christmas party my family had where a guest fed Patch the left over little smokies that are cooked in bbq sauce. This caused his pancreas to swell and he had to have surgery. Patch was never the same; other health issues arose like loss of sight and hearing and having to use the bathroom more often. During the last year of Patch's life we assumed he was close to blind and deaf because he would run into things and would not respond to his name or other calls. The most difficult thing about having an elderly dog was leaving him downstairs at night. He could no longer go up and down stairs and if we carried him up and let him walk around he would eventually fall down the stairs.
The picture shown was taken the December before he died. He was sitting in the spot that I often found him in outside. My stepdad had to construct some sort of fence to keep him in otherwise we would never find him. We soon realized that the chicken wire needed a little tlc as well because Patch escaped underneath it once, so the 2x4's had to be placed on the bottom. Patch was put to sleep June 28, 2008 after he had a stroke. Mom and Jim-Daddy found him in the kitchen laying on his side. He could no longer walk because half of his body was paralyzed. I was in Hawaii at the time doing a 3 month internship so I was not able to see him. He is buried in our backyard beside the rose bush. The pain I feel about losing him is still so strong. It was as if I lost a sibling. I can still hear his collar jingling through the house.
Griffin
When I was young I obsessed over dogs. I would study books on breeds and go hang out in the pet store all the time. I really wanted a big dog, like a dalmatian or malamute, but Mom said no. :( Mom and I would go to the shelter or adoption days every so often looking for the right dog. Well when Mom found Griffin she fell in love; I didn't like her so much because she would never weigh 60 pounds and to be quite honest she was kinda ugly. After weeks of not finding a dog we could agree on we saw Griffin again at an adoption day. We decided on her because no one else had and it has been a wonderful decision. That was in 1998.
Griffin is really loud. We say that she isn't barking at people, she's talking to them. And she really is. I can ask her questions and she will bark back at me as if she was answering me. She is very excitable, even in her old age. She loves walks more than anything and could go for hours. She has a way of prancing around that makes her look sassy and she sticks her nose up to other dogs we encounter. She thinks she is queen bee. As of now she is missing most of her teeth and her hearing but is still a healthy weight, which is a triumph for some 13 year old dogs. Recently, Griffin has enjoyed sleeping all day, playing with the cats, and learning how to escape from the backyard ghetto-fied chicken wire fence to take herself on walks down to the creek.
Mysti (pronouced Misty)
Mysti started out as my stepbrother's cat that he had in his college apartment. Then the landlord found out and Mysti got sent home to Mom and Dad. At first it was weird to have a cat in the house. We were always dog people and a cat was a new ingredient to our mix. I didn't warm up to her until she came up to me and laid on my stomach while I watched TV. Mysti is a bipolar cat at times. She will love to be the center of action and then she is off not to be seen for hours. She loves to sleep in confined spaces like boxes, under the bed, or dresser drawers that have been left open. Mysti stays outside for the majority of her time and will often come in for 5 minutes to eat and then cry at the door to go outside again. Mysti is very adventurous and explores things that the other cat dares not to come close to. I will often see Mysti chasing other neighborhood cats or little dogs that are on leashes! She is quite funny.
Might I say that both of my cats do not use a litter box regularly. I have a litter box provided for emergencies but the cats go outside like dogs do. It's ingenious and works 90% of the time but do not forget that dogs make mistakes too.
December
December is my personal cat; she will go with me when I fly the coop (hopefully sooner rather than later). I found her outside my apartment door on my 22nd birthday (which is December 1st) however she was not in a wrapped box with a bow but instead wet and hiding behind the little grill. She was very friendly right off the bat but a little scared to come inside the apartment. My roommates and I helped her along to get acquainted with the apartment and soon enough she would only go outside to do her business and roll around on the pavement.
Now that December and I have moved into my parents house she has gotten rather lazy and overweight (due to my mom overfeeding her while I was gone for 3 months). December is very sweet and unlike other cats she loves to be rubbed constantly and lay close to me, as if she were a dog. Her favorite place to sleep is in the middle of my bed. She is opposite of Mysti in that she stays inside most of the time except to go to the bathroom. December gets very upset if we leave her out all night and will cry to you after you let her back in. December and Griffin get along really well; like today I often find them sleeping near one another.
Roxie
Roxie, also know as Roxie Poxie Pookie Pot Pie, is a white boxer. She has one blue eye and one brown but she is not blind or deaf which is typical for white boxers. Her skin is spotted underneath her soft white fur and in the summer when she lays out the spots get darker. Pookies (her abbreviated nickname) is a fun loving, social dog. She gets incredibly excited when we come home. She loves to play fetch with tennis balls, ropes, and frizbees. We are just now kicking the habit of playing tug-o-war when we play fetch. Yay!
Roxie is technically Gavin's dog. She lives with him and he pays for her but I am her Mommy. I am the one who spent time getting her to learn new tricks and how to behave properly. She was a perfect dog until she moved into Gavin's parents' house where she is spoiled beyond belief and fed table food. She use to lay on the rug while we ate dinner now she puts her nose on the table and thinks its ok! Well it's not and I can't wait til Gavin and I have our own place with Roxie so things will go back to normal. But that is a whole other blog...
The Tank Critters
In March of this year Gavin started the new hobby of keeping salt water corals and fish. His interest has died down now but someone has to help him take care of it, me. I enjoy feeding the fish and scraping algae off the glass, honestly I do. I have heard that owning an aquarium lowers blood pressure and I truly believe it. I will be laying on Gavin's bed watching the critters and before I know it I am fast asleep. The coolest part about the aquarium is watching the corals grow. Gavin bought frags (small pieces) of different corals when we first started this hobby and it is amazing how they have grown.
Besides corals that I cannot name we have two clown fish that I call Little Man and Mama, a skunk shrimp called Jacque, 3 hermit crabs (1 died recently) and 5 snails that reproduced a month back leaving us with 10 plus tiny baby snails hanging around. There is a lot of knowledge in keeping a salt water fish tank up but it really isn't that hard. We change the water every two weeks and scrap the glass every few days (which takes 2 minutes) and of course feed the fish once a day.
My pets have brought me great joy over the years and although it is heartbreaking when they are gone it is imperative to have them in my life. They provide comfort, affection, and laughter and we all need that.
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