Rest in peace my friend

According to my son, Redd was a legend in his own right.  He was pure Siberian Husky, born in southern California November 1996.  He loved traveling to the Sierras, and he followed our son, Tim when he moved to Alaska.  Redd also traveled and moved with Tim to Portland, Oregon as well as Saranac Lake, New York.  When Tim moved back home here in San Jose back in 2007, he had in tow with him two dogs, Redd and Mick.  We lost Mick to kidney failure just last year.  She was only 10 years old.  But Redd was able to celebrate his 15th birthday just a couple months ago.  That is good for a husky.  Unfortunately, Redd had his health problems, and as he aged it was getting more difficult for him to fight off his health issues.  This past couple of months have been difficult for us because Redd couldn't keep any food down.  And he continued to lose weight.  In the last couple of weeks he lacked interest in eating and he continued to go downhill.  So, yesterday, Thursday, January 26, 2012, my husband had to take him to the vet to euthanize him.  Redd will be sorely missed, as well as all the rest of our pets who have gone on before us.  Rest in peace Redd.

Meet Tango and Cash!

Meet the newest members of the family: Tango and Cash. Red and I adopted them, and Red brought them home Saturday afternoon. These kittens are 5 months old. They were born at the Humane Society, but mama kitty and 5 kittens were rescued by a group called Town Cats, a no-kill non-profit organization. The Humane Society found/trapped mama kitty and wanted to spay her right away even though she was very pregnant. This meant that the kittens would have been aborted. How sad. But mama kitty, another beautiful black cat, gave birth that night to 5 kittens. We were told that one of the kittens got sick and lived only a couple of weeks. But the other 4 were healthy. Why weren't they adopted sooner? I really don't know. Maybe it was meant for us to have them. Tango and Cash's other brother and sister were adopted a week or two earlier. Cash is a male -- below he is the one in the front with the white chin. Tango is female and seemed to be a bit timid at first, but she and Cash have certainly become "at home" here in our home.

Here is another photo of Tango.
And this is another photo of Cash. We think Cash is going to be the "clown."

Here is a video I shot earlier tonight of Cash playing with a felt toy. I apologize for the poor quality, especially how dark it looks. For some unknown reason Google processes all videos on the dark side. Maybe I'll have to start putting my videos on You Tube; maybe then they won't come out so dark. Hey, Google, are you listening?

Au Revoir, my sweet little friend

Yesterday was what I would call Black Saturday. Our family, my husband, son Tim, daughter Red, and I had to say our goodbyes to Avalanche. With Avalanche's illness of kidney failure this poor little guy dealt with so many more complications, all working against him. He was such a trooper and fought hard to get better. But the odds were against him, and we are now suffering the loss and missing the sweetest, most even tempered cat in our world. The other cats in our household are also feeling the loss. And they, too, are grieving in their own way. Avalanche was one of three siblings living here. Misty and Midnight are his sisters, and Tornado was his buddy. Red watched Avalanche and his sisters being born, and this was probably the hardest thing she had to do in her life by letting him go. Please visit Red's blog to read her memoir on Avalanche.

Avalanche was only 12 years old. I know, many of you are probably thinking that he lived a good life. And yes, he did. But he is gone much too soon. I have mentioned in a previous post that when Red left home to attend KU she had to leave one of her three cats behind because she was only permitted to have two cats living with her in her apartment. A few months previous to her leaving home we had experienced saying goodbye to our first cat, Kitty.

Knowing I was temporarily "losing" my daughter who is also my friend, and losing her cats, I was facing an empty house. So shortly before she left town, we went to the Humane Society and "found" and adopted Tornado. Avalanche and Tornado totally bonded and became what we have called "best buds."
Please go read Red's post about our sweet little fur ball. I will deeply miss my furry little alarm clock. Avalanche was better than any mechanical alarm clock. When he was younger Avalanche would retrieve items. You could toss a cat toy and Avalanche would bring it back so you could toss it again and he could chase after it and bring it back again. Avalanche would also drag long pieces of chain around and lay it at our feet. That was usually his way of communicating to us that he wanted our attention.

Avalanche was the only cat who would lick my face. He was so loving, so communicative, so social, and so loyal. This cat has been one of a kind and will not easily be forgotten.

I have a couple of videos of Avalanche, too. But I think I will save those for another post.

Au Revoir my sweet little friend, my little "love bunny."

Our family's menagerie

This household has more animals (pets) living here than humans. And, like humans, each has its own personality. Here are some recent photos (and a couple of videos) of each of them.

This is Avalanche. He is the oldest, and brother to the next two cats, Misty and Midnight. They were all born in late April 1996. So that makes these kitties all 12 years old later this week. It's hard to believe these cats are siblings, but they were all part of one litter.

When my husband and I moved to Albuquerque for a few years, we took our only pet cat with us. Red and our son were going to stay back here in California, and occupy the house while attending college in the Silicon Valley area. Consequently, Red missed Kitty quite a bit; so she went to the Humane Society and adopted a cat, a black female who had not yet been spayed. And these kitties are the three survivors.

Avalanche was born first; he was pure white when first born, thus the name Avalanche. He is the most tolerant cat and the most loving. When he was younger he used to retrieve small objects when you would toss them. When he was a kitten, Red used to take him everywhere she went. I wonder if that has something to do with part of his loving and tolerant personality.

This is Misty, a beautiful and elegant looking cat. We often call her Princess; and she acts like one, too. She was the third kitten born. She is also very sweet, but prefers to lay in your lap when she feels like it, not when we would like her to. The photo above kind of says, "I know I'm beautiful and you can admire me from afar. I am a purrrfect model kitty. I would like to think it beneath me to play games and act silly. But I'll chase small toys and carry them around when no one else is looking."

And this little girl is Midnight. She was the runt of the litter, the fifth and final kitten born. Mama kitty was too exhausted to clean her up, etc. right after birth, so it was left to Red to stimulate this little one and get her to breathe on her own. Midnight has stayed on the small size compared to the other two, but she is still a "force to be reckoned with." Midnight is our perpetual bird watcher (and chaser) from indoors. She loves leaping (and flying) to the window sills where we have window feeders and scaring the birds away. The most comical incidents are when we have birds who ignore Midnight's "attacks." Some birds, I'm not sure if they are the young offspring and don't know any better, aren't bothered by her. And it is so cute to watch Midnight continually scratch at the window (and get frustrated) that the birds are not showing any fear and flying away. Oh such entertainment!

And this little black kitty is Tornado, a long and sleek looking cat with a long tail and large ears on a rather small head. Red and I acquired Tornado from the Humane Society, late spring/early summer of 1999. We got him as a kitten and he was more or less replacing my beloved Kitty who we had to put down because of kidney failure. She was a sweet and loving cat, too.

Red was to attend college in Kansas (fall 1999), and planned to rent an apartment and take all three cats with her. But the lease only allowed her to take two cats. That meant she had to leave one of the cats behind. That was a difficult decision to make since all three cats were inseparable. But Tornado helped her make the right choice. The only cat who would tolerate this bundle of energy was Avalanche.

When Tornado was younger, he was a holy terror. He is the most stubborn of all the cats and is definitely not a lap kitty. Also when he was younger, he could leap higher than any of the other cats - but of course he is 3 years younger. He's the one who can tear through a room like a tornado or a flash of lightning. He's also the most vocal.

And this is one of my son's two dogs, Redd. Redd was also born in 1996, but in the fall. Tim picked him up from the breeder after the Christmas holiday 1996. Redd is such a well-trained, well-behaved dog. Tim trained him well as a puppy. He's another one who went everywhere with his owner. Redd is a pure-bred Siberian husky (like Kody was). It's amazing to think this dog has traveled all over the country. He was born in the central valley of California, taken to Fairbanks when Tim moved up there to attend college, moved to Oregon for a year, and then for another year to Saranac Lake, New York, and now back to California. Redd, a typical husky, loves to run when he gets loose; but he is loyal and will come back after his "exercise."

And here is Mick, short for McKinley (Mt McKinley/Denali). Mick is the youngest of this household menagerie, born in Alaska in the summer of 2000. Mick is one of those dogs who has endless energy, and I mean endless. She is what people in Alaska call an Alaskan husky - dogs bred for pulling sleds. She is part husky (note the blue eyes) and possibly part border collie or Australian shepherd. She definitely has the personality that could make her a "working" dog, but she is just a pet to us. Mick is very loving and always happy to be around people, much like Redd is. Mick is the one whose tail is always wagging, and when she is excited to see you she jumps like a Mexican jumping bean. I've added a couple of videos of Mick so you can see a bit of her personality when she gets a new toy. Let it be said, though, that new toys don't last very long with Mick. This toy you see here in the photo, and in the two videos, lasted only a few hours.