R.I.P. Sparky

My cat died Saturday night. Well, actually, we had him put to sleep. He was 13 years old and recently diagnosed with diabetes. He was suffering and didn't have much time left. The kids were all in bed, but we thought Walnut would like to have a chance to say good-bye. I woke him up and he groggily petted Sparky and sadly bid him "Farewell." I took him back to bed and held him while he cried and I cried a little bit, too.

Peanut was sick and staying home from church with Filbert. Walnut said he wanted to stay home with daddy to "see what the house will be like without Sparky." So while Cashew and I went off to church, Filbert took the boys to Lowe's and they picked out a birch tree under which to bury Sparky. Walnut helped Filbert dig the hole. Peanut watched. Finally, Walnut asked if the hole was big enough. Filbert told him that it was deep enough, but it needed to be wider, to which Walnut replied "Can't we just crunch him up into a ball?"

Animal Lovers Unite on Craigslist

My sister had a run-in with a vet. Basically, she took a friend's cat in for a gum cleaning and now the cat is barely alive. When confronting the vet, she got yelled and screamed at and "banned for life" from the vet's office. Ironically, she does not even own a pet, so this is a real tragedy for her. *Note sarcasm. (For the whole story, look here but note the video referenced has been taken down.)

If you follow the chatter on the Craigslist Humboldt Pet section, you'll see that there is a boycott/protest planned for later this week.

After a quick googling of the vet's name, I found that he was just put on probation for neglecting an animal in his care. Sounds like someone might be losing their license soon.

If you live in northern California and want to get involved, check out the Craigslist postings for details on when and where.

Foul Beast

Isn't Mango a sweet name for a long-haired orange cat? If you saw Mango from a distance, you would think she's the cutest, sweetest little cat you'd ever seen. Just wait until you get up close though. She's a foul beast.

A cat adoption agency picked her up wandering down the middle of the street and my sister subsequently adopted her. My mom swears Mango is a sweet cat all the time, but whenever we get near her, she hisses and howls then runs away. I consider Mango the "Scrooge" of the cat world.

String Bean is completely enamoured with Mango. You say her name or the word "cat" and String Bean gets a huge grin on her face and starts looking for the foul beast. Once she's found, Mango hisses and runs away. I'm not sure why String Bean thinks she's so great when Mango only greets her with her foulness. I will admit it is the most adorable thing when Mango is hiding under the bed and String Bean gets down on the floor to look under the bed at her. (String Bean has her daddy trained to shine a flashlight under the bed to look for the cat.)

Mr. Bean, the cat enthusiast, nicknamed Mango the foul beast. I'm allergic to the cat, so Mango already had a strike against her. If her demeaner were a bit nicer, we might like her more.