Our Rescue Chihuahua, Sadie Mae

 Sadie Mae's Story

 Sadie Mae

Sadie Mae joined our family on November 18th, 2013, after I answered a free ad on Craigslist for a female chihuahua. The ad included pictures. She was so adorable and I wanted her so badly. It was love at first sight.  

It was late in the evening but I sent a text anyway.  The chihuahua owner, Nancy, answered almost immediately.  After exchanging a couple of texts, we ended up on the phone. Nancy had adopted this chihuahua girl eleven months earlier.  She said the two just had not bonded.  She wasn't sure why, but they just didn't click so she had decided to rehome her.  

She had placed her once already.  It was a home with several small children.  The dog was terrified.  The family returned her to Nancy because she would not come out from under an end table and was snapping if the kids got near her.  To me, this did not seem like the ideal chihuahua home.  Something about a five pound dog and a house full of small kids just doesn't seem like a wise choice.

I was told some history on the little dog.  Evidently, the first three years of her life were spent on a breeding farm. I know she has had puppies, but have no idea how many times. Eventually, she was sold.  That buyer kept her about a year and due to a hardship situation decided to turn her over to a shelter. She stayed at the shelter for three months before Nancy adopted her. Eleven months later, Nancy no longer wanted her. She was five years old and we would be home number five.  How sad is that??

She loves the sofa pillows.

I told Nancy I wanted the little dog.  I told her all about my husband & myself.  I offered references from my vet who has known me for more than twenty years.  I assured her we are a forever home.  Our pets are NEVER up for adoption.  Once they move in, they are here for life. Nancy said she thought I was the best home for the little girl.

After a month of phone tag and cancelled appointments, (on Nancy's part), we were finally able to meet this sad little chihuahua.  Nancy had told me of two  previous names this little dog had been given. I was also told she did not answer to either one.  Before I met her, i had already decided her new name for her new life would be 'Sadie Mae.'  

Hangin' out with dad at Christmas time.

Now, Sadie Mae is in her forever home.  She will not be homeless again. She has fit in amazingly well with us.   She has been wonderful with our four cats and both dogs. She is rarely at home alone.  She goes everywhere with me, including my work.  I can't wait for her first camping trip in April. Sadie Mae is such a good little dog. It's heartbreaking that it took so long for her to find a forever home.

There are thousands of chihuahuas out there desperate for a home.  They are everywhere and in every shelter.  They are the number two breed, only behind pit bulls,  currently being euthanized in our shelters.  If you have room for one more little family member, please consider rescuing a chihuahua.  You will truly save a life.

I'd love to hear how you adopted your pets.  Please share.

Thanks for stopping by.

-Jan ♥♥-

'Paw Prints In The Moonlight' by Denis O'connor

A Sweet Book

This is really a sweet biographical story about a man who rescues a tiny kitten and the special bond that develops between the two as Toby grows into a beautiful adult cat.  It’s a really fun read for cat lovers, especially anyone with a special cat in their life. It’s cute & lighthearted.  It's much lighter than what I usually read.  I really enjoyed it.  -- Jan♥♥ 

Horses & Geocachers

One day last summer, my husband I were geocaching in Eastern Washington.  While following our coordinates, we came across a horse in a large, fenced field.  Off in the distance was another horse with a rider.  We had reached our destination and were both out of the truck.  As we searched for the geocache, the horse & rider approached us.

An older gentleman was the rider and we figured he was coming over to see why we were poking around in the tall grass beside his field.  I got ready with my well-rehearsed speech that explains all about geocaching.

I no sooner got started with my explanation when the man held up his hand to stop me and said ....

"I know exactly what you're doing.  I'm training and socializing this young horse.  I rode over because I wanted to show you to him."

How's that for a switch. LOL

He is a very nice man. We had a fun little visit and off he rode on his beautiful horse.

I was so mad at myself for not thinking to take a picture of him riding his horse while I had the opportunity.  The picture above is his other beautiful horse who was in the field waiting for his pals to return.

Camping Cats and Geocaching Dogs

Meet our Motley Crew

Abigail

Abigail

Abigail is the only female out of four cats and is quite the little princess.  She and her four siblings came to us in June of 2010, as a litter of kittens we emergency rescued.  She's been with us since she was four weeks old. She  started camping four days after joining our family and has been camping with us ever since. She & I have an especially close bond.  She follows me everywhere and never fails to answer when I speak to her.  She is definitely ALL girl and likes to be treated accordingly. I absolutely adore her.

To read about their rescue, please visit HERE.

Abigail at 6 weeks old.

One of her favorite places to nap

Muggle

Our beautiful boy.

Muggle is Abigail's littermate brother so his story is very similar to hers.  He's a gorgeous Lynx Point Siamese Mix.  He's our other camping cat.  Muggle is the cool cat in the house.  He's tough, but not mean. He's kinda like 'The Fonz' and has an amazing personality.  He's a great cat and we love him very much.

Resting on the bed in our travel trailer.  He's tired from a hard day of camping.

Muggle at 5 months old on a camping trip to Oregon.

Their favorite thing about camping is bird watching from the travel trailer.
They never, ever leave the house without their harnesses and I.D.  All our pets are microchipped.

People often ask about camping with cats,  To read how WE camp with our cats and how careful we are to keep them safe, please visit this Blog post.


Cache

Our daughter, Tracy, rescued our 'two brothers.'  Cache & Willie were born in a litter of five to a feral mother. They were found when they were tiny, under a shed, in June of 2008.  

Tracy and her friend were visiting a co-worker and were told that one kitten had been killed by a raccoon.  When my daughter left she took two kittens home with her and her friend took the other two.  They were worried the raccoon would return for the remaining kittens. Tracy couldn't keep the kittens in her apartment so my husband & I took them.  We've had the brothers since they were about eight weeks old.

Cache is our 'Man in Black.' He is our "pretty boy."  He always seems to feel the need to be neat and tidy.  Whatever he's doing, he often stops to groom  and straighten his hair.  He's a good boy and minds well. If we scold him for something, he scolds us right back and lets us know he doesn't appreciate being spoken to that way. He gets along well with the others, but seems to feel he's a class above them.  He doesn't play directly with them.  He sits back and watches them when they play. Sometimes I don't think he feels their behavior is dignified enough for a good cat.

His favorite thing in life is a laser pointer.  He lives for it. 

His favorite spot on hot days.

Willie

Willie is Cache's litter brother.  He is the sweetest cat ever, but he's also my mischievous one.  If I turn my back, he is in to something. Most of his antics are cute.  I do have to watch him with Abigail.  He's a bit of a bully with her.  She runs from him, so....he chases her. He thinks it's a big game.  He thinks it's fun.  She DOES NOT!!!!  When we're not home, they are separated.

Sadly, we didn't start traveling with Cache & Willie when they were kittens and now they want no part of it.  If they liked it, we'd take them all.

I call Willie our $1000 cat. In Oct., 2010, Willie had an episode with struvite crystals.  That's a urinary blockage.  They literally can't urinate. This is extremely painful & can be fatal. I rushed him to the vet immediately.  Our vet said we caught it at the very beginning of the blockage. Thank goodness because otherwise he would have been much worse off.  After several days at the vet clinic, with an I.V. and catheter, he was well and back to his old self.

I have always blamed this problem on dry cat food.

Our cats eat only high quality wet food.  I rotate between quality brands to help insure balanced nutrition.  Occasionally, I give them a small handful of dry food as a treat.  I only do this because they love it.  Dry food is NOT part of their regular diet. 

I don't believe dry food is healthy for cats. Cats have a low thirst drive.  They don't drink nearly the water they should.  A natural feline diet has a high water content.  A cat fed a diet of dry cat food is often slightly dehydrated.    

Urinary tract problems, kidney disease and Diabetes are all common problems seen in our cats. I believe the constant state of slight dehydration and the high carbohydrate intake of a cat on a dry diet causes many of the health issues our pet cats suffer with.  Many vets feel this way.

I always try to share Willie's story with other cat owners in the hopes they will avoid feeding dry cat food to their babies.  Our vet bill to save Willie was $993.45.  We could have easily lost him.  He absolutely would have died a painful death without good vet care.  He was so worth it.  We love him. 

For more information on cat nutrition, please visit The Cat Info Site.  It's a wonderful site for cat lovers.

Willie & Cache at 8 weeks old.

Britt

  

Britt is actually another of Tracy's rescues.  In 2002, Tracy was shopping at a Walmart store with her grandmother.  There was a woman standing in front of the store with a four month old Lab/pit bull puppy.  The woman told my daughter the puppy would be going to the pound that afternoon if she wasn't adopted before then.  

Tracy immediately got in contact with Don & I and begged us to let her bring the puppy home.  She figured I could find the puppy a home.  After all, she is only a "little" puppy.  Imagine my surprise when she showed up with a four month old puppy who was already forty pounds.LOL 

Britt lived with us for a total of two days before we were all attached to her.  She had found her new home.  She truly is the best dog ever.  It breaks my heart that dogs this great die in shelters everyday.

Britt is a true geohound.  She lives for camping & geocaching.  That's what life is all about.  Don, Britt & I all started caching in 2006. She loves all the hiking involved.  She even has her own geocache.  It's called, 'Britt's Dog Day Afternoon.'

For anyone wondering about Geocaching.... It's a outdoor treasure hunting game using a GPS device.  Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location. It's super fun and you meet a lot of nice people.

For anyone wanting more information about Geocaching, please visit this site.

Britt camping in Eastern Washington.

Laya

Laya is fairly new to us.  She's been with us about a year. 

She belonged to my mother-in-law. When my dear mother-in-law passed away, nobody wanted Laya so Don & I brought her home with us.

We've had a few issues to overcome, but things are going well. Her biggest issue was snapping at the cats in a pretty aggressive manner.  There is no way that can ever work out in our home. Everyone must get along.  I EXPECT it. She consistently got corrected for that.   Luckily for all of us, it's been a long time since that has been a problem.  She does very well with the cats now.  

In the back seat of the Tundra & ready for a road trip.  

  

When Laya first joined our household, she was afraid of absolutely everything. I think the camping and geocaching has done a lot for her issues.  She's been more socialized and has gained some self confidence.  She loves traveling and hiking.

She has her own camping chair and loves it.

 She had never seen the beach before moving in with us.  She loves it.  She never stops running when she's loose on the beach.

She is fitting in well and enjoying life.

 We also live with three really beautiful cockatiels.  Two are Lutinos & one is a Pied.  They're fun and we enjoy them. 

Well, that's the gang. I hope you enjoyed meeting them.  Please send me photos and stories of your camping or geocaching cats & dogs.  Or, send me stories about any pets at all.  I'd love to see and hear about your fur-kids.

Thanks for stopping by.  -- Jan♥♥

Cats -- Trap, Neuter & Release, (TNR)

Cat Lovers!!!!

Please help spread this information so people everywhere will learn what a tipped ear means. 

Trap, Neuter & Release. (TNR)

It's universal.

It prevents births and saves lives.

I'm Ear Tipped.  This means someone took the time to get me neutered and vetted.

Please leave me where I am so their efforts are not in vain.

Life by Keith Richards

I actually listened to the audio version of this book.  It was read by the always amazing Johnny Depp with the help of Joe Hurley.  At times, it featured Keith Richards.

I love, love, love this book. It was a fun walk down memory lane for me. 

The book begins with Keith’s life as a bullied child in England.  His music loving mother bought him his first guitar when he was 15 years old.  While in his teens, he fell in love with Rhythm & blues. In his book, he talks of meeting Mick Jagger, the formation of the Rolling Stones and their glamorous lives as rock stars.  He candidly talks about the good and bad. 

Each chapter is filled with the crazy antics of these amazingly talented ‘outlaw’ rock stars. I remember most of their crazy antics from following their lives through Rolling Stone and other magazines that focused on rock music & the lives of music entertainers.  They were the best of the best. 

I’ve been a huge stones fan as long as I can remember and Keith has always been my favorite. The first rock LP I ever bought myself was ‘Made in the Shade.’  I bought the rest of their albums, one by one, as quickly as I could save my allowances.  I had to own them all. 

Reading every chapter, with the familiar and well loved song lyrics, brought a flood of memories of long passed California summers, favorite friends, pool parties & afternoons at the beach.  I enjoyed every minute of it.

This book is a must for all stones fans.  It’s too much fun to miss it.  I rarely read the same book twice.  I believe this will be an exception.  For me, once will not be enough.