What We Did This Summer, part 3

Sunset

Two of our beloved older pets passed away this summer.

Our sweet Jack was seventeen years old and died in the beginning of September. I worried so much about him in the end. Every day, for the last six months, the first thing I'd do in the morning is see if he was still breathing and every evening wondering if he'd make it through another night. Although he was frail and completely deaf, he didn't seem to be in any pain and spent most of the summer snoozing in the backyard. He was the kind of dog that was friendly, without exception, to people and other animals alike, including guinea pigs, ferrets, rabbits, cats and dogs. All met with a wagging tail and his English Springer bounce. We loved him dearly. We miss you Jackie boy.



We found Ruby as a stray when we lived in California just a few weeks before we moved here to Idaho. I think she was about fourteen years old when she died in May of kidney disease. Our little skinny-minny was a bit shy and I always thought Carl Sandburg must have had her in mind when he wrote "The fog comes on little cat feet" because she had a way of quietly appearing at your feet with a smidgen of a mew asking to get in your lap. We'll always love you Ruby.



Sunrise

The circle of life rolled through our house in a big way this summer. As we nursed our older pets in their last days, we also welcomed new kittens into the family.

**Warning**
-copious kitten photos to follow-
I tried to pare them down to just a couple of my favorites, but it's a pretty difficult task when you have the CUTEST kittens in the world! ;)

I posted when these little babies were born and since then they have been held and played with non-stop. We kept three of them and two went to live with my sister. The kids named them Scarlet, Luna and Jet. Cassi's kittens are Alice and Tansy. I'll let the photos speak for themselves...

Comments

[Cami]

Thanks for the kind thoughts on our pets that passed away this summer. The kittens have been pure joy. After pets die, I always think, "never again, no more pets, it's too sad at the end", but the kittens have reminded me that, if you're lucky, you get many, many years of wonderful memories to make their passing easier.

Denise, my husband had only one dog growing up and it was an outside dog, so he wasn't raised with animals either. But, he's slowly learning the joys of being an animal parent. I think kids get so much out of having pets around, if we had more room, I'd want even more.

[Denise]

We lost a pet this summer too. So hard. Our last (of three) cats is almost 16 and not doing so hot lately. My boys want more kittens for her, for them, so she won't be so lonely after losing her best kitty friend, but my husband is not quite the animal person the rest of us are...he didn't grow up with pets (how is that possible, I always wonder as we had a house FULL at all times!). Your photos are so cute - makes me want more animals! ;)

[Visty]

I'm sorry to hear about your beloved pets. We have four kitties and three of them are getting elderly. I worry about them.

I love the pictures of your new kittens! The picture of the two dogs playing while three kitties watch is one of the coolest pet pictures I've ever seen.

[Lori]

these photos are fantastic! we have two cats now but if we build an outbuilding i promised the boys we can get more kittens. :^)

and congratulations about poco!!! that is just fantastic!

[dottyspots]

I can't believe that anyone can resist kitten photos :) They're adorable!

[zoe krylova]

we have a cat named luna!

i'm so sorry about the passing of your dear beloveds. it sounds like they lived a long, full life though. and now, so much new life!

[Emily]

Great pics. Love that one especially where it looks like there are two dogs playing in the background and the two little cats are calmly viewing at like a spectator sport.