September 2016 Tuesday Tales

tuesday-tales-little-picSeptember 6th

Man goes to give his dog to the shelter, but finds a letter from the dog’s former owner

Tanknicerdays.org

This tale is about the dog pictured above. This story shows us how, as the saying goes, we never should judge a book by its cover. When we don’t know the whole story, we can certainly make judgements and come to our own conclusions. When it comes to animals, we have to work a little harder at “listening” to what they are trying to tell us. Animals deserve our patience. They go through things just as we do.

Here is the link to take you to the story: A Story from Nicer Days 

Let me know what you think of this Tuesday Tale.

Note: If you tried to attach a picture on my Facebook Page of your adorable pet (or other animal) and it didn’t work, please try again. I got the issue figured out. This is from my last post: Share Your Animal Pic. 
Thanks for those who have shared so far by Facebook or email. I hope to see more!

tuesday-tales-little-pic

September 13th

THE DAY WE MET
(A tale about my cat & I)

It was time to bring a new furry friend into my life. I was a little nervous about getting a cat, I had never had one before. But I began my search on the Internet for a cat that fit the pet guidelines at my apartment. After searching for days, I saw her. Her name was “Muffy.”

I got in my car and headed to the Humane Society. At first the woman helping me didn’t even know who Muffy was. She brought me to a room of kittens and said these were good choices. I was not interested; I wanted to find Muffy. She looked around some more and finally there she was!

The woman took her out and brought her into a visiting room where her & I could be alone. Muffy paid no attention to me. She just wandered around and was constantly looking up at the ceiling. The woman came in to ask how it was going. I said “she isn’t really paying any attention to me, she seems very shy.” She said I should visit with some other cats too. I was hesitant, but agreed. I visited with two more cats, one of them hissed at me, the other one was all over me. We went back in the area of the Humane Society where all of these cats were that I had been visiting with. While the woman was trying to talk me into another cat that was older, I couldn’t keep my eye off of Muffy. So, I told the woman I wanted to visit with Muffy one more time in the private room. Again, Muffy was looking up at the ceiling. Then all of a sudden…she stopped and looked at ME. And with that look was a “meow.” That was all it took! I looked back at her and said “OK, you’re coming home with me.”

Her name was instantly changed to “Cino.” I am not a “Muffy’ kind of person.

Here she is a few minutes after bringing her home. I let her out of the box in the bathroom because I wanted her to be by her litter box so she knew right away where it was. Little did know, behind the toilet in the bathroom would become her home for the next few days.

cino-welcome-home2

I brought her food & water in there. I talked to her and tried to let her know she was safe.

After the first few days, she was brave enough to venture out of the bathroom. I was sitting on the couch watching tv and I looked over and saw her peeking around the corner at me. When I got up, she ran back in the bathroom. Then one night, I was asleep and all of a sudden I felt a little wet nose on mine. She decided to “check me out” finally!

For the next few days, she worked up her courage to come around the corner from where she was peering into the living room. She looked at the tv and as she got closer to it, it startled her. She didn’t seem familiar with what it was and did not want to go near it. She was very hesitant about going to the screen door to look outside too. She sure was taking her time getting to know ALL of her new surroundings.

Here she is when she came to realize this was her home and that she was safe and loved!
(Looks pretty comfortable, huh)

cino-finally-home2

The next few weeks would turn out to be a pretty rough beginning for us. I had to take her to the veterinarian to catch up on some vaccinations and because she was sick. She needed to be given medication for the next 10 days (poor thing). Then I went to give the paperwork from the veterinarian to the apartment manager. She gave them back to me and said she needed to be declawed in the back. What?!

First of all, I worked really hard at getting a cat that fit all of the requirements. One of the requirements was declawed, to my understanding, in the front. Well, since I do not even agree with declawing in the first place, I intentionally picked out a little older cat that was already declawed (so I didn’t have to do it). And secondly, you don’t declaw a cat in the back. If they were to accidentally get outside, they would have no means of self-defense.

After getting a letter backing me up from a friend of mine who is a veterinarian, many phone calls to the apartment corporate office, and many tears, I was told I did not have to have her declawed in the back. (Fyi…I would have never done it, I would have moved)

So there’s the tale of how my cat, Cino and I met. It is now six years later and I couldn’t have asked for a better cat!

Tell me about the first day you met your pet.

(If you have a longer story than what you might want to put in a comment, feel free to email it to me at: animalsarefeelingbeingstoo@q.com
I will type it up as an addition to my post)

End note: I found out that she lived with three birds before, maybe this is why she was always looking up.

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September 20th

A TALE ABOUT A DOG NAMED HACHIKO

cino-finally-home2nerdnomads.com

Eizaburo Ueno, professor in agriculture science at Tokyo University, had long wanted a pure bred Japanese Akita dog. He had looked for the perfect Akita puppy for a long time, until one of this students encouraged him to adopt Hachiko, from the Odate city in Akita prefecture.

Hachiko, or Hachi which became his nickname, and his new owner soon became best friends, and Eizaburo loved his dog above all and treated him as his son. The two of them were inseparable.

cino-finally-home2nerdnomads.com

As Hachiko grew older, he started to see his owner off to work in the morning at the Shibuya Train Station, in central Tokyo, and went to pick him up at the station in the afternoon when he returned from work.

On May 21, 1925, only two years after Hachiko was born, Hachiko was as usually sitting by the exit at Shibuya train station waiting for his dear Eizaburo. But his owner never showed up…..
(the pictures and sentences above were taken from nerdnomads.com)

This “Tuesday’s Tale” is actually a recommendation for a movie based on a true story that is well worth watching!

I love this movie because it shows the love and loyalty a dog (or any animal) has to their person. It isn’t just about who feeds them, it’s a lot more!

If you’re a dog lover (or animal lover of all kinds), grab a box of tissue and check out the movie-Hachi.

Here is a sneak peek:

tuesday-tales-little-pic

September 27th

TWO DOGS THAT MADE IT THROUGH A FIRE

This is a tale about a fire that occurred while the family was away for a few hours. (These are people I know)

It was a Saturday afternoon; he arrived home after his band had just finished performing at a local event. He opened the door to their house from inside the garage; there was nothing but a sheet of black in front of him. He couldn’t see a thing. Frozen by the shock of it, his neighbor ran to help. This neighbor watches their two dogs often, so he knew they were inside. He ran in and started opening doors until the two dogs came running out of one of the rooms and then ran outside.

She was driving home from watching her husband’s band perform when all of a sudden the phone rang and when she picked it up…”Our house is on fire” was what she heard on the other end.

Heart racing, mind going a thousand miles an hour, she rushed home. She found her neighbor holding what appeared to be a black dog. That black dog turned out to be her “white” dog, Niko.

chloe-and-niko-after-fire-edited
Chloe on the left/Niko on the right

Their two dogs, Niko and Chloe were inside for the whole thing. The neighbor had managed to wash most of the black soot off of Chloe, but Niko was too upset, they just held him and comforted him. They were told to take the dogs to the vet immediately.

niko-at-hospital-edited
It took three baths to get Niko cleaned

They had to stay at the hospital for two full days. They had iv’s for fluids, oxygen, and received special treatment for their eyes.

A dehumidifier started the fire. It turned out this dehumidifier had a recall.

A terrible thing to go through but things could have been much worse. Little did they know that by having the windows closed and the air conditioner running, their entire house was saved from being burnt to the ground. There were no drafts to fan the flames, so the dehumidifier burned up, but the fire itself went no further.

The dogs were in a room with the door closed which prevented them from roaming the house and getting near the fire.

Their entire house, along with the dogs, was covered in soot from the burnt plastic dehumidifier. Not much could be saved. But there were two most precious members of the family saved, these two beautiful dogs!

chloe-edited2

niko-edited

If you have a dehumidifier, please check to see if it has a recall. It turns out MANY of them do.

Thank God these two dogs made it through a fire!

Note: Another blogger asked me if the dogs were ok, so I thought I should add a little more to the post about what is going on now.
The family is not able to currently live in their house, so they have been living in a hotel. It is estimated that they will not be able to move back into their house for 6 months.
They do go to the house occasionally to mow the lawn and take care of some other things. When they bring the dogs with, Niko will not go into the room where he was when the fire occurred. He stops at the entry way of that room and will not cross into it. I wonder how long that will go on?
So other than maybe the dogs being a little traumatized, they are fine! No health concerns have come up. Thank God!

33 thoughts on “September 2016 Tuesday Tales”

    1. Animals Are Feeling Beings Too Post author

      Thank you for your nice comment about Cino. As my veterinarian friend said, declawing a cat is basically amputating their little paws. She said declawing is equivalent to us getting the first bone on our fingers amputated. So “declawed in the back” means the same as “declawing in the front.” If it is decided to declaw a cat, then it should only be in the front. Leaving claws in the back gives them some means of self-defense. I do not like the idea of declawing at all. I hope this answers your question sufficiently. Let me know. 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

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        1. Animals Are Feeling Beings Too Post author

          I know, I agree. People don’t like their furniture to get scratched up is the only reason I know of. Somehow society has made this a “normal” thing for cats to have done. But to me it seems it is only so they fit into human beings “box” of what they want from an animal. It’s a requirement at my apartment building to have a cat declawed. Many apartment complexes are like that. Again, I guess it has become the “norm.”
          And I don’t know why veterinarians who are suppose to “heal” animals do this. I guess, again, to satisfy humans. I think it is cruel and I personally could never do it.
          You are right that their nails can be cut and filed. I think there are articles about this, that it is unnecessary to declaw. There are SO many unnecessary things humans do to animals. It is so frustrating and heartbreaking to me. That is why I have this blog, to spread the word. Us who care about animals have to speak up for them.
          This has been a great conversation! If you don’t mind I may use it in a post.

          Liked by 3 people

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            1. Animals Are Feeling Beings Too Post author

              I wonder if people don’t realize exactly what they are doing. Society has made declawing a cat “normal.” I have always been uncomfortable with it, but once my friend, who is a veterinarian explained it to me (about the amputating) I was really bothered by it.
              My friend seemed uncomfortable about it too, but I think she maybe feels she has to do it as part of her job. I’m not sure if a veterinarian can refuse to do that. Then again, I don’t know why they couldn’t refuse.
              I guess the bottom line is, it isn’t necessary and it certainly isn’t nice!
              I will make a post out of this one day and use these great comments. Thanks for all of your feedback. Please comment anytime. It’s been a great conversation!

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  2. colinandray

    When I went looking for a dog, I knew exactly what I wanted – a good size (under 100lbs); sociable, self assured, cuddly and domesticated. When we first met Ray, he lunged and barked at us, peed at the front of his cage/den near us and when we took him out for a walk (from the Humane Society) we clearly did not exist to him….. but there was something………….! One day when he and I were alone, he suddenly “fixed eyes” with me and slowly approached (I was in a squat position). He stopped with about 6 inches between our respective noses, and then reached forward so that his nose touched mine! That was it!
    He met my criteria in size only. He certainly was a good size dog (75lbs). The full story is in his book “Who Said I was up for Adoption”, released a short time ago. 🙂

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    1. Animals Are Feeling Beings Too Post author

      Love that story of your meeting! It is amazing how a look, a sniff, or in my case, a “meow” is all it takes to melt our hearts and fall in love with an animal.
      I noticed that you have a book. That’s pretty cool. I will most likely be purchasing it. Do you have other books? Or was this your first one?

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      1. colinandray

        No. That is my first book. It is receiving very good reviews on amazon.com but it’s “claim to fame” is that unlike most other dog books…. the star of this one is still alive! He does not die!
        The book covers our first 18 months together, which was an emotional roller coaster, and some readers have suggest that a box of Kleenex nearby could be really useful for some parts of it! I obviously hope that you will buy but, more importantly, I hope that you will enjoy reading it …. (and tell all your friends)!

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  3. colinandray

    Just a point of a different perspective, and having had 5 cats in my background, declawing the front paws is also not recommended. Whereas a cats back legs have much greater strength than the front (hence the main fighting “tools”), they often use their front as a deterrent. I would guess that most people who been scratched by a cat, received those scratches from the front paws. To remove those claws removes the deterrent which may possibly increase that cat’s fighting tendency. Teaching a dog NOT to bark is much the same in that if he does not bark (i.e. does not warn), then he is likely to simply bite!

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    1. Animals Are Feeling Beings Too Post author

      Great points! Thank for bringing them up. These conversations have definitely made me more confident in my feelings all along that declawing at all just doesn’t seem right. Ahhh..I tell ya, what humans do to animals. Thank God there are some folks like us that love & respect them!

      Liked by 1 person

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  4. colinandray

    If furniture is that important to somebody, they should not consider any animal living with them!
    I heard about a conversation between a woman prospective adopter, and a shelter official. The woman had been describing all the cat attributes that were important to her and the official interrupted her with “I am sorry, but the only thing I know which would meet your criteria is a potted plant. Just feed it occasionally and make sure it has regular water and it will be happy.”

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      1. colinandray

        Share whatever you like if it is in the interests of better care for our pets. If you can somehow mention my book about Ray (lots of info in it re caring for a dog), noting that profits are going to our Humane Society, I’d appreciate it. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

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  6. K.A.

    I couldn’t reply directly to your comment about de-clawing cats, but we de-claw our dogs from their dewclaws. The reason we do it, is because if you leave those claws one, they will catch them on stuff and it can rip their toenail off them and really hurt them. That’s why we do it, so that the poor dogs don’t hurt themselves worse by catching the dewclaws on stuff.

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    1. Animals Are Feeling Beings Too Post author

      Thank you for your comment. I had no idea what the “dewclaw” was so I looked it up and I see how there are times when they may need to be removed. I can understand, if keeping it can cause them harm or major discomfort.
      Why couldn’t you reply directly to the comment? It looks like you did. I am receiving it, I just needed to approve it first. I just want to be sure you’re able to comment in the future, so please let me know. 🙂

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      1. K.A.

        Ooookay! 😉 😀 Yes. I don’t know… oh..really? Hmm..I was going to reply to the direct comment where you and the other person were talking, but it didn’t have a ‘reply’ button there.. Hmm. :/ 😉 Okay! Yes, I can comment, I just couldn’t reply (on the page) to other people’s comments on your blog..if that makes any sense! XD Haha!

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meow, woof, moo, neigh, however you want to say it, please say it