Throwback Thursday #4

(Mamma & Me, 2006)

 





Wordless Wednesday #4

“Meet Me Monday:” Baxter’s Story

                                                                     
Baxter Kashmir Schmidt (@HandsomeBaxter) is a twitter pal from Norway, Maine. Baxter lives with his human, Lynne, and her boyfriend, Damien. Baxter says of Damien, “I get mad at him because he steals my spot on the couch.” Baxter does not have any fursiblings and says, “I wish I did, but I don’t.” This is Baxter’s story.

Baxter is almost 7 years old, and is a male, Boxer/German Shepherd mix, but as Baxter says, “If you talk to the landlord, Lynne doesn’t know.” Baxter is mostly brown with one completely white paw that he says, “Lynne calls it my ‘Michael Jackson Paw’ and she has a tattoo of it on her leg.”

 

Baxter was about 9 weeks old when Lynne found him outside of a retail store in Michigan. Baxter says, “Lynne just wanted to play with a puppy, not take one home, but when I crawled into her lap, we both knew she was my person, and I was her best friend. It was love at first sight.”

Baxter says Lynne never had a “baby dog” before, so he had to “learn everything with her. I peed everywhere and pooed every time she left me alone. Plus, I had crippling separation anxiety. Things are better now.”

 

Baxter says he likes tacos (without onions), long walks (when it’s not raining), the beach (when not too close to the actual water), snuggling with Lynne (and ONLY Lynne), soccer (can fit the whole ball in his mouth), snow, sitting in laps (when least expected), nice people, and any human food that drops on the floor.

Baxter say he dislikes baths, rivers, oceans, rain, getting wet, guys and or dogs that try to come near Lynne, dogs who try to attack him, mean people, people who wear fur, toys that taste weird, dog treats that he doesn’t pick out, and bumping into things because of his 120 pound size.

 

I asked Baxter how he and his human, Lynne, saved each other. Lynne got really sick, physically and emotionally, and Baxter says he helped Lynne heal because “Every day she woke up, she gave me food, let me go outside to go potty. I kept her moving. I got her off the couch. Lynne called a friend to see if he’d take care of me after she killed herself, and he didn’t answer, so she couldn’t leave me.” After a terminated pregnancy and failed suicide attempt, Lynne took herself and Baxter to a new place where Lynne reinvented herself and they started a new life. Baxter says, “She changed her name, chopped her hair off, but I knew the truth, and I still love her.”

Baxter says that Lynne tells him, “You saved my life, it’s time for me to save yours.” Right now Lynne is working on saving Baxter’s life. April of this year Baxter started having bloody noses. It wasn’t every day, but it was occurring frequently enough for concern. After numerous tests and over $3,000 in vet bills, they still do not know what is wrong with Baxter. They do know that it is NOT cancer, so that is good. Baxter is on medication and everyone is hoping it will cure whatever is wrong with him.

If you are interested in reading more about Baxter or Lynne please see Lynne’s blog at http://thesubmissionprocess.blogspot.com/p/baxter.html. Lynne also has set up a fundraising site to help with Baxter’s medical expenses here at http://www.gofundme.com/2s950o.

Thank you to both Baxter and Lynne for sharing their story for “Meet Me Monday” on my blog. Please leave a comment for Baxter and or Lynne below. If you would like to share your story, please email me at abbydawgblog@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Friendly Friday Reminder

It’s hot and humid out there! Complain all you want about the heat and humidity this weekend, and I am just as guilty as the next creature of being uncomfortable with the sudden jump to summer, but let me ask you this. Do you remember the miserable, snowy, cold winter?

 

 

 

Well, just in case you forgot, let me remind you. Just 16 short weeks ago we were in the middle of a blizzard and waking up to two plus feet of snow here south of Boston, MA. The pattern of weekend winter storms was just beginning. Remember?

 

 

Let’s hope the pattern of hot, humid summer weather is not beginning for us just quite yet; after all, we haven’t had much of a spring. In the meantime, stay cool and hydrated and enjoy the heat wave!

 

 

Throwback Thursday #3

(Mamma's Graduation 2007)

Wordless Wednesday #3

“Meet Me Monday:” Chewey’s Story

I am pleased to introduce you to Chewey (Chewbacca), the lovely, longtime cat companion of twitter pal, Carrie (@cat_phenom). Chewey’s mommy, Carrie, was nice enough to share their story. Actually, Carrie wrote the majority of it. I think you will enjoy reading about how they saved each other and their love story.

Chewey is a 16 year old, female, black and white, domestic short hair (DSH) feline. Chewey lives in the suburbs of Chicago with her humans: two children, mommy, and daddy, and lots of fursiblings: cat brothers Fuzzy (age 1, DLH) and Salem (age 2, DSH), puppy brother, Buddy (age 6 months, black lab) who she does not like at all, and eight hamsters. Carrie says Chewey likes her mommy, getting biscuits, eating wet food, sunbathing, looking at birds, playing with toys, and catnip. Chewey dislikes furbrothers Fuzzy, Salem, and Buddy, and everyone else, except her mommy. Sounds to me that Carrie is definitely Chewey’s person.

 

Chewey was found at an animal shelter at six weeks of age with several other kittens after being in a foster home. Chewey was not the original cat that Carrie had planned on adopting. Sadly, the original kitty was sick and unadoptable, but this ended up being fortuitous for another kitty. Since Carrie was already approved as an adopter, she had the pick of any of the other adoptable cats at the shelter. Carrie says Chewey “was perfect right from the start.”

 

Carrie tells us how she came to choose the kitten that would become her Chewey, “I saw Chewey jumping around in a cage – she was very fuzzy, had 3 little black dots on her nose (that have since fused into one dot), and was full of spunk. I knew she’d be perfect.”

Carries continues to tell us what was so special about her first interaction with Chewey, “The first time I held Chewey (Chewbacca), she looked up at me with her cute little kitten face and bit me right in between my nostrils. If you’ve ever been bitten by sharp kitten teeth right there, you’ll know how painful that is. I liked her independent kitten sassiness. She’s proven to be the alpha cat/animal in our house.” Ouchies on the kitten bite!

 

I asked Carrie if there was anything else she wanted to share about Chewey and she shared the following.

Sadly, Chewey was diagnosed with kidney disease in November 2012. She’s lived a long, very healthy life. She’s been my best friend through a lot of difficult times. One night she became very ill. She wasn’t walking, was groaning and dragging herself when she walked, and parked herself in her litter box and wouldn’t get out. I took her to the vet to find out her body temp was only 90 degrees. The vet didn’t think she was going to make it. I was heartbroken. I couldn’t stop crying. She was my best friend. I knew she was older and that this day would come one day, but I wasn’t ready. 

The vet kept her to give her IV fluids, and wrapped her in a warming blanket to elevate her body temp. He was very honest & said it wasn’t looking good, but said that he’d call me in a few hours. Long story short, she made a miraculous recovery! I give her IV fluids as needed, she’s on a special kidney diet of wet food, which she loves, and while she’s still frail and boney, she has even started jumping back up in bed with me.  

I don’t know how much longer we’ll have together, and it will still break my heart when she goes to the rainbow bridge, but I’m enjoying each moment I can with her. She’s more than just a pet or a cat… she senses things, she’s comforting, and she’s brought a great deal of joy to our lives.

My mamma went through this with one of her cats, Smuffy, the first cat I ever lived with and loved, so we can appreciate what Carrie is going through with Chewey. Many thanks to Carrie for sharing Chewey’s story and being a feature “Meet Me Monday” on my blog. Please leave a comment for Carrie and or Chewey below. If you would like to share your story, please email me at abbydawgblog@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you.