In July 2019, I was still mourning the loss of Cary, my big lovable doofus who had over the previous six years since I caught him as a feral kitten and offered him the joys of professional housecattery thoroughly captured my heart.
I'm more of a dog guy, but anyone who does not love animals is fundamentally broken as a human being. Pets make us better and teach us a lot. Watch how humans treat their animals and learn what sort of humans they are. It's rock solid.
yeah, it's a particularly horrifying example of gratuitously abusive animal experimentation. but it has occurred to me (this could get me in trouble, but it's a very real thing) that there's a tendency among uninformed Muslims to regard dogs as disgusting. I say this after having several long discussions with my Muslim oncologist, who says that he's frequently taken to task by other Muslims when he walks his two Schnauzers.
Yeah, that's very true. I have a friend who has dogs, and has Muslim neighbors, and they act like he doesn't exist. How a culture can miss the truth about dogs like that is a real puzzler to me.
that's just common sense. I rely absolutely on my dogs' instincts to know who and what to avoid because I remain altogether too inclined to trust people I shouldn't.
I certainly don't either. and I TOTALLY don't trust people who insist they're "afraid of dogs." I had an insane next-door neighbor (I think she's institutionalized now and used to work as a nurse, god help us) who was completely terrified of my dogs, who were the sweetest dogs imaginable. finally, after about ten years, I just let go with a "what the fuck is wrong with you? you've seen these two dogs every day for ten years and they've never so much as LOOKED at you. don't you think it's time to cut the bullshit? aren't people supposed to DEFEAT their phobias??" she was terribly offended.
her family seems very happy she's gone. I think that last sentence should have started with a "needless to say."
I now have good relations with dogs, but when I was really little, my dad had a collie named Michael, who was so big (to me) that he scared me. I realized later he was a good boy, but he would nuzzle me and knock me over. Then there was another dog I got to be friends with that lived on the route I took walking to school. The first day I rode my bike and went past his house, he came out and chased me and bit me. I ended up having to have that series of *really painful* rabies shots in my belly. So after that I was very cautious around dogs. Didn't dislike them, just didn't trust them. In adulthood, I got to where dogs and I declared a truce and became friends.
that really IS just about the most emblematic story I've ever heard about a horrible early encounter with dogs. my family didn't have a dog until I was about seven, but my Bronx grandparents had a sort of Golden Retriever mix named Mimsy of whom I was very fond (in retrospect, I might have been guilty of a little abuse). the thing is (and you'll REALLY appreciate this, Tom) that my father said that, as far as he remembered, she was found as a nearly newborn abandoned puppy around the time of the Munich Pact (!!). which is to say that I actually knew a dog (this'd be around '53 or '54) whose existence predated WWII. and dogs don't live all that long, although Mimsy was obviously pretty healthy. this provides a healthy sense of perspective. or something.
as kids, were always told to avoid strange dogs because of rabies and the horrible shots, but all of that seemed like a sort of mythology. you're actually the first person I know who actually had to go through that. if it had been me, I'd probably have given dogs a wide berth as well. OUCH.
Yes, it turned out the owner of "Champ" the dog that bit me, wasn't a nice guy. He took the dog away immediately, before he could be checked for rabies, which is why I got the full course of rabies shots. There were more than a few of "The Greatest Generation" who came back from that war seriously damaged. They were scary to us kids, nobody at the time knew anything about PTSD.
this is almost always true, but I know of one or two cases where friends of mine adopted a shelter dog who turned out to be pretty problematic. I'm glad it wasn't me because I feel like once you adopt a dog, you're making an implicit contract to keep that dog, no matter what. one of my first dog dyad had intractable glaucoma, so we had to remove her eyes. both of the second dyad--mother and daughter--had the gene for degenerative myelopathy, which is basically ALS, and it was a nightmare (in the middle of which, I was diagnosed with lung cancer for the second time, which has nothing to do with anything except to make very trying times a little more trying).
but I've also had six amazingly sweet dogs, so it's really easy for me to talk. and I'm partial to herders because I love all those herding behaviors that are all about accounting for things, protecting them, making sure everything's correctly organized...in general, taking RESPONSIBILITY.
so I assume that TFF would, if he knew anything about it, ESPECIALLY hate herding dogs. more reason to despise him, as if any of us required yet ANOTHER reason to do so.
in the meantime, it's very hard not to turn the television on, but impossible to watch it....
I'm a sucker for a tear-jerker animal story. This post, TC, and the marshmallow-heart-beneath-the-gruff-exterior (yours) it revealed made me hit the "subscribe" button tonight after monitoring the newsletter for the past several months. Well done, sir. Hello, TAFM community!
It's a love story. What a surprise, a love story by TCinLA. I never expected it, nor ever dreamed that I could like TC this much, as much if not more than Sweetie. TC and Sweetie, what an adorable pair. I can't stop smiling.
This was lovely, and, for me, a tough one. On February 3, 2005, two new kittens arrived at our house--around three months old. Abigail died at the end of April and Kirby at the beginning of August--and we had to make the decision to do it. It was nice to be reminded that there will be others.
We are waiting until the new year for assorted reasons, and there's an adoption service near us. We're talking about getting an older one and a couple of younger ones.
That is where I found Tigger. He makes me laugh everyday and gives my life purpose since I live alone. The right one is waiting for you. Thank you TC for showing this side of you and introducing us to Sweetie.
That is so tough after all those years, I truly believe that I will see my buddies on the other side, I have no idea what they will look like but I’m sure they will know me.
I don’t know if this is something you can believe but I will share it with you. After my Dad passed, I was grief stricken. Searching for ways to ease that pain. One of my sisters recommended a medium. She had consulted her and said she’d found some measure of peace. So, I did. She told me many things she couldn’t have known about my family. My dad wasn’t a “pet” person. But he had a wife and three daughters who most definitely were... what are you going to do? We were allowed pets. The medium told me, my dad wanted me to know all of the dogs were there, I’m assuming that would include the cats and any other animal that lived in our hearts. I know, since that day, I’ve been counting on it!
And also that, those of us who share our lives with animals do so with the understanding that, if the time comes, there is a responsibility involved that they can't do for themselves. I have held cats; I have cradled a llama's big head in my lap, and it was always painful and always somehow wonderful to be part of such a passage for a creature I loved. There are worse things than death, and my vet here always told me,. "It is better to leave this world a week too soon than a week too late."
We let our two go on too long, but we also could have found ways to keep them with us longer. I held our boy, but our girl was out of it and therefore really unaware anyway. And it was profoundly moving.
I love it TC. We must be kindred cat spirits. I live in the country and between the feral and abandoned cats, I’m taking care of 15. I live-trapped them over time and got them all fixed, shots and dewormed. Six of them are now very tame and house pets. The other nine are “friendly ferals” that I feed and provide shelter for. Several of them are now letting me pet them and sitting on my lap. I love them all....
Oh, Tom, brother, I love you! I'm a cat person too and have been lucky to have been owned by quite a few in my life. We have three adopted kitties, which is the threshold for crazy cat people.
I have held my favorite black cat ( our home must always have a black cat), Bundy, named after Al not Ted in my arms when he died at age 20, 14 years ago.
With all the cats in our lives, the pain we feel when they die is nothing compared to the absolute joy they gave us each and every day. And we have the scars to prove it.😽
Finally I don't know about you but I have never trusted a person who never had a pet in their lives. It says a lot about them. Doesn't have to have fur, but the joy of loving something other than yourself is amazing.
They know how to capture even the most standoffs of males. Suspect you will have a lot of hearts of tough guys shared who got captured with a purr and winding ways that could lead to bone breakage unless you know to lift and run fur with the grain. Ah. My Molly says hi.
This beautiful piece didn’t surprise me at all coming from you. You are a man of many parts and talents. But I will concur with others that your timing in presenting us with this is impeccable.
That makes perfect sense, I love animals and have had both cats and dogs for the entirety of their lives, I cried like a baby for days when they died. For now I have to make do with the birds 🐦 and the chipmunks 🐿️. My cats both Chole and Willie talked to me all the time, I have found that they will respond if you talk to them, I would be having a conversation with someone and then say “isn’t that right?” and they would respond with “yap” like they had been paying attention to the entire conversation, people always got a kick out of it, all I had to do was throw my voice towards them and they would respond. I miss them both and still have every whisker they ever dropped for me to find, they will go with me to my grave right over my heart ❤️. I may be and am a warrior but I’m a softie underneath 🤷♂️😎
Thanks for this great story. Being able to hold them when they go is such a gift. I had to do that for my heart cat, Wonka. He told me it was time to go (he had a rough 6 months with focal seizures and heart issues. We had a mobile vet come to our house; he was able to go on the deck where he and I spent so much time together.
About a year and a half later, my niece’s cat had a litter, and we got Artemis and Apollo (dilute torbie and orange boy, respectively.). They light up our lives.
Ally, yes, the contract I had with Isaac was that he would let me know, beyond any doubt, and that I would then do my job. He did, and I did. A gift is exactly what it is. A gift and a great honor. Thank you
I'm more of a dog guy, but anyone who does not love animals is fundamentally broken as a human being. Pets make us better and teach us a lot. Watch how humans treat their animals and learn what sort of humans they are. It's rock solid.
To prove your point...tRump hates animals
And Oz ran a crappy research facility.
I find the candidacy of Dr. Oz one of the more stunningly horrific realities of this particular silly season.
me too, but there's always Herschel Walker.
the phenomenon of TFF proves for all time that whatever you thought the all-time low was, you were wrong.
This I did not know.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/12/pennsylvania-ads-attack-mehmet-oz-alleged-animal-abuse-00061389
What do you expect from a putz like Oz?
yeah, it's a particularly horrifying example of gratuitously abusive animal experimentation. but it has occurred to me (this could get me in trouble, but it's a very real thing) that there's a tendency among uninformed Muslims to regard dogs as disgusting. I say this after having several long discussions with my Muslim oncologist, who says that he's frequently taken to task by other Muslims when he walks his two Schnauzers.
Yeah, that's very true. I have a friend who has dogs, and has Muslim neighbors, and they act like he doesn't exist. How a culture can miss the truth about dogs like that is a real puzzler to me.
Ugh.
😌
I don't trust people who don't like animals.
And I don't trust anybody my dog doesn't like.
that's just common sense. I rely absolutely on my dogs' instincts to know who and what to avoid because I remain altogether too inclined to trust people I shouldn't.
I certainly don't either. and I TOTALLY don't trust people who insist they're "afraid of dogs." I had an insane next-door neighbor (I think she's institutionalized now and used to work as a nurse, god help us) who was completely terrified of my dogs, who were the sweetest dogs imaginable. finally, after about ten years, I just let go with a "what the fuck is wrong with you? you've seen these two dogs every day for ten years and they've never so much as LOOKED at you. don't you think it's time to cut the bullshit? aren't people supposed to DEFEAT their phobias??" she was terribly offended.
her family seems very happy she's gone. I think that last sentence should have started with a "needless to say."
I now have good relations with dogs, but when I was really little, my dad had a collie named Michael, who was so big (to me) that he scared me. I realized later he was a good boy, but he would nuzzle me and knock me over. Then there was another dog I got to be friends with that lived on the route I took walking to school. The first day I rode my bike and went past his house, he came out and chased me and bit me. I ended up having to have that series of *really painful* rabies shots in my belly. So after that I was very cautious around dogs. Didn't dislike them, just didn't trust them. In adulthood, I got to where dogs and I declared a truce and became friends.
that really IS just about the most emblematic story I've ever heard about a horrible early encounter with dogs. my family didn't have a dog until I was about seven, but my Bronx grandparents had a sort of Golden Retriever mix named Mimsy of whom I was very fond (in retrospect, I might have been guilty of a little abuse). the thing is (and you'll REALLY appreciate this, Tom) that my father said that, as far as he remembered, she was found as a nearly newborn abandoned puppy around the time of the Munich Pact (!!). which is to say that I actually knew a dog (this'd be around '53 or '54) whose existence predated WWII. and dogs don't live all that long, although Mimsy was obviously pretty healthy. this provides a healthy sense of perspective. or something.
as kids, were always told to avoid strange dogs because of rabies and the horrible shots, but all of that seemed like a sort of mythology. you're actually the first person I know who actually had to go through that. if it had been me, I'd probably have given dogs a wide berth as well. OUCH.
Dogs generally reflect the humans closest to them, in my experience. They experience trauma and internalize, just like humans.
Yes, it turned out the owner of "Champ" the dog that bit me, wasn't a nice guy. He took the dog away immediately, before he could be checked for rabies, which is why I got the full course of rabies shots. There were more than a few of "The Greatest Generation" who came back from that war seriously damaged. They were scary to us kids, nobody at the time knew anything about PTSD.
this is almost always true, but I know of one or two cases where friends of mine adopted a shelter dog who turned out to be pretty problematic. I'm glad it wasn't me because I feel like once you adopt a dog, you're making an implicit contract to keep that dog, no matter what. one of my first dog dyad had intractable glaucoma, so we had to remove her eyes. both of the second dyad--mother and daughter--had the gene for degenerative myelopathy, which is basically ALS, and it was a nightmare (in the middle of which, I was diagnosed with lung cancer for the second time, which has nothing to do with anything except to make very trying times a little more trying).
but I've also had six amazingly sweet dogs, so it's really easy for me to talk. and I'm partial to herders because I love all those herding behaviors that are all about accounting for things, protecting them, making sure everything's correctly organized...in general, taking RESPONSIBILITY.
so I assume that TFF would, if he knew anything about it, ESPECIALLY hate herding dogs. more reason to despise him, as if any of us required yet ANOTHER reason to do so.
in the meantime, it's very hard not to turn the television on, but impossible to watch it....
This is the correct view.
I've used that as the final argument for converting the "undecided" to my TFF hatred, and it's almost always worked.
Great idea!
TFF?
my abbreviation. "The Fat Fuck," since typing his name is bad for my hypertension....
And an excellent one it is.
Perfect! I had wondered about that but figured it was likely something pretty close to it. Appropriate.
I don't think malignant narcissists are capable of love or empathy.
well, no. that's part of the diagnosis. the main part.
I agree Penfist. They certainly are not.
And boy does that say it all! Right?
I'm a sucker for a tear-jerker animal story. This post, TC, and the marshmallow-heart-beneath-the-gruff-exterior (yours) it revealed made me hit the "subscribe" button tonight after monitoring the newsletter for the past several months. Well done, sir. Hello, TAFM community!
Welcome Peggy!
Welcome, Peggy. I've been on board TC's rocket for I don't remember how long. This is a side of him I never suspected. What joy before tomorrow.
Welcome to the community, Peggy. What a group TC has gathered---and ye, we are once again seeing yet another side of TC...... Lots of good vibes here.
Welcome Peggy! And I'm in complete agreement with you about those who particularly love kitties!
Hi, Peggy. Welcome.
It's a love story. What a surprise, a love story by TCinLA. I never expected it, nor ever dreamed that I could like TC this much, as much if not more than Sweetie. TC and Sweetie, what an adorable pair. I can't stop smiling.
This was lovely, and, for me, a tough one. On February 3, 2005, two new kittens arrived at our house--around three months old. Abigail died at the end of April and Kirby at the beginning of August--and we had to make the decision to do it. It was nice to be reminded that there will be others.
Go to your local shelter. Someone is waiting for you right now. Look for an older one - they hardly ever get to escape back to civilization.
We are waiting until the new year for assorted reasons, and there's an adoption service near us. We're talking about getting an older one and a couple of younger ones.
That is where I found Tigger. He makes me laugh everyday and gives my life purpose since I live alone. The right one is waiting for you. Thank you TC for showing this side of you and introducing us to Sweetie.
I have been adopting senior dogs for decades and they always, always get a good ending.
That is so tough after all those years, I truly believe that I will see my buddies on the other side, I have no idea what they will look like but I’m sure they will know me.
It must be so
I don’t know if this is something you can believe but I will share it with you. After my Dad passed, I was grief stricken. Searching for ways to ease that pain. One of my sisters recommended a medium. She had consulted her and said she’d found some measure of peace. So, I did. She told me many things she couldn’t have known about my family. My dad wasn’t a “pet” person. But he had a wife and three daughters who most definitely were... what are you going to do? We were allowed pets. The medium told me, my dad wanted me to know all of the dogs were there, I’m assuming that would include the cats and any other animal that lived in our hearts. I know, since that day, I’ve been counting on it!
And also that, those of us who share our lives with animals do so with the understanding that, if the time comes, there is a responsibility involved that they can't do for themselves. I have held cats; I have cradled a llama's big head in my lap, and it was always painful and always somehow wonderful to be part of such a passage for a creature I loved. There are worse things than death, and my vet here always told me,. "It is better to leave this world a week too soon than a week too late."
We let our two go on too long, but we also could have found ways to keep them with us longer. I held our boy, but our girl was out of it and therefore really unaware anyway. And it was profoundly moving.
OK. This one knocked me out. More later on this subject. For now, I can only say that this story is what life is all about. For some of us...
Thank you.
I love it TC. We must be kindred cat spirits. I live in the country and between the feral and abandoned cats, I’m taking care of 15. I live-trapped them over time and got them all fixed, shots and dewormed. Six of them are now very tame and house pets. The other nine are “friendly ferals” that I feed and provide shelter for. Several of them are now letting me pet them and sitting on my lap. I love them all....
I'm taking care of 12 sdult cats and 3 kittens, here on the mountain; all abandoned at some point. The 3 kittens were dumped at night in a
storm. All of the Forest Folken here
here abide with the cats and vice
versa. Odd we humans can't achieve that in our societies. Thank
Thank you, TC for showing us the
warm and carig heart you try to
keep covered up. The cats know the
hidden you and now, we do.
Anyone who could love an animal in such a manner earns 100% in my grade book for "ability to warm hearts." Hats off to you, TC!
Nicely done TC. Thanks.
Oh, Tom, brother, I love you! I'm a cat person too and have been lucky to have been owned by quite a few in my life. We have three adopted kitties, which is the threshold for crazy cat people.
I have held my favorite black cat ( our home must always have a black cat), Bundy, named after Al not Ted in my arms when he died at age 20, 14 years ago.
With all the cats in our lives, the pain we feel when they die is nothing compared to the absolute joy they gave us each and every day. And we have the scars to prove it.😽
Finally I don't know about you but I have never trusted a person who never had a pet in their lives. It says a lot about them. Doesn't have to have fur, but the joy of loving something other than yourself is amazing.
Thanks for posting before election day.
Yeah, never t rust anyone who doesn't like animals - or who animals don't like.
Egads. My eyes are leaking.
yeah, me too....
They know how to capture even the most standoffs of males. Suspect you will have a lot of hearts of tough guys shared who got captured with a purr and winding ways that could lead to bone breakage unless you know to lift and run fur with the grain. Ah. My Molly says hi.
I have a Molly also.
My Molly is a five-pound Papillon who shares my house with me and Jazz, my ten-pound tri-color Pomeranian.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mimbrava/albums/72157680733698163
Oh you sneaky gal - they are lovely sweet little "kids".
I meant sneaky regarding the pictures! Thought I should add that.
Oh my gosh! The cuteness 🥰
Thanks so much for taking a look, Carla!
This beautiful piece didn’t surprise me at all coming from you. You are a man of many parts and talents. But I will concur with others that your timing in presenting us with this is impeccable.
Something got in my eyes.
That makes perfect sense, I love animals and have had both cats and dogs for the entirety of their lives, I cried like a baby for days when they died. For now I have to make do with the birds 🐦 and the chipmunks 🐿️. My cats both Chole and Willie talked to me all the time, I have found that they will respond if you talk to them, I would be having a conversation with someone and then say “isn’t that right?” and they would respond with “yap” like they had been paying attention to the entire conversation, people always got a kick out of it, all I had to do was throw my voice towards them and they would respond. I miss them both and still have every whisker they ever dropped for me to find, they will go with me to my grave right over my heart ❤️. I may be and am a warrior but I’m a softie underneath 🤷♂️😎
Thanks for this great story. Being able to hold them when they go is such a gift. I had to do that for my heart cat, Wonka. He told me it was time to go (he had a rough 6 months with focal seizures and heart issues. We had a mobile vet come to our house; he was able to go on the deck where he and I spent so much time together.
About a year and a half later, my niece’s cat had a litter, and we got Artemis and Apollo (dilute torbie and orange boy, respectively.). They light up our lives.
Ally, yes, the contract I had with Isaac was that he would let me know, beyond any doubt, and that I would then do my job. He did, and I did. A gift is exactly what it is. A gift and a great honor. Thank you
Cats rule! Thanks for the story about Carry and Sweetie. I still miss Gerard, Weasel and Bobo. Sammy is butting my leg as it is time for his mid-rats.