Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Merry Christmas from Magoo, Smudge, Bella and Dolce!


Everyone here hopes that all our furriends are having a great holiday break.

Smudge is doing well. He still is not eating as much as we would like, but I have seen him at the food bowls a couple of times which is a little reassuring. He is as playful as always and fell in love with the Whirly-Bird cat toy he got from Skeezix. The picture above is from a Nip session on the Saturday before Christmas.

Smudge has proven himslef to be the Lover of our foursome in yet another way. We sent him off to visit Grandma for a sleepover. Now Grandma has a cat named Cloe. I have to take her word for it, because in four years I and my wife have never seen the cat. I was beginning to wonder if Alzheimers' was setting in, because the dear MIL kept talking about this cat that noone had seen but her. It took Smudge less than a minute to work his magic. Cloe came bounding out to greet this new visitor. The MIL said that Smudge and her sat beside each other and Cloe followed him around wherever he went. When we went to pick Smudge up, m wife and I finally saw this suposed cat named Cloe. Cloe was all rubby and purry and very talkative for the first time in four years. After we got Smudge home, we got a phone call from the MIL; Cloe was besides herself searching for her new friend.

We are sending Smudge over to Grandma's for two weeks. One reason is that we are taking a trip and the other is that Cloe doesn't like his food and he doesn't like hers. We want to see if the less chaotic household of Grandma will help him put on some weight. Although I would break my heart not to have him here all the time, I know he loves his Grandma and it might do him some good. If it helps him plateau from his CRF, then it might evolve into a longer term situation.

PS: In regards to the ending of the story, "Guard Well, Old Shep", there were some readers that were upset that I didn't let Tom know what had happened to Shep. I didn't realize that miracles have become so scarce that people can no longer see the signs. When Shep went to hide so that he could pass (which is a natural instinct for a dog), there is no body because Shep did not die. Because of his sacrifice, he was given another task and he left to go and fulfil it. I alluded that there were only two set of tracks so noone would think that Shep had been taken away by a wild animal. Tom knew that there would have to be a body if Shep had passed away at the end of his tracks. For there to be no body, there would have to have been a miracle. I do believe that when science and reason can no longer explain, then miracles must be accepted. That all said, I hoped you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you. Dolce made me promise to write something funny next time. I told her to put her thinking cap on and help me think of a funny story. She refused. She says there is no way she is wearing a cap of any variety.