I grew up surrounded by pets of all kinds. We had a boy dog named Tiny, a girl dog named Missy, and a cat named Pinky who was a house cat until he bit into the little pet chicken we had hatched under a light bulb. He never saw the inside of our house again.
Sprinkled in among these pets were various other miscellaneous puppies and kittens and other northern Minnesota exotics ….a baby deer, a bunny or two and two pet mice that turned into a cage full within a couple of months. Needless to say I love animals and we have raised our kids to feel the same. I feel sad when I see children shudder and scream at the site of a friendly dog or a purring cat. They are missing so much. Pets give much more than we realize.
I have a friend whose dog suddenly decided to visit her neighbor on a daily basis. The dog trots next door and makes herself at home. I seriously think the dog is trying to be friendly and comforting, unless of course the neighbor has a rack of bacon hanging in her kitchen, in which case she’d have more than one friendly dog stretched out on her ottoman!
We have four dogs, one cat and a bearded dragon in permanent residence at our house. Of course this number is fluid and can change on a weekly basis, just as it did three weeks ago. Someone posted on Facebook that they had found an orphan kitten in her barn, about a week old. I jumped at the chance to care for this little kitty. He is adorable. Three days later his sister kitten came out of hiding and I took her in too. They are the Ying and Yang of each other. Black and white little checkerboard markings and they started out with really blue eyes. As I fed them from doll size baby bottles they started into my eyes with such gratitude I was moved to tears.
My friend thinks they are imprinting me as their mother. Sweet! At first this seemed like a lot of work but they have forced me to sit down and hold them, cuddle them and help them through this rough, motherless time in their lives. I feel blessed.
No I have not named them other than to mark their bottles “pink feet” and “black feet.” If I name them I would be forced to keep them and I cannot be a home to four dogs, three cats and a bearded dragon. (My husband, thankfully, has limits.) So in about a month they will be going to a new home where they will be inside and warm…. unless of course they bite a baby chicken, then all bets are off.
I am thankful for this time and the “pet therapy” I have received.
Animals are reliable, many full of love,
true in their affections, predictable in
their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult
standards for people to live up to.
Alfred A. Montapert
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes.
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