From commentor BD in MN:
Guinness is the latest in the BD household menagerie, currently down to one dog; Bruno, and two cats; Guinness and Tigger. All of our dogs have been Humane Society rescues, and all of the cats just sort of found their way to our house. Guinness just showed up meowing at the door early one very cold MN morning. When we went to see what all the commotion was, he walked right in the door, took a look at the pair of 100lb dogs, jumped up and batted Bruno on the nose… We led him to food, water, and litter boxes and he hasn’t left since… After treatment for frostbit paws and an admittedly half-hearted attempt to find his previous owner, he’s been happily sharing space with the rest of the crew for five years now… We only rarely subject him to such trauma as the pics indicate…
Tigger outweighs Guinness almost 3-1, he’s an almost Tunch-sized 22lbs, but they wrestle and play like siblings. Tigger came to us because he’s such a snuggler that he was jealous of Mrs. BD’s coworker’s new baby, so we sort of volunteered to take him in “for a little while”, that was eight years ago… As an accomplished snuggler, I can’t sit down for more than 30 seconds before he’s crawled up on top of my lap…
Bruno is the elder statesman of the family, he’s a 12 year old HS rescue, as far as we’ve been able to determine, a Newfoundland/Setter mix… The adoption paperwork said he flunked out of service dog training for being too obstinate and headstrong. Unfortunately, this will be Bruno’s last Christmas as he has an inoperable nerve sheath tumor on his front leg, and being a 12 year old, now 90lb dog, his hips are not strong enough to support a front leg amputation. He’s currently on a pain med regimen, but he’s still managing stairs, begging for treats, and acting like a happy dog… We struggle daily with the ongoing decision of how much pain is too much, but he’s still happy, so we’ll keep buying him pain meds…
Cathie from Canada
Merry Christmas to all of the BJ crew. Thanks for sharing your pet stories all year — and that photo of Guinness is a New Christmas Classic!
Kristine
Oh BD, so sorry about Bruno. He’s a grand old guy.
I hope you enjoy this Christmas. Lotsa treats.
WereBear
!2 years old for any Newfie mix is a grand achievement. How did they mix Setter and Newf and get “obstinate and headstrong”? Well, their loss, your gain.
I understand the dilemma; James Bond is 15 and definitely slowing down. The worst part is how he looks at me with eyes that ask, “What the heck happened?”
I know, buddy. I know.
dr. bloor
Heh. Christmas kittehs. Both look settled into their homes enough to feel comfortable exacting revenge while everyone else is asleep.
jeffreyw
@WereBear:
I know that look.
Mike in NC
No rest for the wicked: our cats got us up early this morning to be fed, just like every other day of the year. Republican friends had sent us a Sarah Palin Christmas tree ornament as a gag gift. We hung it on the lowest branch and encouraged the critters to knock it off.
Kristine
@jeffreyw: Oh, that’s a Christmas card. Lovely critters.
BD of MN
@WereBear: I think the Humane Society people just guess breeds if they don’t know, and getting some genetic testing seems to me to be a waste of time and money… Newfie has just been a very popular guess among dog people, the webbed feet are one of the clues… The Setter piece was also sort of just confirmed, nerve sheath tumors are common in them…
I think that when Bruno can’t negotiate stairs any longer, it’ll be time, but we just got back from a little walk, visiting the fire hydrant in the neighbor’s front yard…
edit: Thanks Anne Laurie for including our little family in pics!
rikyrah
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE :)
Linda Featheringill
@Mike in NC:
Wait, wait, wait! A Sarah Palin Christmas tree ornament? Isn’t this the woman who was bitching about the ornaments on the Capitol tree?
Hmmph!
Ed in NJ
So sorry to hear about Bruno. We’ll eventually be faced with making that decision, and I dread the thought of it. We have a 13 year old Chow/Shepard mix with rapidly deteriorating hips/back legs. He’s been prescribed Deramaxx which has greatly improved his mobility, but boy it’s expensive.
Perhaps someone here knows the best place to buys these meds for the best price. $100 a month for a low starter dose can quickly become too much of a burden.
Linda Featheringill
@Ed in NJ:
This might be worth a look. I’ve never dealt with them and so I can’t recommend one way or another.
http://www.allivet.com/p-1599-deramaxx-chewable-tablets.aspx?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=CPC&utm_term=deramaxx%2B100%2Bmg&utm_content=Deramax&utm_campaign=General&gclid=CLyVqYTOna0CFQpS7AodV1n6lg
Good luck.
Maude
Those cats are going to bide their time. They will not forget the torment of being dressed up like dolls.
I saw 2 Newfies yesterday with their servants walking them.
Mino
Saw Krugman’s column and was reminded of Extreme Sheep Herding from Christmas a few years back.
Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGOGOxtN2lM
Enjoy. And Merry Christmas, cute kitties.
BO_Bill
In these cat-expressions, we can observe Mother Nature’s opinion of the Progressive Movement’s attempt to substitute itself in God’s place.
Mother Nature will not be mocked. These cats are just sad that they are too small to do anything about the ass-holes sticking crap on their heads.
Merry Christmas.
Southern Beale
Merry Christmas, everyone! Pardon the turd under the tree…
DanielX
Those kittehs have a single thought: “We are NOT amused, and we are going to kill you in your sleep”.
Now that I have that out of the way…hope y’all are having a wunnerful Christmas or Festivus as you prefer. I got the absolute bestest present I could have gotten last night. I got to spend a half hour or so rocking, or rather swaying back and forth, my grandniece(? nephew and his significant other’s daughter) to sleep. I may have a compressed disk in consequence, but it was a worthy cause. One of those things that are like riding a bicycle…you don’t forget how to do it, and though it had been 15 years or so since I’d done it, I recognized the droopy eyes, etc….yes! She’s down, and to all a good night.
shirt
The Digby taint continues to contaminate the blogosphere…
asiangrrlMN
Awwwwwwwwwwwww! So cute, but yes. Kittehs are gonna kill you in your sleep, BD in MN. Hm. You’re in MN. So is Guinness – who is just gaw-jus. ::wheels furiously churning::
trollhattan
World’s tallest kitteh? You decide. Gives some idea how big Tunch would be if he were “size-and-weight-proportionate.”
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/23/4143471/trouble-the-worlds-tallest-cat.html#storylink=misearch
arawis
Love it. Guinness looks so much “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas”.