Email me a picture (jpg or gif format) with a small caption explaining why love is a four-legged word for you at: stinkypaw@gmail.com
It’s your time to share the love you have with your four-legged friend…
Mimi was a kind of feral cat that drifted between our property and our neighbor’s and we both fed her. She’d always run from us, but tended to keep us in sight.
A week after we lost our little Johann to pancreatic cancer, Mimi (nearly a year later for her) allowed us to get close to her, pick her up, and take her into our house.
She was a very loving cat who enjoyed being cuddled whenever possible. She loved our dog Panda and used to rub herself against Panda whenever she could. Mimi tried to get along with our big dog Marcus, but he always wanted to eat her, and she’d have none of that.
Mimi was the sort of furry kid who always showed up when you needed some “purr therapy”. I suffer from migraines and she’d always sleep next to me as I retreated from the light.
We only had Mimi for 8 years. Too short a time. She developed a liver disorder that basically turned off her hunger response. Unable to afford the expensive treatment, we had to make the hard decision to put her to sleep.
During her last two days, she spent most of her time outside with us. I took a ton of photos. She wasn’t very active, but she did enjoy the sunshine and rolling in the dirt.
We said goodbye to our little furry girl on August 28, 2007. Mimi will be in our hearts forever.
She was Love.
Submitted by Jayne d’Arcy
1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Any separation from you is likely to be painful.
2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.
3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.
4. Don’t be angry with me for long and don’t lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainment, but I have only you.
5. Talk to me. Even if I don’t understand your words, I do understand your voice when speaking to me.
6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.
7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I could hurt you, and yet I choose not to bite you.
8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I’m not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long, or my heart might be getting old or weak.
9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too, will grow old.
10. On the ultimate difficult journey, go with me, please. Never say you can’t bear to watch. Don’t make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there because I love you so.
~Take a moment today to thank God for your pets. Enjoy and take good care of them.
Life would be a much duller, less joyful experience without God’s critters.
~Now please pass this on to other pet owners. We do not have to wait for Heaven to be surrounded by hope, love, and joyfulness. It is here on earth and has four legs!
I received this today… Love does come in many shapes…
20 August 2009
Dear Samer,
I can see you now about to start writing, so I thought to share with you my thoughts from way up there. I am still trying to make sense of what happened last week, and unfortunately, I am deeply confused. Why did I suddenly start to act aggressive? Why did you sign that paper?
All I remember is that when I opened my eyes on Wednesday morning, I was not hungry, I was not sad, I was not angry, but I was missing like hell the routine we acquired together.
Love and affection!
How much I enjoyed bothering you every morning so that you can go down to the kitchen and feed me. How much I craved those long nights we cuddled together. Even lately when I no longer wanted to share the bed with you, I would still crave it as you wake in the morning and you came over to my bedroom and start whistling for me and cuddling me.
I miss it all, but when I look at you from here I can see you completely heartbroken and sad. I am sorry. I really am. I did not mean to hurt you. All I have ever done and meant was for you, unconditionally. As I have joined your life a few years ago, I have managed to trigger change in your life; and now that I am gone I am afraid that I changed your soul forever.
Did I just say forever? yes, I did. Do not be too sad Samer as I still exist. I am with you, and I can still help you. Most importantly, I want you to know that I forgive you for you did not know what you were doing. I forgive you for all the love you had given me. I am a cat, and as all cats, I needed my territory, my habits and my stability. You could not guarantee me any of those. After all, you are not a cat person, how could you have known. But you gave me the most beautiful gift of all, and that is love! You turned me into a human, and it hurt to be a human. I suddenly was able to experience feelings of jealousy, anger, depression and envy. To make it worse, I was not understood. I have tried in every way to share my pain towards the end with all of you: By crying, by stopping to play, by retreating and isolating myself, and by showing it in my eyes. How could you all have been so blind?
How could you let daily life take over your loving instincts? How could we allow fear to overpower love?
I was young, I was only 3.5 years old, and I deserved to be in your life for at least another 15 to 16 years. I know with the appropriate amount of love, attention and dedication I would have changed … did I just say changed … well more that I would have rebecome what I always had been … Puma the sweet, affectionate, smart and charming cat. I made a lot of people fall for me, and I can see so many of them mourn me in regret. That makes me feel good, for I feel appreciated; but that also makes me feel sad, for I failed to control my animal instincts.
Cat ambushes dog!
And I see Luka all depressed, be careful. Don’t make the same mistakes with her that you made with me. Now she can’t hurt a fly even if she wanted to, which means that it will be impossible for her to get the same injustice I got. Still, there is nothing more painful than to live with sadness and not be able to express it and be understood.
Then I think of all those spiders and flies that I have killed throughout my young life. I know for me it was for play, but maybe I should have known better. I killed them too out of ignorance and inexperience. And now that I am up there, I can promise you one thing, and that is never to kill any living being. We are all loved by someone, and as we die, those we leave behind are torn in pieces forever.
I know what your mind is going through every minute of every day; you probably remember how I would play fetch with you … in the middle of the night when I would walk towards your bed all proud with this ball in my mouth, dropping it at your feet so that you can throw it down the stairs for me. I would bring it up many times until I get bored. Then came this annoying camel you brought me with you from Dubai. I really disliked this camel. All I can remember are the beatings I have given him, and the entertainment he provided me. Of course, I also remember when you used to hum music for me, especially that Silent Night song. I loved it, I would purr constantly without even being touched. Of course, you could have made my experience even better would you have combed me at the same time. After all, you are human, and you find it hard to do two things at once. And how could anyone forget the “Puma, Ou est le mechant”", “Puma, qui va manger?”, “Puma, douche?”, or “Mon bebe soit gentil”, and of course the many variations of my name “poupou, pum, palmitto, mon amour”. I must have been a very special cat.
Then came the food rituals. Will you ever look at chicken hearts the same way? Twice a week I would get this treat. This is one treat that I never got bored of. Thank you so much for caring enough to feed me “non cat food”. And why did you get me so many toys? At least the cats at the SPCA must be enjoying them now. Did you really think I needed them all? I would have given most of these toys away in an instant for five more minutes of loving and cuddling with you.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. You have done your best, and more than anyone could have ever done. You were a cat hater, and you spoiled me. I can only imagine if you were a cat lover. For my good luck, I ended up with you. I learned much about free love from you, and I hope I was able to teach you much about unconditional love.
Move on in your life, spread as much love as you can, and remind everyone in your path that love is stronger than all. Do not let fear, hatred, anger, sadness, or superficiality take over. You have a beautiful soul, and you can make a difference in this world. Yes, you may have made a mistake with me, so please make a wrong right … you can, and I trust that you will.
Much love and regret,
Puma
A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.
After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road it looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.
He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, ‘Excuse me, where are we?’
‘This is Heaven, sir,’ the man answered.
‘Wow! Would you happen to have some water?’ the man asked.
‘Of course, sir. Come right in, and I’ll have some ice water brought right up.’ The man gestured, and the gate began to open.
‘Can my friend,’ gesturing toward his dog, ‘come in, too?’ the traveler asked.
‘I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t accept pets.’
The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog. After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.
‘Excuse me!’ he called to the man. ‘Do you have any water?’
‘Yeah, sure, there’s a pump over there, come on in.’
‘How about my friend here?’ the traveler gestured to the dog.
‘There should be a bowl by the pump.’
They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.
‘What do you call this place?’ the traveler asked.
‘This is Heaven,’ he answered.
‘Well, that’s confusing,’ the traveler said. ‘The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.’
‘Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope, that’s hell.’
‘Doesn’t it make you mad for them to use your name like that?’
‘No, we’re just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.’
Submitted by Russ
This was sent to me by a fellow blogger, Seeker, enjoy!
TO: GOD
FROM: THE DOG
Dear God: Is it on purpose our names are the same, only reversed?
Dear God: Why do humans smell the flowers, but seldom, if ever, smell one another?
Dear God: When we get to heaven, can we sit on your couch? Or is it still the same old story?
Dear God: Why are there cars named after the jaguar, the cougar, the mustang, the colt, the stingray, and the rabbit, but not ONE named for a Dog? How often do you see a cougar riding around? We do love a nice ride! Would it be so hard to rename the ‘Chrysler Eagle’ the ‘Chrysler Beagle’?
Dear God: If a Dog barks his head off in the forest and no human hears him, is he still a bad Dog?
Dear God: We Dogs can understand human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent ID’s, electromagnetic energy fields, and Frisbee flight paths. What do humans understand?
Dear God: More meatballs, less spaghetti, please.
Dear God: Are there mailmen in Heaven? If there are, will I have to apologize?
Dear God: Let me give you a list of just some of the things I must remember to be a good Dog.
1. I will not eat the cats’ food before they eat it or after they throw it up.
2. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc., just because I like the way they smell.
3. The Litter Box is not a cookie jar.
4. The sofa is not a ‘face towel’.
5. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.
6. I will not play tug-of-war with Dad’s underwear when he’s on the toilet.
7. Sticking my nose into someone’s crotch is an unacceptable way of saying ‘hello’.
8. I don’t need to suddenly stand straight up when I’m under the coffee table .
9. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house – not after.
10. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt.
11. I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my crotch.
12. The cat is not a ’squeaky toy’ so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it’s usually not a good thing..
P.S. Dear God: When I get to Heaven may I have my testicles back?
‘Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened’
Love is a four-legged word to me ever since I picked Maggie up in July of 2005.
She is a small wonder on four legs.
I have never had a dog that is more loving, cuddly and ready to play!
She goes everywhere with me and absolutely loves to travel.
Maggie has ridden in my bicycle basket, has been in a motorboat, has ridden on buses and trains and loves to go anywhere in the car.
She is a mix between a Yorkshire Terrier and a Papillon. This mixed breed is sometimes called a Yorkipap, a Papiyork, or a Yorkillon.
Most people simply call her ‘cute’!
Submitted by Cindy
In our house, love comes on three legs in the form of our dachshund mix, Dewey.
He was found as a stray, and it was obvious that he’d been fending for himself as a tripod for quite a while.
We’re not sure how he lost his right hind leg, but we do know that it doesn’t slow him down a bit!
Dewey zips around at full speed, searching for friends and food in equal measure.
Greta is our other extra-special pooch.
Although she sustained a back injury that left her partially paralyzed, she is still full of love and vitality.
Greta is known by many nicknames including Mrs. Crisps, Grety Spaghetti, and Scamper.
She makes our family complete and we couldn’t imagine life without her.
To learn more about Dewey and Greta and the special joys and challenges of having disabled dogs,
please visit www.reboundhounds.blogspot.com
Submitted by Katja
A little over three years ago we took in a cat that his owner could no longer keep. We named him Max.
He is very picky and can be very cranky at times. Though when my daughter isn’t feeling well or has had a bad day he is right there to comfort her. He loves his little girl. On the rare occasions that she stays the night with a friend or relative he will sit at her door till she comes home. Sometimes even meowing at her door in the early morning hours.
A year later a friend of ours cat had kittens and we adopted one of them to give as a birthday present. In stead of bonding with our daughter he bonded with my husband. I have never seen a cat behave the way Short Stack does, we call him Shack for short. He will follow my husband around the house like a dog would. He enjoys rough play and relaxing in the sun. Feels very offended if you don’t play rough with him to the point of ignoring you for days. He is the cat that we giggle at because he leaps around the house like a rabbit when excited.
Then about 6 months ago we took in a cat that had been dumped of in my sisters neighborhood. He is your standard Siamese cat. Spaz is very shy and with a nervous temperament. He runs from everyone in the house that is until you catch him. Then he is your best friend for the rest of the day. He enjoys “hiding” on my sons bed thinking that no one can see him.
All of our four legged friends could not be lived without. They are truly friends and part of our family.
Submitted by Audrea
