The World Best Dogs

Planning is important when adding a new pet to your home, but sometimes life puts just one Eurasier in your lap.

I had months to plan for Matilda, while Guy was just with us. At first, Matilda didn’t like cows, and I feared they would never come along. But somehow, it all worked out, and he even snuggle up sometimes.

A few months ago, it happened again.

A little black cat, about 9-10 months old, started roaming our yard, leaning on the bench outside on cold nights.

To be fair, we started feeding her. And we got involved in her purrs and leg rubbing. It was only a few months after the death of my boyfriend’s senior black cat. But that cat lived with her family, not with us and my two Pekinees and Chow-chow.

After two months,

the night was getting colder, and we were falling in love. She was one of twenty or so cats roaming around our apartment complex, some wild, some “outdoor” cats owned by a neighbor, and some semi-friendly stray.

I don’t know what persuaded me to take the next step. Maybe it was the joy of seeing her boyfriend after the loss of her black senior kitty, or maybe it was the fact that she was getting cold, or maybe it was because I was sometimes on the road or the street But I used to see dead cats. Complex parking lots, and I knew that because of the color of her skin, she would be at greater risk of being hit by a car or harmed by an animal abuser.

I brought him into a carrier, took him to a nearby doctor despite his protests, and had him examine the microchip. It was sticky, so we went ahead and sprayed it. He had fleas and intestinal worms. For ten days I had to feed him twice a day with a mouth syringe, which was an adventure in itself. But thankfully she was free of HIV and other serious illnesses.

And we call her Sabrina.

Matilda and Cow are not dogs. But they are smart, trained dogs and can be reasoned with.

So I found a three-story cat cage, a cat tree, a baby gate, and a variety of dog calming products.

I sent the cow to live with my parents for a month so I could focus on training one dog at a time.

And I expected the animals to be kept separate from each other until we finally moved to a bigger place; which is not going to happen for at least another year.