Cooper

When we first got Cooper, the very first night, he was just a young kitten and was a little nervous about exploring. After a while of sitting on the couch with us, he got brave and wandered around a little bit. He made his way down the hallway and into a dark room. After a few minutes, I heard a very loud "Meow!" from down the hall. I went to check on him.

"What?" I said.

"Meow meow meow!" he said.

"Ok.' I said.

He promptly ran into the other bedroom. He was fine- he'd just wanted to tell me what he found. And from that day on, he always talked to me. He would "meow" and tell me what the problem was, what was going on, and that he wanted food. He always wanted more food.

After years of health problems, he finally turned the corner. We knew it was time when he didn't want to eat any more. We made the painful decision, and he went to the vet last night for the final time. He would have been sixteen in May.

Green eyed lady, lovely lady

Gypsy, in her younger days.

Our oldest cat, Gypsy, left us rather suddenly in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve.

If she loved you, she loved you completely. If she didn't, you thought she was pure evil. Which is the way she wanted it to be. Proud and beautiful was our Gypsy.

She loved us, and we loved her. We will miss you, Green Eyed Lady Lovely Lady.

And I thought my cats were lazy

Meet Princess Chunky.

44 lb. Princess Chunky was found last Saturday in Voorhees. Her owner lost her home and set her adrift, but she must've not waddled far before she was found. The owner also claimes that Princess is a boy, but his/her weight is so high that that cannot be determined- a vet will have to figure it out.

Wow. I have three cats that could fit into that one.

Instant karma's gonna get you

I was going through some old paperwork for the dogs the other day, trying to clear out the filing cabinet, and I found something interesting. The greyhound adoption agency we have been using helpfully distributes the dog's pedigree and racing record when a dog is adopted. I found the lineage for our late hound, Blackjack, and compared it to that of our new dog, Shadow.

They are cousins. They share a grandfather. How cool is that?

Shadow is at the vet's office tonight, where they're fixing her broken ankle bone. She should be able to walk normally after she finishes healing.

We weren't able to help Blackjack, but maybe we can give Shadow a better life.

Only the Shadow knows

We've been talking about getting our Darkman a friend for a long time now. We finally took the plunge on the Thursday before Easter and adopted a new dog! She's lovely, she's friendly, she's energetic. Within forty-five minutes of being in the house, she tried to kill one of our cats.

Needless to say, she's someone else's dog now. The adoption agency did "cat-test" her, but I expect that she was distracted with something else in the room and paid no attention to the cat. She paid a lot of attention to our cats, however, and a dog can't be trained out of that kind of behavior. I brought her back to the agency first thing the next morning.

However, we had met another dog at the adoption agency who does get along with all my pets, so I brought her home with me. Shadow raced for a season, poorly, and was retired quite young. She's shy and nervous right now. She suffered a broken bone in her ankle and is recovering, but limps on that leg a little bit.

Darkman seems happy with his new sister, although he wants her to play with him more. That will come in time as she heals up and gets comfortable with all of us.

The cats sure seem happier.

Darkman and The Shadow

A happy hound and adopter

I've always thought that the most famous retired racing greyhound is Santa's Little Helper, the dog who was thrown out of the track and became a Simpson in the very first episode, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire. "He's a loser! He's pathetic!... He's a Simpson."

However, I think it's now safe to say that Bart Simpson is no longer the most famous retired racer adopter:

"Something magic happened in our kennels a few days ago. A very nice lady booked an appointment with us with a view to adopting a female Greyhound, to go with her male Jack Russell terrier Butch. We asked her all the usual questions including how long the dog would be left alone and she told us that she worked from home. Her husband and her lovely family and Butch were there. They finally found a little blue girl who got on great with Butch and it was love at first sight. One could see that they were a very kind family and their body language with the dog was marvellous. The family all agreed upon the little girl Sapphire and the lady completed the adoption form, signing her name, JK ROWLING. A very private but wonderful lady. We asked her if she would send us a picture for our website. She kindly agreed and here are some photos of a very happy Sapphire."

Welcome to the adopter's club, Ms. Rowling. I know Saphire is thrilled to have you and to be in her forever home.

Happy Birthday

Their birthdays are all in the spring, April and May sometime, but we've long since forgotten exactly when- or in one case, never knew exactly. So, years ago, we decided on May 1st, all cats age one year.

Happy Birthday.


Cooper in the sun - age 14

Gypsy, who really has green eyes -age 15



Alaska avoiding having her picture taken- Age 13

Brindle Brothers update

The dogs are calming down and settling in to their new home. So far, we've had one incident where Blackjack got defensive over a toy and took a chunk off of Darkman's ear- it's healing fine now- and several stuffed animals have been stolen. Blackjack was definitely abused, but whether beaten or neglected we can't say. He's starting to warm up to us but it'll be a long road. Darkman, however, is just a big ol' goofball who is curious about everything.

The cats are still furious. The oldest, whom we've had for 13 years, keeps giving me looks that say, "WHY did you do it again? Why must there be dogs here?" Then she goes back to plotting the death and destruction of everyone around her, as it is her favorite hobby.

The newest residents of the Center of NJ- The Brindle Brothers

This is Darkman. Darkman was a winner; he raced for two years and had a lot of wins under his collar before he came to live with us. He's a curious, active boy who glued himself to Andrew the minute they met. He also didn't get the memo that greyhounds are supposed to be scared of floors, don't like staircases and are nervous.

This is Blackjack. Blackjack is almost two years old. He never raced due to a broken toe, but he comes from a long line of winners. He's such a beautiful boy. He's nervous about everything that's new to him in the house, and while he doesn't seek out company, he hates to be left alone.

We're all going through an adjustment period right now, but it's great to have dogs back in the house again.

Sad sack

This is pathetic. Not the ad, me.



Every time I see it, I cry.

I miss my dogs. I miss them something horrible.

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is on tonight and tomorrow night. I've watched it without fail since 1998, and will again tonight, even though the dogs look exactly the same year to year (which is the point, actually.) Unfortunately I'll be at work when they show the hound group tomorrow, but I'll watch the rerun.

And if I see that ad one too many times, I'll be on the phone to the greyhound adoption people tomorrow. I had planned to wait until we had the new deck installed and did some weekend traveling we want to do.

But somewhere out there, there is a good dog. In a cage. Who has to race tonight. And he just wants to come home.

I want him home.

So much for that

Spent a fortune today on the annual cleaning of the carpets.

It took about ten hours for a cat to throw up on the newly clean floors.