The Love of Doja

I heard a quotation that everyone believes that they have the best dog in the world, and none of them are wrong. 

I don't personally have a dog right now, but I do have five grandpuppies that I love for the love they give me. 

The oldest is Sophie. I went in halves on her with my ex-wife as a Christmas gift for Elliana in 2011. Sophie is a Yorkie mix who loves us all but would bark at us if we dared to hug HER Elliana! 

Though Sophie was Elliana's dog, she has lived her life with Elliana's grandmother. She is old now, and I rarely see her. I was teased when Laura and I bought her that I just paid half for my ex-wife's dog. That is essentially what happened.

Bugsy Says, "Hold My Milk Bowl"

I have lost two of my cat buddies in two of the past four years. Both Prancer and Mr. Grumpy died in 2019. I lost my cuddle-buddy grandkitten, Charlie Cakes, in January of last year. In August, I lost Jezebel, who was my best friend ever who was an animal. 

We are able to get new furry family members as we lose our pets, but they do not really replace our losses. For example, I got Kai Guy in 2020. He is nothing like Prancer or Mr. Grumpy. Kai has his own distinct personality. He likes to be brushed, but he does not like being held. His greatest sign of affection is when he will stand on my lap and let me brush him or pet him. He is gone the moment he is free from any coddling I try to give him. 

Late last year, a roommate had to rescue two of his adult cats from the home of a scorned ex. One of those cats is a seventeen-year-old guy named Bugsy. I call him Bugs Buddy. 

Jezebel (2013-2022)

I have never had a pet who loved me as much as Jezebel loved me. We saw her at the Humane Society when we were there looking for Mr. Grumpy, who had disappeared a week earlier. She was about a year old and had a deformed bottom jaw. She was an unlikely candidate for adoption because of her jaw, but she was obviously sweet and affectionate. 

We brought her home the day before Mr. Grumpy showed up from his week-long hiatus. Along with Prancer, we then had three cats. They got along well with Prancer recognized as the elder and Jezebel acting as a benevolent guardian, a role fitted to her because of how large she was. Grumpy never challenged either of them, accepting his role as the clumsy little brother.

Charlie Cakes (2013-2022)

I didn't know Charlie for the first couple years of his life. He was found in Hawaii by my daughter who was stationed there. She found him along with three of his siblings after their feral mom had been hit by a car. She got three of the four to the point they could eat on their own. She gave away one of the survivors.

She originally planned on also giving Charlie away and keeping only Zeppelin. However, he endeared himself so much to her that she changed plans, and I ended up with my two oldest grandkittens.

Mr. Grumpy (2014-2019)

Mr. Grumpy was found dead at the age of five in the front yard on the evening of October 10th.

Grumps was rehomed in 2014 when he was about six months old from a lady who was unable to keep him. It took a while for him to lose his edginess around people, but he was quite the charmer once he did! He went from hiding in a closet all day to the cat who would come regardless of which cat you called. Sometimes he would amble up just to make sure you knew he was available to pet.

Prancer (2001-2019)

On the afternoon of August 10th, a car pulled into the driveway. Unfortunately, Prancer had found a piece of ground to sun upon in the tire tracks of the driveway, and the visitor who pulled in did not see her. Her death was immediate.