Tomorrow Tony is taking the older kids back to the old house for one last time to clean out the garage. Then we will be rid of that forsaken place for good. I will be staying home, as I'm not well and don't think being out in the cold will help.
We still have five adorable kittens, and Floki and Zombie are co-parenting, with kittens nursing off both. Zombie still has not delivered her kittens yet, but I'm told she is producing milk now, so it should be soon.
I was looking something up and ended up browsing Petfinder. I know, not the place to go when you're trying to talk yourself out of bringing home a new pet. But alas, there I was, and I found one I liked. I showed the photo to Tony and he was moderately interested. Not a puppy mind you, but a senior dog. No housebreaking, no chewing phase, and we could provide a good home for a dog that doesn't probably stand much of a chance in a kill shelter. Something I've always wanted to do from way back when I volunteered in a kill shelter. This one is totally up to Tony though. I can't bring home every animal I fall in love with or we'd quickly be overrun. He's hesitant to adopt a senior dog because he knows how hard it is for me to lose a dog. I have assured him, that's the point. To love the dog so much in the shorter time frame as to make up for lost time. If you aren't absolutely heartbroken when your dog dies, did you really love him/her at all? I know what comes with adopting a senior pet, and I am willing to take that on. I understand that sometimes vet care for senior animals can make puppy expenses look laughable, and I know that longevity is a guess at best - tomorrow is not promised with elderly pets.
Many years ago I went to a commercial dog auction (puppy mill if you will). There was a dog there that I fell madly in love with. She was a 13 year old dog who'd lived her whole life in a cage making puppies. When I stepped up to her kennel she was gentle and kind, and looked up at me and wagged her tail. I wanted to take her so badly. But in order to go, I had promised my husband not to bring home a senior dog. It was his one and only stipulation for the trip. I sat on my hands and I literally cried when she sold for $1. A while later I posted in a rescue forum about the dog and how it broke my heart to pass her up. I received a private message from someone else who shared a photo. She'd been taken in by another rescue that was there bidding that day. They took her home, she had her first day out of a cage, and died of old age the very next day.
I am well aware that timelines are not guaranteed. Perhaps by adopting a senior dog we could better space out the inevitable ends. If we have all young dogs, chances are they'll all age together and pass away in quick succession. If we have Moose (who's three), and a senior, and then get a puppy in the spring, that should space our losses enough that it's not absolutely crippling when they happen. My aunt recently lost both of her senior dogs in the same weekend and I can't even imagine how heartbreaking that must be.