Hi Larry We will miss you this fall! But we will make sure that we get our spring party to see all our friends. We had so many blueberry pies, banana breads and other things made for this time. When Lucy when to the animal services tested negative for heart worm, the vet said that in the beginning that happen, so she really is on time to be cured, she already went to the first treatment and the second is at the end of the month. She is also taking antibiotics now. She looks good and happy, she is only upset when she goes to the vet for a treatment because they keep her under observation for the day. Sorry to hear about the avocado...this summer has been very hot. Larry we hope to see you this spring but then Lucy should have a full recovery. Thank you Kathy, and I hope that now the treatment is better and used different meds, the vet was very optimistic because we catch the disease in the beginning. Hi Bradisha Thank you for all the positive things that you said about Lucy, the garden and the parties. I will be so happy to meet you and one day maybe you can come for the garden party, they are so much fun! It is always a pleasure to see your beautiful garden, please keep posting! Hi Luther Thank you for your very thoughtful caption at this time where Lucy need all the support that she can get. I didn't know that there are heart worm shots, my healthy dogs are on a monthly medicine and I never miss that. Silvia

That title certainly caught my attention!!! (see link to my April post below) First let me tell you how sorry I am about your losing your 11 year old buddy to CRF & cancer.. I've been through that..:( This said I wish I had given more consideration to the cats I adopted. 6 MONTHS later, my older Calico cat has not yet accepted them, and we have an upstairs/ downstairs situation!! You do not say whether your remaining cat is a female or male. That could be an element in your decision... Some thoughts: 1. it might be easier if you took in 2 cats that came together to the shelter and already know each other, to avoid the risk of having a 3-way fight. It also would be great to keep 2 'buddy' cats together. I always wonder how stressful it might be for them to be separated... I have to admit, too, that it is wonderful to see our 2 'sisters' groom each other, snuggle against each other..etc 2. You have to realize younger cats (like the ones I adopted--2 sisters, about 18 months old) will be very, very energetic!! My 2 had been at the shelter for almost a year, and when I got them home they unleashed all the energy they had not been able to display in a crowded small area (not in a cage)... Oh boy, the running they did!!!!... They have now calmed down a little, but this drives our older cat crazy! She is the aggressive one, not the 2 sisters. 3. An older cat is set in her habits and might not accept new comers (wish I had listened more carefully to the suggestions of some wise posters... you can read them below). All this said, each cat is different of course (and a Calico is not a very accepting cat --I see this over and over at the shelter where I volunteer. Hope your older cat is not a Calico ).. However, if I may have any suggestions, observe the cats you are thinking of carefully, and also consider 2 older cats that came together.. we always seem to get some at our shelter.. we have a wonderful duo right now.. Anyway, whomever you go for, give it a chance and just be patient... Congratulations on your decision! Anne-Marie Here is a link that might be useful: Adopting 2 cats.. questions

A quick update on our progress, for anyone else in the same situation. The cat has been here for 7 months, truly a lovely cat who enjoys sitting on laps, purring and chasing strings. He spends most of his time upstairs with occasional supervised visits downstairs. We put a gate across the landing to keep the dogs from going up. The gate slides open and closed, and we keep it open just enough for the cat to get through if he wants to. Just recently, he's been venturing downstairs on his own. He usually only does this when someone is in the living room, that he can see from the top of the stairs. The Shiba dog is most curious about the cat, but she keeps her distance and is not at all threatening. What's funny is that it's the cat who's more in-your-face than the dog. For example, last night the dog was snoozing peacefully by the couch. The cat jumped up on the sofa table and perched on the side by the dog (think Snoopy in his vulture mode). When the dog looked up, the cat hissed as if the dog had offended him somehow. The dog slunk away. My other dog spends most of her day sleeping in my home office, so doesn't really interact with the cat at all. So we're slowly integrating all animals. It's taken 7 months to get this far, but even so I think we're on the right track.

mr. gabriel cut his first tooth just yesterday! he will be 8 months old on saturday. he's doing great! i think he's gonna be one of those babies who skips crawling all together and just starts walking. he "walks" all over the place with help from whichever grownup can bend long enough without back pain. LOL! needless to say, we take turns! he has figured out quickly all about putting one foot in front of the other. melissa is in the process of putting gates up to keep him corralled. he LOVES to be in the pool!!! he splashes like crazy and doesn't care a bit about getting his face wet. :) thanks for asking about him! he is the light of my life. i'm going up tomorrow to spend the day with him. he has this cute little fake cry when he's getting tired but fighting sleep. it cracks me up! i laugh at him and he starts laughing back. i LOVE rocking him to sleep! he is eating lots of different foods and is drinking from a little cup!!