Images from:
1 Anymouse (Tessie) – I was always the one to take them on their last visit to the vet and couldn’t do it with this one. At least now the wife and son have some idea why I always wanted no more animals and then they always override my wishes. Got her an ice cream cone and she ate the whole thing just before taking her inside.
2 Col. Angus (Hunter) – He was with me for nearly 12 years until I had to call vet out to send him on his way to peace. I laid in floor with him that time and held him as he took his last breath.
3 F4UCorsair (Jack) – Here is Jack the day after I brought him home from a shelter in 2006. He died the early morning of the day (6/20/19) we were scheduled to take him in the last time. Called him my doggy scientist. He’s sniff something for minutes until he was satisfied he had extracted every scent molecule he could. Miss him.
4 Jaketopdog (Nyla) – This is Nyla. She passed on a few months ago and is probably now waiting for us North of the Rainbow Bridge. As a puppy she was abandoned in the forests of Northern California, and lived hunting her own dinner to survive. She became quite the huntress and companion for her almost 13 years, and left a huge hole in both our home and our hearts. Nyla is Gaelic for “Champion”, and that she most certainly was.
5 Claudia (Asher, Ivan, Zoe) Asher was my first kitty after I moved out on my own. He was a one-person kitty, never warmed up to anyone else. He was a goof ball for all of his 20 years. Ivan was the most loving kitty I have ever known. Broke my heart when he died at 10 years old. Zoe was my old lady kitty, lasted 22 years. Stubborn and a spit fire most of her life. Only slowed down during her last year. I miss them all.
6 jclady (My Sophie and Teddy) – In all my life, Sophie was the best ever! Teddy was a close second.
7 Misterdux (Kolby) – “Kolby” the Lab. We rescued him as a pup and he devoted his life to us with love and companionship.
8 Supernightshade (Cyrus) – Cyrus was the runt of his Chihuahua litter, born as several pups in a house of non-dog people even though they had Cyrus’ mother and a Rottweiler named Rocket. Seems Rocket had taken particular pleasure in tossing Cyrus around with his jaws, and my at-that-time future wife (many years later) heard about it and was sad because her living situation with a loving mother and ahole stepfather wasn’t great and she needed a full-time friend (I was just a boyfriend then), and Cyrus needed an angel, so her mother got him, and they were united. Cyrus came out of the box and ran STRAIGHT to my wife, Rocket scars and all, and basically never left her side again until he died, 15 years later. He grew from the runtiest small dog you ever saw into a 12 pound whopper (for a Chihuahua), who was the lovingest dog you could ever meet unless he thought you were threatening his Sissy (the future Mrs. SNS), then he was a holy-terror, tooth-snapping leg bomber.
9 WDS (Tara aka Terror) – Showed up as a emaciated stray in 2000. She tolerated us until Easter morning 2016.
If you would like your critter picture on a future Sunday Critters post, please email them to:
They must be a picture you (or family/friend) took and are willing to have us publish them on this site. Do not send any images you found on the internet.
Use ‘Critters’ in the subject line. Include your screen name in the body of the email. Tell me the name of your critter so I can include it with your screen name. Let us know in the comments any other info you want to share!
NEEDED:
- Trump Supporting Critters: Be creative and snap some pictures of your critters with Trump paraphernalia (hats, shirts, buttons, etc.) or whatever you can think of!
- New theme idea from Jaketopdog: Critters that have rescued us humans (showing up just at the right time when we need them for companionship, etc).
Thanks!
Dusty up in here…… good morning.
Great collection of dogs, cats, and stories. It just got real dusty in here.
Yep.
Thanks, Claudia.
Great pics and great stories. Thinking about my past buddies. Pollen must be high today!🤧
…just a bit more on my little Cyguy above, and thanks to Claudia for her permission to share more of his story…
Cyrus took his role as his mama’s protector very seriously, and he didn’t care a THING for how big YOU were, or how small HE was.
For example, one day the future Mrs. SNS had her gall bladder removed by a laproscopic procedure, after which she was pretty much out if it the rest of the day from the anaesthesia. I brought her home (to her mother, we were just dating then) and put her on her bed, then this snapping brown and white ball of anger was upon me, driving me from his obviously wounded best friend, after which he laid down firmly by her side and chased off all comers, making it quite an adventure to continue ensuring my inamorta survived the rest of the day without fever or post-surgical complications (she did).
He friendlied up to me, too, mostly beacause of her, but I knew he accepted me when he took one of his favorite snacks and pushed it up under my surpised, floor-sitting butt with his muzzle, thus beginning a (his) lifelong friendship that ended only when he literally died in my arms
Over the years he developed a bleeding condition, something like hemophilia in humans, so when he had a tooth go bad, he started bleeding and couldn’t stop. We went from vet to vet, they ran gallons of blood through him, did stuff to try to get him to clot, and none of it worked. He started bleeding internally and was suffering, and it became clear to my by-then wife and our then 7 year old son that we were going to lose him. She called me at work when the last vet gave up the last hope, and I came to be with my son, my wife, and what was my very first dog.
I held him as they told us his grim prognosis, as they discussed ending his suffering, and as they applied the fatal dose after we all said goodbye. I held him so my wife and son didn’t have to. I held him until he went completely limp and I knew his soul was now running freely in the fields of our Lord, where he waits for me still. I then set his emptied husk down gently on the exam table, left without a word as rapidly as I could, and broke down completely in my car, leaving my wife to console my son and take care of the final details.
Thank God she is stronger than me, because she did just that.
In my defense, when I lost my guy, I dropped my spaghetti so hard because the way he died was hideously familiar. My son needed some surgeries in his very first year, and I, elected to hold him in the first stage of his anesthesia so he wouldn’t be afraid. Long story short, my SON went limp in my arms EXACTLY the same way my Cyrus did when he died, and THAT was NOT a pleasant thing. At. ALL. Because of this, Cyrus by his passing also blessed me by showing me how strong and understanding my FAMILY was, that they were able to overcome their own grief and conclude business in my absence, and never denigrated me or even question why me, the hardened medic, couldn’t stay in the room after his dog died. Cyrus’ gifts to us were many, but this one from his passing may have been the best.
And I sit here, many years later, tearing up over just the memories, and the knowledge that the blessing God gave us with him was far greater than any pain we felt, and that He showed us His love through His gift to us.
Even as I write through my sadness, I can say with certainty that I wouldn’t trade my time with him for the world.
So as you look at this bad picture of a good dog, know that he was a blessing to all his humans. He’s one more reason to aspire to Heaven, because I miss him even now and our reunion at the feet of the Lord will be a joyful one indeed.
Thank you Lord for my time with my Cyrus.
He was worth it.
Auggie Doggie approves this thread
I think rescue dogs rescue us as much as we rescue them
Thanks Claudia, they’re all awesome pics and my Mom would’ve smiled. She loved critters and Tara was her baby. They have now been reunited.
Beautiful fur children. We love ours so much. And yes it’s gotten dusty here, too. Thank you
i luv my fur baby!
All our dogs have been rescue for the last thirty years or so. Better than vast majority of humans I’ve met over that same time. Screen is blurry this AM and must need some form of update to the software… Perhaps a hardware update…
Y’all are really strong to submit photos and stories of these great animals. Still getting over my buddy Stewie, but Sammy has made it a lot easier because “Puppy”. He’s a lot to handle for us geezers but worth every minute. Outstanding thread, Claudia. 🙂 The memories of the past are what improve the future.
Anymouse
AUGUST 25, 2019 AT 10:26 AM
“All our dogs have been rescue for the last thirty years or so. Better than vast majority of humans I’ve met over that same time. Screen is blurry this AM and must need some form of update to the software… Perhaps a hardware update…”
…Rescues are the best cues, @Anymouse, and I’d say bless you for taking them in, but it sounds like God ALREADY blessed you by leading you TO them to begin with, and He doesn’t need MY help…
…also, I think your screen may be suffering from a flash memory problem that’s being aggrivated by all this file sharing. It could be corrected by clearing the memory, but I’ve got too many precious files in there to do it myself, and I’m unwilling to even give up ANY of them, the Programmer put them all there for a REASON…
God bless,
SNS
Best animal post yet. Wonderful, wonderful memories. ‘Bless the beasts and the children…’
Thanks for posting these! I was definitely Sophie’s person. When we got Teddy, Sophie wouldn’t let him anywhere near me, so jcdude became his person. I only wish our fur babies could be in our lives longer.
My son and his fiancee have a rescue dog, Copper.
(obedience trained by convicts I’m guessing accounts for the name, they couldn’t get Copper to accept a new name.)
Anyway, they’re getting married in a few weeks, and just purchased a house.
They have a plaque on the wall in one room:
“You can’t buy love,
But, you can rescue it.
The biggest problem with pets is they don’t out live us.
But who wants their furry friend(s) to suffer the trauma of loss, and morn their own passing away?
Ooh boy…gotta go grab a Kleenex. 🥺
Thank you all for sharing such sweet fur family memories.
I think i’m allergic to pets going to heaven. My eyes always water.
All beautiful fur babies. I lost 2 of my cats this month within a week of each other. My heart is still broken. Roscoe, age 17, had massive kidney stones. At his age and with hyperthyroidism there was no chance of a successful surgery. I had him since he was a kitten born to a feral mom in our barn. Sylvia was a semi-feral rescue from outside Brampton, Ontario. She became my big baby and was also hyperthyroid. Even though she was on methimazole the hyperthyroidism did heart damage. She went into cardiac arrest at the vets while there for blood work and an exam. They got her back once and couldn’t the 2nd time.
The house feels a little empty and silent with only 12 cats left. We lost 2 last year to pancreatic cancer and squamous cell cancer.
I need some more pet portraits.
Well, I avoided this post for as long as I could because I knew I would have rainy eyes.
I do. God bless our family members. 🙂