Gone but not Forgotten

"A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.

When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'

'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered.

Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.

Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up'.The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveller asked.

'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'

'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in..'

'How about my friend here?' the traveller gestured to the dog.

There should be a bowl by the pump.'

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveller filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

'What do you call this place?' the traveller asked.

This is Heaven,' he answered.

'Well, that's confusing,' the traveller said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.'

'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'" Dogs are family ❤

Courtesy 'Gone but not Forgotten'

Still thinking of Zack, others- Thoughts and memories keep coming of Most endearing c a t

Zack gave me a reason...keeping him alive and happy and now that's  over-a key purpose in my life. Will have to find a new one(s)

 after a decade looking after zack (and him looking after me)

Zack hanging out with Orange Julius in na ture 2021  in his beloved  catio 

It's bittersweet turning up these old photos & videos. It's often hard to look at them and other times I want to...and keep adding to his memory an5Gd legacy by updating these pages and especially at FavoriteFurryFriends.info

STAY TUNE FOR MORE ADDS like these-here Zack and Pinky In catio last year (22)

Now will have to add Zack and Zippy and Orange Julius to my old car,above,  though there he is featured on right.

Losing three older cats in two years has been heart-rendering as remaining cat Pinky and I try to savor every day knowing we don't get an unlimited supply of days...i don't tr0kavel far from my buddy nor didnI with previous buddies but enjoy everyday right here , discovering  new things and places along Bay Area's Backroads

 

LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE NATURALLY without Statin Drugs

LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE NATURALLY

How Blind Man's service dog o n 100th floor saved them and hundreds on 9- 11

James Crane worked on the 101st floor of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center ... He is blind so he has a golden retriever named Daisy.

After the plane hit 20 stories below, James knew that he was doomed, so he let Daisy go, out of an act of love.

She darted away into the darkened hallway.

Choking on the fumes of the jet fuel and the smoke James was just waiting to die. About 30 minutes later, Daisy comes back along with James’ boss, Who Daisy just happened to pick up on floor 112 on her first run of the building, she leads James, James’ boss, and about 300 more people out of the doomed building.

But she wasn’t through yet, she knew there were others who were trapped. So, highly against James’ wishes she ran back in the building.

On her second run, she saved 392 lives. Again she went back in. During this run, the building collapses.

James hears about this and falls on his knees into tears.

Against all known odds, Daisy makes it out alive, but this time she is carried by a firefighter. “She led us right to the people, before she got injured” the fireman explained.

Her final run saved another 273 lives. She suffered acute smoke inhalation, severe burns on all four paws, and a broken leg, but she saved 967 lives.

Daisy is the first civilian Canine to win the Medal of Honor of New York City.

Pass it on to all animal lovers.-Linda Schultz(x)

Zippy's Long 'Road to Success' or 'Living'



Zippy at 16 - If you look closely you can see the bulge in his right upper leg area to where synovial fluids had leaked

Friday the 13th , I should have known it. No,just a coinidence... 

Zippy is/was 15 or 16. We had an appt already scheduled to treat anemia but they diacovered his heart had filled with fluids . .. can't give Zippy heart diuretics as it conflicts with his kidney failure so, sadly we will put him down shortly before th I ngs get worse..

Sadly I'm sorry to have to report that Zippy will be joining Orange Julius, Lisa MARIE AND MANY OTHERS over the Rainbrow Bridge shortly. He had three pretty good years with us despite three maladies - better than living outdoors in RedBluff, CA, where we 'rescued- him from,, but with new heart and kidney and giant cyst issues it's pro b ably time to release him from all that before it gets worse. He's been doing pretty well to now with no high drama, his own room, Catio , run of the house, lpand decent food choices , thou g h his eating has slowed noticeably the last few days. Yet no signs of pain . Still running around. Cares and prayers for Zippy. Thanks for sharing this with us. Burt for Zippy, zack and Pinky while remembering Orange Julius who passed just one year ago

*****

....as I sit in vets ofc wait I ng for friend to help me say goodbye to Zippy with thoughts of him running thru my head

He's always been a shy, semi-tame cat we were told but one could tell he wanted to get closer to get petted but not too close 

He was a real talker , sounding much like a smoke alarm,which worked to his advan tage as I always responded to him so he got with pets and or food

I inherited Zippy, along with Pinky, from a friend In Red Bluff three years ago when she had to move after her Dad and fellow cat caretaker passed. It was hard otherwise to find a home for these older cats So I volunteerd with just enough house space left for them after losing Weepy and April, also inherited from Red Bluff friends. 

Zippy survived mostly outdoors under a house in Red Bluff for about 13 of his 16 years which probably co trubuted to his 'early' demise

 (Most outdoor cats live an average 4 years )

1 14 23

I frankly expected zippy to be around longer, even thoughbhe had already made it to a ripe cat age.

But, ibfelt bad he had to limp a bit with that Giant cyst they couldnt do anything about as well as the heart sbd kidney issuez, that did t go very well togethr

But zippy had just recovered from a bone break and was good to go what with a new, healthy food he liked. See below and now had four food s to choose from. Even though he was eating less the last few days there was still at least one of the foods he 

*****

Now we're down to two, my beloved Zack, 16, who's been with me some 10-12 years

And dealing well with his three maladie s now several years but on borrowed time. I never travel - haven't for 10 years and try to savor every day. Fortunately, shall we say, zack never got toobclose to Zippy or vice ersa but you could tell they liked each other.

The ironic twist with zippy much like OJ finally well enough to get teeth clenaed befoeenhisnsudden demise, zippy has just recovered from a broken leg(!) Perhaps that added stress to the heart. Who knows... 

Also, after weeks ofbhunting low phosphorus and low p rotekn foods finally found four diff ones zippybwould tolerate or even enjoy 

Including newly disc overed kibble Royal Canin 'A' which was a big hit with Zack, too. To d ay just got a new shipment of two obf these foods, one I cab give Zack but I need to stop now the Chewy auto ship

Zippy was a trouper all the way, almost seeming to enjoy his rides to and from the ve t- and there were many.  

*******

ROUTINE:

DEJA VU ALL OVER:

Earlier today

Going thru some diffucult cat moments-Zippy at vet with possible heart and kidney failure. Taking $1400 of tests now at vet. Will know shortly... (update)and now we know (see top)

*****

Dealt with zippys loss thru writing, seeing snowybhorse and going to a under radar great movie -living- plus listening to the great gene Pitney 10nye a r tri b ute In betweern

Old Soldier Orange Julius Goes Out in Blaze of Glory at 20!

Orange Julius after well enough to finally have teeth cleaned in January, 'ran out of gas ' a few weeks later and left us in February at age 20!. You could see he didn't want to go in those mournful eyes while taking a couple last licks of a churro stick He was fairly active until last day but in obvious distress

Message from Rosie the Rescue Nextdoor

Click each panel to enlarge and make readable

From Stacey, Nextdoor

Unexpected Happy Endings to Stealth Bird-in-House & 3-Part Drama

Eagle-eye (or should we say 'cat-eye'?) PINKY was first to spot little bird who flew in the house thru patio window and would remain much longer than expected

OUR LITTLE CHICADEE (Drama 1)

I've had many birds come to visit but they would never stay longer than a few hours and then leave with my best 'shooing away' efforts. But this time the little chickadee that got in (thru , yes, fault of my own leaving patio door openfor cats to catify in the catio) and seemed to want to stay or maybe live here, cats and all!

After Pinky cat first spotted her, atop a picture frame over couch she was on, Tuesday 2-10, I wasn't able to  evacuate this high-flying bird. He or she was definitely flying  above the radar, and the windows below, in my high-ceilinged living room- too high to go through the open windows.

Catio Patio open door  thru which stealth bird flew into house and only Pinky noticed and alerted us.

It was late and the bird seemed to be already bedded down for the night, so here was hoping to wake up the morning as peaceful as it was at night- without finding a bird in Pinky's mouth

Wed morn seemed to come peacefully, as hoped- but so much so I couldn't find hair nor feather of a bird. After some hours , the bird finally emerged, so I opened all the windows and closed all the blinds, as suggested by 'bird removers' so birdie could better focus on the en-lightened passage out. 

After another hour, during which i went back to sleep to catch up on my lack thereof, I saw no sign  of DA BIRD. I even climbed up a ladder to check all the HIGH PLACES.  After much looking, I only found Garth Brooks.

I just about convinced myself that the new down-blind technique worked after, again,  climbing to view those high and even LOW PLACES, in case maybe he had fallen, or -Lord help me- passed away. But this time, I didnt even see Garth Brooks- nor any droppings, if you will.. There was NOwhere he could possibly be as the rest of the house was pretty well cordoned off. If he or she WAS still there  it was the quietest bird ever. And,  Not a peep the rest of the day.  By Wed night I just assumed he HAD found his way out, though it would have been the first bird that I'd had escape on his own without any help.

Thursday came and da bird wasn't even on my radar. Even Pinky had long since stopped looking for 'it.'

Then, as I came in the kitchen I heard a rustling and a few chirps. Imagine that! The bird was back. Never left and not even a peep for two days. I guess he's had enough residence here eating the cat scraps and all. 

So, I quickly closed all the blinds where there were no windows that open. He was still flying high but now the only light was comi g from the open windows with open blinds. We'll see how good birdie 's eye sight is. Sure enough, birdie came down below the radar . He must have seen the open patio window. Whoosh! He just cleared the door and out he went, appearing glad to be back in his real habitat.

Nothing like living for two days with a stealth bird in the house, but wait... there's more...

DRAMA 2: Zippy cat in quarantine after participating in A third drama in three days- somehow escaping over catio with a mighty jump: We have since corrected the breach. This was first and hopefully last time Zippy escaped. Fortunately. Zippy's many homeless years outdoors didn't keep him away too long, but only after I had to scramble to take down the catio briefly for Zippy to have an easy entrance back in .  ...And everybody lived happily ever after, to now anyway.

BLUE JAY-A Bird in the Hand Drama 3

NOW, little chickadees finally gone but Sunday morn Zippy cat suddenly escaped the house-first time ever- jumping Over the catio gate never done before since my first cat, Juicy 20 years ago. But thats another story we won't detail here and now other than mention above)

Having had to leave all the windows and doors open for Zippy to find his way back left a REAL OPENING  for a big blue Jay, of all things!

I had actually been gone about five hours after getting zippy back in but I remember hearing a loud bang  like a bird hitting a window  but saw nothing before leaving. Five hours later , upon opening the front  door I was greeted by a blue Jay rustling in the window. At least this time, we were dealing with a bird close to the open window I might more easily shoo out.

Only a small desk tv was blocking   BJ from the nownopen window and freedom after five hours (fortunately i've found no bird droppings-yet).

I was somehow able to scoop up a fidgeting handful of bird and toss him out the window to watch him happily stream away.

In my book that's two, er, three (including the cat)  happy tail endings in one day! Now for some sleep....

See PICTURED (above)  catio window blinds  now open with Zippy (black cat, bottom right-thats  Zack, bottom left) now safely home and feathered friends now back to their great outdoors home and feathered follies now happily over. 

At least for now. Always an adventure here along the Bay Area Backroads

See PICTURED (above)  catio window blinds  now open with Zippy (black cat, bottom right-thats  Zack, bottom left) now safely home and feathered friends now back to their great outdoors home and feathered follies 3 Dramas now happily over.  What a week: Two unwanted in-coming birds and one unwanted outgoing cat! Whew! Glad that's over. What will be next? Now I can try to catch up on sleep deficit hopefully before next adventures and any more CAT-astrophes ( now I understand the ROOT of CATastrophe).

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