Goodbye to Milo

We had to bid goodbye today to one of our cat friends, Milo.  He was a feisty little black and white guy with beautiful eyes.  He showed up in our yard one day in 2004 and moved himself in.  In spite of our dog Sachi, who was not particularly friendly, and our cat Sprite who was definitely the alpha cat.  Sprite and Milo had several fights and "My My", despite being smaller, never backed down.   He was quite proud of the scars and torn up ears that denoted his flyweight battler status. 

Sometime in the first year or so of Milo adopting us we discovered he belonged to a deaf neighbor who lived down the street.  She came to the door with a handwritten note asking about a cat so I showed her Milo.  We learned he was "Feta" and she took him home.  A few days later Milo was back in our house!  Turns out he had the good sense to leave a person who went on to be embroiled in crazy neighbor disputes with the people on both sides of her house.

Lauren became Milo's favorite human when she was around and he moved with her to Portland while she worked at M Financial after graduating from Lewis & Clark.  When her travels took her to Germany and to grad school in DC Milo moved back to our house.  He always had a warm spot for Lauren when  she visited.  This past Christmas Lauren stayed in our house for a couple of days and Mr. Milo took up residence in her bed.

Milo leaves behind his fellow cat travelers, Sammy and Ralph, and some sad people who will miss him.   April 1, 2001 to July 21, 2018.

Sachi Memorial

Sachi is with us no more. He was blind, deaf, could barely walk, and had even lost his sense of smell. He couldn't find his food. The end was gentle for him.

He is the only dog I've ever had that we paid for. He was a puppy when we got him and our children were young. Shiba Inu was a new breed to us, one we had picked from a book. Very independent. He never learned to "come". Simply would not do so. If he got outside the yard he was off to explore. Wouldn't go far, but might bark at pedestrians. He was just big enough and nicely built with a broad chest to intimidate people. Once he got of the backyard when no one was home and scared the post woman enough that the postmaster suspended mail delivery to the entire block until I signed an acknowledgment that he exhibited vicious behavior and that I would keep him confined. Ha ha. What a trip. He was very handsome and frequently drew comments from strangers.

Unfortunately, he was plagued with health problems. Skin problems that left him itchy, scaly, mangy looking. Stones in his bladder that cost $1100 to remove. Cushing's Disease which we controlled for years with low doses of a chemotherapy drug. Rather, Kathy controlled it by carefully monitoring his condition and being involved in his care.

He was a fantastic guard dog and would rush to the front door any time anyone knocked and bark fiercely at them. Once they were inside and he understood that we accepted them as part of the pack, then he was o.k. with them. He was a fine dog and good friend.....we loved him and shall miss him. I trust he is getting acquainted with Butch and Jacko now, a couple of the best dogs that ever kept me company.