Heartbreaking @ MindSay

Well, this weekend has been something of a heartbreaker.

 

Friday: Wen't out to Suncorp Stadium to watch the Queensland Roar play the Newcastle Bogans Jets. Really, it was a case of déjà vu, with that wanker Joel Griffiths scoring a late winner in a game that Queensland should have won comfortably.

 

Saturday: Brisbane Broncos taking on the Melbourne Storm at that same cursed ground Suncorp Stadium. With 65 minutes gone (15 to go) it was Brisbane 14 vs 12 Melbourne. With less than a minute to play it was Brisbane 14 vs 12 Melbourne until Ashton Simms dropped the ball cold and Melbourne went over in the corner to make the final score Melbourne 16 def 14 Brisbane.

 

That'll teach us not to build a world-class stadium on top of a graveyard!

Meet Azrael, named after a combination of THIS & THIS, he was named by Fwiffo but the name was suggested by Savannah.

Here are some pictures and his story:



We adopted him from a farm where my mom rents a storage unit. My mom, in her evil ways, suggested we look at the kittens. I looked at Josh and in a deadpan face said:"Don't worry we are NOT getting any more cats." *sigh* You know, I sometimes hate being such a bleeding heart but I think Bast really likes how we take care of kitties. It seems once we give away one kitty to a good home we somehow have another fall into our laps.


I was seriously angry at the person who had these kitties especially after we brought home Azrael. The momma cat had TWO different litters one right after another. The person told us that the momma is always having kittens and she has to give all the kittens away. (So this cat is constantly pregnant.) She(the person willing to give them away at 6 weeks) seemed to care for them but I am a firm believer if she truly cared she would NOT have let things get to that point. Azrael is VERY CLEARLY emaciated & sick. A six week old kitten should NEVER look this way. In the picture you can see how tiny he is. He has a cold, diarrhea, mites, feas, underweight, a fever & lacking nutrition. You should NEVER EVER be able to see the bones in the face. (Don't worry he is quarantined away from our other kitties. We will be taking him to the vet ASAP when they open) (Here is a comparison of how big healthy kittens should be at 6 weeks instead of the picture of Azrael by Savannah above.)


Since bringing him home Saturday night I have treated him for fleas. I also cleaned out his ears and got rid of the mites. That's always fun. *Rolls eyes* I removed so much gook from his ears due to the mites. His breathing is much better now that I have been cleaning his passageways and treating his infection. His eyes are clearing up and he can almost open his eyes completely! Hooray! His stool is looking & smelling more normal instead of runny and well... lets just say gross.


He eats solids & drinks from his bottle fantastically now. I watched him carefully at the farm to see how he interacted with the mother. He was constantly following his momma to get some comfort or food but she ignored him. The other litter mates were much much bigger than him. It's clear why he doesn't even seem to miss his momma. Savannah has taken to sleeping next to him in a sleeping bag so he has constant company.


At the farm I was torn what to do so I put it out to the universe and said silently: "If he comes to me on his own it's his way of asking for help. That means he should come home with us." As if on cue he came walking to me from afar after I said that in my head.


So now we have a new addition. I am hoping beyond hope that he will make a full recovery & that he doesn't have feline HIV(FIV & FeLV) or feline lukemia. His personality is amazing and his purr is strong.

Remember, please, that in 1997 roughly 64% of the total number of animals that entered shelters were euthanized -- approximately 2.7 million animals in just these 1,000 shelters. These animals may have been put down due to overcrowding, but may have been sick, aggressive, injured, or suffered something else.

56% of dogs and 71% of cats that enter animal shelters are euthanized. More cats are euthanized than dogs because they are more likely to enter a shelter without any owner identification.

Only 15% of dogs and 2% of cats that enter animal shelters are reunited with their owners.

25% of dogs and 24% of cats that enter animal shelters are adopted.

Please Spay or Neuter your pet. It will save literally hundreds of lives. Neglect comes in many forms and letting an animal add to overpopulation is one of them. There are many vets who will do discount spaying or neutering for people who cannot afford it. (All information was found here.)


Sorry to sound like a rant & I wish I could be more eloquent about this. I feel very passionately for those who can't speak. When you have an animal you have made a contract with that soul/being/animal. That soul is giving you a precious gift that you have agreed to take care of. Not living up to that contract or promise to that living being will void that right you have to them. At least this is how I feel.

 A Different Christmas Poem

 

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.

My wife asleep, her head on my chest, my daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

 

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe, completed the magic that was Chrsitmas Eve.

 

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.

In perfect contentment, or so it would seem, so I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

 

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near, but I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.

Pherhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

 

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear, and I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of hte night, a long figure stood, his face weary and tight.

 

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old, perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled, standing watch over me and my wife and my child.

 

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear, "Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!

Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve, you should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

 

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift, away from the cold and the snow blown drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light, then he sighed and said "Its really all right, I'm out here by choice.  I'm here every night."

 

" It's my duty to stand at the front of hte line, that seperates you from the darkest time.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me, I'm proud to stand here like my father's before me.

My Gramp's died at 'Pearl' on a Day in December."

Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam', and now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while, but my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile."

 

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag, The red, white, and blue.........an American flag.

 

"I canstand at my post through the rain and the sleet, I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.  I can carry the weight of the weight of killing another, or lay down my life with my sister and brother..

Who stand at the front against any and all, to ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

 

"So go back inside", he said, "Harbor no fright, Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

 

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least, give you money?"  I asked, "Or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done, for being away from your wife and your son."

 

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, "Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone, to stand your own watch, no matter how long.

 

For when we come home, either standing or dead, to know you remember we fought and we bled.

Is payment enough, and with that we will trust, that we mattered to you as you mattered to us.

 

 

 

 

This was passed on to me by my mother in law.  She knows my brother, who is a marine, is over in Iraq at this time and he will be away from his family and his first born son this christmas.  The first christmas that my nephew will be able to fully partake in.  All he gets from his family is emails and letters with pictures of his step kids and his boy and his neice and nephews and we all miss him dearly.  By the time he gets home his son will be almost 2 years old and his daddy will have missed 6 months of his boy's life.  Which is a long time when you have such young children or any age child for that matter!