Pets Are Family Too!

I don't understand how people can abuse animals.  It doesn't make any sense to me.  While wild animals are meant for the wild, pets are animals that look to their owners for support and love and they are as loyal as can be.  When push comes to shove, they would even do anything to protect their owner.

I was on the heels of a bad breakup and I was feeling pretty alone living on my own and still trying to figure out life at the age of 22 years old.  In March of 2000, I went to Buffalo, Minnesota to a pet rescue called Adopt-A-Pet and I was looking to get a kitten for a pet.  I figured a cat would be a good fit for me because I could take care of it, but yet it could be on its own for a couple of days if I needed to be gone.  When I arrived at Adopt-A-Pet, of course they had two four week old kittens looking to be adopted.  The problem was that she and her sister (from the same litter) were the only ones left and the lady in charge that day said I could adopt just one of them, but she was afraid that the other one wouldn't survive without her sister.  You have to remember that they were only four weeks old and still eating baby rice with milk mixed in.  So, naturally I took both of them and it was one of the best decisions I made.  By doing this, they could grow up with each other and I knew it wasn't going to be an issue because they were from the same litter.  I will say this though, for two cats from the same litter, they sure had different personalities.  The thing that they had in common though was their loyalty to me.

So through all of my life's journey for the past 14 and a half years, they shared the experiences with me.  They lived with me in Rockford, Brainerd, Bemidji, back to Brainerd, Milaca, and now Baxter. I lost one of them this week.  On Monday, November 17th, I got up in the morning to start my morning routine and I went down to our laundry room where their food and water were located to get a razor. That is when I found my girl, Echo, taken from me and put into god's arms.  I was crushed.  I wasn't ready and I was sad.

When I think about Echo's life, I am proud to say that she had only one family.  She didn't have to be given up for adoption, she was well taken care and she was able to enjoy life and grow up with her sister Shadow.  I am proud of that.  So on Monday in the Sarych house, Kari, Mille, Bella, Shadow, and I had a sad day as we realized that a member of our family had left us.  Pets are family too.