See You on the Other Side: Rainbow Bridge

“We’ll see you on the other side.  I will always hold you dear my friends, God be with you till we meet again!”  – See You on the Other Side by Morgan Cryar

Our Horses 

Left to right: 

Skywalker, my half Arabian, half Quarter Horse gelding.  26 years old. 

DS Morning Star “Stormie”, Purebred Arabian mare, 19 years old.  We lost Stormie suddenly to a twisted gut on February 2nd, 2011.  She was fine on Tuesday morning and afternoon.  I saw her laying down in the snow and knew she needed me.  I spent from 5:30 pm Tuesday till Wednesday till 4:30 pm when we put her down, trying to help her.  🙁  Sadly, when they twist their gut there are 2 options: surgery or put them down.  She was not going to survive surgery in the condition she was in, so we put our girl down to save her 4 hours of pain – that is how long the vet said he believed she had left.  We buried her in our pet cemetery.  RIP Stormie, we will miss your sweet ways and friendly nicker of greeting each day.  

This picture of them is a few years old, but I really like it! 

I have owned both my horses since they were foals.  Sky was 14 hours old, and Stormie was 7 months old when we got them, they have a special place in my life and in my heart.

 

Our Cat:  Cassie

This is our cat, Cassie.  I found her as a kitten wandering sick on our road, and (softie that I am) I brought her home and nursed her back to health.  

Cassie is a “manx” – very short tail with longer back legs.  Her tail is about 2-3 inches long, very cute!!  Isn’t she pretty!!!

UPDATE: July 21st, 2011.  Sadly, we found Cassie’s body today.  She was missing for a few days, and we were very worried about her.  She is with our Good Shepherd now, and we look forward to seeing her again.  RIP sweet kitty.  🙁

 

 

Our Fox Friends

“Sparky”, the Cross Fox
 
Deceased January 30th, 2010 🙁
 
 

This is our friend, Sparky, and she is a Cross Fox!  No, she’s not a fox and something else cross.  The “Cross Fox” is a color phase of the Red Fox.Sparky is a beauty!  We bought her from a place in 1998 as a pet, and friend to “Foxy Lady”, my Silver Fox.  We raised Sparky and her sister Honey, for a man, Doug Kneller, who owned a business called “The Woodland Zoo”.  He used to sell the babies as pets.  He had foxes (artic and red types), raccoons, coyotes, bear, skunk (many different color phases), etc.  His last year in business was 1998.  Anyway, my “job” was to handle the babies and get them accustomed to people, so that they were friendly and could be sold.

Sparky was a NASTY little creature when we brought her home!  Thus the name “Sparky”.  She bit me and was very cross – hehehe, yes pun cause she’s a cross fox!  But I digress!  Doug said I should be careful with the kits (babies) around my full grown vixen (girl fox), Lady, cause she would kill them.  However, the EXACT OPPOSITE occurred!  Lady was 5 years old at the time and really wanted babies!  There was no way I was going to risk her safety and breed her (not to mention that I wouldn’t be able to part with the precious babies.)  Later on that first day, I took the kits outside to go potty near the dog/fox pen.  They LOVED each other on sight!  After watching them interact with the cage separating them, I took them in the pen (holding them of course).  Lady “Dee” took them in like they were her own!  Dee never had kits of her own, but her milk came in and she nursed them just the same!  As soon as Sparky met her “Mommy Lady”, she was a different fox – sweet and gentle and friendly!  She just missed her Mommy!    I was so attached to her by the time I was to return her to Doug to be sold, that we bought her ourselves.    It’s a weakness of mine.    Spark is 9 year old now (2007).

“Foxy Lady”, the Silver Fox
 
Deceased October 9th, 2007 🙁



Dee is my sweetie!  Before we built our new house here on the farm (same land), we used to bring Dee, Sparky, and Shali (our Black Lab – you’ll meet her next) into our 14×70′ mobile home.  They would run back and forth playing with/chasing each other through the entire length of it!   They had a ball, and provided hours of entertainment!
Before Paul and I had kids, Dee would sleep on the bed by my feet.  She eventually started stretching out the length of the bed between Paul and I and would sleep there at night!  It was so neat, having a friend like Dee!  I trained her to sit, jump for treats, etc.  Took her for rides in the car, she used to trace designs on the window with her wet nose. 
My girl died in Fall of 2007 at 14 1/2 years old.  She was sick in the pic above, I can see it in her eyes – it was taken in September of 2007, one month before I had to put her down.  Dee had cancer.

 
She had a long wonderful  life, and I’ll miss her forever.  But one day, I’ll see her again in heaven with my friend and Lord, Jesus.  I’ll finally pick her up again, and she’ll cling to me in her “foxy hug”, and give me one of her fox greetings (a gentle nip on the nose – her special way that she would tell me things.)   That will be wonderful.  Until then, I have all the special memories of the time that I was privileged to share with her.
 

Our Dog: Emmanuel’s Shalom

Shali is a Black Lab.  She is wonderful, sweet and obedient to a fault!  She is Sparky’s close friend and companion.  Sparky thinks Shali is awesome!   Deceased January 30th, 2010.  🙁

 

 

In Memoriam & Rainbow Bridge Poem

Foxy Lady, the Silver Fox
(Died October 9th, 2007)
 

 

 

I noticed Lady was losing weight on August 8th, 2007.  Shortly after that, I discovered a mass between her hind legs.  I would find a new mass every week, and then every day toward the end.  By October 9th, 2007, she was  tired of this life and longed for the next.  She stopped drinking, and waited.  I helped my friend as much as I could, eyedroppers of water and supplements, but she wanted to leave and I wanted her to be free of the pain.  I  took her into the Addison Vet Clinic to her vet/friend, Andy Kelly, who had been her vet since she was 4 weeks old.   There, I stood petting her, telling her how very sorry I was that we were to end this way, and crying … I watched her leave me, peacefully and quietly slip into the next life with my Lord, where I hope I will see her again one day.  I took her precious body home, and at Paul’s suggestion, we buried our friend on the spot where our mobile home had been – beneath where the bedroom was located, where she loved to sleep between us on our bed at night.

RIP – Sparky and Shali

UPDATE:  January 30th, 2010.

It is with a heavy heart that I write this.  Today Paul and I took Sparky and Shali to the vet on their last car ride.  🙁  Their pain was unbearable for them, even though I gave them both a double dose of their pain medication the vet gave them.  

Sparky, our cross fox, (12 years old) had a very aggressive form of cancer.  She had HUGE masses on her chest and stomach.  During her last 2 days, she was unable to lie down to sleep.  I held her to allow her to sleep – which kept the pressure off her tummy.  🙁  

Shali, our black lab, (13 years old) had terrible arthritis pain, making it very difficult for her to walk.  The last few days have been extremely cold, and her pain has been immense.  She was also dealing with cancer, but it was not aggressive like Sparky’s.

We miss our girls terribly.  I can’t fathom not being able to hold Sparky again in this life here on Earth…  Our house feels empty without them in it.  I’m convinced that if I’d caught sparky’s cancer sooner, when she was still eating well, I could’ve saved her using the methods I’ve described below.

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together…. 

Author unknown…

 

Sparky & Shali 

01/24/2010

I discovered on January 4th that both Sparky (our fox) and Shali (our dog) are fighting cancer.  Sparky is the worst of the two, her teat area is covered with masses.  I have changed Sparky and Shali to a raw food diet. 

To combat the cancer, I’m using herbs – I assume you are not surprised…  😉  I’m using Fir Meadow’s products.  The main ones I’m using are the LymphAide salve (contains an herb specific to breast cancer), CanCieze, A-King Arthur (for arthritus symptoms), FreshStart – cleans the kidney/liver system.  I’m also using Slippery Elm Bark powder to help with keeping her weight up and her elimination system working.  Mullein – for the pain.  Mullein is excellent for pain and for your lungs.  I recently discovered that it is also excellent for the glandular and lymphatic systems – THANKS KAT!!  Kat is the Master Herbalist at Fir Meadow.  The Bible says, “When you lack wisdom, ask of God – who gives liberally to those who ask Him.”  So I pray and ask God for wisdom on what to do.  I go with what gives me peace in my heart.  I wish I would’ve understood how to implement herbs when I fought cancer with my silver fox, Lady.  Just one of my regrets…  the other is EVER vaccinating my animals.  It has NOT escaped my notice, that the animals that got vaccinations for – and I gave them every one that the vet suggested routinely each year – THEY are the one’s that fight cancer.  It makes me angry that I EVER believed that “vaccinations protect them” nonsense…

I found this site on 11/10/2010: this is a link to a whole page about how vaccinations HARM our pets, a lot of this page was written by VETS: 

Vaccinations HARM our PETS!  I’ve said this for years, and it is vindicating to find DVM’s that are saying the same things that I have witnessed in my animals!  Be INFORMED.   OBSERVE your pets after vaccination, NOTE the animals that you lose to sickness and death – were they vaccinated repeatedly??  I’m willing to bet they were.