All creatures great and small

I would like to join, please.

Here you see me with little Brownie. I am the district vet and have been that for 5 years. I helped this sweet baby horse into the world. It was a difficult birth, but Brownie survived against all odds, and now she is doing just fine. I enjoy seeing her run around. She is a true beauty.

I would like to be a judge.

RuthD said:

Title: Love of Birds

This is a true story from last August to Feb 2007. I had Lenny the parakeet first and then got Joey the parakeet. Joey and Lenny were great pals they even kissed even though they are boys. I took Joey andLenny to the doctor for his annual check up. Joey was doing very well. Lenny was diagnosed with a large mass inside through an xray they took because he gained a lot of weight for a bird. The vet said if we are lucky Lenny may be here in a year. The mass was said to be either a tumor or fat and it was huge. The vet said if it gets larger Lenny will not be able to breathe. Joey was fine. The vet put Lenny on medication to get rid of fat if that is what it was. They cannot determine internal fat or tumors that large. It took up about 4/5 of Lenny's insides. When I found out I was .All I could do is give him the meds since they cannot operate on parakeets, they are too small.

In November of 2006 Joey started limping suddenly and I thought he hurt his claw somehow. I took him to the vet because it lasted a week. The vet xrayed him and said that it could be a tumor pressing on his spinal cord and he had not seen that with a bird so young as 4 years old. I was stunned but hopeful there was something to be done. The vet told me a few minutes later that Joey had a paralyzed claw and it most likely means kidney failure and that Joey has weeks or months. I was shocked. When we got home from the vet I could not stop crying then I decided that I was going to try to keep Joey happy. I kept him routine the same. Gave him his rye bread every day that he loved so much. I talked to him frequently and played with him. Joey limped around but he got around real well. He adapted to his disability. I thought maybe the doctor is wrong and Joey will stay alive and one day Joey flew around the room and landed on the floor. I picked him up and held him and he did not want that so I put him on his lower perch. I left the room for a while. When I came back Joey was laying on the bottom of the cage breathing really hard and just staring. Then I saw his head fall down
and his breathing stop.

I have my hair as white because during those mos. that Joey lived I was petrified inside and in denial at times too but the Vet was right. Joey lived for 2.5 more months. I was soooooooooooooooo sad. I tried to keep Lenny happy by being very attentive to him and it worked. Lenny stayed happy. Now we have a new friend for Lenny, she is Lucy and quite the ornery at times!

Lenny has lived 1 year and 3 months since the Vet diagnosed him. He is on a special diet now too and seems to be getting better.
God love them!

I have the green bird in my hand because that is a parakeet. I am dressed in purple for the passion I have for birds and animals.

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awww i'm so sorry to hear about Joey I'm glad Lenny is hanging in there though!! That's encouraging Keep it up Lenny

redrose26 said:

I'd love to be a judge, if the posts are still vacant, I love animals too!!

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Thank you!!!!!

ItalianAngel said:

I would like to be a judge.

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Thank you so much!!

May I join as well?

"A Family Tradition"
This is me as a young girl with my little dog, Rags; and we are visiting my great-uncle Leo's office. I wanted to be a vet when I was a little girl; and when we would visit Uncle Leo (a veterinarian outside of Memphis 30 years ago), I would ask if I could help out in the office (which was in the back of the house). After a while, Uncle Leo would send me outside to play. I liked to play out in the woods but not down by the pool because near the pool were the peacocks that would chase me and try to peck me! I would run away scared and crying, but I still wanted to be a vet (like Uncle Leo) for all animals - EXCEPT PEACOCKS!

I think I might like to join.

I'm ready for my screenshot.

"Always in my Heart"

This is also a true story:
Pets have been in my life for as long as I remember and have always been very important to me.


The kitten represents the twin cats I got when I was five years old named Dash and Pepper. Dash struggled with illnesses throughout her life and passed away from a kidney failure and Pepper passed away a year later due to his weak heart. They were the very first pets I ever had and were more important to me than anything. They were my companions and helped me through some very hard times.


The bird represents my pet cockatiel, Joey, who became mysteriously ill and died in my hands while I tried desperately to keep him warm and give him water.


They are all buried at my grandparents’ house, marked by a statue of a cat overlooking their pond.


I am tired and dirty from digging their graves and I’m sad over their loss, however their spirits shall always be with me, helping me through life.


Thank-you!

*wipes away a tear* That brought back memories.

Ariella said:

got four so far amy!!

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yay!!!!!

Your stories are all so interesting and different! Thanks for sharing them.

Ariella said:

hehe everyone will get something if we only have four people

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I think more than four have asked to join, or are you only letting in 4?

Update: 6 contestants..

Ariella there's two more on the previous page They are ready for screenshots!

where are our animal lovers??

Hello!

I remembered this contest being mentioned the other day, so I thought I'd have a go.

I'll do my entry in the next post. Thank you!

My title is Good Night, Captain

I'd like to tell you about a special horse called Captain. I worked at a farm which had several Clydesdales and one day I arrived and went to the stables and there was the most beautiful Clydesdale gelding I had ever seen. His coat was a rich brown and he had a white strip down his face and lovely white fetlocks. The very first thing that struck me, though, was how skittish and nervous he was and as I spoke to him softly and soothingly, the new owner told me that Captain had been rescued from someone who had mistreated him. The owner slipped away and left me alone with the horse and after a few minutes Captain allowed me to stroke his nose. I have to admit it was love at first sight for me. I'd worked with many Clydesdales, but Captain stole my heart and no other horse has ever matched up to him. After a little while he allowed me to enter his stable and I found that good nourishment, exercise and care was all he needed.

From then on, I visited Captain several times every day and monitored his progress and it was very satisfying to see his coat grow glossy and his eyes begin to lose the frightened look. It wasn't long before he allowed me to groom him thoroughly and I spent many happy hours with him, talking to him as I worked. Eventually he began to work for his keep a little, being harnessed to the plough with one or two other Clydesdales and putting on shows for folk who paid to come and see the Clydesdales in action. Children loved riding on the sled pulled by Captain and he was the gentlest horse imaginable as he faithfully trotted round the farm with shrieking children on the sled behind him. I used to go for a ride with the blacksmith in the carriage sometimes and he let me drive the horses once or twice, which was thrilling, knowing the power of the horses.

I remember on one occasion I had been in the far corner of the field where Captain and a few other Clydesdales were resting, and as I began to stroll back across the field I heard a thudding sound and saw the horses trotting after me. I have to admit I got a little fright as they're such big, powerful horses so I broke into a run. They thundered after me and when I glanced back, I saw that they were keeping back a little from me and almost seemed to be laughing, as if we were playing a game, and I knew they wouldn't hurt me. The size and strength and beauty of Clydesdales really impacted me at that moment, though. God created such a beautiful animal in the Clydesdale horse.

Captain came to feel at home on the farm but I was the only one, apart from the blacksmith, whom he would allow really close to him. Even the owner had difficulty with him. One of my most treasured memories of this dear horse is the day twenty men had a tug of war with Captain. There they were, all 20 of them, straining in vain on the rope while Captain, the other end of the rope attached to him, stood staunchly and the men could not move him one inch. I'm sure he winked at me that day.

All of this is true, except for the fact that I was not really a vet, but a stablehand when I worked with Captain and the other horses.

PS There was no Clydesdale horse in the Armory so I equipped the horse and if we use our imaginations, he will grow in size and sturdiness and have white feathery fetlocks, just like Captain did.