This week

This week hasn't been so great. Mary's devoted dog Kieran is gone. He had a great send-off, but will always be missed. He was a one-woman dog.

Also, Jerome (both Jerome and Kieran were named by Mary....) who was our volunteer cat. He showed up with a loud voice in 1992 and demanded to be our cat. We walked him all over the neighborhood (he would follow) to find his lost home, but he was determined to be our cat. He'd already been neutered and declawed in the front, which may have precipitated his departure from his earlier home.
About a month ago, he attacked and jumped on the back of an annoying, barking dog who dared to invade his space! And he did it twice as the idiots who were walking the dog came back "to teach the dog a lesson"!

Jerome had been ailing and losing weight for some time and the last week or so refused food and water. After several attempted interventions, I decided that I couldn't bear for Jerome to just starve himself to death.

Thanks to Janie Hodges, DVM, who treats all of us like family.

In other bad news, my older brother has been diagnosed with lung cancer - no fair for someone who quit smoking in 1987! It's early days, but here's hoping it's caught early and easily treatable.