I was lucky enough to get through to your show on Monday and relay “Toby’s” story. Toby was my beloved Quaker Parrot and this is a tribute to him.

Toby was 3 months old when I was surprised with him as a Christmas gift from my family. He and I bonded immediately and became “best friends”. He trusted me enough to lie on his back in my hand and sleep for hours. He was a treasure.

Quakers can live 25-30 years and until the age of 13 he was in excellent health. One afternoon as he was sitting on top of his cage he was frightened by a loud noise and flew off the cage into the wall. When I picked him up he was limp. I thought he was just scared and held him for a while to calm him. I then realized that he could not move his neck and could not stand or balance.. I made a nest out of towels so that I could sit him (propped up) in his house until I could get him to the vet the following day.
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Mark, i heard your story on Sean’s show about 3 weeks after losing our little toy poodle “cosette”. She was with us for 91/2 years and from the start she was always the picky eater, had to hand feed her for most of those 91/2 years. Two years ago she suddenly lost her site due to cateracts and the diagnosis of diabetes. After many hospital stays and glucose readings at the vet she was finally regulated and doing good for almost two years when she must have contracted some type of viral infection since her little sister spent 4 days in the vet with the same problems Sophie recovered but Cosette was to weak and passed at the exact time i would get her up in the morning for her first meal and insulin shot. i never had a pet growing up but this is one of the hardest things i have had to deal with, to me she is still the little puppy we briught home almost 10 years ago and i miss her so much. thank you for giving me the opportunity to vent my feelings about my little baby.

Herb from PA

Hi Mark, I am looking forward to reading Rescuing Sprite. I suppose you are the first person I have found that was crushed as much as myself for having to give up our best friend. My wife and I never had children so our Pickenease Sammy was our daughter for 17 years. I never dreamed an animal could steel my heart the way that dog did. Of course for me to tell my entire story of life with Sammy for so many years would result in my own book. We kept Sammy for a year longer than we should have out of our inability to let her go. We fed her the last year with a baby bottle and she had no fun. For that I am truly regretfull because that wasn’t fair to her.

April three years ago my wife and I finally mustered the courage to take her to the vet for his opinion, knowing full well what he would say. Sammy was afraid lying on the examanation table as I stoked her tiny head telling her it would be ok. When the doctor adminstered the shot to her tiny foot I lost what little composure I had mustered. Still hurt some each day for Sammy and vowed to have owned my last dog. A year ago we took in a tiny “mutt” who was wandering without a home. She is a delightful little dog who is allways glad when wife and I come home so here we go, falling again. These little creatures have to live somewhere and having a soft heart sure has it’s draw backs. Sammy is ok now and so is Sprite, we will just have to look forward to the day when they can jump in our laps again and we won’t have to loose them again.

Thank you for sharing with us Mark.

W.C. from Arkansas

Well, I listen to Mark most every night, so I knew about this sight, but it has taken a few days to adjust before I can tell my story.

I bought BJ (a male Pomeranian) about 2yrs ago. My room-mate had a female Pom and we wanted to breed her. Well, eventually BJ grew up and about the end of May Missy had four cute puppies. At the end of June my roomate move back to PA to be with family and I kept one of the puppies for myself and company for Daddy BJ. He was just a great father to all of the puppies, he would follow them around the house and clean up if they made a mess.
I drive truck 7 days a week, locally, and BJ and Keysha (his daughter) would ride with me. We really didn’t have a life except for each other.
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As most of us know in many cases we will out live our beloved animal companions.

The pain and loss of their passing, sometimes sudden, is very difficult to absorb.

Josh was a friend, a confidant, a partner, kind and most of all one of the most beautiful male companions inside and out that a women could ever want (don’t tell my husband). His ability to “be with me” helped me to keep my life in perspective.

He seemed to have a grasp of what was truly important in life and I know for certain that he lived his short life to the fullest. The wag of his tail, his eagerness to please, his consideration to my 1st grandson when he came home from the hospital and his way of never knowing a stranger is missed by all.

As for me I can only do what Josh showed me so many times and that was to put one foot in front of the other regardless of what left has presented and someday you will realize that the sun is shining again—he will forever live in my heart .

For the love of Animals,

Judi from NC

In May of 1993, we decided to adopt a dog from the local Humane Socirty. My daughter fell in love with two mixed terriers and could not decide which puppy to choose. She kept pacing back and forth and finally chose Sweetie over Curtis. Sweetie was the love of our lives. For fourteen years we loved her and she nurtured us both emotionally and spiritually. But on October 23, 2007 we had to make the most painful decision of our lives. Sweetie , (who was later renamed Zoe) was extremely ill and weak and we knew it was time for her to be with the angels. My family and I wrapped our Zoe in soft blankets for her final ride to the Emergency vet’s office. Saying our final good-bye to a faithful friend of fourteen years was the most heart-breaking act we ever had to do. But when she was gone, I leaned over to kiss her and then I knew…..Zoe was with the angels beecause she had a smile at the corners of her mouth. Thank you Zoe for being a part of my life.

Chris from MI