Results of the Animal Rescue Blog Hop....

There is a saying: "Life imitates art". Well, I would consider what most of us do, art:-) Yesterday, I had just finished up the very wonderful 'Doggone Fun Blog Hop'. Read many tear-making stories and reaffirmed my love of all animals. We have our part time dogs this weekend, Gracie and Tyson. They are both Boxers from the same 'family' but 7 years apart. Gracie is a 'mini' at 45 lbs. and Tyson is an 11 month old monster of 75-80 lbs. If you look back in my posts, you will see a picture of my backyard that these dogs LOVE! I just needed to give this little bit of background for my story.

My son and his two kids came yesterday to drop off the dogs -- a very excitable time for all, especially young Tyson. The usual routine is that they want to get into the back yard right away and it was no different yesterday. We were all fooling around with getting in their supplies and I was finding the kids a 'treat'. My hubby, being somewhat OCD, asked why the dogs had not come back in after about 10 minutes and looked out the back window to see what they were up to (they have been known to find their way out of the yard so we watch pretty close). When he looked, they were right outside the window and David said, "What on earth does Tyson have in his mouth?" Our other son was here, too, and he looked and said it looks like a mole, but David did not think so. I began to panic inside because our previous pair of dogs seldom left anything they found alive. I have a hard time killing a spider (which I hate). David and 10 year old, Kendyl, went out and she ran back inside yelling "It's a kitten! A tiny, tiny kitten!" And it was in Tyson's mouth:-( He put it down when they came out and David pulled him away. I, still in panic mode about what I was going to see, went and held Tyson while David got a towel to see if there was any hope for the tiny kitten. He took it to our sink in the garage to wash Tyson's slobber off -- the poor thing was covered in it, but was crying it's lungs out which made me extremely happy because I knew it is alive!! Then, my mommy instincts kicked in and I took it from David to get it dry and warm. I could not believe how strong the little mite was because it's eyes are barely open and is about 5 inches long! I would say it is about a week and a half old.

I can't say that I believe in Karma or Fate, but how do these things happen? How did a tiny baby kitten end up in my back yard for a gentle giant, lug of a dog to find? What kept him from biting it or jumping on it with his huge paws? God's Hand and His Love has to be it!!

Younger son, Eric, is our major cat-lover (Daddy of very contrary, Tico) He took off to Petsmart to get Kitten formula and a bottle. I wrapped Boo Kitty (its new name) in a blanket and kept rubbing to get it all dry. When Eric got back, we warmed some formula and got it to drink quite a bit after lots of work and I am starting to feel encouraged that it will be okay, and, of course, I have said in no uncertain terms that it is here to stay!!!

Okay, that is NOT the end of the story for Tyson:-) This exuberant, young male Boxer, is totally in love with his baby kitten and won't let Gracie near it! Every time he hears her meow, he comes running and wants to have his nose in on everything I am doing with it. Today, he has started to 'clean' it up after feeding with his big, slobbery tongue.. it makes him all calm and it seems to calm the kitten, too. How many times have you seen a momma dog adopt a kitten? I have a daddy dog taking charge:-) It is the most wonderful thing I have ever seen and it brings tears to my eyes. I have to say that I think this is going to be a life time of love for these two!

I went on line for some advice and it helped. I have already 'helped' it go potty -- yea -- fun. I still have to almost force feed it, not a fan of the bottle. There will be a trip to the vet on Monday and I will know if I have a boy or girl! We have a ton of feral cats around here and I am sure that would be the mother. I am actually so happy that Tyson 'rescued' Boo Kitty because the only way to tame a feral is before, or right after, their eyes are open, so the timing was perfect!

Well, this story was very long, but I just had to get it out there:-) I guess I was meant to follow the hop about rescuing, because, who knew, I was about to rescue a very cute kitten with my Tyson!! Here are a couple of pictures...