Saving—and Caring for Animals

Saving Animals

Did you know that animals are praised in the Bible?

Ok, some of you probably have no use for animals in the house and yes they can be annoying and make extra work. They cause young and old alike to fall at times, breaking hips, arms, shoulders. Especially here in the middle of winter, it’s especially treacherous to be outside with pets and have them accidentally brush a little too close to you and you end up in the hospital.

But, I had forgotten this praise for animals in the Bible: “Lord, you save both humans and animals” in Psalms 36:6. Remarkable, yes! God cares about the animals in this world.

And of course there is the whole history of Noah building a huge animal ark in order to save animals from the flood that came in ancient times. Elephants, hippos, lions—and we hope dogs and cats—sailed on the sea for quite a while. Our pastors have held “animal appreciation” services in the summer—outdoors—so people could share their love on animals and pets.  

My husband and I have had numerous cats and dogs in our lives and in our various homes (we only had three moves—lucky, I guess). We both grew up in homes with some acreage and pets were expected to stay outside—in barns, sheds, and occasional dog houses. My dad allowed our dog to sleep in our covered porch in the winter, on a rug, and I’m sure while it was chilly, it was decently warm enough for our various dogs (only ever had one at a time).

Stuart and I now usually travel with our dog Velvet and she has come to expect that she gets to go with us on various excursions. (We never take her to town … just on trips.) We’ve paid extra to have her sleep in our motel or hotel rooms and she watches and guards us like the “sheep” that we are. She is a mix of Australian shepherd and mutt, and as she gets older the more tuned she is to making sure animals and us are dutifully taken care of. (Annoying as heck for her to bark and bark for our cat Pumpkin when she wants to come in through the deck door, and then sniffing the cat to make sure the cat’s ok.) Velvet also barks goodbye on the phone to our grandchildren, who love that. Not sure who likes that little fun more: grandparents, grandchildren, the parents of the grandchildren, or the dog.

Our cat history is expansive, mainly when the children were preschoolers up through high school. We had batches of kittens that had lovely coloring and were easy to find homes for. All our children had their specific favorites. Let’s see (records kept by Michelle, recorded in January 1997) there were all these:

Tigger, Ceasar (Dad’s cat), Bibbs, Sunshine, Puff, Shelly, Darkhorse, Boots, Butterball, Squirrel, Muffin, Sad Sack, Blacki, Wonder, Perfect, Inky, Autumn, Sicky, Torty, Bossy, Comet, Cleopatra, Space Bars, Midnight, Bubbles, Sage, Paprika, Brainy, Sniffles, Reebok, Nike, Kodak, Lucky, Tie-Dye, Larry, Curly, and Moe. 😊 (There are some missing cats on this list because Michelle stopped recording them for us. I know there was at least Paisley but can’t name any other. And ask my husband sometime about his cat Tango who scared the daylights out of me once upon a time, before we were married.)

Now there’s a list of cat names if you are in need of any. Most of these were adopted out to friends, neighbors and occasionally we advertised in the paper about our kittens. I did adopt a cat, Riley, who had very white long hair from my daughter’s friend who needed to find a home for him. I looked at the photo they sent us and he charmed me so much that I agreed to adopt him. I loved/took care of him until he died a natural death in 2015. And Boots was Michelle’s very special cat for many years. But Boots ended up dying of cancer. We even actually paid for the first surgery (something we rarely did for animals with cancer), but we knew she and Michelle were so attached.  

Our dog history includes: Wendy, Junebug (or just June), Fable, and now Velvet. All of them were basically of mixed heritage.  

Are you an animal fan—or prefer not to have pets?

I’m sure the day will come when we can no longer take care of a dog. A cat? Maybe.

You might enjoy reading about a neighbor friend who adopted Dog 3 because he was very much in need of a home. She’s writing a book on their trials and adventures. Check out Sharon Landis’ stories here.

You can also read more about the life of my dear Riley here.