Last year was a terrible time for my wife and I with our pets. My very special cat Buddy was diagnosed with a thyroid problem in May 05. I treated him with Radiocat radiation treatment which worked, but upon his follow up appointment in August he was found to be diabetic. This began an intensive weekly treatment with blood sugar checks and daily insulin for what ended up being almost 3 months. His body was not responding to 3 different kinds of insulin, but we kept trying. I was willing to try anything to get my boy healthy again. It was then in October that our 14 year old golden retriever Eddie came down with congestive heart failure and we ended up having to put him to sleep. This was heartbreaking for us and in particular for my wife since she knew him since he was a puppy. You see, my wife and I met in 2000 and she had a dog while I had a cat.
Anyway, having to endure Buddy’s health problems and then having to put Eddie to sleep was very traumatic, but things would get worse before they got better. In the weeks following Eddie’s death we tried to get Buddy’s diabetic condition under control. As we grieved for Eddie we decided to try and find a breeder and get a golden retriever puppy. Well, we did find one that we had a wonderful feeling about, but she was in Albany, New York. To make a long story short (that might already be too late) we decided to take a road trip to NY to pick up our new puppy girl. Everything went well and we were so elated to have this new addition that we could never have dreamed in a million years what awaited us at home. It was midnight when we came home and Buddy was not at the door to great us like he always did. My wife found him in a diabetic shock in a recliner in the bedroom. My Dad had been taking care of the 2 cats and giving Buddy his insulin so coming home to find this was a shock. We rushed him to the Aurora Animal Hospital where treatment began to save him. I maybe slept a couple hours that night waiting for them to call me to say he was ok. Well, they called me at 5am, but to tell me that although his blood sugar was back to within normal limits there was something else seriously wrong with him and they needed to do more tests and Xrays to find out what. We went to see him the next morning, but I did not think it would be the last time. The Dr told me that the xrays revealed that he had what looked like legions throughout both lungs causing him to not be able to breath. He said it looked like cancer. We went home praying for God to heal him, but also trying to accept reality that he chances for survival were very grim. Sure enough a few hours later the Dr called to say Buddy had died from heart failure since he was not able to breath anymore. We were crushed. So actually it was not diabetes he was suffering from. His body was trying to fight cancer and we did not know it. That explained him not responding to insulin. Anyway, I don’t think I had ever experienced such a full range of emotions as I did that weekend; joy with the new puppy and utter grief over losing Buddy. And all at the same time. Our new puppy, Ginger Snap, was vital in helping us grieve. She began true pet therapy from the very beginning. J
Anyway, this is where Skippy and HELP come into the picture. It was the next day, Sunday afternoon, and we were shopping at PetSmart for puppy stuff and I said to my wife let’s just go over and look at the cats since I felt it would be therapeutic for me to see life. Well, I immediately saw Skippy sitting on the cat post. We went in to see the cats and as soon as I touched Skippy he starting purring and giving love. In fact, he did not want us to take our hands away. Being a cat lover yourself I am sure you can relate when I say I immediately fell in love with him. I tried to walk away, but ironically my wife wouldn’t let me. You see, in our relationship she is the level headed one and always brings me back to reality when I have wanted another pet. In this case I was trying to be strong since it had only been one day that we had been without Buddy. I was not looking to replace him, but there was something so special and unique about Skippy. This is when we first met Colleen who was so sweet and helpful. We grew very fond of her as well in the weeks that followed. Anyway, we ended up adopting Skippy that same afternoon and took him home. We both felt that if we passed him up and walked away that we would be making a big mistake. In the days and months that followed Skippy was such a Godsend. He and Ginger bonded immediately and have become best pals. Of course at the time we got Skippy Ginger was only 8 weeks old and very small. The two of them would wrestle and just have a good old time. And even though Ginger is now much larger than Skippy they still play all the time. Skippy is such a loving, affectionate cat. I have never seen him get mad unless Ginger gets too wild for him. Skippy has been a needed blessing to our lives and I am thankful to HELP for making it possible. At the time of his adoption we were so impressed with the extent that HELP goes for their cats that I was compelled to give more than the adoption fee. We were amazed and impressed with everything about HELP.
- James Hauser
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