"All God's Creatures"

JMJ.  We’ve had pets our e married life and they’ve been a blessing long before we really knew about blessings.  For most of the almost forty years they were cats.  And that was okay.  Really.  Cats aren’t the most friendly of creatures but you can’t beat them for ease of care.  And one or two of them were really exceptional.  Like Dr. Watson, a mutt cat we got from some folks in Huron as a kitten.  Now he had personality in spades.

Then we adopted Linus, our dog, about 6 years ago.  He’s a mutt, too.  A cross between chow and golden retriever and who knows what else.  A Heinz 57 variety dog.  Got him from the animal shelter in Geauga county.  Linda wanted a dog who would be company for her during the day when I was at work.  He marched right over to meet her and wasn’t the least intimidated by her electric wheelchair.  It was a match made in heaven.

Prior to Linus we had bought a couple of ferrets from a pet store.  My Confederate buddy, Hawk, had recommended them as pets—cute, was right, too.  They may slow down with age and they’re horribly prone to ghost.  We fell in love with them from the very first one we bought.

Rescue Services to be precise.  We knew that it was cool adopting Linus.  He was two years old or so and came to us potty trained and partially trained.  Could it work for ferrets, too?  Yes!  We found some of the most adorable ferrets over the years, each with his or her own unique personality.  Personalities that most of the cats hadn’t even come close to.  I don’t know about Linda, but in adopting our pets I feel so much more like Adam and Eve in Genesis.  God gave them dominion over all the animals.  I felt like I had shouldered a responsibility for God. 

Which brings me to Missy.  Missy is our newest little girl.  She’s 6 years old and came from a situation where she and her cage mate had been neglected quite badly.  She had a growth on her right hind leg which the vet determined was cancer.  Her leg was amputated at the hip and our friend Crystal (who had rescued her) asked if we’d foster her.  Is a bull frog waterproof?  We took her without a qualm.  It took a few days for her to get adjusted to a new home but she made the transition without too much trouble.

Through the grace of God she began eating right away (baby food) and within two days was eating kibble.  She’s still kind of skittish around the other ferrets.  Cora (the warrior princess who terrorizes the five boys) tried to assert her control over Missy, too.  The boys are just curious about her but at only one pound and seven ounces (she’s put on four ounces in the two weeks we’ve had her) she’s intimidated by that curiosity.  So we got her a separate cage.  And she seems happy, content.

So she’s become a part of our hearts and our home and our group of kids.  And we thank God for having drawn us to adoption.  I think I’ve got a much better appreciation for those who do the same thing for the unwanted and dispossessed of the two-legged variety.  Four legs or two, we are all God’s beloved creatures.  Amen.