Our dearest friend Tess was an angel. She was our best friend and confidant. She had a radiant warmth and gentle spirit. Everyone who knew her loved her. Named after a famous french surgeon, Tess was also very intelligent and insightful.
     Tess loved to swim. Water was her nirvana. She loved to dig for rocks in the sand and when she found the perfect one, she would take it into the water and dive for it. This game would go on for hours. We often went canoeing and Tess would take up her position to scan the horizon for important sticks or birds.
     Tess was perfect in every way from the time we brought her home until the day cancer took her. We couldn't have asked for a better companion and will miss her dearly. She was the best and always will be in our hearts.

                                Chris & Bill

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     I hope everyone got a chance to come visit the new web site now that John, our wonderful new web-master got it up & working ! For those of you that didn't notice-we have a new address now - www.fluffypaw.com. We have a new feature also- Pet Of The Month ! Every month we will select a dog and a cat as pets of the month and the owner will have to write a small story about their pet. So start submitting your stories now !

     Did everyone have a great holiday season? I was able to visit many of you and I had lots of fun. I am so glad that the weather stayed nice because not only was I able to get to all my visits but your people went away so I could see you ! On Friday night before New Years I was visiting with Max & Kit as my last visit of the day. I had given Max his insulin injection and was quietly petting Kit and relaxing when Kit got overstimulated, turned quickly and bit my little finger. Usually I move pretty fast but she managed to catch me. Now normally I wouldn't even mention this except Kit now has the distinction of being the first kitty bite that put me in the hospital ! It wasn't until Saturday night that after I finished all my visits I decided since my hand looked like a balloon and the red infection had gone up my arm past my wrist that I better go get treatment. Thankfully I did not have to be admitted but I spent a couple hours there and had to have an IV antibiotic. Then I was sent home with oral antibiotics. For those of you who don't know- cat bites are very serious. Cats carry certain bacteria that can be deadly to humans if infected and not treated. If you ever get bit by a cat, wash the wound immediately with an antibacterial soap, treat with hydrogen peroxide and/or Neosporin and go see your Doctor or the hospital, especially if you see any redness. It is definately not something you want to take lightly.

     Since we are on the medical subject-guess what ? In the recent newsletter I recieved from The Animal Service League I learned that there is a pharmacist that makes customized medications ! He is Bill Winkowski at the Twelve Corners Apothecary. He prepares compound medictions in easy to give flavored biscuit or treat dosage forms. I was thrilled to hear that we do have a pharmacist that will do this for our pets ! I have heard that there are other cities' residents who are offered this service but until now I didn't know there was one local. I definately will be contacting Mr. Winkowski to see if he can help me with Shaney's medication and maybe I will not have to be crawling under the waterbed every day anymore! My thanks to The Animal Service League for printing a well written informative article & to Bill Winkowski for his help in preparing that article.

     I also received an interesting article from Cornell Feline Health Center regarding Anthrax and our pet cats. Briefly the question answered by Dr. Richards states that anthrax is very rare in cats. He says "in contrast to herbivores, carnivores are relatively resistant to the disease--". " Most, if not all cases resulted from cats consuming air exposed, uncooked tissue from livestock that had died from the disease--" . You can read the complete answer at http://www.vet.cornell.edu/public/fhc/anthrax.html

     Sadly, the holidays were not completely happy for everyone since many lost a special buddy during the season. First, I want to say a special goodbye to one of my best buddys-Tessy. I have been walking Tessy and her sister Fenway during the day while Chris & Bill work for over 3 years. Tessy was one of the sweetest most well-behaved precious dog I have ever met. She has given me so many laughs over the years. She has dragged me over to eat the goose-poop, she has fooled me into "seeing" something so she could pull me smack down into a snow pile, I've been pulled into a pond, made into a Gumby as Tess goes one way & Fenway the other, I have racked up more belly rubs that I can imagine and we have met many people along our walks since Tessy believed all people were put on earth to pet her. I think my all time favorite action tho was a game we played where I would be petting Tessy & she would walk through my legs and when just her tail was left she would stop. At that point I would start to wonder out loud-"where did Tessy go? She was right here a minute ago" Then she would-without a step more- turn around along my side and of course I would excitely say-"there's Tessy" while I grabbed her around her neck and gave her big hugs and smootchys. Tessy would be so thrilled and her tail would wag like crazy and then of course she would line up to repeat the game over & over ! I am extremely saddened by the loss of our wonderful buddy who left with the angels just after New Years at only 7 years young. Tessy- I know you are waiting in Rainbows Bridge and someday we will see you again. I Love you bunches & you are terribly missed.

     Another very sad loss is Rambo and my prayers go out to Pat. Pat has lost 3 of her cats in a year and as one who also lost 3 cats very quickly I do know how horribly painful that is. Rambo is an especially hard loss since around Thanksgiving Rambo went through radiation for his hyper-thyroidism. Pat couldn't visit with him for a couple weeks after the procedure since Rambo was Radioactive! He recovered well from the procedure and was on his way to a complete recovery when he somehow got an unrelated liver infection. Rambo left for Rainbow Bridge on Christmas Day. Rambo-my tough guy- don't be too much of a bully up there! I miss you & so does Max ! We also say our goodbyes to Velvet and our thoughts and prayers go out to Jerry & Ellen, to Mandy & her saddened people Diana & Mike, and to Saber who waits now for Sylvia & Andre.

     We do have some good news too! Pat, yes- Rambo's mom, has opened her door to a lovely 1.5 year old cat that desparately needed a home. Poor Rascal has been living in a cage at a Veternarian office for 9 months! She now has a happy home & she and Pepper are getting along fine. Diana & Mike, yes-Mandy's parents, have a new kitten Frankie. I can't wait to get Frankie's picture up on the web site as he is a Chinchilla White Persian and he is absolutely beautiful. Peco along with Dave & Anna have a yellow Labrador with them-Charlie. Our first Cat-pet of the month, Rocco joined Doreen & John last November after they were heart-broken by the sudden loss of Murphy. Max is totally enjoying his new brother Rocco & even carries him around by the neck like "Mom-cat" !

     I now will leave you with a Pet Sitter Jill most embarassing moment- compliments of Abby & Brandee. These 2 Persian cats are quite the characters and really kept me on my toes. They live in an apartment so the thrill of my visits was when I left the door open so they could roam the halls of the building. One night as I arrived the ladies in the upstairs apartment were coming home at the same time. The one lady had gone up & the other parked the car and was coming in so I was standing guard at the door so Abby & Brandee didn't get out. I spoke briefly with the lady and then she went ahead up the stairs. As she got to the top of the stairs she commented that her daughter had left the door open to their apartment. I knew immediately and sure enough- Abby & Brandee were making themselves quite at home in their apartment! For the next few minutes I chased the 2 girls all over this apartment trying to get them out-apologizing the whole time! The following morning I arrived to visit the girls at 6 AM and they went straight up to that apartment and sat in front of their door meow-ing at the top of their lungs!

Take Care everyone. New Year can bring lots of new resolutions and changes but one thing will always remain the same---that: