dougandkim.net : our fuzzies

our fuzzies

Pets are a huge part of our lives - the ones that live with us now, the ones we foster as they move in their lives from rescue to their forever homes, and the ones that Kim helps through her e-newsletter - Kim's Fuzzies.

I had a variety of pets growing up - cats, dogs, rabbits, finches, frogs... My first pet as an adult was my fish, Goldie.

Soon after we returned from our honeymoon, Skootch, our orange tabby moved into our home. We heard him outside one day and opened our door. He walked in and stayed as if he had always lived there. We hid him from the no pets rule for 2 years.

My brother gifted us with Hobbs the hamster who, unfortunately escaped from his pen one night and was actually literally scared to death at seeing Skootch. That was horribly traumatic for me and I've always felt guilty about it. That has laid the foundation for always making sure that the pets in my home are well introduced.

When we bought our home in 1990, we got Mocha, a wonderful yellow lab bred by our friends Michael and Gerri. Mocha was an amazing companion. I will always love labs because of her great example. Her death was one of the top most devastating moments in my life.

In 1995 my friend Brenda rescued a litter of kittens and Shadow, our grey tabby, moved in. Shadow is a shy little being who is super loving whenever she does not have to compete with other animals for her love. Her favorite time is bed time because she gets to sleep with us and I give her undivided attention at both ends of sleep time.

In intervening years Kim moved a series of fish, crabs, frogs etc. through the tank in the kitchen. Currently guppies have taken over.

In 2001, the year before Mocha died of brain cancer, Tobee, our black panther, moved in to care for her. He showed up on our doorstep and eventually Kim took him inside because he just seemed to know he needed to be here. He had only lived in our home for a month when Mocha had her first seizure. Mocha was sick for a year, during which I slept on the couch in the family room to be near her and the outside so that when she had a seizure, we could walk her on the lawn so she wouldn't slip on the floors. During seizures, Tobee would walk alongside her and hold her up. He slept on her head and watched after her when she was ill. I know that God sent him to us to help her and us through that very rough transition.

In October of 2002 we brought Borrego, our golden retriever, into our lives. We had tried to adopt through rescue and had had a very bad experience which caused us to purchase her from a backyard breeder. She has been a fun and challenging addition as she is very headstrong but Kim has patiently brought her through all the levels of obedience, including Canine Good Citizenship, as well as tricks, and agility. Once Kim realized that not all rescues are as bad as the ones she had dealt with, she has dedicated hers, and Borrego's, life to revealing that not all rescues are powerhungry control freaks and showcases the ones that she finds to be the most reasonable in a bi-weekly newsletter called Kim's Fuzzies, which goes out to a subscribership of about 200 animal lovers.

In September of 2005, Kim brought Huey Lewis and the Newt in as pets to share in her work team. The Newt was quite the escape artist and kept her on her toes constantly. Unfortunately his escapism was ultimately his demise. His tank at work is now populated by guppies.

In late September of 2005 Kim adopted Sasha, a Russian hamster, from a couple in North Park who were selling their possessions just to make ends meet. Sasha was about the most active hamster we've ever seen and is a fascination for Tobee and Borrego. She was also an escape artist and survived several trips outside her cage before her passing last year of natural causes.

Early in 2007, Kim decided to add two rats to the household. Having heard that they were wonderful pets, she found a couple being given away on Craigslist, went to visit and play with them and ended up bringing them home. Gwen and Abby have ended up being adorable and playful little additions and are great with the variety of little dogs that go through the home. They have no fear and are great for helping Kim teach foster puppies about being gentle with little beings.