Max the Caretaker
Max was always very aloof and independent. Heaven help us if anyone should think of him as anything but a macho hound! You can imagine our surprise when Phil the Cat came to live with us and Max claimed him as his.
Phil was tiny... probably no more than 3 weeks old when Katie found him and brought him to us. We had to bottle feed him for a week or so until he could eat solid food on his own, and Max was totally taken with him. Phil slept in a small basket lined with a towel, and Max slept curled around the basket, always keeping an eye on this tiny baby.
We would take Phil out of the basket to feed him and all the while, Max would pace the floors. We guess he was making sure we didn't hurt his baby, or perhaps he was checking to make sure we were holding Phil correctly. Who knows? All we knew was that Max worried until we put Phil back in his bed where Max could keep an eye on him.
Phil, of course, grew and didn't need to be watched all the time, but still, he and Max remained pretty tight. Gradually, as Phil matured, Max realized that it was time to let Phil be a cat, so he gradually started leaving him alone more and more.
Fast forward about 3 years...
We welcomed Honey, our little basset girl, into our home in January of 2004. She had been hit by a car and left on the side of the road to die. A passerby found her and contacted us, and when we picked her up, we rushed her to the vet immediately. She had a punctured lung, her tissues were full of air and felt like bubble wrap when you touched her. She had several bumps, bruises and other abraisions too, and Dr. Grogan didn't really give her much of a chance at survival. So... she came home with us to either mend or to die.
Honey lived on Floyd's chest those first couple of weeks, and Max worried about her the entire time. He would sniff her on Flo's lap to make sure she was okay. If she was on the floor, he would stay with her. He wouldn't allow any of the other houndies to approach her in a playful manner until she was strong enough to tolerate it. Once she was healed, he finally began to loosen up and allow her to mingle with the others. They were a pair!
Honey adored Max. Whatever he did, she did. If he carried his dinner dish into the living room, she carried hers too. If he demanded a cookie, she demanded a cookie the same way he did - barking and running to the cookie box. He taught her to howl, too. To this day she can bay with the best of them! But never let it be said she took over his role as Alpha in this house. He taught her early on that HE was the Alpha and shared that chore with Reggie.
Max took her under his wing early on and taught her all there is to know about being a hound. She's still young and flighty, but we believe there's a bit of Max in her even now. She misses him as we all do; we hope and pray she remembers all the lessons he taught her.
Phil was tiny... probably no more than 3 weeks old when Katie found him and brought him to us. We had to bottle feed him for a week or so until he could eat solid food on his own, and Max was totally taken with him. Phil slept in a small basket lined with a towel, and Max slept curled around the basket, always keeping an eye on this tiny baby.
We would take Phil out of the basket to feed him and all the while, Max would pace the floors. We guess he was making sure we didn't hurt his baby, or perhaps he was checking to make sure we were holding Phil correctly. Who knows? All we knew was that Max worried until we put Phil back in his bed where Max could keep an eye on him.
Phil, of course, grew and didn't need to be watched all the time, but still, he and Max remained pretty tight. Gradually, as Phil matured, Max realized that it was time to let Phil be a cat, so he gradually started leaving him alone more and more.
Fast forward about 3 years...
We welcomed Honey, our little basset girl, into our home in January of 2004. She had been hit by a car and left on the side of the road to die. A passerby found her and contacted us, and when we picked her up, we rushed her to the vet immediately. She had a punctured lung, her tissues were full of air and felt like bubble wrap when you touched her. She had several bumps, bruises and other abraisions too, and Dr. Grogan didn't really give her much of a chance at survival. So... she came home with us to either mend or to die.
Honey lived on Floyd's chest those first couple of weeks, and Max worried about her the entire time. He would sniff her on Flo's lap to make sure she was okay. If she was on the floor, he would stay with her. He wouldn't allow any of the other houndies to approach her in a playful manner until she was strong enough to tolerate it. Once she was healed, he finally began to loosen up and allow her to mingle with the others. They were a pair!
Honey adored Max. Whatever he did, she did. If he carried his dinner dish into the living room, she carried hers too. If he demanded a cookie, she demanded a cookie the same way he did - barking and running to the cookie box. He taught her to howl, too. To this day she can bay with the best of them! But never let it be said she took over his role as Alpha in this house. He taught her early on that HE was the Alpha and shared that chore with Reggie.
Max took her under his wing early on and taught her all there is to know about being a hound. She's still young and flighty, but we believe there's a bit of Max in her even now. She misses him as we all do; we hope and pray she remembers all the lessons he taught her.
posted by Sherry | 10:03 PM
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