Spike, and a Special dog

It was 40 degrees outside this morning - a little cool for a walk in a t-shirt, so I added a sweater. Our high yesterday was 51; for today, the forecasters are predicting 79, so while I started the day in jeans, T, and sweater, I'll probably end up in shorts and a T. I am still heart-sick over the useless euthanasia of Chalkie - I feel like I want to vomit, it gets me so upset...

The Spike-meister and I have been getting on like gangbusters - for a 20-year-old cat who has diabetes, he's very spry - and loves to wander in the yard when it's not raining. I spend a lot of time on his patio, watching him prowl the fence line in the sun. As an older cat, and with his diabetes, his immune response is lowered - the main reason I watch him in the yard is to be certain that other outside cats don't come into the yard while he is out. Spike would fight to defend his territory, but he can't fight infections well, so his owners and I try to protect him from skirmishes with other critters.

I'll be heading home to Lovey and Banichi in a few minutes - it will be nice to be back in their loving warmth and be around their "Mama - look!" attitudes. I made a new contact for pet-sitting this past weekend - a man who attended UF owns a business not far from my apartment and he has three dogs; the youngest, Hobbes, is the offspring of the other two and Hobbes was born without eyes or even the formation of eye sockets. She doesn't realize that she's "special" and has a very full life - I'll be interested in taking care of her and her parents in the future.