As I mapped out the last ten memories, I had the number seven spot blank for a bit. I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about. The top ten weren’t any more important but they were ones I hadn’t covered yet so they were of some significance. Then it came to me as Finn ran barking up the stairs.

What is more important to me than the animals I’ve had in my charge? I adore these four-legged lovelies and it is easy to say, they run the show around here. Whether it is snacks from my plate, riding high on my shoulder, or demanding my attention, the cats and dogs that have been a part of our family since Tsarina came to us back in 1999, have held (and do hold) a position high in my memory.

We had not been living together for very long when we decided to embark on pet ownership. I dislike that word (ownership), as I never felt like we owned them, quite the contrary. But I digress… We attended the fall cat show in late September (we moved in together in July 1999) and met Tsarina’s breeder. That same evening, we went back to the hotel and met the litter of kittens she had with her, and this is where we met our kitten.

The first thing our kitten did was bite my nose. I knew at that moment; she would be mine. She was fiery, mouthy, and full of life. Playful, beautiful, and absolutely the most amazing little creature I’d ever seen, I knew she had to be our cat. A week or so later, in a raging blizzard, and on my husband’s 40th birthday, we drove two and a half hours south to pick up our kitten. On our return drive, the blizzard had gotten so bad, part of the highway home had closed, so we had to reroute home!

She blazed into our life and was always a force. She was a Bengal cat, selected because I had allergies to cats (and dogs). Her fur was like a pelt, buttery soft, and shimmered like gold. Happy Kats Tsarina (call name Tsarina) grew up into a giant, yowly pain. She’d sit in our kitchen window and howl. To the point, the neighbours would start looking for a cat in distress! She was leash trained and we used to tie her up outside with us, until she became problematic and too noisy. Making constant plays for the door. She became a window sitter only. A very, very loud window sitter. I’ve forgotten some with time, just how loud. But she could wake the baby because she was so loud! Unfortunately, we lost her to cancer when she was only thirteen. She’d lost most of her teeth as well. Pedigree cats, while often healthy, can have odd health quirks. Hers were all her teeth were gone (safe for her incisors) and she ended up filled with cancer and died inside a week of diagnosis. The house was silent.

After Tsarina came home, we’d already decided we wanted a dog, and had decided on a standard schnauzer. A decision also based partly because of my allergies. But finding a breeder was a problem. The breeder that was local was no longer breeding and through a game of telephone, we tracked one down in Tottingham, Ontario. He had a litter coming in mid-December and we were placed on a waiting list… Mid December, the call came. A boy was born, and while it was a maybe for a moment (as the breeder thought he might be a show dog), Cortaillod High River (call name Max). He was a great dog, and SO well trained. He had more certificates than most people have degrees. Max, for all his training in obedience, agility, and flyball only ever earned one title. Maximillian Finnegan, FD (flyball dog). We were not especially competitive, and Max liked what he liked and in agility, that was tunnels. In flyball, it was the door he spied at the end of the hall we were running in and the day of competition, I let him go, and he ran like the wind… Right down the track and out the open door to FREEDOM! He very much became my surrogate baby boy. In April 2014, Max had a geriatric vestibular episode and we thought we were going to lose him. He made a mostly full recovery but walked with a slightly tilted head. Later that year, at 14 year, 8 months, he had a stroke. We had to say goodbye. The world stopped. For a month, we went through the motions. Get up, feed the boy, do the absolute minimum necessary to function. It was the hardest loss we’ve experienced. He was so much more to us than just a dog.

We never wanted to experience that heartache again. Then one day, four years later, our son asked to get some rodents. I explained that if he researched them and their care needs, we could discuss it. He did, he wrote a three page paper on them! That night, I suggested to our son, perhaps we explore the idea of getting a dog.

Enter Lach Faire Fingal an Irish Country Wheaten (call name Finn), who is actually a Canadian Champion. We were asked to take on the singleton pup as a show dog, he’s a great dog who just turned six! We picked him up in a terrible RAINSTORM!

While researching dogs, we also fell in love with border terriers, so we got one of those too. Eight months later, we welcomed Zealous Lily Playmate for Finn (call name Lily). She is now five and we picked her up in a blinding blizzard. We seem to have a knack for picking up animals in terrible weather.

In 2019, my mom moved off her farm and into a townhouse. She asked us to take in her senior dog, Jehara, a bred Norwegian Elkhound. At eleven, she became a calming force for our two crazy terriers. She loved to lay wherever we were, go to the pet store and sit in front of people until they pet her, and would routinely ‘shoplift’ her own treat. Sadly, we said goodbye to J-Dog in October. The house seems empty with just two dogs.

Finally, we added Crescent, a beautiful silver-grey tabby from a large feral colony my sister ‘grew’ from a cat someone dumped on her land many years ago. While the colony is feral, Crescent is anything but. The most loving and endearing cat I’ve ever met, she sleeps plastered across my neck nightly, begs to be brushed anytime someone walks near the grooming table, and is very social. She loves the dogs (they’re not really fans), and she loves to be cuddled like a baby. She turned three in April and while she is technically our son’s cat, she has warmed our hearts through and through.

When we lost Max and Tsarina, we swore we could not bear the thought of putting ourselves through that pain of loss again. Yet here we are, a home filled with animals again. They add a richness and deepness to our lives. Lily and Crescent are so playful. Lily loves toys – balls especially and she’s had a series of pigs she drags around. Crescent is the best dog we have and will play fetch tirelessly. Finn is indifferent to play but will walk until he falls over. I cannot imagine not having these guys in our lives and while we were unsure about adding them, I am so glad we did. They make us laugh, and worry us sometimes too, but in the end, they make the sad days better, and the good days even better.