Rescued animals make wonderful pets! Our four cats and our dog are all rescues. We adopted Tiffy, our 100-pound lab mix, from an animal shelter when she was just seven weeks old. She'd just been rescued from a Tennessee pound; driven straight up with a truckload of other dogs and puppies. Tiffy is the embodiment of faithfulness. She follows my husband around so much that we've nicknamed her Cody (for codependent.) When I come home, whether I've been gone for five minutes or five days, she greets me with a presidential welcome and prances around like a marching mare! She sleeps in her bed at the foot of ours; she joins us for every family vacation. Maybe it's because we nursed her back from the brink of death when she was a puppy, riddled as she was with parasites and worms, or maybe because she feels the love we have for her. Whatever the case, she accepts our love and returns it tenfold. Tiffy is truly our dream dog-I know this because the week before we adopted her, I dreamed about her!

JuJu Bean, our blue and cream tortoise shell, was adopted when she was eight weeks old. Her mother was a feral cat who'd been rescued and given birth to JuJu and her sisters. JuJu is a truly unique cat who sometimes thinks she's a dog. She's comical; a true ham. She loves water and spends time each day watching the drips from various house faucets. Incidentally, Tiffy is exceedingly terrified of water, webbed feet and all! One must be careful when turning on the shower in our house because JuJu is often found to be sitting in the tub. She loves to lick everyone in sight-and takes special delight in teasing Tiffy by WATCHING her when she's trying to nap. If JuJu gets too close, and I pretend not to watch, a low rumbling will begin from deep inside Tiffy and JuJu will remember to mind her place. One annoying habit that JuJu has is to pee on any article that's left on the floor. This includes sports jerseys, backpacks, pants, shirts-a handy reminder for my sons to pick up their things.

Paddington, Tinkerbell, and Mouse are the last of our rescues (for now.) They're all litermates, though it looks, and was suggested by our vet, that mama cat might have had several lovers. Paddington is the Lover Boy-especially when he's hungry-which is pretty much all of the time. He's the biggest of the litter- JuJu's match- and his favorite thrill is to lay on his back while JuJu licks him all over. Tinkerbell is a beautiful Grey-shy, sweet and slightly neurotic. Sometimes when I walk by, she will jump up on her hind legs-just to put her head within patting distance of my hand. When I lay down on the couch, she jumps up on my chest and "kneads" me and I must then disengage myself from her claws and remind her gently not to dig them into me. Mouse is- just as her name suggests- a mouse. Just half the size of her brother, with the same black and white coloring. She is gentle, quiet and very, very sweet. She is always polite, and waits her turn at the food dish. Her green eyes seem to hold something, an intelligence, something I can only wonder about. Had she words, I would guess her to be a poet.
I am profoundly grateful for all of our rescues, for they have enriched our family with generous amounts of joy and laughter.
Oh yes, even our mouse is a rescue-plucked by my daughters from the snake food cage at the pet store...

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