Lynn, I just wanted to apologize for my earlier post. I think that I may have misunderstood your response to a post, and I apologize for that.
I would like to explain why I responded the way I did. My best friend for 12 years has been going through so much recently (she is the one with the 2 dogs); she recently went through a hysterectomy, her father has just been diagnosed with prostate cancer (8 years after batteling esophogous cancer), her one dog has been diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease that she could actually contract because, on top of all of this, she has Lupus. She is a disabled police officer who does collect social security, but between what she brings in and what her husband earns, it sometimes isn't enough.
She has a wonderful vet that does allow her to pay in increments, if needed. But, some of her recent vet bills have been hundreds of dollars for what her baby (she never was able to have a child before the hysterectomy) is going through.
Once again, I truly apologize to you, from the bottom of my heart. I hope you will accept my apology and know that it deeply meant.

I sincerely appreciate your apology, and want to assure you that I really AM a Christian! As such, I know that there is such a thing as "inappropriate prayer".

Example: "Dear Lord, I'm going to keep right on smoking these cigarettes, and have faith that You will not allow me to get lung cancer."

"Father, I know that You love me and want me to be healthy, so I trust that You are going to help me lose weight, even though I keep stuffing my face with french fries, chips, pop, and chocolate bars."

AND: "I know I have neglected the medical care my pets need, but I want YOU to step in and make them healthy for me, because I trust that You can do this."

As I indicated on the other thread, I am an animal lover, too. My five cats and four dogs (all adopted from local shelters) are precious to me. We spend a great deal of money on food, treats, training classes, collars and leashes, toys, veterinary care, flea protection, heartworm protection, and "emergency" care each year. But these are our "kids" now that our kids are all grown and gone!

You would think I'd have enough of animals with the nine who live with me, but I also do quite a bit of volunteer work with the Humane Society and with Animal Friends.

I am very near to completing a course in Dog Obedience Training that will enable me to teach others how to effectively train their dogs to be obedient, happy pets.

This is probably WAY more than you wanted to know about me:o but I thought you deserved to understand WHY I answered the way I did.:rose:

Thanks, again.
Lynn

You and I actually have some things in common. I, too, volunteer at a local animal shelter, but I work with the cats. I have been doing that now for about 4 months now, and I love it. My 3 cats aren't so happy about it when I come home smelling like other cats!
Thank you for your reply. :rose:

Julie ---

Some of the happiest, -and some of the saddest- experiences of my life have occurred at our local shelter.

It breaks my heart to see folks dragging a dog in and "giving it up" because "the stupid dog refuses to get house-broken". Regardless of how poorly the owners have treated this dog, they are his family and they are throwing him away, and he suffers terribly from that abandonment.

Watching how often this happens is what prompted me to enroll in the course I'm about to complete to help people train their dogs. If I can help people KEEP their dog, and help them to train that dog to be obedient, that dog will never see the inside of a shelter!

My four dogs:

Molly was 2 years old, abused severely, and never house-broken. She's a beautiful Chestnut and white Border Collie-Spaniel mix. She's 5 1/2 now, and the most lovable dog ever. Obedient, quiet, loving, (and was house-broken within 5 days!).

Mikey was a 6-month-old purebred Border Collie. He'd been given to an elderly couple as a "gift". By the time he was 2 months old, they could no longer stand his over-active personality and put him in the basement, where he stayed for 4 months. He was a little wild man when I got him, but he's well-behaved now - but a typical Border Collie! He always needs something to "do"!

Daisy was a 3-week-old orphan. We got her as a Foster-Pup, and my sister-cats Abigail and Guinevere decided the puppy belonged to THEM! They cleaned her and pampered her, and curled up around her to sleep. She's 2 1/2 years old now, and weighs 76 lbs, but she still adores those two cats.

Phoebe came here in January of this year. She was found living in a house with 62 other dogs and none of the dogs had been outside for at least 5 years. (The house had to be demolished.) She is around 8 to 10 years old. The litter of puppies she had recently given birth to was "gone" (food for the starving pack). She only weighed 14 pounds. She's missing half an ear, and parts of one leg. She is the most delightful little dog now! She's my "lap-dog" and now weighs 28 pounds.

Once again, WAY more than you wanted to know!!!!!

Hugs,:rose: :rose: :rose:
Lynn

Okay, stop now, you are making me :c( :c( .
My friend that I told you about? She is involved in golden retriever rescue and that is how she got her second dog. He, too, was very abused (the owner hit him over the head with a metal pipe, causing brain damage; he would put out his cigarrettes on top of Butch's head; he had him in a very small cage, which caused Butch not to grow properly; etc.).
My friend got him and within a few days he was border trained, he was wagging his tail. She is still working on his fetching skills, as he had never even seen a ball before.
So, I know where you are coming from. I enjoy hearing your stories. I know that God works in mysterious ways, and maybe this was His way of us getting to know each other. What do you think?
:lily:

And this reminds me of a line from a hymn I learned long ago:

"Those of whom we thought unkindly,
Oft become our warmest friends!"

We DO have a lot in common!

Hugs,
Lynn

I'm glad that your kittens have recovered so quickly, Andrea.

Lynn

Oh I wish I had known you guys where so educated about animals a few weeks ago!

We came across a litter of kittys just a few MINUTES old - mommy wanted nothing to do with them and the other ones were already dead :(

But there was one still alive and we brought him home. Kept him in warm towels in a box and he was still cold to the touch - so me and my daughter took turn keeping him in or bras lol It was plenty warm there ;)

We knew nothing about taking care of the little bugger - next morning ( it was super late when he was resuced ) we called the vet and he told us everything to do and then we called the local animal shelter and they told us even more stuff to do...

We cared for him around the clock, but he died when he was 1 week old - it was so sad...:c(

I wraped him up in a towel that he had seemed to like - was nice and soft and kept unwraping him just to look at hime one more time - finally hubby said I had to let him go so I did....

My daughter has two babies and we had taken their teddy bear that had a mommies heart beat noise to it and put it in the box with him and he loved it - use to snuggle right up to it - thought it was his mommy :)

Sorry, but really wanted to share our kitty story with you ladies....

I also have a large white german shepard and he just means the world to us :)

Jade

I know you had to feel bad about that, Jade. I've had a couple of very, very young foster pups die here (just a week or two old -way too young to survive without Mom) and it just breaks your heart.

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Here's something strange. I just sat here and read back through every post I've submitted since May 16, 2002, and cannot seem to find anything addressed to Andrea, or anything even remotely resembling the remarks that have been attributed to me!

I would sure like to see that post, though!

Lynn

It is so hard to know what to do in your situation. You did everything correctly. There are so many reasons why a momma kitty doesn't accept her babies (they just know something is wrong with them, and they reject them).
You gave that kitty a wonderful week. He/she was loved, kept warm, feed - more than he/she would have received from his momma. You did great.
It is really hard when you try so hard, and they don't make it.
:rose:

Wow, Jade. I am so sorry to hear your sad story. :( You're a wonderful person to have made the effort. How'd you come accross that litter? We didn't rescue our kittens, but I feel that we put them in a much better situation than they would have been. They were a litter in a household of... probably upwards of 11 cats.

Thank you, Lynn, for being happy about the kittens recovery. I was ecstatic when I woke up and saw them cheerfully playing.

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As far as the old post is concerned, I logged on from a different handle, some time ago--definitely prior to May. It was my first time visiting DietTalk. I'd posted about how little I ate when I'd been living with my parents. Such as, "a glass of OJ and a chicken breast." That was my daily intake. I was borderline anorexic. You had replied that there was no way I could have eaten that little. I felt like I was being called a liar--and felt it unfair that someone who knew nothing of my life would blatantly state that. I remember it very clearly, because I believe it was the first response I received after joining these boards. I was hurt last night, and perhaps irrelevantly, brought it up. Anyway, that's the gist. Good at forgiving, bad at forgetting.
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I think it's great that you and Pouncer have become good aquaintances through this thread. I really had no business butting in, and now I will butt out. :)

-Andrea-

Amazing! It's so hard to know who we are talking to here sometimes. People come on under different names, with different stories, and they change posts they can't support with facts, or just make them disappear entirely. The entire Sick Kitties thread just up and went away when I posted these same thoughts there just a few minutes ago.

:cheers: Here's to Diet Talkers who are who they are, and who stand up for what they think.

I erased two posts because I meant to PM them. Woops. Mistakes can be made.

Clearly, I stood up for what I thought. If I hand't, would any of this ensued? I erased the thread, because there is a time and place to drop things. When a prayers thread is being used to argue and condemn, it's time to be erased.

Sorry, but you're once again jumping to false conclusions if you determined I created this account to "hide" behind, because I couldn't hack being "myself" on my old username. Just to straighten the *facts*, I wasn't able to use that handle to log on anymore, and thus, created a new one. Simply put.

As for not knowing to who you're talking to, do you REALLY know many of the people you talk to, on a deep, personal level? Doubtful.

-ANDREA-

I have become very close friends with a number of people here at DT! We talk on the phone, and exchange cards and letters through the mail. I have sent - and received - gifts from several of my old pals here.

We email each other almost daily, and know each other's "real" names.

And I can tell you that they would never send me a PM like the hateful one YOU just sent me.

---I don't "shut up" around here for any other reason than I'm NOT HERE! I spend a couple weeks out of every month at my summer cottage. That's where I was all this week.

I know this post wasn't started for this, but do you have any suggestions for how I can get my poodle to stop using our house for a toilet?? We take him out regularly: first thing in the morning, last thing at night, and several times between, but he still insists on going in the hallway. Both types! I read that you house-trained one of your rescued animals in 5 days!! I'm intrigued, and desperate! I would never give him up, but need help. I'm in the middle of moving into my brand new house and don't want him going in there.

Also, any suggestions on how to get him to stop, um, don't know how to say this delicately, "humping" people's legs? He's driving me nuts!! He is 10 months old.

Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated!!

Stacey- those are two very common problems, so you hang in there, and your little pooch will be OK before you know it! I would recommend that you use crate-training to "eliminate" the "elimination" problem. Any good book in your public library on dog training will explain how to do this (or your local Humane Society can help you!)

Is your pooch neutered? That's the solution to the humping problem. EVERY pet should be spayed or neutered!!!! It improves their temperment and behavior, and has many advantages for their health. Training takes time, and love for your animal (which you obviously have, or you wouldn't have him in the first place!)

Patience!
Lynn