Pet Middle Names. Yay or Nay?

As I'm sure you've noticed, we are a pet family. If my young daughters had their way we would have fish, rabbits, guinea pigs, and even reindeer. I can't complain as they come by their love of animals naturally. It run deeps through their veins.

We are now up to three dogs and four cats if you want to count the two that aren't really ours but that we feed and provide medical care to as needed.

Since these animals are more like our children than actual animals, I've always felt the need to provide them with middle names. I'm sure some people think we're weird but there has to be others out there who do the same thing.

Here is a list of our pet names, past and present:

Lucia Marie- Doberman

Wagner George- Black Great Dane

Bandit Leroy- Black Lab/Rhodesian Ridgeback Mix

Toby Scott- Piebold Great Dane

Lennon Michael- Harlequin Great Dane

Samuel Jackson- Shepherd Mix

(Zebidiah) Axle James - Harlequin Great Dane

 



Tanner Henry- Fawn Great Dane

 

Sophia Loren- Black Cat

Joseph (Joey) Randall- Gray and White Cat

William Frances- Longhaired Blonde Cat

Dusti Rose- Gray Cat who is also Joey's Momma
This is the picture from when we realized she wasn't a male, that's her kitten on the left.

What about you? Do you give your family pets middle names?

Missa Kitty

When we moved to our family farm in 2008 we owned horses and a couple of dogs. Our family had never been cat people and even with having a barn, we never discussed owning a cat.

It wasn't long after we moved in that the decision to have a barn cat was made for us.

A beautiful calico cat just showed up and never left.

She was our barn cat...our little mouser.

She roamed the property as she pleased and made herself at home among the hay bales and saw dust piles.

To compensate her hunting feasts, Mom would leave her dry food on the front porch. We would sit out there with her while she ate and she would brush up among my mom's legs while she sat out there smoking her cigarette.

She was never a touchy feely cat. She would allow us to pet her on occasion but we never picked her up and held her.

My mom sold the family farm almost two years ago and moved to the suburbs. She made arrangements with the property owners to care for Missa Kitty since suburb living wasn't in her cards. She was a barn cat after all.

Fast forward to last week and Missa Kitty came back into our lives.

My husband found her on a Missing and Found Facebook page. He wasn't sure if it was her or not, but the cat was located near the family farm and after a photo comparison I determined that she was in deed Missa Kitty.

Her picture on the Facebook page.

She was in bad shape and I quickly made arrangements that day with the lady who rescued her to pick her up and bring her to our home.

I knew from the moment I took possession of her that I would be driving her straight to the vet.

She had a nasty abscess and had lost a lot of weight. The vet quickly admitted her to their office where they started fluids and IV medications and prepared for an overnight stay.

I picked her up the next day and thought after a week of oral medications that we were going to be ok. That was not to be. When I awoke the next morning and started the process of feeding her and medicating her another abscess was found and ruptured. Daniel quickly rushed her back to the vet so that the newest abscess could be cleaned out and a drain be put in for both of them to drain. He picked her up that evening.

Once again, I thought with medications we would be good once she rested, put on some weight, and the two abscess fully healed. We had several good days of her perking up, eating well, and becoming more mobile. The drain was removed on Saturday and everything started healing nicely. I thought we were out of the woods.



After several great days, Monday arrived and things changed significantly. She stopped eating, was very unsteady on her feet, and just wasn't herself...even the sick self that I picked up a week prior. That night I discovered fluid at the base of her neck and top of her head. I knew we were once again in trouble and after spending some time with her in the bathroom and praying that God would either heal her or taker her in her sleep I went to bed knowing that tomorrow she would be going back to the vet.

I made an afternoon appointment for her yesterday and after determining that she had yet more infection I had a decision to make. Do we continue treating her in the vet's office with fluids and IV meds knowing that it would just be a matter of time before another infection presented itself since her immune system was so compromised, or do I make the decision to end her suffering.


I chose to end her suffering. She was 16+ years old, was found to be blind, was no longer eating, and was confined to our upstairs bathroom for her safety. That along with the guarantee that these infections would probably be ongoing helped make my decision.

She passed quickly and peacefully with Daniel and I by her side, and I wrapped her in her towel and rocked her in my arms and prayed over her lifeless body for a few minutes after the vet confirmed she was gone.

I chose to have her cremated and one day when I'm ready to let her go, I'll take her back to the farm and spread her ashes among the pastures that she roamed and hunted in for all of those years.

Just a few happenings around our house...

Just a few pictures capturing our past two weeks or so. 

Sharing a room sometimes means sharing a bed.

Last nights dinner of pulled pork and rice required the fancy swim goggles.

You can tell he has two human sisters can't ya? Pink and purple!!

Holly Jolly the elf arrived on Thanksgiving night. 

Addison snacking alongside Missa Kitty.

Sick Missa Kitty. More details coming soon!

A little after school ice-cream date with momma. 

Axle sure loves his big brother, Sam. Sam on the other hand could do without the buddle of energy that won't leave him alone...EVER! 

Bandit Leroy

Our family has suffered a lot of loss this past year. I've lost my grandmother, a cousin, a nephew, and a few extended family members.

We've always been very open and honest with the girls about death and going to Heaven but it wasn't until recently that they truly understood the grief that comes with death.

On November 3rd we lost our dog, Bandit. He was hit and killed by a vehicle while the girls were at school that afternoon.

Now, I've known grief. I've felt the pain and despair of losing a close family member and in my thirty-one years of life, I've lost my fair share of family pets. Losing Bandit however has thrown me into a downward spiral. Daniel and I found him and had to remove his body from the side of the road.

Everything happened so quickly that my mind still hasn't come to terms with things. He had literally just been let out in the backyard to use the bathroom and in just a few short minutes he was gone. He was trained to stay away from the road and for whatever reason on that day, he decided to go near it. We don't know who hit him, as they left him on the side of the road without stopping.

In the moments of realizing what happened, all I can say is that my body just went into hysterical mode. There was screaming, crying, I may have thrown things around. It was a drop to my knees in the front yard kind of hysteria.

This dog was my baby when I didn't think I could have babies and I can honestly say he was the most well behaved dog I've ever had the privilege of knowing, let alone owning.

In the weeks since his passing I've suffered with terrible nightmares, insomnia, and I've even lost weight. My anxiety which was already becoming unmanageable without medication went through the roof and now I'm back on three different anxiety medications. My Crohns is back, my dog is dead, my anxiety is crazy. For anyone wanting to say I'm being over dramatic over the loss of my animal can kiss my butt. Grief after the death of a beloved animal is real people!

The girls took his passing very hard and were so confused. Addison had a break down after about two days and she couldn't grasp why Bandit had been alive when she left for school on that Monday but why he wasn't when she returned home. She expressed anger and blamed Daniel and I for not watching him properly and then even blamed herself for not staying home from school that day to watch him. His loss was terrible for me but seeing the pain in my babies was even more heartbreaking.

We had his body cremated and he now safely resides on the bookshelf along with our Great Dane, Wagner. We lost Wagner back in 2012 and I don't think Bandit was ever the same. They were the best of buddies and it's reassuring to know that they are together again at the Rainbow Bridge.

Many people do not understand how the passing of a family pet can be so difficult but it can be. The girls almost immediately started talking about getting a puppy and after a few months of having been wanting a puppy myself, I baited the hook and hoped Daniel would bite.

The Friday after Bandit's passing we welcomed the newest member of our family, Axle Zebidiah. Zebidiah is the name given to him by his breeder so we kept it as his middle name. He's a pure bred Great Dane who was born this past August. Daniel loves his Danes but has never had one as a puppy. I knew once I mentioned one he wouldn't say no.

Daniel was apprehensive about getting a dog so soon after Bandit passed, but he's fallen madly in love with his boy. Just as I knew he would. They are cuddle buddies and the best of friends already. Before long I'm going to need to move to the guest room because I won't fit in the bed anymore.

Axle joined our remaining dog, Sam. Sam came to us this past summer in hopes that his companionship would help Bandit. His previous owner was moving out of the country and was concerned that moving with Sam, who is eight, would not be safe. He was free to a good home so I jumped on the chance to adopt him. Never in a million years did we think we would lose Bandit so soon after and that Sam would become the only dog for a short time but God has a funny way of doing things and having Sam in those days after losing Bandit was so helpful in our grieving process.

We are a pet family and while I know many people think we welcomed Axle to soon after losing Bandit, it's how my family has always done things. With a beloved pets passing comes space to save and welcome another.

We are still suffering from the loss of Bandit but having Axle and Sam has made his passing a little more tolerable. I won't lie in saying though, I would do just about anything to have my boy back.