Meet Our New Addition!

We have a new family member and his name is Lowenstein.

It all started when Mama was looking at kitties on the Great Plains SPCA website. She came across this handsome fellow. The cool part? His name at the shelter was Palmer! Mama thought maybe it was a sign. She decided that she and Dad should go look at him, so they did.

Mama fell in love with Palmer in an instant. He was sweet and cuddly right away. He had Dad wrapped around his paw quickly, too.

Mama and Dad decided that they shouldn't bring him home without telling Grandma and Grandpa first, so they put a hold on him. They started discussing names, too. Palmer Palmer would have been cute, but they wanted to keep up with the theme of names from A League of Their Own. They finally settled on Lowenstein.

The next day they drove back to Great Plains to make it official. It was a very happy time for all of them!

So far, things have been going great. Lowenstein has been living in Mama and Dad's room. He is a champion cuddler and nuzzles Mama's face. He's just what she has needed! Introductions to the other furry family members have been slow. Harvey isn't crazy about another cat in the house and Evelyn is scared of everything. He and Dottie took to each other right away though!

Lowenstein is very small. He's five years old and was brought into the shelter as a stray. They have no idea what his life was like before he was rescued, but surely a cat this sweet lived with a family before. He's got the tiniest little meow and is never pushy. Whenever one of the other cats hisses at him, he just ignores it and doesn't let it upset him.

He's taking on many of the responsibilities that used to be mine. He sleeps with Mama, talks to her, and keeps her company when she's in the bathroom.

I have a feeling Lowenstein and Mama are going to have a strong bond. He's already got her back!

I'm 8 Years Old!

Today is my 8th birthday! I realize that I've had seven birthdays before this, but this one is special. It is my first birthday in my forever home with Mom. I know she has something special planned for tonight, but she won't tell me what it is! I think it has something to do with whatever is in this bag.

She went to PetSmart and came back with the bag, but never took the stuff out of it. I'm not supposed to get on the table, so I can't peek in it either.

One thing I do know is that I get to play on Twitter tonight with all of my anipals! Mom said I could tweet as long as I want to. I hope everyone joins me for my birthday pawty on Twitter tonight! I'm even going to bring my sisfur Dottie with me. See you later!

Review of "Dog Blessed: Puppy Mill Survivor Stories"

I read Main Line Animal Rescue's "Dog Blessed: Puppy Mill Survivor Stories" by Lisa Fischer, published by Happy Tails Books. It is a compilation of stories told by dog owners who adopted their pooches from Main Line Animal Rescue in Pennsylvania and are members of MLAR's rehabilitation group called "Over The Mill".

The stories are sad and uplifting all at once. These doggies were all rescued by MLAR from puppy mills and came to the rescue group (and eventually their forever homes) with varying degrees of physical and emotional issues. Many of us know what goes on in puppy mills, but it is still saddening to hear these very personal stories of what an individual doggy goes through in these horrid living conditions. To then read about the people who bring these dogs into loving homes and the patience they show in teaching the doggies that it is okay to be loved is inspiring.

I love each of the humans who have rescued, rehabilitated and adopted these doggies. I hope that these stories reach humans far and wide so that puppy mills will one day be a thing of the past and we can rest easy knowing that no more doggies are being harmed or mistreated. Remember when shopping at a pet store that you don't know the conditions of the place the puppies came from and what you may be supporting by purchasing one of these dogs. ADOPT, DON'T SHOP!

There are other Happy Tails Books too. They not only look like enjoyable books, but Happy Tails Books donates at least 25% of their profits to rescue groups. It's wonderful to see what people are doing for our anipals and I hope you will pick this book up as well!

I received my copy of this book at no cost to me from the publisher. This in no way influenced my review of the book.