A Year of Transitions

This past year has been a year of great transitions for me. I would like to apologize to all those who look forward to reading my newsletter every other month as I took some much needed time for myself. Time and two of my precious babies slipped away from me this year and it has been a long, difficult and yet amazing past 6 months.

Both my girls began failing in health in June this year and neither were able to recover. Addison my tri-colored Aussie and Maggie, my blue merle Aussie were 14 and 13 years old respectively. Their passing was and is a journey that I will forever treasure. As hard as their passing was the gifts I continue to receive from them daily are truly amazing.

Maggie was the first to transition to the Rainbow Bridge. She was my intuitive and really got it about people. She was nothing but love and enjoyed meeting everyone and loved to play. She had pretty much gone blind and had cancer in her last year of life. But to look at her you would never know it. Even at the end she was so FULL of life, on every level. At the end she was ready and knew with her passing she would be sending me many messages, her last message was "I am not gone, but in a different place to be able to talk with you on a deeper level".

I received three messages from Maggie right after her passing. The first was when an 12 week old, blue merle, Aussie puppy came into the store one day. it looked exactly like Maggie when she was little. I knew she was sending me a message that day. I had also been looking for her baby pictures just before she passed, I knew I had them somewhere but couldn't locate them. Two weeks after she left I picked up her ashes and a thought popped into my head to check this one box I hadn't checked yet for her pictures. Sure enough they were there. The last message was a few weeks after that, driving down the road I was sort of daydreaming and thinking about all I needed to accomplish for the day and a car pulled in front of me on the highway and the only thing on the car was one sticker and it said "Moo". Moo was Maggie's nickname. I had to laugh she was at it again. There was so much love with her. She truly was and is my heart.

Eight weeks to the day of Maggie leaving, Addison followed. Addie had always had issues with UTI's and now seemed to be no different. The difference this time was though is that we couldn't get it cleared up. The truth was she didn't want it cleared up. She said she wanted to go be with her sister. I thought maybe she would stick around for another year or so as there wasn't a whole lot wrong with her except some arthritis and her occassional UTI. Addie was my fat and happy girl. She was content to be a homebody and LOVED her food! You could actually see her eyes light up whenever food was around. She was one happy dog then.

Their transition has ushered me into a transition of my own. They have given me a certain flexibility I have not had in years. It is something however I would trade back in a heartbeat to have them back. I do have one remaining baby and she too is making the adjustment to being without her big sisters. We still have some healing to do but with their transition we are both looking forward to new adventures and continual messages from the Rainbow Bridge from Addie and Maggie.

Addison has also sent me messages to laugh about. While standing in Baron's pet store one day a little girl came in with her mom, she was dressed in a little outfit that was so cute. My co-worker smiled at the little girl and asked her her name and as loud as could be she said, "My name is "Addison"! Now who names their child Addison? I just busted out laughing and said thank you to Addison for the message.

Mommy misses you both and will no doubt see you again when it is my time to come home. Our family will then be whole and complete once more.

Health through Nutrition

Whether it is physical health or spiritual health it all matters what we eat. With so many of our pets becoming ill, having behavior issues or passing away we do a disservice to them if we do not look at at least one very important part of their lives, their food.

Having said that let's actually look at the food we eat that we think is healthy. Many of the foods we eat today are genetically modified. These foods are creating havoc in our bodies because they are not the way nature intended. We are now seeing people and animals that are gluten intolerant. It is not some newly made up health issue, it actually is an issue for many people and animals. People are beginning to realize just how dangerous our food sources are and are going back to basics by buying locally produced fruits and veggies or by growing their own. Obviously by growing your own you know exactly what is is going in and on your fruits and veggies.

Anyone who has read any of my previous newsletters knows that I am a big proponent of feeding a species appropriate diet to our pets. Dry foods are NOT species appropriate. They are processed foods that are easy and convenient for us to feed. A really good canned (wet) or raw diet is the best to have them on. Time and time again I have seen major changes in a pets behavior or issue just by changing foods. Even for ourselves, changing our diet can change the health of our bodies. Is your pet overweight? This is a great time of year to revisit your feeding plan for them. If you need help in this area please feel free to contact me and we can get you and your pet(s) set up on a nutrition plan that will work.

I also look for the foods for myself and Takla that are listed as non-gmo, gluten free and organic. I would rather spend my money on good quality food that will keep me and her healthy and out of the doctors and vets office. I know times are tough for everyone and trying to find places to cut back on may include your diet for your pet. I will be the voice for your pet at this point and ask that you don't cut back there. There are always things we can do without to help keep our pets healthy, there is never any replacement for us or our pets when it comes to buying good, wholesome quality food. I know Maggie stuck around an extra year with having cancer just by the food I was feeding her. It does make a difference.