I know, it's been a long time since the last newsletter, April in fact.

      I write today with a pain like no other, for I have lost the second in
command of the Fluffy Paw Gang. Max passed on to Rainbow Bridge on September 6th, taking with him an irreplaceable part of my heart. That is the biggest reason I have not had time to write. On April 24th, we got up in the morning and Max wouldn't eat or come up the stairs. I made an appointment with his doctor and by the time we got there that afternoon he couldn't walk. By 7:00 that evening he had surgery to remove a ruptured tumor and his spleen. A few days later, the biopsy came back as hemangiosarcoma, a cancer of the blood vessel walls. It is a horrendous cancer, that even with treatment has a poor prognosis. We tried anyway with chemotherapy and alternative medications. Survival times with this cancer range from days, to 8 weeks, with many dogs dying at the time of the tumor rupturing. So it went all summer, veterinarian visits in-between working. I also took him to our favorite get-away Bed & Breakfast in Ithaca for a week in June, since it seemed unlikely he'd make it to our usual November time. Max took it all in stride - never complaining, always happy. He died in my arms peacefully and with the dignity he represented throughout his life, and he deserved to have returned. I know he is romping with some of his special friends and that brings me some comfort through the tears.

      It's been a very busy summer seeing many of you again and meeting many new fluffy buddies. Again, there are too many to mention so I put them in another photo album in the Kodak Gallery. We have a new person handling the website now. Linda is maintaining the Fluffy Paw site, so you'll start to see some updates and changes. During the transition, and my lack of attention, some of the pictures from last April still had not been put into my photo album pages. I believe Linda has those all in now so for those of you that have been looking and asking, you should see them there now. If not, please let me know, as some may have fallen through the cracks.

      Sadly, we always have to say goodbye to some as well. Thru the last few months, we have lost: from the same family both Yukon & Annie. Annie, the silent meow! And, Yukon the big clumsy goof - he was the only dog I could pet without stretching my arm out! Shawna never became best friends with me, but I enjoyed talking to her under the chair! For some reason, we lost some birds this time: Ozzie, Jasper & Winter. I found out recently that awhile back another family lost 2, Natasha & Tiger. Some others we lost awhile ago were Shaq, Cody and Barney who you never had to worry where he was, because he was always at his food bowl! I missed seeing sweet Boo when I visited his house recently. I was very sad when Diamond passed on, she was an older cat adopted by Sue and Ben, along with her daughter that I wrote about in the past. My little--ummm-- well, guess troublemaker would be the nice way to describe Eadie. :) Wumples, Minnie, Teeshan and Bitsie, all new additions that passed, but not without leaving their special mark on my heart. Mr.B - how he made me laugh, I see him with that tail going & that silly little walk all over Rainbow Bridge. And, my Jerry - the first time I watched him so many years ago, I could've positively identified his butt! That's all I saw of him tucked behind the washer! How they are all so different, all so special, all so loved. They will be deeply missed.

      Another "passing" of sorts is the ol' gold Dodge Durango. Over Memorial Day weekend, it was clanging & groaning & creaking. If you remember, it was 90+ degrees that weekend and the A/C wasn't working either! I think it was the only time I had to take Max home in the middle of our travels, as it just got too hot. On the Tuesday following when I got it into service, and the initial glance at it was already into the thousands of dollars, I said it was time to stop nursing it along and to retire the truck. It served me well for 6 years + 2 days and almost 170,000 miles! So for those of you with neighbors keeping an eye on things, I now have a dark gray 2004 Durango. It had a few more miles on it than I had hoped, but it has the navigation system! Very cool for me! Not only because of what I do, but also because I have a tendency to get lost a lot! I always "feel" I'm going in a different direction than I am, so I go around in circles quite often.

      Since my brain is still spinning and cloudy, I'm going to end this now even though I think I had a lot more to talk about. Before I go, I would like to thank Penny, Sue, Rich & Kim, Chris, Barbara, Bernice & all of you who knew about Max, followed his progress & helped & supported me throughout. You were a comfort beyond words.

Special thanks to Angela, who was always there - both mentally and showing up physically at all the right times. I know she's saying "you don't have to thank me" and she's right, but I want to give back a small piece of the gratitude I feel for her. She was Max's 2nd mom, the only other person who could get near him and pet him. He loved her as do I.

      I also want to thank Doreen and Linda who didn't hesitate a second to rush out to help me when my truck was stolen and Max was missing. Linda whose calm, quick thinking to notify Cyndy at GRASP, who then notified the animal control agencies was single handily responsible for Max's quick recovery. Doreen, she went beyond the definition of friendship when she helped me out of a huge problem without judgment, and I will always be grateful.

      Oh, I don't think any of you know that for the 3rd year in a row, your nominations
and kind words placed me in the top 5 of Pet Sitters International's Pet Sitter of the Year award! Wow! I just don't know how to express what that means to me. You know they say if you have a couple good friends in your lifetime --- well, I am truly blessed then. I am surrounded by such warm, caring, compassionate people. You all amaze me!

Until next time-
I LUV U BUNCHES!!!
JILL & THE FLUFFY PAW GANG  

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