The Ninja Wizards

Last year was shite. Losing Haku and then Sano each so quickly, and so close together, was soul-destroying. I knew I didn’t want to wait years to get another dog, because I know I can sort of forget how to dog, you know?

I’ve followed Saluki rescue pages for a while now (wow, back in the day there was only STOLA, and the waiting list was years! Now there are tons of them!) and a few months ago, one of the rescuers on one of the pages--World Animal Guardians--sent me a pic of this adult lurcher who needed a home. (A lurcher is the offspring of a sighthound + a working / herding dog.) He’d been badly abused and starved at the horrific Friday Market in Kuwait (CONTENT WARNING: DEAD AND DYING ANIMALS IN THAT LINK  :((((( ) and I wasn’t so sure I should take a chance, because I have a son now, and it’s kind of risky. But a foster took him, and we decided to wait and see how it played out.

The next day, the rescuer sent me pics of a litter of Saluki puppies who had just been rescued, along with their Mommy, from the same Friday Market. They were emaciated and near death. (Content warning for that video too.) I said, “If I take both, can I get a break on the adoption fees, and a payment plan?” And she said they could do that.

A few months later, they flew over separately, and I took the lurcher and one saluki puppy. ^_^

This is Ringo Starr:

(He came with that name, okay :DDDDDD ) Look, he’s got some muscle mass now! He’s put on ten pounds since his rescue. He is still very fearful of new people and situations, but at home he is as calm as he can be. He just wants love, pettings, cuddles, scritches, and a place to run. He is a Very Good Boy.

And this is Valentine:

I tell people that I called him Valentine because he landed in America on Valentine’s Day, but let’s be honest: He’s named after Vincent Valentine from Finally Fantasy VII. :D  Look at his little lordship!

I had to drive to JFK to pick up Valentine, and to STATEN FREAKING ISLAND for Ringo Starr - but the rides were worth it.

I can’t say enough about World Animal Guardians! Please consider giving them some support if you can. These women (and a few men, I assume) go into the Friday Market and literally pull dying animals out of cages, clean them, take them to the vet, feed them, foster them, send them on flights to the USA, and adopt them out. The work they do is beyond amazing. And if you’re looking to adopt a rescue, you can fill out an application.  It’s not just salukis and sighthounds (though a lot are, because salukis are in the middle east the way pitties and labs are here: they are everywhere!) they have lots of other breeds and mixes, as well as cats who need homes.

Last year was shite, but Ringo Starr and Valentine are already putting in the hours. We are so happy with them. My son loves them - and you can’t unglue Valentine from my son’s side. :) <3 

Haku had cancer a few years ago, and, although that’s around the time I stopped updating this Tumblr, he beat the cancer and went on to live an excellent year+, and passed of an unrelated heart arrhythmia. 

I miss them so terribly. They were my family.

Lokepo, the crow! She’s all right. She’s got cataracts, but she’s doing okay and still gets around. 

Various birds have come and gone since then, too, and now it’s just us and some fish. (They are really fabulous fish. :) )

The house feels so empty.

I know I’ll rescue again - in fact I’ve got my eye on two dogs, so we’ll see.

Seeing these estimates (low to high) took my breath away. It is possible that Haku’s splenic mass is benign. There is literally know way to know this without doing the surgery. A benign mass is as deadly as a malignant one.

There is no way I can pay this bill, and stay in my home / eat / feed my son. Simply no way. This is an impossible bill.

Haku is my love. I am really at a loss. Time is a factor. This splenic mass could rupture a month from now, next week, tonight... There’s no way to know. Haku’s evaluation is on Thursday. (Eval alone is about $1500.)

Please support / share Haku’s surgery fund! 

Our crow, Lokepo, is now living in a separate aviary with her boyfriend! They make eggs together every Spring, though, so far, no babies. It happens.  :/  

We have had some other crows since then. Last year we had a fledgling named Matu:

(My son, now 2 and a half, named him.)

In the mean time, we could really use some good vibes for Haku. His seizures got really bad and he’s on about 7 different meds now, which are affecting him in all kinds of ways. It’s been a struggle. We are hanging in there. (*knock on wood*)

Sano is 15, sleeping right now after a long day of barking at things, eating everything, and running all over the place.

This is from back when I worked a lot with wildlife. You need a special license to rehab raccoons because they are rabies vectors, but this was at the animal hospital where I used to work, and any raccoons that came our way went on to rehabbers who held those licenses.

Anyway.

Ninja Wizards have a new addition. Nine weeks tomorrow; that's why we haven't had too many updates. Sano is in love with the baby. He just wants to lick him and keep him forever. Haku tolerates him. Although it's hard to tell from these pictures, where it looks like Haku is cuddling with him. He's really just curiously sniffing like "What do I do with it?"

Aside from this, while Sano's platelets have held steady this summer (*knock on wood please!*) Haku's legs have gotten really bad. I don't know if it's because we had to cut our long walks down from 2X a week to 1, but he's having trouble even getting up from his bed. I'm not happy about that. I can't afford to bring him back to PT, which is about $300/week. Yes, you read that right! The surgeries should have fixed him, and he's already done all his PT! This shouldn't be happening. So, we do our own PT at home, which just means walking through the water at the beach once a week. I really hope it will start to help soon. Haku is only going to be 8 next week.