cashmere

Dear brant county spca,

my name is stephanie lovas, back in june 2012 I was just moving into my first place on my own and I thought about getting a animal to keep me company and instead of buying a brand new kitten I thought about adoption. so one day me and my sister were in the petsmart in ancaster, ont, and I looked at a few cats and I came across this black cat with some white patches. Her name was cashmere. unfortunatly I was unable to take her that day  so I told my sister if she was there the next day I would take her. sure enough we went the next day and there she was, I asked to hold her just to make sure she was good with me and she was she just melted in my arms. I got her home put her water and food and littler box in an area for her so she would know where it all was, as I was getting ready for work I was sitting on the bed and she came right over and sat on my lap she followed me everywhere, and that was just the first day I had her, she continued to get more comfortable with me everyday. she would sleep on my chest, and nuzzle in to my neck. sleep on my head, on my back anywhere that  was close to me,two weeks after I had her her true colours came out when I would sleep she attacked my feet, we now play hide and seek together,  even my friends that didn't really like cats to much though she was awsome. If I was gonna get another cat I would definetly adopt again.

Our Beloved Conrad

Where to start. Well I guess with my first meeting of Conrad, he was 4 mths old although I thought he may have been more like 6 mths due to his size. It was around my birthday in May of 2000 when I went with my hubby to the SPCA to see Conrad for the first time (Gary had visited once before with his sister). We looked around at all the dogs/puppies and this one beautiful boy was probably the only one who wasn't barking. We decided to take him outside for our visit, Gary went back inside to talk to the girls about Conrad. He wasn't sure about adopting him until he came back outside and saw Conrad & I hugging :). He went back inside and said "I guess we're taking this one, the wife is hooked".

The best thing we've ever done. He was an adorable looking pup and quite large for 4 mths as stated above. The only thing he chewed was a 'Dalmation' throw I had gotten as a gift, grrrr. We'd had an aztec type blanket right beside my Dalmation throw which I would've preferred him to chew instead. Also he only ever had 2 accidents in the house which wasn't so bad as it was on the kitchen floor (easier clean up) rather than on the carpet. We had bought him a large cage for him to go in when we had to leave the house and for the first few weeks at bedtime. Well the bedtime was rough as he would whine/cry and make us feel guilty. Needless to say the cage was no longer used for bedtime, as he turned out to be well behaved without it. I could probably write a book on this wonderful boy but I will try to condense his story.

He was absolutely loved by our vet and actually loved going so that was a relief. Oh but he would get so excited in the car when he knew we were going there. We'd be at a stop light and he would whine/cry so loudly other drivers would look our way as if to say " wow, what are they doing to that poor dog". It was a bit embarrassing but also funny. I have included a pic of our vet with him, she always said "Conrad, you are such a ham". Anytime we'd have an appt., we'd ask Conrad "You want to go see Dr.Gough?" and he would get soooooo excited. He loved her too. She also called him 'The Conrad' as to her, he was just IT.

Another nice story about him is he had finally won the trust of our elderly neighbour Vicki whom was terrified of dogs. She would come across the street for a visit and we would always keep Conrad inside but with the door open so that he could still see us. She was always leery even though he wasn't able to get out at her. Well over the years, after Conrad's long walks along the dike; on the way home he would pull towards Vicki's. Believed this was his way of telling us that he wasn't ready to go home yet. So they would have a visit with Conrad still being leashed of course. One day on the way home from a walk, there was Vicki on her front porch. Getting closer, Gary noticed Vicki was crying and asked what was wrong. Vicki went on to tell him that someone had gone into her house (while she was out working in her yard) and stolen her purse. Here's the shocker, Conrad had felt Vicki's sadness/despair and had gone up the steps, over to her and put his head on her lap. I cried when Gary told me this story and at the same time felt a kind of proudness of my special dog. Needless to say, Vicki overcame her fear of Conrad completely.

I believe I will have to cut the story short now as space is probably a factor. Conrad was always pretty healthy with the exception of needing a specialized food to prevent crystals in urinary track. As he got older arthritis became a factor but we'd give him a low dose aspirin to ease his pain.  On September 02/12 we had to make the unbearable decision to put him down. His stomach had twisted (like in the movie 'Marley & Me' which is a major tear jerker btw) and surgery would've been ridiculously expensive with very little/ if any guarantee. It was heartwrenching to say the least for Gary & I at 4:30 am to deal with this awful, dreaded decision. We finally decided that we did not want him to suffer any longer and it was done. He was in shock and his eyes, I will never forget. It seemed like he wasn't even there with us and then.....at the last moment, Conrad raised his front paw to me as if he was saying "Rub my chest one more time" and that it was okay. I'm crying as I type this as he will always be our baby. Thank you SPCA for giving us 12 wonderful, life changing years with Conrad. Forever grateful.

Our Beloved Conrad

We adopted Conrad (not sure what original name was) in May of 2000, he was my birthday present. My other half wasn't sure about it until he saw this 4 month old fairly large pup on my lap snuggling me after I'd taken him outside of the SPCA. He was a wonderful dog whom didn't create too much damage. He only chewed one couch throw and scratched up the inside of our front door, he was a jumper. He started to settle down with the jumping on people around the age of 2 or 3 but he did clear the backyard fence once or twice. Our elderly neighbour was terrified of dogs and even with our assurances from us always kept her distance. One day, after we'd had Conrad for about 10 yrs., our elderly neighbour was very upset when my other half walked by her house. He stopped with Conrad, to ask what was wrong; she then told him that someone had gone into her house (while she was working in her backyard) and stolen her purse. He felt very bad for her when she started to cry and apparently so did Conrad. By this time they were both on her porch with her and Conrad went over to her & put his head on her lap, she let him with no fear. She started to pet him and thanked him for consoling her. This was a very proud moment for us as we were quite pleasantly surprised by this action of our wonderful dog. After that, our neighbour always petted Conrad whenever she was in his presence. It became part of his walk to stop by the neighbour's to see if she was around and get a pet from her. He was a good companion and gave me a sense of security when hubby worked the night shift. He grew to be quite large although his ears never stayed up like a purebred Shepherd. He loved to go for walks and chase his ball in our big backyard. It had to be an Indian rubber ball though as he would destroy a tennis ball. I could go on forever with tons of stories about him but.....Alas, our beloved Conrad had to be put down when he was 12 yrs old; his stomach had twisted. This was devastating for us to make this decision (to say the least) as he was like our child as we have no children. It was in the wee hours of the morning so we couldn't even go to our own vet, whom loved him and he loved her. I am finally able to write all this without crying but it took a very long time. This happened on Sept. 02/12 and it is now June of 2013. I am so grateful that we were able to adopt this wonderful dog from the SPCA as he changed our lives for the better of course and gave us so much happiness. He will always be the BEST DOG EVER and of course I still miss him.

I've just filled out a 'dog adopter survey' with hubby as I think we are both finally ready to care for and welcome a new dog into our lives. One of my friends told me something that just stuck, she said to me "You guys are meant to have a dog". I believe that to be true, dog lovers will always be dog lovers. You can sometimes tell whom are avid dog lovers when you meet people who own dogs. They normally wouldn't speak to you on the street but if there's talk of dogs – be it yours or theirs – a conversation just happens. Dogs are amazing creatures and do wonderful things to/for people. There are even statistics proving that dogs can improve your health – they make you happy and I believe that is good for the soul.....and your heart.

Diana Cromwell

Sadly missing 'The Conrad'  (As our vet affectionately named him)

Always in my heart

Success Story

Hello,

I just wanted to give a quick update on Grayson. We adopted him in March and ever since then we have fallen in love with this love bug. We are so happy that we took a wrong turn and ended up at the Petsmart in Brantford. He settled in right away and became the king of the castle. He likes to boss my boyfriend and I around and jump all over his brother (our 10 year old lab) who Grayson has clearly fallen in love with. Grayson is very independent but loves his morning cuddles and has become use to all the kissing he gets in this house. He is my 6:30am wake up call and is always waiting at the door when we come home from work. He has fit perfectly into our little family and we couldn't be happier. A special thank you to the Brant County SPCA, who allowed us to be Grayson's parents. 

Adoption of Toby!

Hi! Just wanted to let you know how well our new kitten Toby is doing (previously called Sam by his foster mom). We set out to find a kitten for our young cat Snickers (also a rescue from Brant SPCA) who was feeling the loss of his buddy. So we brought Toby home and within a couple days they were totally best friends. They do everything together... eat, sleep, cuddle, groom, play, and Snickers is even teaching Toby the best places to hunt for mice! Additionally he is getting along great with our 2 huskies, easily sleeping curled up with them and loves pouncing on their tails! Hope you enjoy the picture of Toby (Orange) and Snickers :)

Melissa & Brad Bellingham

Chico

We acquired Chico in August. He is one of the smartest dogs that we have ever seen. He loves all dogs and people. He has enriched our lives so much, we can't imagine our lives without him, he is now one spoiled puppy!!!

Brian & Bill

Louie the cat & Ermy the Hamster update!

We love this picture & wanted to share it J

We adopted Louie (one of three brothers Louie/Huey/Dewy) 5 years ago last December.  Louie is doing great!

We adopted Ermy (was Army) last July (2013).  Ermy has recently moved into a 3 floor hamster cage with a wheel big enough for him to enjoy.  He loves his 3 levels!  He is very active & loves his food.

Both Louie & Ermy are going great & we love them both!

Karen Long

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