The Return of Tobias

We have four pets (two dogs: Sasha and Jiya, and two cats: Selby and Toby), and they are my little babies. I really love them dearly. In particular, I am very close to Toby, who is always glued to my side and extremely affectionate and sweet.

 My husband and I recently moved to a new town, a little over a month ago. On moving day, we were in the process of putting the animals in their respective pet carriers to transport them to the new place. Toby was NOT happy about being in a carrier, and before I could close the latch, he demonstrated some super-feline strength, busted open the carrier door, and ran outside. Crap.

Well, we figured it wasn't that big of a deal. We were planning on coming back the next day, and the day after that, to finish getting things throughout the weekend. Also, Toby often went outside during the night, and since we'd be back the next morning, we'd just get him then. We took our other 3 animals to our new home.

So, we came back the next day... and there was no sign of Toby. The day after that, again, no sign of Toby. I was extremely upset.

We continued to go back to the old place on weekends, to keep packing odds and ends (I hate moving) and of course, search for Toby. We went back at least 3 weekends, and there was no sign of him. We had friends and family look for him, to no avail. It's been a month... Toby was gone forever. My heart was devastated. My little baby.

I would cry every night, I missed him so much. Toby always slept with us, he'd nestle in between us, right under my arm. Whenever I would be quilting, Toby was always right there in my lap. Whenever I was sick or in pain, Toby was with me. If I were sad, Toby would try to comfort me. I've had cats all my life, and let me tell you, Toby was special. He was the best cat I've ever had. He was never standoffish or anti-social; he was honestly the most affectionate and friendly cat I've ever known. He loved to cuddle, he loved being pet, and he adored his belly rubbed (any other cat I've known would rip your hand off if you touched their stomach!)

He was very vocal, and when you'd enter a room, he'd meow as if to say, "hello!" He was just precious.

It had been a month since his disappearance, and I had tried to accept that he was gone. Pets get lost every day, and the chance of them returning after a month, especially if the owners had moved... it just didn't seem likely. I figured I'd never see him again. It broke my heart.

We went back to the old house one final time, we STILL had some odds and ends crap that we needed to bring before the month was up. I was in the back of the house, when I heard my husband say, "I think I hear a cat."

What?

Then I hear him exclaim, "TOBY!"

I rushed out to the door, and there he was. A month later, my cat had returned. How? I didn't think it was possible. We had left...the house was empty. There had been snow storms, and thunder storms, and yet he persevered and kept trying to wait for us.
I immediately started sobbing.

The day we found Toby again.

My husband is like, "honey, keep it down, you're scaring him!" LOL.
He looked great. His fur was still thick and beautiful, and he had no marks or scratches on him. He had noticeably lost a few pounds, and was a bit skinny. But he was alive... he wasn't dead. Tobias was back!

So, naturally, we couldn't wait to bring him to the new home. The dogs, Sasha and Jiya, were SO HAPPY to see him again. They immediately fell upon him with wagging tails and lots of puppy kisses. Selby, the other cat, however, seemed to not recognize Toby. She would hiss and hide from him. I was worried...they had always been so close, since we had adopted them as kittens at around the same time.

Toby and Jiya reunited

About a week later, though, Selby started to loosen up. It seems things are back to normal now, no more hissing or hiding.
All is well in our home, now. :)

Trying to get back into quilting

Now that the semester is over, and I have a bit of free time, I'm wanting to start working on my quilt again.

I'm on my second ever quilt, so I'm definitely a beginner. I piece the quilt top with my sewing machine, and do the quilting by hand. I'm new to this and it's going quite slow lol. With school and everything I haven't had a lot of time to devote to it. I'm hoping to change that.

I've been doing it in sections, with the plan to attach the sections together at the end, thinking that may make it easy to handle.

I love looking at quilt websites and Pinterest for inspiration. Some of these quilters are absolutely amazing. I feel so inferior in comparison. But hey, we all have to start somewhere.

My cat Toby loves to snooze on lap underneath my quilting hoop...

Lovey dovey pets

Who says cats and dogs don't get along? Toby (cat) and Sasha (dog) do indeed love each other! :)

Pets are more than simply animals

Some new neighbors moved in beside us a few days ago. The last few days, I kept hearing this sad, low, moaning sound for many hours. Yesterday, I got tired of it, and asked Mark...

Me: "What is that awful sound?"

Husband: "The neighbor's dog."

Me: "What's wrong with it? It sounds so sad and pathetic."

Husband: "It's probably because they have its dog house so far away."

I didn't really know what he meant by that, until we were driving out to run some errands, and I saw this dog house way at the bottom of their yard. It was maybe 50 yards away from their house, totally secluded at the bottom of a hill that's in their backyard.

Could they get it any further away from them? It's like they were saying, "get away from us." It just made me sad to see that, and having to hear their poor dog whimper all day from loneliness.

I see things like this all the time, people basically neglecting their dogs like they're unwanted nuisances. When you have a pet, you need to pay attention to it. Take it for walks, play with it, spend time with it in the yard and take it with you to parks and such. Don't just chain it up in the backyard, give it some food and water, and occasionally throw it a bone or toy, and leave it alone the rest of the time. Pets are supposed to be companions. Dogs especially are social creatures - they want more than anything to be with their owners.

Honestly, leaving a dog alone 23 hours a day isn't beneficial to you, or your pet. Dogs can bring such happiness and joy if you spend time with them. They want nothing more than to simply be a part of your life and to please you.

I know that people have things they have to do during their day, we all do - being with your pet 24/7 just isn't feasible. That's not what I'm saying... I know people have lives to live. But I see this all the time, animals chained up and never socialized or interacted with.

I was never a dog person, mind you, because I was always used to having cats in my life. When my dad passed away, the sense of loneliness and emptiness I had was unbearable. My husband and I decided to adopt two puppies a few months ago so that I would have some companionship when I was at home; my opinion of dogs has totally changed, and now I love them to pieces.

They aren't just my dogs, they are my friends. I wish those people who banish their pets away to a life of seclusion felt the same way.