I never thought I’d be looking for another horse.  When you’ve had the best, how do you think about something less than the best.  The truth is I don’t want another horse–I want Finn.  I can’t have Finn, anymore.  Our majestic horse, Finn McCool, was euthanized a week ago.

Finn was a chestnut colored, fourteen hundred, fifty pound, seventeen hand, Irish warm blood. He was seventeen years old and extremely well trained in jumping and dressage. He was once a lesson horse and my husband, Roland, took him trail riding.  He was a dream horse for two people, in their fifties, learning to ride.

His previous owner, Carrie McPherson Kimmel, sold him to us after we leased him for a year.  Finn wasn’t quite good enough in dressage to take Carrie to the Olympics, so he became ours three years ago.

He loved the beach and didn’t want to go back to the trailer when you tried to turn him around on the sand. He was purrfect, except he couldn’t purr.  I gave him scraps from the juicer; it was a funny site seeing a huge horse lick my hands.  We both loved it, though. 

Finn had many friends, some with two legs and some with four legs.  He was an unusual horse, both in stature and demeanor.  He was admired by all.  HEAVEN CAN WAIT, a rescue organization dedicated their newsletter to Finn McCool and I’ve included the dedication below:  (Thank you Ramey Zamora.)

HEAVEN CAN WAIT NEWSLETTER – July 2010

This edition of the HCW Newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Finn McCool, a big hearted big horse owned by a good friend and supporter of Heaven Can Wait.  Finn suffered a torn diaphragm diagnosed through surgery on June 25^th — the damage was too much to save this great 18 year old.  Our hearts are with his owner, and that’s where Finn’s heart is, too.  Thanks for years of beloved companionship.

Finn McCool, by Roland Hinkle

Your kindness continues to inspire us.

You can visit their site at:  http://www.heaven-can-wait.net/site/

Roland wrote a explaination of how Finn died for the people at our barn and I’ve included it below:

Sadly, we lost Finn Friday night June 25.  After looking distressed that morning, Dr. Osborne saw him at the barn.  When he hadn’t improved in the afternoon, we took him to Alamo Pintado.  Additional tests at Alamo indicated exploratory surgery.

Dr. Judy discovered a tear in Finn’s diaphragm that let his liver and intestines migrate into the chest cavity (a diaphragmatic hernia).   All of his colon and much of his intestine had died from the  compromised blood supply.

The damage was too great to save him and he was euthanized on the operating table. 

Dr. Judy commented that the tear was the largest he had seen and most horses wouldn’t have been standing with the damage he saw.  Finn had walked into the clinic and later to the surgery prep room on his own.

He was Finn to the end!  

Here’s a photo of Roland and Finn jumping.  Finn had jumped many times before and much higher, but it was Roland’s first jump.

The two most special memories I have of him are when he trusted me enough to roll and when I trusted him enough to lean forward and let him take a jump with me on his back.  Although, I’m leaving Finn’s trust behind I’m taking my trust and the love of a great horse with me.   

Tags: Animals, Feeling, Grief by debradavishinkle
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Warrior Cats Forbiden Couples – Everytime We Touch

Video:  Tigerfire12

Tags: Animals by debradavishinkle
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This comes from my friend, Stephanie Fusco Teaford.

Dog Pack Attacks Gator In Florida.

At times nature can be cruel, but there is also a raw beauty, and even a certain justice manifested within that cruelty. The alligator, one of the oldest and ultimate predators, normally considered the “apex predator”, can still fall victim to implemented ‘team work’ strategy, made possible due to the tight knit social structure and “survival of the pack mentality” bred into the canines.

See the remarkable photograph below courtesy of Nature Magazine.

Note that the Alpha dog has a muzzle hold on the gator preventing it from breathing, while another dog has a hold on the tail to keep it from thrashing.  The third dog attacks the soft underbelly of the gator.

Not for the squeamish…

Laughter is good for the soul. Have a Great Day!

Later Gator!!!!

Tags: Animals by debradavishinkle
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He’s very sweet, likes to take a bath with me and loves to kiss.  However, his favorite thing is to draw blood on my arms, legs and neck.  I am covered with bites and scratches.

Tags: Animals by debradavishinkle
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I love my writing partners, Christine Taylor and Jim Leonard.  However, I felt something was missing in my writing and that I needed more help than my partners could give me so I made a big decision.  I have taken on an additional partner. 

His name is Dac and I think he will be a good listener and hopefully he will inspire and create many works of art. 

I hope my partners like him and feel he is a good match for me and for the group.  I talked with Jim about our new partner, but I haven’t discussed it yet with Christine.  I’m a little worried what Christine will think. 

We have photos of all the kritiquekritics.com partners, so I have included a photos of Dac.

Just look at the size of his ears; don’t you think he will be an excellent listener?

Just look at that mouth; he’s going to be an amazing storyteller.

With a writing instrument that unique, I think he will create a masterpiece.

Dac, short for Dac’l is itching to get started with his first story.  When I was emailing the vice president of SLO NightWriters, Dac couldn’t help but put in his 4 cents (he likes 4′s, not 2′s).

He’s already written his first poem:

Poly-

Dac-

tyl

am

I.

by Dac’l Hinkle

Tags: Animals, Artwork by debradavishinkle
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I’ve wanted a polydactyl for more than thirty years.  I finally have the chance to get a one.  There is a litter of polydactyls being cared for by Feline Network.  Feline Network is the group that helped alter all my feral cats.  I donate each year to this group because I believe in what they are doing.  If you can help them or you just want to visit their website, click on their name above.

Polydactyl cat

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A polydactyl cat is a cat with a congenital physical anomaly, with more than usual number of toes on one or more of its paws as a result of a cat body type genetic mutation. In animals including humans, polydactyly (or polydactylism, also known as hyperdactyly) is the anatomical abnormality of having more than the usual number of digits on the hands or feet.

Normal cats have five toes on each front paw and four toes on each hind paw. Polydactyl cats may have as many as seven digits on front and/or hind paws, and various combinations of anywhere from four to seven are common, although each of the front and rear paws are typically the same. Polydactyly is most commonly found on the front paws only, with polydactyly of all four paws being less common. It is rare for a cat to have polydactyl hind paws only.

The true polydactyly – commonly called mitten foot, mitten cat or thumb cat condition – is a congenital abnormality, genetically inherited as an autosomal dominant trait of the Pd gene with incomplete penetrance. This type of polydactyly is not life-threatening and usually not even debilitating to a cat. Some polydactyl kittens initially have more difficulty in learning to walk than normal animals. However in some cases polydactyly appears to improve the dexterity of the animal. For example, a common variation with six toes on the front paws, with two opposing digits on each (comparable in use to human thumbs), enables the cat to learn and perform feats of manual dexterity generally not observed in non-polydactyl cats, such as opening latches or catching objects with a single paw.

Tags: Animals by debradavishinkle
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I love big cats and little tiny baby kittens, too.   When my niece was little and our family had a litter of kittens (the mother cat had the kittens).  We called them “Tiny Babies” so my niece would understand that she needed to be careful with the kittens.  My niece grew up to love all animals.

lil baby cat found

Video:  ccube85

Shio Feeding: Round II

Video: cheesesux

Baby Kitten drinking from the bottle

Video:  shalladorecats

Tags: Animals by debradavishinkle
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Big Boy has such an awful life.  Just look at how wet and cold he gets when it rains.

Two comforters and a shelter.

Tags: Animals by debradavishinkle
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Below is a list of how the responsibilities break down in our house:

DOG DUTIES

Growl at family cat

Watch raccoons and possums

Chase skunks

Bark at strangers

Growl at friends

Wag your tail, then bite

Eat cat food

Clean litter box out

Throw up and get diarrhea after cleaning litter box

Roll in deer poop after your bath

Eat decorative ribbon groomer put on you

Need to be rushed to vet

Lay on main pathway in the middle of night

Pass gas at night when lying next to owner’s bed

Bring ticks home and drop them on couch or bed

CAT DUTIES

Meow when touched

Meow when you might be touched

Meow when you want out

Meow when you want in

Meow when you are hungry

Wash owner’s face with sand paper tongue

Roll in dirt and then come in house and jump on bed

Pick up ticks outside and then sleep on owner’s pillow

Eat grass and throw-up in house

Bite on electrically cord in use

Need to be rushed to vet

Pee in cage on the way to the vet

Pee on vet’s table

Pee in cage on the way home from the vet

OWNER’S DUTIES

Wake up at 3:30 a.m. with the cat licking your face

Get cats teeth cleaned

Wake up at 5:30 to the smell of diarrhea

Shampoo carpet

Wake up anytime and step in dog pee on the way to the bathroom

Shampoo carpet, again

Wash dog  or cat that smells like deer poop or skunk

Change litter box

Wake up in the middle of the night with the dog washing your face

Brush dogs teeth

Take dog out to pee too many times a day

Kill ticks crawling on you, especially in the middle of the night

Fall over dog at night and bruise or sprain something

Rush cat or dog to vet

Tags: Animals by debradavishinkle
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Here is my lop-eared bunny.

Actually, Dakota has a hematoma (hematomato as my husband would say.)  We are using homeopathic remedies on this one.  This is her second hematoma in eighteen months. We are using Arnica cream and pills.  It is suppose to take a few weeks for her body to reabsorb the blood.  She might have a permanent cauliflower ear, unfortunately.

Here’s some help from Wikipedia:  (I need the help, since I always get these two confused.)

Homeopathy (also spelled homoeopathy or homœopathy) is a form of alternative medicine, first proposed by German physician Samuel Hahnemann in 1796, that attempts to treat patients with heavily diluted preparations which are claimed to cause effects similar to the symptoms presented.

Holistic health is a concept in medical practice upholding that all aspects of people’s needs, psychological, physical and social, should be taken into account and seen as a whole. As defined above, the holistic view on treatment is widely accepted in medicine.^[1] A different definition, claiming that disease is a result of physical, emotional, spiritual, social and environmental imbalance, is used in alternative medicine.

Tags: Animals by debradavishinkle
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