Here is an update on our family.....

Our dog, Roxy is doing very well. In May of 2001, she had surgery and was then diagnosed a few weeks later Transitional Cell Carcinoma - Bladder Cancer. She had half of her bladder removed.  It was a rough few weeks of recuperation for us all, but Roxy is now doing wonderfully. We hope that she stays cancerfree for a very long, long time. One of her favorite things to do is to play with her new "brother" Petie. Roxy is such a good dog!!

In September 2000, our sweet boy, Elvis, was diagnosed with a primary lung tumor. He did well for many months, actually 6 months longer than his vets expected. He was a very happy boy every day of his life. We lost our elvie two weeks after Roxy's diagnosis on June 13, 2001.

Our big news is that we now have a new little addition... his name is Petie, he became part of our family in October 2002. He is from North Carolina! Our friend, Kaye who lost her special kitty Bean to VAS told us about an orange kitten who came into her clinic. The second I heard about him, I felt a connection to this little guy. Chris and I drove 8 hours south and Kaye drove 4 hours north and we met for the first time. Kaye brought our little 7 week old orange boy to us. It was a very special day meeting our friend Kaye and one we will always treasure. Petie is an absolute joy.

This is Rudy.    Rudy showed up in our yard the end of July of 2002. He was very shy but couldn't resist meowing at me from his hiding places underneath our bushes. He was probably about 2 months old when he first came to visit. Since he really was people shy, it took a while for me to be able to pet him. We built him a little shelter in our yard and there he lived. We tried to find him a home with friends and through the animal shelter but in the long run, Rudy convinced us that he had already found his home and he is now enjoying life inside. He is still shy and very afraid of strangers but he has come a long way.  He's a good little cat and he and Petie are best buddies.