Animal Tales

Frisky 1^st Dec 2000 – 1^st Aug 2006.

Frisky – a dare-devil, bundle of boundless energy,

 

Our constant companion on all our picnics to the most god-forsaken places

and a terrific swimmer. 

 

 

A life cut short by a kidney disease which is hereditary in Dalmatians. 

 

When you are so used to a canine companion, it is hard to get by without one.  So we decided to get another pup and thought it would be best to get a sturdy Indian breed like the Mudhol Hound.  One of our friends promised us one  ‘very soon’.  But the days slipped by without any news from him.  A whole week passed after Frisky’s death and I could scarcely bear to return home from work and not be greeted by her boisterous welcome. So when I heard about some Dalmatian pups for sale, we rushed to see them and Misty came into our lives.  The same naughtiness, eagerness for walks and the boisterous greetings were back. 

 

When Misty was almost a year old, we found a stray kitten fallen on the road outside our office. It had not yet opened its eyes and was small enough to fit in my palm.  We looked around to see if we could spot its mother, but no luck.  It was in danger of being run over by the cars whizzing past and we picked it up and brought it home.

 

  The daughters were thrilled and took turns to feed it with an ink-dropper, took it to the vet and in general molly-coddled it to bits.  Misty kept trying to get close to the kitten, but we were rather scared of letting her.  Frisky was very aggressive with all other animals and would attack them. We were not too sure about Misty, but she kept begging and wagging her tail trying to nuzzle the little kitten. Finally we took a chance and let her. She nuzzled it onto its back and proceeded to give it a thorough lick.  The kitten seemed to wriggle with joy.  From that moment on, the two were inseparable. The kitten would crawl around searching for Misty and snuggle close to her.  A few days later we were surprised to see Misty  suckling the kitten .  Misty had taken her role of a foster mother very seriously!  The vet explained that it is quite a common occurrence among animals when they take charge of a young one even if it is a different species.

 

 

 

 

 

It was a joy to see Misty and Snoopy together – their bonding was incomparable. Snoopy thrived under her care – learned to play ‘fetch’ with a paper ball,  ran to the door when the bell rang and in general, short of wagging her tail, exhibited quite a few doggie traits!