SubscribePooh was adopted from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington and lives with Holly who you may have seen in this post.
I call this one Pooh Face
and this is Pooh Vase
Happy Pooh
Pooh with personality
Pooh in the house
Pooh in the Sun
and finally Dog and Pooh
(This last photo happened naturally. Pooh and Holly get along swimmingly – they play together all the time.)
Not only do these beautiful animals have very unique names, they each had a very unique past before they were brought together to live under one roof. Here are their stories as told by their human:
Hemingway was found in a Chinese village near Hong Kong when he was small enough to fit in the palm of a woman’s hand. His left eye was already swollen with glaucoma when I adopted him. The vet tried to save the eye, but it had to be amputated in the end to save Hem’s life. Hem got his name, Purrnest Hemingway, from my favorite author. Hem lived with me in Hong Kong, with his black tabby brother, William Shakespurr, until we all moved to Washington, DC, in 2000.
William died of diabetes five years ago, leaving Hem and me heartbroken and lonely. So we contacted the SPCA of Northern Virginia (http://www.spcanova.org/index.php), who helped us find a black tabby kitten who loved adults cats. That was J. Purr Morgan, who by coincidence was born in a flower box only a block away from our home in Adams Morgan. Morgan and Hem loved each other from the moment they met.
Both my parents died in January. After the loss of the only people who could ever love me unconditionally, it seemed like exactly the right time to add a dog to our family. Angelina Jolie Barker, named for another person I greatly admire, was rescued from a high-kill shelter in Tennessee by K-9 Lifesavers (http://www.k-9lifesavers.org/), based on Capitol Hill in DC. We like to say that Angie is a “coal miner’s dogger.”
This is J. Purr Morgan.
And this is Angelina Jolie Barker.
I’ve been on a roll of photographing black pets and Diego is no exception. He was fantastic to photograph – extremely handsome, but not too cocky. He really let us into his world.
Diego loves being outside in his yard – that’s where his personality shines. (Check out the “Catnip” post if you missed it.)
Here is Diego’s story as told by his owner: “We went to the shelter to get one black kitten. Nita was in a cage with another kitten. She was very tiny and looked like an artist’s rendering of the perfect all black kitten – - very delicate, with wide open eyes and a shiny coat. The tech handed her to us … she purred. What a sweet thing … we were completely charmed and looked no further. She was our kitty.
On our way out we passed by her cage and saw the “other cat” more clearly. It was hard to believe that this was her brother. His fur was scruffy and of varying lengths and he had long hairs coming out of his ears. He looked like a hobo kitty. Who would want such a raggedy looking kitten? He gave my heart strings a good tug as if to say “if you don’t take me, I’m toast.” And thus Nita *and* D iego came to make four in our black cat family.
To our surprise, Diego turned into a beautiful medium hair cat. He’s a gentle soul and purrs every time you come near him. When my six year old granddaughter picks him up, he’ll dangle there patiently for a while and then start to wriggle free never revealing his claws.
Unfortunately, he suffers from a severe heart defect that occurs most often in black, long hair cats. The vet told us that this was a serious life-shortening condition with no cure. Diego makes it easy for us to administer his twice daily medications. Sometimes I’ll just show him the droppers and he’ll jump up on the counter ready to go. (It probably helps that he gets food after each dose.)
We love him so much. One can’t help but smile upon seeing that face with those long hairs still sticking out of his ears. Nita is the pretty little thing that we expected and a delight in her own way. But it is Diego who stole our hearts and holds them still.”
I really love his profile!
And this is Diego’s big brother, Jose, who kept an eye on us the whole time.
This is Diego with his good friend, catnip . . .
Have a great Friday!
(More of Diego in the next post)
