Saved.

This is about a true hero. My husbands beautifull tabby cat that saved my husband and I. On a clear October day. Just about two months ago in 2011 My husband and I were relaxing after a long day at our jobs, in our bedroom with the door closed and our t.v. on. Our roomate and his freind were talking in the family room located just on the other side of our bedroom. After a while it got quiet, my roomate and his freind had left out. Leaving my husband and I with our two cats and my little chwawa alone in the house. My husbands taby is a very independed cat and like's to come and go as she please's. The tabby has grown on my roomate and keeps him company quite often. My husbands other cat is a white persian that likes to loung around and pose her beauty in the bedroom with us along with my dog camped out in the room too. A popping sound started from the other room. I said to my husband did you here that, he said it's nothing and was'nt to worried. The popping stopped and a little while after that the tabby cat was scratching to come in the bedroom my husband said to the cat go play im to tired to get up and open the door as he's told her before and she would go play. This time the tabby would stay right there and a few minutes later she's scratching harder and almost yelling out the meows as if to say get out everybody get out. My husband than go's to the door to let the cat in just as he opens the door I feel the wall it was so hot I said to myself this isn't good by then my husband had the door open the smoke was rolling in the flames were almost to the door my husband went into the fire to find the sourse of it. I put the animals out the bedroom window than I went after by then the fire trucks were just pulling up. My husband made it out too. But that day our tabby saved our lifes I would not be here if not for that cat not giving up trying to alert us. 

This is a story about a student become friend and her dogs.  When I met her, she had been a paraplegic for about 4 years due to an accident.  She had a special dog, a Schnauzer,  that had such a connection with her and stayed by her side especially when she couldn't get out of bed because she couldn't get her pain  under control.  She was amazingly loyal and intuitive.  After several medical issues, this dog finally succumbed and my friend, who lives alone, was without her best friend.  It wasn't but a week that she was at Pet Smart and another Schnauzer,  was up for adoption that had different coloring than her previous dog.  My friend adopted her.  finding out that she had been abandoned.  As she grew from a puppy, she began to look just like the previous Schnauzer!  Not only that but she is the same loyal, intuitive friend and doesn't leave my friend's side when she is unable to get out of bed!  It is like her deceased dog sent her replacement and told her how to take care of my friend!  Both dogs truly are God sent to my friend!  The new adopted dog knew very quickly what my friend needed and it was amazing to watch her stay by my friend's side and love her through it all!

it was 2003 and i had just turned 21 years old a few mioths before...i tore my shoulder playing sports in high school and i eventually had surgery on it...from the very begining i knew something went wrong...i couldnt feel my arm...the only thing i culd feel was pain and everyone assured me that this would fade...its didnt...i grew into a deep depression...didnt get off the couch...and i rarely left my house...but one night my upstairs neighbors had a huge punk party...kids were everywhere...all over both of our houses...but over the band i could hear a puppy...growing tired of the people near me i looked for the noise...and there he was...tied to the blaring speaker was this little puppy...knowing how bad this was for his hearing i untied him and took him to play out front...adventually these 2 kids took him from me and disapeared into the night...a few days later i learned from my doctor that something did go wrong...in a nut shell i lost everything i enjoyed doing...sports...drums...my bike...i couldn't even drive my truck anymore cause it was a stick shift...this threw me into a the darkest point i have ever had in my life...and then everything changed in one phone call...the puppy had been threw cpountless homeless kids downtown and ended up at a friends house...totally abandoned...the condition of this poor dog when i found him made me sick to my stomach...i didnt think i could handle a dog at this point in my life but i also just couldnt leave him there...i took him home and begged my girlfriend to let me keep him...she is cat person and not too much into dogs but......my girlfriend had watched me with that puppy that night and saw the person she had first me...not the sad girl i had become...so...i kept him...took him to the vet where i was told he was too wild and should be put down...but knowing i was home a lot i knew he just needed to feel safe and wanted...i asked for 3 months to work with him and if he was still so wild then i would agree to put him down...i took him home and we have never looked back since...I named him Elwood...my childhood dog being jake i thought i was fitting...Elwood since then has become the reason i leave my house...he is the only reason i go outside...he is the reason i am alive and able to write this...he has saved me from drowning once...fire...and a break in...he reminds me to take my meds when i forget and he has learned to open doors and turn off lights...the only training i did was teaching him sit and high five...i think i needed him more than he needed me when i got that phone call...i'm still amazed by his actions all these years later...now he is old so we both move a lil slow together but he still is the reason i leave the house everyday to walk him..i dont know where i would be without him...and the adventures i have been able to have because he never leaves my side are the world to me...i owe this lil dirty punk rock puppy my life...in more ways then one.

Was adopted by an awesome wolf-dog puppy some 11 years ago.  Turns out that before the seller disappeared with my $, he forgot to mention the pup was deaf.  Perhaps because of that mixture of hard-headed wolf-dog and deafness, our bond became as close as it did.

Move forward ten years, and it seems the rattlesnake vaccine is not safe for older dogs.  The two younger dogs did fine with it, but both this guy and his mate began having issues.  He got the vaccine a second time before I realized the issue, and she only got it once.  She survived, but he died...from lymphoma. 

We were devastated beyond belief.  We struggled 10.5 years with the local county to get permission to live on our own land...and literally as we are crossing the finish line, he is struck down.  We got the C.O. on June 30th of 2010 and my sweetie got moved into the house on September 1.  He died August 5 after being diagnosed July 10. 

His death was protracted and painful.  He suffered about two weeks.  We were totally broke in every way, having spent and borrowed every dollar we could, literally, to complete the house project.  We could not afford the $300 for euthanasia, nor additional vet visits.  The lousy tramadol they gave for hospice was a joke.  His strong heart would not let him die, and he suffered. 

He was surrounded by his mate and two kids outside, plus us, when the time finally came to complete the transition.  It was crazy cold for being August 5, and a bitter cold rain literally drove us away from him minutes before his body finally came to a rest. 

The next day, we began the solemn burial ceremony.  The grave had already been dug.  We lowered the tarp-covered body into the grave, filled it with dirt, and lit sage smudges and copal resin in memory of this awesome being. 

Then we looked up in the sky.

There, clear as could be, was a cloud looking just like this noble arctic wolf-dog being!  The silky-long hair texture was clear, the shape of the body was accurate, and the uplifted tail could be seen.  It was on its side, and the "legs" were in motion as if it were running.  The head was pointed to the Rocky Mountains, the favorite haunt of this one.  He was running to the mountains.  The cloud appeared to be about 8-9 miles long, touching the foothills from our prairie home. 

Over the months many dreams would come to both of us of this one.  Being a shaman I resolved to follow this one into death, and did so with the help of a power plant on a spirit walk.  (Yes, did this in a perfectly legal venue; thanks to our so-called freedom of religion for making this effort 10x harder and costlier than it needed to be, and for constraining the vital freedom to follow spirit in setting up the encounter, but that is another story.) 

I resolved to either bring him back in some fashion or else to help him on his journey to the degree possible.  Having a heart condition at the time, and forgetting my potassium pills for the trip, it made it potentially a fatal encounter for me in the hot desert sun (and not knowing the effect of this plant on potassium and heart function)...but my commitment was 100%. 

For the record, this powerful plant treated me like I was her own baby...have not felt cradled in such tenderness since being a baby. 

During that experience, this one did come to me and I could hear him outside the tent in the morning.  He got up and shook himself, as if he were waking up for the morning.  I was too weak from the power plant to immediately get up and race out, but did just that as soon as I could.  Nothing that could be seen with the eye was there, but he was there.  We spent about a half hour of quality time together. 

This year his daughter was accidentally (?) bred, and lo what else would happen but one of the pups can only be the reincarnation of his grampa.  He brings us such joy, just looking at him look back at us. 

Life and death are mysterious.  Don't have it figured out, but received much solace from the experience.  Both about his fate, and toward facing my own death.  I know that affection, when it is that strong, can actually move or influence the "powers-that-be"...and when combined with self-sacrifice, can actually transcend death. 

I am a veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq.  I was a part of the first wave of military to participate in bombing Afghanistand and spent 111 days straight in combat as we launched offensives.  When I was officially honorably discharged I returned back stateside to a life as a civilian.  Adjusting back to "normal" life was a little difficult but I was holding up...  I didn't have a lot of money so I had to take an apartment in an okay but not great area.  The manager of the building was very nice and the complex was clean, but my next door neighbor left a lot to be desired.  He was constantly in trouble with the law.  He was selling drugs out of his apartment and would often have people over for strange parties that generally culminated with the police being called to break up fights.  Both our apartments were studios so my bed was against the wall of his "living room."  The fights with his so called friends were becoming increasingly violent and I actually ended up sleeping in my kitchen on numerous occasions because they would often threaten to shoot each other and I knew a bullet would easily come through the thin walls and potentially hit me.  One night he got into a particularly violent argument with another man.  The police were called and at 1am they came and broke up the fight, escorting the "friend" off the property.  As he was leaving I could hear him screaming that he was going to kill my neighbor.  I was thankful that it was finally quiet and I could get some sleep before I had to get up for work.

  At 2:45 am I woke up to a strange beeping sound. I hit the snooze button on my alarm clock thinking that it was time to get up but it wouldn't shut off.  I opened my eyes and realized that the entire apartment was full of smoke.  I ran to the front door to get out but couldn't.  The entire door and hallway leading to it was in flames.  I grabbed a wet towel, beat out as much of the flames as I could and called 911.  I had to climb over the wall to my patio to get out of my burning apartment.  I ran to the front of the building and banged on every button I could, screaming to wake up everyone I could.

The fire department came and put out the fire.  Luckily nobody had been hurt and the only major damage was property.  I was sitting on a chair by the pool watching the firemen as they went through the apartment building.  The homicide investigator came and sat down next to me.  He asked me if I had any enemies and I said no, not that I knew of.  I'd been out of the military only four months and hadn't had time to really get to know anyone.  He then took me to what was left of my apartment.  It looked as though someone had literally thrown a bomb in there.  The homicide investigator told me that my front door was the point of origin for the fire.  He speculated that based on the police reports from the night before as well as the past history with my neighbor that the threats that my neighbor's friend had finally come true.  Apparently the guy that threatened to kill my neighbor had gone out and found someone to do the job for him...but gave him the wrong apartment number.  Whoever had set the fire had taken accellerant and poured it all over the carpet in front of my door, soaked the door itself and then tilted it so that the fluid would run under the door into my apartment and saturate the carpet.  The flames had gotten so hot that it had melted the brass knob of my door into a lump.  The firemen had had to kick down my door to get inside.  They could never officially place any blame on my neighbor and were never able to catch the guy who set my place on fire.

I moved out of that apartment into a new place but wasn't able to leave the trauma behind.  The built up PTSD from both the military and now the fire suddenly burst loose and I started to experience severe "flashbacks" and "night terrors."  I would be fine during the day but would wake up screaming at night, convinced that my apartment was again on fire.  It got so bad that I was actually running into the hallway of my apartment complex trying to wake up people to help put out the fires I knew HAD to be burning in my room.  Needless to say, I wasn't too popular with my neighbors.

I started to drink heavily and taking increasinly dangerous amounts of sleeping pills just to try to drug myself through the night.  I hated my job, I hated my life and I was experiencing insomnia on top of the night terrors...why go to sleep when you know you're just going to wake up screaming?  Finally one night changed it all.  I was home visiting my family and again had a screaming night terror, waking up everyone.  It was then that my parents told me I needed help and that just pushing all this down was going to kill me.

I started to see a veteran's counselor.  We talked about PTSD and she suggested meditation and talk therapy...but it didn't do any good.  I can talk all day but it's at night when I am alone that it's the hardest...then she suggested something I had never thought of.  Get a dog.

I got a Chihuahua puppy in 2005.  He was tiny, just barely a pound.  He's tan with a black stripe and ears as big as sattelite dishes.  He also wasn't what one might think of when they think of "Therapy Dog" for a tough former military, but for me, he was perfect!  I named him Pipsqueak and he became the most effective PTSD cure I could ever want.  He sleeps with me every night and although I still have the dreams, I know when I wake up that if Pip is still asleep on my bed next to me then there is nothing to worry about.  All I have to do is reach down and feel his furry warmth and I know everything is okay.  He didn't make it easier to initially get to sleep, but he made it easier to go back to sleep after an attack.

In 2009 we were at a picnic where Pip was mousing around with his best doggy friends while the rest of us grilled steaks and corn.  I had started fostering other small dogs as a way to help give back and to say thank you for all the help I'd gotten from Pip.  I'd just started fostering a tiny black female Chihuahua Luci and had been dealing with her kennel cough and pneumonia for a few days.  Pip hadn't warmed up to her yet and that night he was acting even more distant.  I chalked it up to him being jealous because she was getting lots of attention as I tried to get her through the last rounds of medication.  I went to bed that night after spending some extra time giving Pippi belly rubs and kisses to try to break him out of his strange behavior. 

That night at about 3 am I heard Pip starting to gasp and make this strange snorting nose.  I turned on the light just in time to catch him as he fell into a massive seizure.  I scooped him up and drove to the 24 hour vet, breaking every speed limit and running every red light I could.  I got him to the vet just as he started his second grand mal seizure.  The took him into the back and immediately started him on medications.  We couldn't figure out what was going on.  We ran through every possible scenario...did he get into medication?  Did he eat something he shouldn't have eaten?  Nothing made sense.

For the next three days he hovered between the living and the dead.  His entire face swelled and all the blood vessels in his eyes burst.  Massive bruises appeared all over his body and he had several more seizures.  The vet told me his brain was swelling and that there would be a good chance that if he didn't die, he'd be brain damaged.  I didn't care and stayed as long as I could until they'd kick me out each day.  I brought him a sweatshirt I wore so he could stay wrapped up in it and pretend it was my arms.  I brought him his favorite stuffed monkey and sat with him in my lap (IV bag and all) for hours.

Finally on the 3rd day I noticed a red spot on his stomach that didn't match all the rest of his bruises.  I pointed it out to the vet who said it looked like a bite.  My mom and I searched the internet for possible culprits and even sent the photos to her vet (all they way in another state).  The only thing it could have been was a spider bite and most likely a black widow bite. 

The vet gave him a dose of Doxycyclene and within a few hours the swelling in his face had gone down.  A day later his whole body had stopped swelling and his siezures had stopped.  On day 5 I got to take him home.

Pip is very popular wtih my friends and bringing him home was a heroe's welcome.  He got balloons and cards and even a tiny little cupcake.  He was still weak and spent a week on the couch so medicated that all he could do was drool and barely thump his tail. 

Luci, my foster, was so concerned.  She had finished her meds and was now feeling much better.  She would wrap herself around Pip on the couch and just sit with him.  If I had to leave the room for any reason, she'd stay to keep an eye on him. 

While Pip was in the hospital my night terrors had come back but were now mixed in with dreams of Pippi having more siezures.  On the second night Pip was gone I woke up to an absolute monster of a dream.  I sat up gasping and reached for Pip's usual spot.  My hand hit something soft and comforting.  It was Luci.  She had warmed up enough to start sleeping with me and had instinctually curled up where Pip would sleep, making sure she was close enough to me to be reached. 

Pip made an absolutely miraculous recovery.  He still has some residual issues but compared to what it could have been, I'm so thankful.  His black little mug is now grey and he acts like an old man sometimes...but it's worth it.  And Luci?  Well, there was no way I could let someone else take her after all she'd done for me...so now I have both tiny guardians making sure the monsters in my dreams never get too big. 

They've both been certified by the VA and I honestly can't think of a better medicine...they've literally saved my life.  I have no idea where I would be right now without them.

Thank you so much for both my best friends...and life savers.

In 2005 my father had died, at this time my mother came to me, and asked if I would be her caregiver; for I still lived at home. I of course said yes. I had a cat, I considered her my bed buddy. One day I mentioned to my mother that we should get her a bed buddy. My mother, of course said no, for she did not want to make any more trouble for me. I said o.k. and left it at that. The next day, she comes to me and says that she would like to get a bed buddy; we went to a Humane Society and got her a bed buddy. 

My mother died in 2007. The day that I returned from the hospital, without mom with me, was a sad day all around. Not only did I miss my mom...the cats did too. They would cry (meow) for her, they would go search for her, they went through mourning. They both would not eat, I could only feed them treats to get something in them. They mourned for more then just a day, it was more like a month.

I know that if it was not for the cats I would not of been able to cope as well as I have. When I get to remembering my mom & dad, and I start crying...one or both will come and jump up on my lap; and just lay there. My cat, will sit on my lap and rub her head on my chin or cheek. My mom's cat helps me in a way that comforts me. I would get into this more...but I don't want to sound "out there". 

The cats help me today, and will until the day they are no longer on this Earth. 

I rescued my german shepard/Rotty mix as a puppy. She, her mama, and 8 other siblings were found living under a stump fending for themselves. Rolo was a shy, not socialized 6 week old puppy. I socialized her, and now she is an outgoing wonderful dog. i live in an area where there are wild cougars anywhere we go in the woods. I was fishing with my husband and my 8 year old step son. at one point, i decided to go down river and see what i could see. rolo was sniffing the ground, then the air, and wouldn't let me go past a certain point. it never dawned on me to look up. i listened to her and went back to where my husband was fishing. on our way back to the truck, my husband and i went seperate directions. i had my son on my back and got turned around in thick brush. i couldn't see but two feet in front of me, and the brush was over my head. i was starting to get worried. then my rolo came and found us, and lead us back to the truck! she is such a good girl!

when i was aproximently 8 years old my family bought two beautiful german shepherds,male and female. but what i didnt know was how much of an impact hades..the sister of the two would have in my life. she was 4 when she died on october 9th 2009, blood clot to the lung. I was a wreck.  I had read to that dog when i was a little kid, cuddle up with her and have a blanket over us. she was such a sweet dog. When i was 9 i had fallen off a swing and landed on my head. She was so far away from me, watching me, and when she saw i fell she rushed over to me, licked me and pawed at my face. 85 pound dog right on top of me. thankfully i was alright, she was such a loyal dog. When she left i became very sad..thought about her every day..knowing i hadnt gotten to say goodbye.i was at school the day she left..sad thing was i didnt even say bye to her when i left.. gave her a light pat on her head. a couple months later...still thinking about hades..i had gotten an american eskimo puppy..named her Sakari. Sakari healed me. she had gotten me to move on and realize i had a 3 month old puppy on my hands who not only needed my attention and care..but needed my responsibility. she was always happy, even when i got mad at her..she forgave me right away. i think she knew i was still feeling a little broken when she joined our family..she would stare at me sometimes..when i would wonder off in my mind thinking about hades..she was worried about me. But at that time i needed her the most..to get my mind off of Hades..to know that Sakari is whats important now. she needed me to be her guide..to train her and show her the world. Hades would want me to be happy. Of course i still think about Hades every day..but Sakari has helped me,i dont think about hades as much as i used to but she will be in my heart forever. I dont know where i would be in life if  Sakari hadnt joined me on my journey through the past couple years.

The first time I saw Pyro he was in a small cage at the local pound. He was a 4 month old pitbull. The shelter doesn't adopt pits out but the first time I saw him I fell in love. I was able to pull some strings and bust him out of death row! He's the smartest animal I've ever been around. I taught him all of his commands in one night. We frequently walk downtown w/o a leash and he has helped so much in the community to educate the locals about pits. He has never tried to get on the furniture. He has his own bed he stays on. I live alone and about a year after I rescued him I was struck with a MASSIVE headache. I was 25 and it never occured to me I could be suffering from a stroke. My body was paralyzed completely on one side. I decided to lay down and take a nap(figuring I'd sleep the heatache off) I layed down and Pyro became instantly agitated. He kept pacing back and forth and finally jumped on my bed. This is the first and last time he ever did that! Finally I had the thougt that he needed to go out. It took several minutes for me to get the door open. Once it was I decided to walk next door and tell my parents I thought something was wrong. I was rushed to the local hospital where I spent two weeks in the hospital. Including one week in ICU. I know if I hadn't had Pyro with me I wouldn't be alive today. He inspired me to start a pitbull rescue. Which has been in operation for 8 yrs now. Pyro is my constant companion and best friend!

I am a clinical psychologist and animal therapist from a country where animals are loved abundantly, but the awareness to tap their healing power is very less. I work with many dogs and cats who work with me as my co-therapists. I have seen them reach out to people in a way that humans can't. There was a child with Autism who was totally non responsive. He would only stare. No eye contact, no response to any questions, no smile or any emotional expression, no speech at all. I used to visit his school with a therapy dog called Sophie who is a female Labrador. Initially he did not pay any attention, but as I took his hands and made him touch Sophie, I was a spark in him. Over the sessions, he started touching her more willingly. Later on I noticed that he would see me coming and check is Sophie was following me from behind. This was a big step for a child with Autism as he was now able to relate to the outside world. In a few sessions, he started smiling while touching Sophie. This was the first time ever that everyone in the school had see him give an emotional response. Had it not been for Sophie, the child would have taken years to be able to relate to the outside world. Sophie was able to reach out to him in a way that no human could.