Netty

Next week it will have been 6 months since my little Netty girl died. I still miss her so much. It's amazing how big a void such a small creature can create when they are gone.

There is something so special about disabled animals, I have found. Anything they lack in physical ability is more than made up for with the capacity to love. At least that was the case with Netty and

I definitely hold a special place in my heart anytime I hear about a "lesser abled" animal because of her. I just am so glad that I was able to take care of her while she was here.

One of my favorite things about her was that you could never tell HER that she was disabled. According to her, anything Mayzie did, she could do too. She used to throw a fit if Mayzie got to go on a walk without her. We tried to keep her inside in the winter because she would get so cold with her bad circulation and also, if she walked on anything other than grass, her back feet would get torn up when she walked due to them dragging. But if we were anywhere near the door with a leash for Mayzie, Netty would start whining and throwing a fit to come too. Sometimes I couldn't open the door to go outside without her squeezing out and running as fast as she could down the side walk.

This is how I almost always saw her. If she could have just slept on my lap all day long she would be in heaven. When I would get up, she would give me a look of what looked to me like annoyance that I would dare disturb her when she was comfortable.

For some reason she loved to use my slipper as a chew toy. It was just about the same size as her, but she would whip it back and forth, showing that little slipper who was boss. Then when she got bored of fighting it, she would use it as a pillow.

I came across this picture just a couple weeks ago. You probably have to look close, but Netty is there, cuddled under Mayzie. Ever since Netty died, Mayzie has been much more cuddly with Tom and I, and much more clingy. She hates being left alone now, when she used to seem to not mind it so much because she had Netty to keep her company.

It was so funny to watch Mayzie and Netty play. You would think that Mayzie would be the bully because she was so much stronger and bigger than Netty, but that was not the case at all. Netty would chase her around the house until finally Mayzie would get sick of it, jump on the couch and just stare at Netty because she knew she couldn't get her up there. Netty would keep on trying to jump up to get her though. "Determined" in an understatement when talking about Netty. I have even seen Netty pull Mayzie off the couch if Mayzie let her guard down enough to allow any part of her body (ears, mainly) within Netty's reach.

This is one of the last pictures we ever took of her. Tom got her that little sweater for Christmas. It was too big on her, but she sure looked cute in that little hoodie. Because of her poor circulation, she was cold all the time. We kept a little sweater on her pretty much from September to April to keep her from shivering.