Christmas Treats

It's the last Tasty Tuesday of 2013... can you believe it?  We sure can't!

Grampa Dan & Gramma Sue know the way to the Lapdogs heart... a big 'ole tin full of some of their favorite treats all the way from Charlotte, NC! 

The cookies are from the Canine Café in Charlotte and have been one of the Lapdogs favorites ever since I started bringing them home from vacation.  Unfortunately, we haven't been down to Charlotte since 2010, but Grampa & Gramma help us out.

Needles to say, this gift was very popular!  The Lapdogs are enjoying their Barbara's Canine Catering cookies, which are handmade and all natural.  I've had the pleasure of meeting Barbara in person a few times over the years when we've stopped in the store.  She's a wonderful lady and the Lapdogs say she really knows how to bake dog cookies! 

If you're in the Charlotte area, be sure to stop by the Canine Café.  And if not, they do ship!

Have a safe and Happy New Year's Eve, and please stop by and send some good thoughts to our dear friend Sugar and her Mom.  They are going through a very tough time right now and need all of the positive energy they can get.

RIP Dora and Diego

Today's Wordless Wednesday is a tribute to Dora and Diego (scroll back to those links if you missed them), two very special jaguars who truly stole a lot of hearts in their short time here.  They may be gone, but they will never be forgotten.  This is one of my most favorite photos of them. 


Dora and Diego
So sorry you had to leave us...
Photo courtesy of Stein Photo

Goodbye Beautiful Dora

Dora
July 26, 2010 ~ January 22, 2011

It is with a heavy heart that I find myself writing another goodbye post and asking why life is so unfair.  Diego's sudden passing last week left many people in tears and completely heartbroken, including myself.  As if the devastation of loosing one incredibly sweet jaguar cub wasn't enough, now we must say goodbye to his sister Dora.

Just a few weeks ago, Dora exploring the snow

The beautiful babies crossed over the Rainbow Bridge far too soon, just a week apart - they would have been six months old later this week.  Tragically, both suffered from an infection that their tiny bodies just couldn't fight. 

Dora & Diego, tiny little babies...

They say "only the good die young" and I'm beginning to realize this statement holds true for most all animals... their life spans are far too short to begin with.  But when those already short lives are cut this drastically, it really leaves you asking why? The only comfort I can take is knowing that Dora and Diego are together once again...

Dora The Explorer, snoozing with Diego & Mohan and munching some din-din...



Dora playing with her piggie toy during our cub experience



 Since I had just posted most all of our great photos of the cubs, I borrowed many of these amazing shots from the wonderful girls at Tiger World.  I hope they don't mind.  I know they are all missing their babies and can only imagine how they are dealing with not one, but two sudden losses.




Rest in Peace Beautiful Girl

A few serene shots of Dora during our cub experience with her, Diego and Mohan in October...

 

 

If you missed them, you can scroll back to Diego's Goodbye post and to this video of Dora on Fox news earlier this week.  I thought it was bittersweet to see Dora on the news just after Diego's passing... now I'm just grateful for having been able to "see" her in this manner. 

While I selfishly can't believe Dora & Diego won't be at Tiger World when we go back to visit this year and I won't get to see them grow up, I very much cherish the time that we were able to spend with them in October.  I feel so honored to have had the unique and amazing opportunity to have gotten to know them.  They are two little cats who truly stole my heart....



Two Special Babies. Everyone loves & misses you dearly.

Dora & Diego touched many people in their short lives and they will never be forgotten by all those who loved them.   Rest in Peace babies....... we love you.


Goodbye Sweet Diego

Diego
July 26, 2010 ~ January 16, 2011

It is with great sadness that I write this post and say goodbye to a cat who really stole this crazy dog lady's heart.  I was devastated to learn that Diego (one of the beautiful jaguar cubs that we were so fortunate to be able to spend time with in October, along with his sister Dora and friend Mohan) crossed over the Rainbow Bridge very early yesterday morning.  I am heartbroken and just can not imagine how his family at Tiger World is dealing with the sudden loss.

  

Diego would have turned 6 months old next week.  Sadly, an infection set in and his little body just could not fight it.  In less than 48 hours, the baby boy was gone.  Diego was a true lapcat who just loved to cuddle and get scratchies.  He was a beautiful and special little man who touched many lives in his short time here and he will be missed by many.  

I just adore this shot (borrowed from Jennifer's facebook page)

Here is Diego playing with his wrestling buddy Mohan, the white tiger cub.  First shot is from our time spent with them, second one is borrowed from Jennifer's "In Memory of Diego" album...

 


Everyone keeps talking about how much he loved scratchies... we witnessed it first hand!



Diego the Lovebug

I will greatly miss Diego not being at Tiger World every time we go back to visit and am sad we won't be able to see him grow up, but I have hope that a little bit of Diego will forever live on through his sister Dora, and may she find comfort in her friend Mohan as she is dealing with the loss of a brother.

Dora & Diego with Mohan

Mohan & Diego crashed out for a nap after we spent time with them

Rest in peace dear sweet boy... and may you have found lots of furbaby friends to romp over the Rainbow Bridge with.  Thank you for letting us spend time with you... We will never forget you.

Lions and Tigers and Bears... Oh My!

I'm not sure what happened to the Wordless Wednesday blog - anyone know?  Today's post is picture heavy, so I guess that qualifies as somewhat wordless...

Enjoy the photos from our visit to Tiger World last month, including our absolutely amazing tiger & jaguar cub encounter!  We were supposed to do two separate 15 minute encounters, one with a tiger and one with a jaguar.  However, they surprised us by letting us do 30 minutes with all three adorable cubs, the white tiger Mohan and jaguars Dora & Diego.  Even better, we got to be little Mohan's very first encounter ever!  I believe he was 7 weeks old and Dora & Diego were about 11 weeks.

If you know me well, you are not surprised to learn that we have well over 200 photos from our visit. I'll share a few...

Our encounter with Mohan, Dora & Diego.  Dad C and I got to split the bottle feeding of Mohan!

 

This is one the loves of my life, Brutus and his partner Cleo.  They are just too cute and too cool.  Brutus "sits pretty" for crackers (I actually spent so long tossing him crackers and peanuts that my arm hurt the next day!).

 

 

Mufasa and Shirley...

 

Jacob and Lil' Wayne...

  

Meka and Malia, the adolescent cubs... We were originally supposed to do our tiger cub experience with Meka.

 

Mama & Baby Peacocks and a beautiful Lynx...

 

Radar... I just adore this beautiful boy!  He's grown quite a bit since our first visit in May, 2009.  We were having a nice little conversation here...

And the lions sleep tonight....