Our Pets

We have four pets: two dogs and two cats.

Faith

Faith is our "rescue dog." She's a Lab/ Rotweiller mix.

When she was two months old, Faith's owners dumped her into the woods near where we live. We think they wanted to make her into a fighting dog, and abused her terribly. Because her nature was too gentle and sweet for fighting, they had no further use for her.

She spent a month in the woods before she showed, starving, up at our house one day in October of 2008.

Because she was abused so badly and never had a chance to socialize, she is afraid of every new experience -- which means almost everything.

After two weeks, Lisa finally managed to get her to take food from her hand. Faith spent the first several weeks living on our front porch. It took another three months to coax her into the garage, then into the basement, and finally into the living room.

For over a year, Faith was afraid to leave the living room -- except to go into our fenced-in backyard through a door in the living room. Then last month (May, 2009), we finally coaxed her into the dining room. After a week or so, she felt so comfortable, she began hanging out with us there.

A week or so later, we got her to come into the bedroom, and within a week she began sleeping there at night with us. Now we're working on coaxing her to go downstairs into the basement.

We're surprised and pleased at the remarkable progress Faith has shown once she left the living room.

She certainly is a sweetie and we love her dearly.

Mac

Mac is the latest addition to our family. We got him on June 10, 2009, from a shelter in Dayton, TN.

We didn't intend to get another pet -- especially a dog. But a month ago, when we went on a mini-vacation to Colonial Williamsburg, we had a pet sitter stay at our house and care for Faith and the cats. She brought along her dog, Charlie. To our surprise and delight, Faith and Charlie hit it off famously.

So we decided to find a friend for Faith. We figured the dog could be a companion for her and also help socialize her. Lisa went on petfinder.com and, after a long search, found Mac.

Mac is the perfect match for Faith. The same age as Faith, he's laid-back, gentle, and well mannered. He loves dogs, cats, and people equally as much. And his favorite pastime is lounging around. Sometimes we think he's really a cat in disguise.

Caesar

This is Caesar -- in his "belly-rub" position.

Caesar is half Mainecoon and half tomcat. We got him in 2001 from one of Lisa's friends who lives on an island in Portland, Maine. Caesar's mother, who is Mainecoon, escaped from Lisa's friend's house and mated with a tomcat under the porch. Caesar was the result -- along with several other litter mates.

Even though we named Caesar after the Roman ruler Julius Caesar, he is hardly warlike. Instead, he enjoys lollygagging around, drinking water from the tap, and having his fur combed.

Unfortunately, Caesar has a kidney disease. Fortunately, though, we discovered it very early and put him on a special diet. He has a lot of good, happy years left to lounge around.

Princess

One day when Lisa was gardening in the backyard of our house in Ticonderoga, New York, a tiny kitten jumped in to help out.

At first, we thought she was lost and tried to find her owners. But no one claimed her. Finally, we realized that she was part of a litter belonging to one of the cats that lived in a barn a couple of houses down. Once the kittens were born, the owners just let them fend for themselves.

Lisa considers Princess the purrfect lap cat because, if she had her way, Princess would sit in your lap all day long. We also like to say that Princess enjoys "living on the edge," as you can see in the photo.

Mattie

Mattie is the latest addition to our family. She joined us on January 1, 2010 -- a great way to start the new year, both for us and for Mattie.

Mattie's Story -- As Told by Dan

One of the nicest Christmas presents Lisa gave me was a donation to the local no-kill animal shelter, Ark of Cleveland. We went there on Saturday, January 2, to give them the check. As usual, we lingered to check the dogs in the front room and the kittens and cats in the back room. We have enough animals -- three of the four are rescue animals -- and we don't need another.

When we went into the room, I noticed a small kitten lying in a bed.

"Lisa," I said, "there's something wrong with its eye."

I picked the kitten up and saw that she had only one eye. "Oh, the poor little thing," I said.

"No, Dan," Lisa told me firmly. "We have enough animals at home."

"But -- "

"No."

Then Lisa took the kitten from me. The kitten purred and curled up in Lisa's arms. "Ohhh, she's so cute!" Lisa said. "But sShe's black and has just one eye. No one's going to want her."

It turned out that the kitten arrived in a cardboard box, along with her four litter mates, on the front steps of the shelter in October. The kitten's left eye was dangling out of its socket. The Ark people took her to the vet, who took out the eye.

The Ark staff succeeded in finding homes for the kitten's litter mates, but not for her.

So we took the kitten home.

Mattie's New Home

The first thing we did was change her name. The vet who took out her eye had named her Cyclops. Ugh! What a name! The Ark staff were calling her Cy.

We named her Mahatible, after Dan's great great great grandmother, Mahitable Lutts who, along with her husband John, founded Dan's branch of the Lutts family. But we call her Mattie.

Mack loves his new sister -- and Mattie loves him back. He'll lick her in the face and she'll wrap her paws around his muzzle and lick him back. They like to hang out together.

Faith is interested in her but, being Faith, is a bit afraid of her. Caesar and Princess are studiously ignoring her for now. But we know they'll warm up to her in awhile.

Mattie is extremely affectionate, starts purring as soon as you pick her up, and would stay in your lap forever if she could. She also enjoys wrapping herself around your neck and "hanging out."