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The Story of Our Pets
Special Foundlings

Rio came into our lives the day after Christmas, 1997.  He was a cold, hungry and injured little 12 pound puppy that someone had cast away along the banks of the Red River.  We fed him and made a warm bed for him on the carport.  The next morning he was still cuddled in the same spot.  We canvased the neighborhood to find his owner and discovered that he had been "dropped off" along with some of his litter mates.  By the time we had gotten back to the house we had almost decided to keep him, but he wasn't in his little bed.  We looked all around the yard and finally found him sitting in the sun, facing the statue of St. Francis of Assisi.  He stole our hearts away and he has been a part of our lives ever since.  Rio, the part Catahoula / part pointer, was the best and most special Christmas gift that we have ever received.

Rio was a happy puppy. We named him Rio because he was found near a river in North Louisiana when he was about 12 weeks old. We were surprised and delighted to discover that he was already house-trained. His first few days with us were a little scary for him. Our cat, Amphi, was not happy about the new addition and she hid on the chair under the dining table and ambushed the poor little tyke when he came out of the utility room on the first morning. Little Rio yelped and skidded on the linoleum floor as he tried to get away from the pummeling claws to return to the safety of his room. As Rio grew larger he learned that he could get back at Amphi for her rude treatment by chasing her up trees and keeping her out of his part of the house.

Chance came into our life when Rio was about a year old. We were traveling to our place in the country on Friday, the 13th, when we noticed a ragged looking cocker spaniel on the neutral ground (median to all non-New Orleaneans) of the Interstate. He was following the "workers" in the orange vests that were picking up trash and some were ignoring him while others were shooing him away with their sticks. We quickly made a U-turn then watched in horror as he ran from the median onto the road and into the path of several cars. He was almost hit twice, but finally made it across so we were able to pull off the road to rescue him. We enticed him into the van with a piece of lunch meat and he and Rio have been buddies every since. The vet diagnosed him with adult heart worms which required an expensive and life threatening arsenic injection treatment. We searched the lost ads to no avail to find his owner and the vet said that he was probably dumped because of the heart worms. He went through the 3 day treatment with flying colors so we named him Chance since he had been given a 2nd chance.

He is an unusual cocker spaniel. He's very laid back, loves to be cuddled and thinks he's a big hunting dog. He has lots of spunk and has a nose for finding turtles and snakes. He and Rio are inseparable and we have to watch Chance closely because if he and Rio get off in the woods together alone they sometimes take "road trips" that worry us to death. Chance’s luck ran out when we took him out to do his business one morning and he and Rio bolted the 100 yards through the woods to the busy highway in front of our house. Rio came back, but Chance didn’t.

Rio and Chance enjoyed watching the wild creatures that share their habitat.  Rio still thinks it's his job to chase the squirrels away from the bird feeders and the crows and herons from around the pond.

Our Little Lucky Chance who came to us on Friday the 13th, left this world on April 18, 2005. We still miss him and will always remember what a wonderful little guy he was.

Our 2nd Chance

We were so saddened by Chance’s death that we decided to rescue another Cocker Spaniel. We found 2nd Chance on the Internet. He's a young dog, about 1 1/2 years old. He had been neglected as a puppy and was confined to a cage for the first 8 months of his life. He's adjusting well to his new home and Rio is teaching him all the doggy social rules that he missed learning as a pup.

Amphi was also a foundling. Our first one.  She didn't think we should get a dog, much less two and another cat.......  Both cats spend most of their time inside and are closely supervised on trips outside.  Cats' cute "play" can be deadly for some of the wild inhabitants.

Amphitrite' was found on a fishing trip to Venice, LA in July, 1991. We first noticed her on the dock where the shrimp boats dock to unload their catch. She was tiny, only 5 weeks old. We asked the fellow who sold the shrimp if she belonged to anyone. He responded, "No, take it. Use it for bait if you want to." Little Amphi went fishing with us that day and we had one of the best days ever. When we pulled those big redfish into the boat she would jump on their tails.

She was a sweet little kitten, but she grew into a rather ornery cat. At 7 months old she did a back flip turn in the air move as I was trying to put her back in the house and escaped to join the Romeo that was waiting outside. The result was 4 kittens and her behavior changed drastically. She changed from a hateful little monster to a mild tempered, wonderful mother. We kept 2 of the kittens, a male, Kelsey and a female, Abigail.

Abigail ate some kind of toxin when she was about 2 years old and died, but we had Kelsey for almost 6 years until he was hit by a car right before Halloween.

Kelsey was such a special cat and we missed him so much. Two months later we found Rio. He had markings like Kelsey and even acted a lot like Kelsey. It's almost as if Kelsey the cat has come back to us as Rio the dog. Amphi was with us until the stress of Hurricane Katrina made her sick. She was almost 15 years old when she died in March, 2006. All of our remaining animals (the 2 dogs, Blaze, the new kitten (now cat), Dax and Star) spend most of their time inside. It's safer for all of our pets and it helps keep the wild creatures out of harms way.


Blaze stumbled up, half starved and sickly, from the ditch by our mailbox on a busy highway. She has an orange blaze exactly in the middle of her forehead as if someone painted it. She moved right in and started to make friends with the 2 dogs. She had no fear of them and was very persistent. Chance accepted her right away, but Rio was a hard sell. He mistrusted cats as a result of his early encounters with the terror, Amphi. At first he snapped at Blaze and wouldn't stay in the same room with her, but after a few weeks they were sleeping together and playing chase. Now he'll lick her on the cheek like he does people that he likes. Of course, she has to thoroughly bathe herself after such a wet doggy lick. Amphi eventually accepted her and would even play on occasion. Actually, we think Blaze was good for Amphi. She got more exercise and seemed to enjoy her later years since Blaze was here.

We take Blaze outside on supervised outings, but sometimes Blaze hides in the bushes when it's time to go in. She's so well camouflaged with her brown and rust tabby markings that we walk right by her without seeing her. But we've discovered a secret weapon... Rio to the rescue. That bird dog nose kicks in and he sniffs her out, then half points. Sometimes Blaze will run from him and he chases her until she stops, then shows us where she is. If he has to go back to her again she gets a great big slurp lick in the face.

We also have 3 cockatiels that are over 20 years old. They live outside on the back porch, in a large cage. In winter we enclose the porch in plastic and heat the area during the few below freezing nights. They whistle and sing to all the creatures in our habitat.


Dax - Another foundling has come into our lives. We stopped by our Vet's office to pick up some food for Blaze and there in the receptionist's lap was a little orange striped male kitten. Its pregnant mother was found on a boat in Venice, LA (the same place where we found Amphi, our cat that just died)! We left the office with the little guy on a trial basis, to see if he got along with the dogs and Blaze. The dogs seem okay with him, but Blaze acts like she has been betrayed. Needless to say, he's here to stay!

One Month Later
Blaze is finally coming around. She plays with the little guy and allows him to follow her around the house. She still grumbles about it, but now they even take cat naps in the same room (in different beds). Little Dax initiates the play sessions. He's a tough little thing and takes a pounding from Blaze (she keeps her claws sheathed), but keeps coming back for more.

Dax grew into a large cat. He is still full of mischief and loves to sneak up on Blaze while she sleeps. Blaze does not enjoy this game and goes around the house grumbling to herself. Dax is best buddies with the two dogs, Rio and Chance. He enjoys rubbing on them until they play chase with him. He also likes to find the most comfortable spot to sleep, like Rio's bed. Dax is entranced with the new member of our menagerie, Star, who adopted us in October, 2006.

Star is gentle and mild, but not meek and she does not allow Dax to torment her as he does little Blaze. Dax and Star have become friends and playmates and we think that he is smitten with her. She has adapted to our household as if she were always part of our family. The dogs have accepted her and Blaze is coming around, now that she realizes that Star is not going to treat her like Dax does. Star is definitely a special cat and she seems to live by the Golden Rule. It's hard to believe that she was once a stray that someone threw away.

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