By DIANNA TROYER — A telepathic pet communicator mentioned my old feline friend out of the blue: “Oh, by the way, Spock wants me to tell you he’s coming back.”
When we bought our house in Sandpoint, Idaho in 2002, there were no moose, and there were a lot of tulips. People who lived outside of town had to build fences to protect their gardens, but not us. We had bugs and slugs. That was it. Moose lived out in the woods where moose belonged, and we rarely spotted them. That changed one snowy morning.
They may be itty bitty, but the joy and hope they bring to children, teens, and seniors is enormous. A team of three miniature horses and one mini donkey serves as healers in animal-assisted therapy programs and as friends in animal-assisted activity programs around Idaho’s Treasure Valley.
Senior kitties are often overlooked at adoption centers and may find themselves housed in shelters for months at a time. Mature pet people will quickly form a close bond with an older, wiser kitty that offers laser-focused attention and devotion.
Jazz the Wonder Dog was the one who heard my cries and answered by nudging her head under my hand. Jazz is a gift who teaches me to find joy in scattered moments of my day.