Yesterday was a very sad day for me. I learned that one of my favorite "furry friends" passed over the rainbow bridge. Mongo was a beautiful Doberman Pincher with an incredible temperament and gentle nature. I have been walking him once a week for close to three years as well as caring for him when his folks went on vacation.

His dad called me yesterday and told me that Mongo had become ill last Friday and very quickly went downhill. They weren't quite sure of the diagnosis but it looked like lung cancer.

Now that the holidays are over, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, I have a bit of downtime to write my blog again.

The first thing that comes to mind to write about is the last minute requests I received for pet sitting over the holidays. I couldn't believe how many pet parents, especially with cats, waited until a few days or a week before Christmas to contact me to care for their pets. Many of these people apparently had lined up a friend or neighbor ahead of time, only to have them cancel at the last minute because they decided to go away themselves.