AND, THEN, ONE DAY, A CAT AND A DOG BEGAN TO CHANGE SOME MINDS AND HEARTS....

If you have NEVER wanted a dog or cat but later discovered you were oh-so wrong, this pre-Thanksgiving edition of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap will demonstrate how a heart can change.
For this edition we offer genuine thanks to two people. And dogs and cats, of course.
First, our tipster Karen Lee, the founder (with hubby Dennis) of the non-profit Barkleyworld.com which helps people help their animals in medical situations. Karen is also a fantastic photographer whose work we've posted previously and she posts on her Facebook page.
This is one of her latest photos from New Mexico. It's a beautiful scene of nature at work in the Land of Enchantment. Not a lot of snowy mountains enchanting the Metroplex -- none, in fact So I thought I'd post this one. [Click on it and make it larger and improve the quality of the reproduction! Larry apologizes for his photo system!]
It was Karen who connected us with the other person we're thanking, Dee McMillan, who composed this weekend's edition of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap. I think she might have been typing with her heart, as you'll see.
Dee opened with this paragraph:
"Karen Lee wanted me to write you and tell you our story of how my husband and I were rescued." [LARRY ASIDE: When I read that sentence, I knew we had a genuine animal person typing the story for us! Read on.]
Dee begins, "It was on May 8, 2019, when I felt sorry for a dog living in the woods on my daughter's and her husband’s property. We don’t know how long she had been living in the woods. I have never owned an animal. My mother raised me that animals lived outside, humans inside.
"I was 65 years old at the time and called my husband Allen and told him I had seen this sad-looking dog, looking out through the tree line in the pouring down rain. And I was going to capture it and take him to the vet and we were going to have a dog. Four hundred dollars later, we had a dog and named her Lila Belle. [Thats Lila Belle lounging on the floor]
"On March 20, 2021, while Allen was outside having a 'weeny' roast with our grandson and his buddies, a cat showed up.
"Little did we know she was pregnant. ... I let her come in that first night. And KitKat has had the run of the show ever since.  (That's KitKat on the right -- relaxing.)
"It was shortly after that we noticed something wasn’t right with Lila Belle.
"We knew she was a diabetic but she was acting different. We learned she was going blind. I got online and searched to see if there was any help and I found a place that could probably help her if the blindness hadn’t gone too far. Trouble was it cost over $5000, money we didn’t have. I made a Facebook post saying I would be making Stromboli to sell to try to come up with the money. I was worried that by the time I made $5000 should already be blind. Someone tagged Karen Lee in the post and her organization Barkleyworld paid for her surgery for which we will forever be thankful and we give back every chance we can to help others.
"I have to tell you though before Lila Belle’s surgery, KitKat helped her get around and not run into things. KitKat stays close to the house but because coyotes have killed small pets in the neighborhood we have put a doorbell down low and she rings it when she wants to come in and she sleeps inside every night. Well, a new male cat had been showing up for over six months and it would come and go. It showed up about a month ago and wouldn't leave. We could tell he was sick and took it to the vet to find out it had a respiratory infection. Now over $200 later after getting him neutered and vaccinated, we have a new cat and have named him Smokey. (That's him on the left.)
"Smokey, the new cat has learned to ring the doorbell, and the other night I felt so bad because I couldn’t let him in because I didn’t think I could have two cats in the house. And what made it worse he stood on a chair on the back porch and was looking through the plantation shutters at me. (I guess you would call him a Peeping Tom Cat.)" He is the sweetest cat. When my husband Allen walks the dog he is followed by all three.  
"A couple of nights ago Allen got in the bed and whispered he let Smokey in so there are two cats in the house so I wouldn’t know. I told him already knew, Smokey was asleep at my back on top of the covers, and KitKat was at the foot of the bed on top of the covers at my feet.
"And then we have Lila Belle on the floor on my side of the bed and I have to climb out over her if I have to get up during the night.
"Whenever Lila Belle lies down Smokey will cuddle in all areas of her body  I don’t know if she thinks Lila is her mother, but it seems so  
"So when I say how we were rescued, because of those three, we were rescued from boredom. They give us so much joy. People do not know what they’re "missing and if my mother was alive, I would tell her about it. 
"I’m adding a few photos one of Lila Belle curled up and where Smokey went over and laid his body on her as he slept."
[LARRY ASIDE: Thank you, Dee!!!! & Karen!!! We love the way people discover that their hearts are built to live with and love cats and dogs and be "rescued" by them. It's a great feeling to love a dog and a cat and a dog-and-cat-lovin' spouse, too! I speak fro experience.]
[DEAR READERS: When you have a loving story about a sleeping dog or/and napping cat or any other prone-to- snooze critters, send their story and their photos to [email protected] and we'll spotlight 'em in our long-running weekend appreciation of people and their animals and animals and their people. Thanks for loving animals. Save 'em all. And the last photo we'll show today is one Dee took of Allen leading Lila Belle and the Cats on a peaceful walk. Call it a "family stroll." Click on it, make it enlarge and you'll see the happy gang on their walk.