<p>
Was he on your cell plan??? <em>lol</em> 
<strong>ROFLMAO</strong></p>
<p>My sister-in-law had a similar story as yours Latetoschool, with a little twist. A nighttime thunderstorm scared her cat, and it ran outside and up a tree. She stood outside, getting soaking wet, in the dark, 8 months pregnant, in a nightgown, yelling for her cat to come down out of the tree. The cat’s name, “Sunshine”. She realized her neighbors must have thought she’d gone mad, standing out in the thunderstorm yelling for sunshine. </p>
<p>I think Karma has found a lovely home. :)</p>
<p>My fly eating bird dog is a Brittany. This isn’t a picture of our Brittany, but he looks a lot like this one. <a href=“http://puppydogweb.com/gallery/brittanyspaniels/brittanyspaniel_grindstaff.jpg[/url]”>http://puppydogweb.com/gallery/brittanyspaniels/brittanyspaniel_grindstaff.jpg</a></p>
![http://puppydogweb.com/gallery/brittanyspaniels/brittanyspaniel_grindstaff.jpg[/url]](http://puppydogweb.com/gallery/brittanyspaniels/brittanyspaniel_grindstaff.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>coronax, aren’t Brittanys wonderful dogs? We had one for 14 wonderful years and he was healthy until the day he died, literally. The only negative was the amazing ‘energy’ also lasted til the day he died! </p>
<p>Speaking about ownership ‘rights’, when I was a kid, there was a very mean man in our neighborhood who had a cat that wandered from house to house in search of attention and food. The day my mom saw him kick the cat was the day that the cat became ours! We moved about a month later and took the cat with us. She lived happily ever after to the ripe old age of 19! :)</p>
<p>Coronax2, your post made me laugh out loud. :)</p>
<p>Hi B:</p>
<p>I am very sorry to hear about Patch. Believe me, I know how they absolutely become part of the family! My best wishes to you and your family.</p>
<p>I’ll share a story that hopefully will make you smile. We had a wonderful golden retriever named Jaxon who we loved dearly. Unfortunately he contracted lymphoma when he turned seven. He was terribly sick, and we tried to keep him comfortable as long as possible. “Jack” was part of the family. We were all devastated. When we finally had to put him down, the vet asked if we wanted to keep his remains. They were going to cremate him. We must have agreed, but left the vet hospital that day after a very sad goodbye!</p>
<p>After about a week, we received a call from the vet that Jack was ready to come home. This totally confused my daughter (nine years old at the time). I went to the Vet by myself. They presented me with a nice (sealed) polished wooden box with his name inscribed on a gold plaque. I had no idea what to do with this. When I got home, my daughter asked what I had. After she thought about it , she blurted out, “Oh, you have Jack in a box.”</p>
<p>This was about 5 years ago. We now have another great dog. We got him as a puppy about a month after Jaxon died. (We still have no idea what to do with the “box”. It sits in a closet.)</p>
<p>My parents buried the box of Peppy’s remains out in the yard, in a garden where he loved to play and explore. They put a large rock there and attached a metal plate engraved with Peppy’s name and dates.</p>
<p>My sweet cat Tanya, who for many years sat on my desk while I was working, died in 2004. The box of remains sits in the same corner now. However, the remains of several other animals (a previous dog and three cats) are scattered under the dogwood and pussywillow planted in a corner of the yard.</p>
<p>Oh B! I don’t know how I missed the update! I’m so sorry about Patch! I was truly hoping he would win this battle. </p>
<p>I hope the kids are okay. I remember losing our family dog to poisoning when I was in high school. I was so torn between grief and anger and amazement that people could be so cruel. I hope Karma will ease the transition for them.</p>
<p>It’s wonderful to read so many loving tributes to your furry friends. </p>
<p>“Jack in the box.” (lol!!) I bet your family needed to hear that just then 1soccermom. She must be a very witty girl.</p>
<p>alwaysamom, that’s so true, Brittany’s are just wonderful pets. They’re bred to hunt close, so they tend to want to stay right by your side, and they have the most gentle temperament. Ours is 13 years old, and most of the time you wouldn’t know he was more than 5 or 6. He really still acts like a playful young dog. I do worry so much about his age though. I know the time will come, but I just pray it’s still several years away. </p>
<p>latetoschool, if you could hear my SIL tell that story, I swear you’d be reeling with laughter. She’s hilarious anyway, and has that story telling gift.</p>
<p>So here you go, I am giving you a my blessing to keep Karma, to not try any further to find the owners, and if they do show up, to not let them in</p>
<p>When I found a little dog, I called the relevant agencies right away…and the owner of the missing dog had ALREADY called…the agency matched us up and the owner, in tears was at our door within an hour (she was out looking)</p>
<p>So, do not feel guilty at all about the family, they could be long gone</p>
<p>Okay my doggy story</p>
<p>One day it was pouring rain, and I had workers doing some contstruction in the house. So it was going to be one of those days when the dogs were going to get a late afternoon walk (they had the morning walk already)</p>
<p>Anyway, I get a phone call:</p>
<p>“Hello, this is Ben, you know from the park around the corner…yeah…I think your dogs are here, playing in the mud!!!”</p>
<p>“Egad, okay, I will be there in 30 seconds.”</p>
<p>…by the time I got to the bottom of the stairs, heading out the front door, there they were, soaking wet, muddy, and extremently proud and happy…they had their walk and came home…</p>
<p>we live in the big city, and wandering dogs are not a good thing, but these two saw their chance when the contractor went in or out and bolted for the park!!!</p>
<p>I called back ben and thanked him and asked why he didn’t wash my dogs when he saw the mud??!!! WOrth a shot</p>
<p>oh yeah, my dogs all went to the groomers yesterday
and got the hair, done, the nails trimmed, etc and my H asked</p>
<p>So, they got a Petty-Cure</p>
<p>Don’t even ask what he said about the anal glands getting squeezed</p>
<p>Berurah: So sorry to heear about your Patch. That was such a SAD story and I cried at work!</p>
<p>If Karma is a hunting dog (and you probably already know this) but they can travel a LONG distance. A hunter can lose his dog and eventually have to go home, so the owner could live a very long way from you. What hunting season is it there? You might try your environmental conservation department - just to see if any hunters reported their dog lost. </p>
<p>Also, have you run any newspaper ads? Usually they’ll run them free for found stuff.</p>
<p>Also, have you checked to see if Karma has a microchip? It’s a long shot, but you never know!</p>
<p>Good luck and once again, sorry about Patch. Darn.</p>
<p>I’ll share one of my “found” dog stories. One day I heard a terrible commotion outside. At the time, my pack consisted of a beagle, a smooth haired fox terrier, a lab, a shepherd mix and a boxer mix. I ran outside to find them ganged up on an elderly beagle, upon whom they had already done quite a bit of damage. This poor, sweet old guy was bleeding from several wounds and only had rabies tags (was Fri. evening and couldn’t call county for ownership ID). I rushed the dog to the emergency vet and okayed surgery for him. On Monday, the vet called to get ID from rabies tag and notified the owners. They had been frantically looking for him, but as he was 12, somewhat blind and deaf–they had been looking close to home and had called shelter, humane society, regular vet offices, etc. He had wandered over 5 miles from home after getting through a loose board in fence. It felt good to reunite them, though I felt like my dogs had acted like some kind of renegade gang that committed a hate crime or something.</p>
<p>Hey y’all~</p>
<p>Was at the door callin’ the doggie herd in today (we still have four, counting Miss Karma, but she was inside at the time), and I automatically called out, “C’mon Diva, c’mon Shiloh, c’mon Buddy, here Patcho!!” And then it hit me like a ton of bricks…all over again. :(</p>
<p>Patcho was the patriarch, by a long shot, and had slowed down quite a bit, so I usually had a wait a little bit for him to make his way inside. <em>sigh</em> </p>
<p>Your stories are amazing and delighting me and REALLY lifting my spirits! More on those in a bit! love, ~berurah</p>
<p>I can second that about gundogs wandering…especially those that follow the nose. My grandfather had several beagles and a harrier (big overgrown beagle basically) and those dogs were true escape artists. They’d get on their nose and wander for miles without looking up. (Traffic is really dangerous for them.) </p>
<p>Awww…now I’m missing those dogs. Chihuahuas just aren’t warm and cuddly like beagles with their soft ears and sad eyes.</p>
<hr>
<p>Ewww CGM…the Chihuahua has to have that done. I refuse. The vet assistant always groans when I bring her in…lol! Foul…foul…foul…</p>
<p>I have a lost and found cat story. Some years back we moved a mile down the road, and moved ourselves. Friends came and helped. We had 3 cats (Frank, Joe, and Wish) who were generally pretty skittish around strangers. Usually they hide under the beds, but we’d dismantled the beds to move, and were sleeping on mattresses on the floor. So the cats were scrambling for corners, trying to remain invisible. All day and evening we had doors propped open, and when night came, we couldn’t find Wish anywhere. She was my D’s cat, and D was very upset. (D was about 8, I think). We went up and down the neighborhood, looking under cars, in bushes. But our cats don’t tend to come when called anyway, and we couldn’t find her anywhere. The kids went to bed in tears. We were moving the next day, and we were all scared Wish wouldn’t know where to go.</p>
<p>The next morning, when the kids were getting ready for school, I realized that all my D’s dressers had been moved to the new house, and she had nothing to wear except dresses hanging in her closet. My D has always refused to wear dresses to school, and this was no exception. So I made a mad dash to the new house, to get some clothes. When I walked in, the first thing I saw was a coffee table with a drawer in it, where I usually store photo albums. I had unpacked it to move it, and wondered… I opened the drawer and there sat Wish, looking mightily confused. It was as if she’d crawled into a Wardrobe and came out in Narnia. She’d apparently been too scared to move all night long.</p>
<p>The kids went to school happy. I called my H at work. He had helped carry in the coffee table, and he said he heard a thump when they turned it on its side to get it through the door. He figured I didn’t get all the photo albums out of it.</p>
<p>oh binx that is so cute. glad you found the kitty :)</p>
<p>
OMG!!! I am ROLLIN’ at this image!!! 
What a sight/sound THAT must have been! The neighbors probably chalked it up to pregnancy hormones! <em>lol</em> We certainly do some odd things on behalf of our critters, don’t we? </p>
<p>I am so hoping that this WILL be Karma’s home…we’re all so attached now it’s ridiculous! And there <em>is</em> something so <em>right</em> about this…</p>
<p>I looked at the pic…what an adorable doggie! I’m sure your Brittany is totally ADORABLE! :)</p>
<p>
<em>*HA HA!!!</em> Leave it to a nine-year-old (my son will turn nine this month!)!!! I hope you’ve written that one down for posterity…it’s too good to EVER forget! The vet gave us the option of having Patch’s ashes back in a box, but I asked my oldest D about it, and she thought it would be a constant sad reminder to her. 
I was so unsure as to what to do, but we opted not to take them. I really hope I don’t regret this later…</p>
<p>
<em>lol</em> always! This is going to be our beagle, Shiloh! OMG, does that puppy dog have ENERGY! Actually, we THOUGHT Patch would be like this too, as he was always so energetic, but he did start to slow down a bit this past year. I’m glad your mom insisted on taking that kitty cat in years ago…I’d have not been able to watch that either, and we’d have done the same.</p>
<p>~b.</p>
<p>Awwwwwwwwwww, binx!!! So glad that your little girl got her “Wish”!!! :D</p>