Our pets

Our pets are a HUGE part of this family. With four pets, two cats, and two dogs, our house is not nearly as clean as I would like it to be. I sometimes get embarrassed actually because the walls are a mess due to slobber and eye goop. Hair balls can be spotted under the couch, and other places that I refuse to even look at. Our carpet upstairs has many stains, and if you walk by the designated litter box room you will get whiff of something special. The door frame is scratched up and corners of some window frames seem to be mysteriously missing. Would I trade our pets in for a sparkling clean house? Absolutely NOT! It's a small price to pay for the unconditional LOVE a pet will always give you. We recently found out that Dante our 6 year old boxer has lymphatic cancer. This is the beginning of our hearts breaking. I have been mentally preparing for our cat claude who is 13 yrs old to be the first of our pets to go. NOT DANTE!! I am not ready for this. We got blind sided with this sad news. With Chemotherapy he may get a good two years in, but I am hoping/praying that he will be in the small percentage that beats cancer! He is a strong dog, I know he will fight! Dante is so sweet in nature and hands down the best behaved out of our pets. He slobbers and kisses the most, and just wants to love, love, love! The best part of my day is when I get everyone out for a walk. I love it so much because it makes them so happy! Grady's first word was, "dante". He calls and looks for him in the house when he is not around. He will call out, "dante" as he goes up the stairs to Dante's bed in search for him. THIS is what is going to make this all the more sad. I don't think I can handle this! I am already picturing Grady searching the house for Dante, and he won't be there. OH this hurts so bad. I keep periodically breaking down. How do I stay strong? How do I stay positive! I don't want these thoughts. Ok.........breathe.....breathe.......I have to pull myself together and start focusing on the good things. We caught Diesel on film doing one of his, "spazz outs" which Grady finds absolutely hysterical!