Saturday Photohunt: Ripple

Today's Photohunt is dedicated to Sebastian the Sensitive Soul who lost his valiant battle last night.

His loss has rippled through the community of animal lovers, bloggers, facebook friends and twitter peeps.

Webster's defines the ripple effect as a gradually spreading influence. That perfectly describes Sebastian's life, first as a Waif at Wayside, as a beloved animal companion to Amy and Lee, and then as an influential personality who made many a friend and touched many a life in social media.

Sebastian...you will be missed.

If you would like to send a card to Amy & Lee on the loss of their beloved baby, please email us and we will send you their address. Our email is ryker (at) atonkstail (dot) com.
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Thankful Thursday

Great news:
We're thankful that another kitty lost in the fire - Pewter - was just found and reunited with family!

Amy mentioned the other day that this must be something like what the Joplin tornado survivors must have experienced: losing everything and having to rebuild.

We're thankful that - unlike so many in Joplin - neither Amy nor Kathi were injured in the fire.

And we're thankful for healing, and the gift of time.

As we approach the one year anniversary of Joplin, we continue to see stories of hope and healing, and we're thankful that this will eventually come to Amy & Kathi as well.

And we're thankful for the local news outlets, both television and newspapers, who continue to help owners search for their missing pets by spreading the news about them.

One such story is Razor's - the five year old Husky who lived in the apartment across from Amy. His owners had just left to run an errand moments before the fire....

Somber Saturday

Hello all,

As many of you know, our good friends from Sebastian the Sensitive Soul lost all their belongings in a tragic fire that swept through their apartment complex this past Thursday.

Thankfully they all made it out safely, but with just the clothes on their back. They're going to have to start over now, and they have nothing.

Some have asked how it happened. Initial thoughts are that the fire began in a crawl space under the complex, then moved into the gas lines. Residual gas in the lines further fueled the fire. One of the worst culprits that night was the wind, which turned the fire into an inferno. Shawnee fire chief John Mattox said that the winds made this into one of the toughest fires he has ever battled in his career.

Kathi's sweet CJ at Mission MedVet

Thankfully, no human life was lost, but some people did lose family members: to our knowledge, two cats and a dog were lost. The dog was owned by Sebastian's next door neighbor and one of the cats was owned by Kathi, a friend that Amy & I both volunteer with at Wayside Waifs.

Kathi in particular is facing a rough time - she had not yet purchased renter's insurance, she lost her beloved 14 year old kitty, Cosmo, and her other kitty, CJ, is at Mission MedVet with severe burns.

(Kathi also volunteers for the Red Cross in crisis situations...and ironically, they called to ask her to volunteer -- at her own crisis -- not knowing it was her home that was going up in flames!)

There are two ChipIn widgets in the right sidebar, one for Amy & one for Kathi. We aren't sure why Kathi's isn't refreshing, but we've been assured that the money is going directly into her PayPal account. If you are able, please consider helping out financially.


The outpouring of love, care & concern has been amazing to watch and we want you all to know how deeply this has moved Amy and Kathi. We know Amy & Sebastian will tell you this in greater detail - and in their own words - as soon as they are able. Kathi is just beginning to venture beyond facebook in social media and does not have a blog, but please know that she will see every word of encouragement written in comments here, on twitter, facebook and on other blogs.

Sebastian's mom, Amy, with Faraday

For now, please know that your words, your thoughts, your prayers are coveted.  You continue to be an incredible emotional support to them all as they go through this -- and that is a gift beyond measure.

UPDATE: Just talked to Kathi - CJ is off the IV fluids now but not eating as well today. He was snippy at first but then she said he warmed up to her & let her pet him. Pawprayers for CJ!

This post is part of the Saturday Pet Bloggers Blog Hop co-hosted by Two Little Cavaliers, Life with Dogs, and Confessions of the Plume. Click the image below to see a list of the other entries:

Fearless Friday

We're calling this post fearless Friday because it's The Day After.

The Day After what, you might ask?

The Day After Tragedy.

Amy & Allie

You see, last night, one of our most dear friends in Real Life and in the blogosphere  - Sebastian the Sensitive Soul - lost everything in a dreadful fire. Everything except the things most cherished and most important in this life: our loved ones.

And that's why we're calling today Fearless Friday, in honor of Sebastian and Amy and their family, who awoke this morning to face the day after a tragedy so fearlessly.

Some of their dear friends on twitter have begun a ChipIn account for them, just to help them get back on their feet (you know, insurance companies sometimes take a while to respond, but people still have to eat - we're funny like that).

And please hold a dear mutual friend of ours close in your hearts, thoughts and prayers today...she wasn't so lucky. Kathi lost her beloved kitty in last night's fire ... as well as all her earthly possessions.

Our hearts go out to her. *pawhugs*