This handsome silver fox was brought into Winnebago County Animal Services after having been found tied up and abandoned. He was named Clooney after the silver hair of George Clooney. He weighed 56 pounds. A healthy weight for him was 80. He had pressure sores from laying on concrete and had skin issues and kennel cough that took 3 rounds of antibiotics to clear. The kennel staff fought hard to spare his life.
Our dear friend Theresa Radant started contacting rescues to take Clooney in and get him out of the shelter. We were the 81st one she asked. 81. One look at his face and my heart melted and I knew exactly who to ask to foster him, Anna and Harald Hudak. They said yes and I’m so grateful they did. Theresa drove him to us and I met her at the vet. I hand fed him treats and I joked that his mouth was so soft it felt like he didn’t have any teeth. Well, he did have teeth, they just had been filed down.
Clooney went to foster with Anna and Harald, he learned how to live with the kitties and even share food with them. He quickly became trustworthy enough to not be crated when they left they house. He got to a healthy weight and was loving life. Then, one day he started limping. He was diagnosed with a tumor in his rear leg and we decided to amputate. He recovered quickly and soon was his typical happy self again. A couple months went by and he started limping on another leg. Osteosarcoma. He still was in good spirits and with the right cocktail of pain meds he still had some good quality of life left. There even was a “Clooney Party” where we all got together to celebrate him.
In March of 2018 he declined quickly. He couldn’t put any pressure on his newly affected leg and his mom and dad made the heart wrenching decision to help him cross Rainbow Bridge. Here are some lessons I’ve learned from Clooney. Live in the moment. You never know what tomorrow may bring. Greet every one with a smile. No matter what Clooney had been through in the past he was happy he held no grudges. He loved everyone and greeted everyone with tail wags. Be grateful. Clooney loved his toys, his bark boxes (which he could open himself) and loved attention. Take pleasure in the small things. He loved his trips to Lowe’s, visits from mom and dad’s friends, kids and car rides.
I will be forever grateful to the 80 rescues that couldn’t take Clooney, his champions at the shelter and Anna and Harald for saying yes. We don’t always get to have our rescued pets as long as we’d like, but everyone is better for knowing Clooney and we are so happy we got to be part of his journey.