Dogs And Cats, Cats And Dogs

I have five dogs and five cats, all of them safe and warm inside the farm house. It's been a rugged winter:

Bramble got ill in December and was so difficult to handle that I wasn't sure I could even give him his treatments. But I followed the dosing schedule, catching him each day and giving him his pill. But instead of becoming even more skittish, Bramble decided that I wasn't so bad after all. We've been friends ever since:

The four younger dogs enjoyed going outdoors, at least when the temperatures were reasonable:

And all five dogs enjoy sleeping together on the dog beds/floor pillows in the farm house kitchen:

Little old PeeWee seemed to be getting weaker and I quit carrying him outdoors since he pooped and peed in the house anyway. But he made it through each night in my bedroom without accident. Nevertheless, he seemed to be failing, so I began to take more photos of him, a way of remembering him when he is gone:

Fergus, Daphne, Clover and PeeWee. Only Seamus was missing from this group:

There's Seamus - but this time PeeWee was missing, though Snoozey the cat had joined the group:

Daphne and Clover seemed to have a lot of patience with PeeWee, perhaps because he was so much like them:

On a few particularly mild days, I'd carry PeeWee out to be with the other dogs. He long ago quit playing, but he seemed to enjoy feeling like he was part of the pack:

Draco is also showing signs of aging, though he still seems perfectly healthy. Yet he's slowed and mellowed with age. But as of this writing, all the dogs and cats are well, happy and keeping warm: