Bloggers Help Paws with a Cause: Tara

Hello Everyone! We have a total of 59 blogs that have gotten together to help raise money for a great cause. There are going to be some awesome prizes up for grabs for people that donate money to the cause. Here is a little about the company that we are raising the money for:

 Paws With A Cause® enhances the independence and quality of life for people with disabilities nationally through custom-trained Assistance Dogs.

PAWS® increases awareness of the rights and roles of Assistance Dog teams through education and advocacy. Founded in 1979, Paws With A Cause is dedicated to helping its clients who are challenged by many disabilities, such as Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, Seizure Disorders, and Hearing Disorders to name just some. Each of our dogs are trained to meet the specific needs of our clients. Tasks may include opening and closing doors, picking up objects, pulling a wheelchair, turning lights on and off, and alerting a person to particular sounds like a telephone, doorbell, smoke detector and many others. Our dogs change lives by enhancing the independence of our clients. By just opening a door, a dog opens up the world for a person with a disability and your donations will go to making that happen. PAWS thanks you so much for your donation and allowing us to open more doors.

 

Paws With A Cause

4646 South Division

Wayland, MI 49348

 

How to donate:

1. Go to https://www.everribbon.com/PawswithaCause

2. Click on "Make a Donation"
3. Enter a amount you wish to donate. Everibbon will add a small fee to your donation for processing. My fee for donating $5.00 was .49 cents. So keep this in mind when deciding your donation amount. You will receive 1 entry into the giveaway for every $1 you donate.
4. In the box that says "on the behalf of" please put your name. This is the name that will be listed on the everibbon website so put a name you do not mind being visible to everyone. Do not check the box to make a anonymous donation because I will not be able to track your donation to enter you into the giveaways.
5. Next it will ask you for your credit or debit card information.
6. Then it will ask for your email address to send you a receipt. This is so that you can submit it for tax purposes.
7. Ta Da! Your all done making your donation. Now you need to contact Danielle to enter the giveaway.
8. Please email Danielle at RomanceBookJunkiesDanielle@Yahoo.com with the name you used to donate your money. For example the name I used to donate on behalf of was Romance Book Junkies. Do not send me your name off your credit or debit card because I will not be able to see this. Along with the name you used please tell me how much you donated and if you live in the US or are International.
9. Your all done. Thank you for donating!

Warning: Do not try to email Danielle the name and donation amount of another person that is not yourself. If Danielle recieves more than one email with the same persons name and donation amount she will have to ask for your copy of the receipt from everibbon to verify that you are the correct winner. Thank you.

 

We will have 4 winners for the main giveaway.
We have 2 $65 gift certificates to any online book store.
Also we have 2 huge boxes of books and swag from Romance Book Junkies and Bitten by Paranormal Romance for US residents only.

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In addition, the wonderful Sparkle Abbey is generously contributing a signed copy of one of their Pampered Pets Mystery series books (winner's choice) to anyone who leaves me a comment on any of my Bloggers Help Paws with a Cause posts that they donated to this wonderful cause.

  
 

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This is the story of my Tara:

 

My angel kitty Sashi crossed the Rainbow Bridge on February 15, 2006. She was almost 17  years old, and had struggled with various health problems for a couple years prior. Her final illness and passing was a devastating loss for my family, and though the house was so empty without a cat, we allowed ourselves time to grieve.

 
After a year went by I started scouring the local Petsmart Adoption Center every couple weeks. A few caught my eye, but I knew I would know it when the right one came along. On May 15, 2007, I was scanning the cages when suddenly I just gasped. I saw her. The shelter had named the beautiful tortie Kelly; she had recently been picked up as a stray. I knew immediately that she was "the one". I went home and looked her up online, applied for her the next day and got the call that afternoon that I was approved. What fun it was to ready the house for a cat again!

I knew the name Kelly had to be changed. It just did not fit the most beautiful cat I had ever seen. I was stumped until my mother suggested Tara, because of our favorite movie Gone with the Wind. Tara the tortie...it was perfect!

On May 20th Tara came home. (I'll never forget how she hissed and growled at another cat in a cage on her way by as if to say "Ha ha...I'm going home and you're not!) She immediately made it hers. There was no fear or shyness; it's like she knew she was where she belonged. Now one thing I never knew was that torties are no ordinary cats. They are known for their "tortie-tude" and we soon discovered that Tara has it in spades! For the first several months she got herself into plenty of trouble before learning what was acceptable behavior, even managing to fall out the bathroom window 5 weeks after coming home. She despises all other cats, and we think she may have pushed the screen out trying to move a neighbor cat out of "her" yard. On another occasion she carried on at the door so badly that the unwanted visitor ran across the street all the way home like he was screaming for his mommy.

Eventually she settled down and has become a treasured family member and an absolute joy. But she still has opinions on most everything and has the most expressive face on a cat you will ever see. I can just imagine what she would have to say if she could talk.

The years haven't been particularly kind to Tara. During the summer of 2011 she was diagnosed with diabetes. Then in the summer of 2012 we discovered she was in congestive heart failure, and also has a mass on her spleen, which apparently is very rare in cats. I chose to manage the mass holistically, because surgery and chemo would have been just too much when combined with all of her other issues. She's also on a series of medications for her heart. It's been six months now and she's become the bravest little girl I've known and hangs in there even when I'm falling apart. 

I cherish each day with her, but it's always in the back of my mind that good-bye is going to come much sooner than I'll ever be ready for it to.