Much ado has been made about pets that have lost body parts but are not disabled. They get on with their lives and are definitely not feeling sorry for themselves, so why should we?

I have a friend with two three-legged critters that manage just fine. One is a dog named Teddy that not only is missing a back leg, but is paralyzed from the hips down. He drags himself around the room and up the low stairs to the couch, and even jumps to the floor unless caught in time. He’s always so happy to see me. My dog, Maggie, who is his girlfriend, doesn’t treat him any differently than any other dog.

The other family pet is a cat, also missing a rear leg. Mr. Fluffy was very depressed in the beginning, not knowing how to navigate his environment following surgery. Teddy taught his feline brother how it works, and now you can’t keep the cat down. Just to prove a point, he even managed to scale the fence in the backyard several times, appearing on the front porch asking to be let back inside. Since it is not safe for him to be wandering the streets, the escape route has been blocked off.

You may recall the kitten with the eye shot out by teenagers toting BB guns two Memorial Days ago. I had the pleasure of visiting him a few weeks ago at his forever home in Santa Ynez. His owner told me how Stitch insists on being outside during daylight hours where he is an avid hunter. He leaves presents on the doorstep each day to prove his prowess. Not only is one eye completely missing, but the remaining one has an obvious corneal scar that blocks his peripheral vision leaving him with only about 30% total vision. One can only marvel at nature’s adaptability and the burning will to survive in these animals.

I was very gratified to find that Stitch remembered me, trotting into the house at the sound of my voice. He jumped into my lap, curled up and purred. His owner says he has never done that with anyone else. I’d like to think that he remembers my lap from a long ago time when he was my foster while healing from surgery.

Many years ago I had to leave a cat behind when I moved home from Wisconsin to Santa Barbara. I had occasion to return two years later, and went to see Gandalf. He, too, came trotting when I called. It was only later that I realized he was totally blind from cataracts after he ran into my purse which was on the floor. By watching him, you would never have known other than the slow deliberate way he walked which I’d attributed to old age.

Over the years of fostering kittens, I have been witness to several less-than-perfect animals. Not only do they take it in stride, but so do their littermates. It was quite fun to observe the siblings’ frustration with a kitten sporting a large plexi-collar following surgery. The collar was effectively blocking them from the food dish that he was eating out of at the time. At playtime, they all just dealt with the collar and didn’t let it slow any of them down.

This same kitten was so tiny and the collar was so big, he used to lumber like an elephant when he walked, tossing his head from side to side. To get through a partially open door, he would through his head up, position the collar in the crack and push his way through. To use the litter box, he would again throw his head in the air so the collar would clear the side of the box.

We label these animals as “special needs” pets, but are they really? Only a little extra care to be sure they are kept safe is usually all that is required. In the matter of being good companions, none can hold a candle to them in my book.

If you are so inclined, check your local shelters for one of these guys that may be on the euthanize list as being “unadoptable.” They are just as worthy of a good home as any other companion animal.

Product of the week: Fizzion is a new “earth-friendly” pet stain and odor remover that really works! I’ve been using it effectively all over the house, and the stains are not reappearing as so often happens. Fizzion is so new that it has not yet been picked up by the larger pet store chains, but can be found at www.Fizzionclean.com