Besties

Abbey arrived at Tri-City shelter as a stray, with fur so long and matted her paws looked like they belonged to a bigger dog and her eyes to a much smaller one.  She cowered in her kennel and snapped at the shelter staff who tried to take care of her. 

And that’s when Teresa Neal spotted her on the shelter web site while looking for a buddy to her miniature schnauzer, Izzy. Teresa had long had pets, but she also believed that her dogs and cats needed --- other dogs and cats. Companions of their own. Underneath Abbey’s tangle of hair—which Neal recalls “looked like a bad perm”—Teresa saw a deep sadness that she couldn’t stop thinking about. Teresa offered to foster her and give her previous owner a chance to come back. No one came, so Abbey never left the Neal’s Waxahachie home.

Abbey is no longer the woeful, neglected dog Teresa couldn’t stop thinking about. One trip to the groomer revealed a pair of bright eyes happy for life out of the kennel (see after picture above). She races around the furniture of the Neal’s Waxahachie home in pure joy, stopping occasionally to spin in place, like she’s winding up for the next lap. She hangs out with her pal, Izzy.

And she has plenty of company. The Neals decided their cat Patches needed a friend after her bestie passed away from diabetes. Teresa looked online for an older cat, thinking most people would want kittens. As she scrolled through the cats up for adoption, she saw Katy Purry, striking a pose for the camera. She had been at the shelter for a while, and no one had come to claim her.  

When they brought Katy home, they discovered how smart she was. She learned how to open and close doors by pushing her hip against them. And she earned the nickname Chandelier Kitty after she once took a flying leap and landed on the dining room light fixture. But most of all, she hangs out with Patches. And no one at the Neal’s home is without a friend.