From Cats Find You; 2nd Edition - From the Chapter; Sticky - The man himself

Out of all the things that foundation has done, this is Mikee's favorite:

One of the emergency vet clinics in Portland called one afternoon and said they had a Boxer that needed to have its leg amputated. The fee was going to be enormous. If they couldn't get the fee, there was a good chance he would be put down. Mikee called me and told me I needed to make the hour drive to Portland and pick up this 'Boxer'. She didn't know what we were going to do with it yet, but she wasn't going to let it be put down.

The boys and I hopped into the car and headed down there. When I walked into the exam room, there was a giant brindle pit lying on the floor with a badly swollen leg. I looked at the vet, thinking this wasn't the right dog. She introduced me to 'Tank'. When I said I thought I was picking up a Boxer, she said, "He kind of looks like a Boxer." This was the dog. We carefully loaded that dog into the back of our car and headed back home.

He was a really sweet dog. He had such a vulnerability in his eyes. He just didn't want to be hurt anymore. Our incredible vet that had saved Sticky was up all night looking at his x-rays. She told us she thought she could save the leg, but the healing would be much longer and more intensive. He had a spiral fracture, and we were going to have to keep this 100 pound pit bull calm for 8 weeks. That was going to be a lot, but he would have his leg, so we agreed.

The surgery went well, and he slowly healed up over the next 8 weeks. It became pretty clear as he was getting his mobility back that he was going to throw off the delicate balance we had built with our little animal family. He was very sweet, but he hurt the other animals just by his size. One playful swat with his massive paw would send the littler ones into hiding. This was going to have to be one that we just healed and then helped on his way to a better life.

Tank's name was changed to Chester after a character I had just added to the Sticky Children's books and he spent the holidays with us, just like Chester in the Christmas book that had just come out. As look would have it, I had a friend who was looking for a big dog to replace her St. Bernard that had recently passed. She even had a giant dog door cut into the side of her house. It was the perfect setup. Chester now has his own furniture, and when I say furniture - his couch is nicer than any couch we own.

Chester's life could not have turned out better. Thanks to Sticky.