Padfoot
Padfoot was a puppy when we adopted him from the pet store at the Rushmore Mall. He was the last remaining puppy from his litter and was considered the runt. For some reason we had to adopt him in the winter time and so I was taking him out in the snow every hour to potty train him.
He was a really smart dog and my wife had worked with him diligently to teach him. Soon he could do all the tricks a dog could and was really great at responding to his name. He loved fetch but would rather play tug-of-war any day. We couldn't take him to the park often, as he had a weak stomach and car rides were difficult.
He definitely had a lot of energy! Frequently assuming the role of a cat and jumping on your lap when you sat down. He never truly realized his size! And when we took him on walks, most of our children would rather walk his brother, as Padfoot's excitement would be too much and they would struggle keeping him from pulling them over.
He was like many other dogs, if there was something in the yard that wasn't there before, he would eat it. So it was always a chore to make sure nothing died in our yard and that the cats didn't bring something into our yard. Fortunately, he was usually more skittish about new smells and we would catch him before he ate anything.
At the end of May (2026), I noticed a dead rabbit on my front porch. This was a typical day when one of my cats found something they had to share with the family. I grabbed a plastic bag and collected the poor rabbit and disposed of it.
In June I had noticed something weird, Padfoot was not eating as he normally did. I could get him to eat his teeth cleaning treat and maybe one bowl in the evening, but nothing in the morning. I had another incident with a rabbit on my front porch, however it had disappeared when I went to go get a plastic bag. Clearly my cats were not ready for me to get rid of it.
Later, my kids tell me of a rabbit laying in our yard. The dogs were already outside by this time and they advised the rabbit was gone when they went to it a second time. Through process of elimination, either the cats moved it or Bailey (Padfoot's brother) ate it. Gross!
After Bailey had passed away, I continued to worry about Padfoot's health. He still wasn't eating normally so I made him rice and chicken broth to help encourage him. Everything else seemed normal so I hoped things would change soon.
Then he started throwing up. He had a weak stomach so I figured he must have eaten something he shouldn't have and his body now had to eject it from his system. But he was throwing up 2 -3 times a day. And he stopped eating completely. He wouldn't take his treats or even ham slices!
My carpet cleaner got more use this month then the entire rest of my time owning it. We continued to comfort Padfoot and he would drink water but we hoped that whatever was in his system, would hurry up and get out! Then one day, I noticed the same symptoms his brother had.
Padfoot's joints were locking up and he would only lay around the house except when he moved to a new spot. These were the same problems his brother had before he passed away a few days prior. However, Padfoot was still throwing up so perhaps he could beat this!
Padfoot's health continued to decline, he could barely walk. We picked him up more than once to get him somewhere more comfortable. Every morning I woke up, I was scared to see if he made it through the night.
One evening, we had just made it through another seizure he was having, and he wanted to go outside. I let him out and stayed out there to wait for him, because he could no longer bark by this point to let me know he was ready to come inside.
He eventually moved to the back porch and chose to lay there. I left him there for awhile but when it was time for me to go to sleep I went and checked on him. He was still laying there, but was shaking in a way that he might be going through another seizure. Thankfully he was much smaller than Bailey so I was able to pick him up once more and bring him into my room for the night.
The next morning (8 days after Bailey had passed away) he too was no longer with us. (June 18, 2026)
If poison kills wildlife, it kills pets.
There are better and safer ways to handle wildlife pests to protect your residential crops and foundation.
No one deserves a neighbor who poisons pets.