No one who’s lived around an aging animal or person can argue that age often brings with it many forms of disability. When those disabilities get too difficult, it’s easy to turn away, not wanting to see. But Philadelphia fine art photographer Isa Leshko has made it a point not to allow us that easy out.

In her latest series, Elderly Animals, she has done something akin to that which Georgia O’Keeffe did with flowers we normally walk right by, when she blew them up to supersized portraits we couldn’t ignore. Leshko has, with this series of direct portraits of old animals, made it impossible for us to turn away and not see. And isn’t that what great art is really about…making us get over ourselves enough to let in some new information and ideas? I strongly recommend checking out a few of the images and reading this fascinating piece about how the photographer came to create this moving body of work.

Just had to share with y’all this brief post on a professional photographer who felt inspired to do a photo essay on disabled pets. She sees what we see: the unspeakable beauty of the almost perfect pet. Enjoy!

This kitty was born with two faces, one of an uncommon type of cat called “Janus cats,” after the Roman mythological god whose one face looked to the past, while the other looked to the future. And what do you call a two-faced cat, but two names?

This one’s Frank and Louie, and I think you’ll enjoy the story of this record-holding, literally multi-faceted kitty who didn’t let being born different cramp his style one bit. Our little inspiration for the day.

Found a great post about a brave girl named Sierra, who lost one of her back legs to cancer. Her parents were pretty freaked out at first, but soon Sierra taught them all the meaning of getting over it and getting on with life. So much like the critters we wrote about in Almost Perfect!

In fact, it appears they discovered our little book, since it got a blurb in the middle of this post. But what’s really great about this piece is all the really sound info it gives for others who may be struggling with difficult choices — adjustments that might have to be made, options for critter wheelchairs — and what it really means to share your life with a disabled pet.

Read on, and see what you think!

But then he was chosen to be trained in a prisoner rehab program in a Missouri state correctional facility. And instead of being returned to the shelter, Sparky was given to the Missouri School for the Deaf. And there he is thriving, among students and faculty who see him as something of a mascot.

This is his story, yet another one proving that home is where the heart is, that the families we choose are often more comfortable than the ones we’re born into, and that in return for the extra care they require, special needs pets often give back far more than we invest. Enjoy.

Darlene is a respected animal behavior expert, whose new book, The Complete Cat’s Meow: Everything You Need to Know About Caring For Your Cat, just hit the shelves from Howell Book House. She’s been hosting these weekly chats about all things pets for years now on her Facebook page. Thanks to FB’s recent changes, she’s moved the discussion to her fan page, which unfortunately cost her the rich archives of previous discussions. But let’s help her populate her new forum with a lively discussion of our own, shall we? Like any gray cloud, this one has a silver lining: It’ll make it REAL easy to find the link to our discussion, since ours will be the second one listed!

So, what’s it all about?

Well, Barb — author of the popular and insanely well-selling Frankie, the Walk ‘n Roll Dog book series, which chronicles the real-life story of her dachshund who became partially paralyzed from the effects of IVDD — and I will be facilitating an open, week-long conversation about the challenges of living with and caring for special needs pets, and the incredible and often surprising ways their presence in our lives can uplift, fulfill and inspire us.

The title of our discussion comes from the common experience of the humans, who adopt or rescue these special needs critters from shelters or from being thrown away because they’re no longer “whole” or “perfect,” that while we thought we were rescuing the animals, in the end we learn that they have somehow rescued us. And it’s all being hosted by Darlene, on her Facebook Discussion Page.

So join us, won’t you? All you need do is join Facebook, and “Like” Darlene’s fan page, then you’re all set and ready to post your questions, comments and resources to share with others like us who really care about giving special needs pets the quality of life and love they so richly deserve. Looking forward to “seeing” you there!

She worked as a therapy dog for special needs people, and I just wanted to share this little memorial from Lucy’s people. Lucy crossed the Rainbow Bridge yesterday, just shy of her 16th birthday. We send gentle thoughts to her family, whom we know will miss her, and we also send thanks to them for having shared her with so many during her time on this side of the Bridge.

April is National Prevent Cruelty to Animals Month.

Now, for some of us, that’s actually every day, and I’m guessing that includes everyone reading this post. But I think it’s a great idea to have a month devoted to reminding people that preventing cruelty is important and should be a priority every month.

Here at Almost Perfect Pets, we’re all too aware that cruelty, including active abuse and passive neglect, creates special needs animals out of pets who were once whole and healthy. It’s horrifying, it’s inexcusable, but most of all…it’s completely unnecessary.

As I type this, I have a purring ball of gray fur in my lap, my little Idgie who was born with anophthalmia. This is a condition in which kittens whose mothers were exposed to certain pathogens during pregnancy are born without eyes. (It’s also not unheard of in human babies, about one in 100,000 of which are born without any optical tissue whatsoever.)

The point is, Idgie was born without eyes. No one took them from her through an act of cruelty. But there are so many other kitties, puppies and other critters who have physical damage caused by other critters in unfortunate situations. Many of these come about through the neglect of their owners, who either don’t know not to allow certain animals to be alone together because they don’t get along, or who know and simply can’t be bothered to keep them apart.

But by far the worst are injuries inflicted by humans through intentional acts of cruelty. I’ve written of many of these right here, and without exception, these stories are deeply disturbing and profoundly moving. For those of us who love animals deeply, these stories are repugnant, but we feel obliged to read them in the hopes that perhaps there is some small thing we can do to stop it, to make it better, or at least to let others know so they, too, might add to the momentum against these horrid goings-on.

Today, I just want to remind you that there are groups out there whose sole purpose is to find animals who are suffering and to remove them from those situations, and to prevent such suffering from happening ever again. Joining and supporting the work of these organizations is something we can all do, no matter where we are or what we do for a living. We can join and support their activities with our dues, our donations of money and/or requested items, and through volunteer work.

Probably the primary mover and shaker in the anti-cruelty field is the ASPCA, of which I’ve been a member for years. Here’s a video they made to commemorate 145 years of preventing cruelty to animals. If you’re not already a member, please consider joining us in this worthy goal.

Many of you know that a quarter from each sale of Almost Perfect, our book about disabled pets, is donated to Animal Welfare Karpathos, the only animal rescue on the Greek island. The author of the final essay in the book, Roberta Beach Jacobson, runs the rescue with her partner, Alf Meier.

They made this delightful little vid about Batty, a blind kitten there. I wanted to share it with you, because it reminds me very much of the way my blind cat, Idgie behaves, and shows what a full, happy life blind pets are capable of leading. It also carries a poignant message we all need to be reminded of. So take a few minutes and give it a look, won’t you?