A Furry Family Wish

Tis the season to be jolly. And from the looks of this photo our pets were tired out from making merry.

From our family to yours, we wish you the merriest of Christmases!

New Family Member!

Hi! My name is Darby. And let me tell you that I think this is the GREATEST day of my life.

As of today I found my forever family. And I really think I can get the hang of this. I'm enjoying all the room I have now and you should see my big back yard! I love the bed and the couch is awesome! When my new parents noticed me shivering, they found me a perfect sized blanket. Now I can doze while we watch True Grit.

I really don't want to sleep though, because I'm afraid this is just one amazing dream. But they keep saying it's okay and they will be there when I wake up. Maybe I'll just rest my eyes a bit.

We were able to bring Darby home today! They say she's a chihuahua short hair mix. I don't know that I see it, but it's in her record. She's a darling one year old. A bit timid, but I'm sure with time she will get over that. She has a few minor issues that we will be clearing up soon, but other than that she's perfectly fine.

She loves cuddles and hugs. She's gobbling up the attention. I know she enjoys laying on the couch and the bed is intriguing. There are tons of sniffs for to investigate. The cats are unimpressed and she has no true interest in them other than the occasional sniff.

You can tell that she's just so happy to be here. And that makes me love her all the more.

In Memory of Kaiser

On June 1st our 14 year old dog, Kaiser, passed away. It's the hardest decision that a pet owner can make, but we promised ourselves that if his quality of life was not what it should be then we would do what we had to. An excruciating decision.

A few days later we got a sympathy card from our vet's office with a poem enclosed. It was very true and really struck home for me. So as a tribute to my companion, friend, protector and furry child I will share some photos and the poem. You may want to get a hanky handy. I'm just warning you.

If you never met Kaiser, then you truly missed out. Although he was leery of men, he was an extremely lovable boy. He smiled often and loved to hug. Oh and he was truly a ladies man.

The Last Battle

If it should be that I grow frail and weak
And pain should keep me from my sleep,
Then will you do what must be done,
For this — the last bat tle — can’t be won.

You will be sad I under stand,
But don’t let grief then stay your hand,
For on this day, more than the rest,
Your love and friendship must stand the test.
We have had so many happy years,
You wouldn’t want me to suffer so.
When the time comes, please, let me go.
Take me to where to my needs they’ll tend,

Only, stay with me till the end
And hold me firm and speak to me
Until my eyes no longer see.
I know in time you will agree
It is a kind ness you do to me.
Although my tail its last has waved,
From pain and suffer ing I have been saved.
Don’t grieve that it must be you
Who has to decide this thing to do;
We’ve been so close — we two — these years,
Don’t let your heart hold any tears.
– Author unknown

And we did.

Goodbye most beloved boy!

Santa's Little Helpers?

Have you ever wondered how does Santa know if you've been good or bad throughout the year?

I mean the man can't be everywhere at once.

Can he?

I think I've finally figured this one out though. I think he has animals all over the world keeping tabs on the Naughty and the Nice.

Like this little guy.

He was outside my sliding glass door for about twenty minutes. Peering inside to see how the other half lives.

Didn't even flinch when I walked by the door. And he could have cared less when I walked up to the door to take his photo.

Brazen little guy. The one thing that did scare him? My dog in a desperate need to go outside. But then again I think there's a good reason to fear a dog.

Although I not so sure that he's the best of spies. I mean I did notice him. Guess he'll have to be retired. LOL

He sure was cute though.

Home Again!

So I went away for the weekend. Just a quick weekend trip to be with my loving spouse. And this is what I come home to.

Once they realized it was not me and not the pet sitter (Thanks again Greta) they started chatting me up through the window. And I had to take a few of these because my little stripey cat moved around A LOT.

You'd have thought I'd been gone for weeks instead of the few days that I was gone. I needed a crow bar to get them away.

-Michelle

What Is This White Stuff?

So this month we actually got snow. And I don't mean just a dusting of it either. This does not happen all that often in my area. So people do tend to freak.

This area just is not prepared. We don't have that many snow plows. And salt for the roads? Forget about it. Sigh!

The cats were a bit bewildered by it. While Kaiser enjoyed exploring it, as long as he could get back inside quickly.

Pumpkin really wanted to go check out that stuff,

but mean old mom wouldn't let him.

He'll just have to be content with staring out and dreaming.

Of course it's all gone now. But it was really pretty while it lasted. And the kids across the street built a really cool snow fort while it lasted.

Thanksgiving

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It seems like only yesterday we had just bought our home and moved in. And here were are a year later. Where does the time go?

So many things have happened this past year and there are so many things to be thankful for.

Of course I'm thankful for my hubby, my home, my family and my health. And I'm truly thankful for my friends. I couldn't do a post without a picture so I thought I'd put my 'babies' up on the blog.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. And know there are many things to be thankful for. I hope you can find at least one.

-Michelle

If You Don't Teach Your Cat About Catnip

Who will?

Goodbye 2008 Welcome New Year

Since this will probably be the last posting I do on the blog for this year I thought I'd bring a good chunk of our family to bid 2008 a fond farewell.

         

                                   

          

 
                                    

From Pumpkin, Princess, Kaiser, Kyla, Commander Poo Poo, and the two humans allowed to share their space, we hope you all have a happy new year!

-Michelle

P.S.  The photos are fresh.  I just took them yesterday with my iPhone.  ;-)

What The Cats Did Today

It's good to know that my paper shopping bags do have some use to them.  Other than carrying my groceries that is.  Hey I forgot my canvas bags when I went today.

-Michelle

And that jingling you hear is the bell on their collars.  

I R Helping

So while Jim's away the cats will play.  Okay so that was really corny, but I liked it.  And admit it, it made you smile.  Maybe even chuckle.

So while Jim's gone for a few days with the ship (You know playing sailor and all.) I worked on the house more.  I'm wondering if it will ever end.  Pumpkin decided he would help as best he could.

His idea of helping?  Attacking those nasty crumbled up papers in case they decided to band together and start a riot.  

It was funny to watch him jumping and rustling through the papers.  And he was in heaven when I set out a huge wardrobe box for him to play in.  I almost didn't have the heart to break them down.  Almost.

So you may be wondering what Kyla was doing during this time.

Don't let the photo fool you.  She jumped and played in the papers and boxes.  Pouncing on Pumpkin whenever possible.  She's a spaz!  But as soon as she saw the camera come out she started acting like she was a little lady.

Nobody's fooled sweetie.

I finally caught her on the couch.  And figured it was only fair to post a picture of her as well.  Don't want to play favorites or anything.  

In fact that's where she is now, looking over my shoulder.  I think she's reading this as I type.  Reminds me a bit of a vulture.  Oh that's creepy!  Do I need to worry that she's part vulture and is waiting to pick me apart in my sleep?

Empty Nest

Michelle has already posted about this on Insanity Plea, but I'll post the story again here.

Last Friday night the house was still, like a tomb. It was the same Saturday morning. Later that morning Michelle and I left the house, mainly to get away from the stunning silence, to get a pair of new work boots for me and a cat toy to place with Odie's remains. We took Kaiser along. We even took him into several Petsmart's. (He did very well, I might add. The only time he growled was when strange dogs approached us. He's still very gunshy of dogs getting too close after his experience in Dahlgren.)

In one Petsmart, I asked Michelle if she wanted to look at cats. I had to talk her into it, but it was my feeling that the house would feel empty until a cat inhabited it again. Petsmart didn't really sell cats, they provided the local SPCA with a place to showcase their animals for adoption. That was fine with me, and I think Michelle. I'd rather have a mature cat than a kitten running roughshod all over the place. 

One orange-haired kitty got our immediate attention. He's the only one that noticed us that morning. He looked at Kaiser and was thoroughly unimpressed. A cat that could put Kaiser in his proper context had to be a good thing. 

We got an employee to let us in and pet the orange-haired cat, appropriately named "Pumpkin." Michelle took an immediate shine to Pumpkin.  Unfortunately, the SPCA volunteer wasn't in the store, so we had to come back later. A second trip was a no-brainer at that point, even though we had to travel to Virginia Beach to do it.

Later that day, we returned to Petsmart. Michelle filled out the adoption paperwork. I'm not sure what is more extensive mortgage paperwork, the SF-86 form for a security clearance, or the SPCA's paperwork to adopt a cat. Filling any of these out feels like a visit to the proctologist. A proctologist with cold hands and long thick fingers. 

While we were there filling out the paperwork for Pumpkin, there was a mother and daughter there looking for a cat. I overheard one of the volunteers tell the daughter about a gray tabby named "Kyla." Kyla had been at the Petsmart since April. Pumpkin, by contrast, had been there less than a week.  The volunteer got a laser pointer out to entice some of the cats to play for the mother and daughter. I noticed that Kyla was under a shelf, hiding, but she wanted to play. I could see there was more to her personality than she felt comfortable showing there. She was just scared to. Pumpkin did play a little, but he was irritated by some of the more obnoxious kittens.

Well, to make a long story less long, I told Michelle that when she went to pick up Pumpkin on Monday to go ahead and get Kyla too, if Kyla was still available. Luckily she was.

So Pumpkin came home on Monday. The house definitely started to feel right. Pumpkin appreciates the house's low windows and wide window sills. He's an early riser, a day napper, and a night walker. He looks very striking in his green collar. He likes to play on occasion. He has ambushed Kyla, and likes boxes. He is a bit older. He's four years old, and I get the impression he hasn't quite come to terms that this is his new home. Like I said, it was about a week from his old family until he joined ours. He's definitely a cool customer. He takes everything in stride.

Kyla came home on Tuesday, after a paperwork SNAFU that no one at the SPCA is willing to take responsibility for. They say she's three years old, but I find that hard to believe. She's got the attention span and claw control of a cat of a younger age. I would place her age closer to two years old. She is a bit of a spaz. She isn't impressed with the house's windows. She is impressed with our couches. She likes to sit behind you and read over your shoulder. She likes to play, a lot. She looks very lady-like in her pink collar, until she assumes her normal and decidedly unlady-like posture. 

The house feels full again. 

NOTE:  And Kyla is definitely a 'daddy's girl'.  She immediately bonded with Jim and I'm second choice in this situation. -Michelle  

Good bye old friend

The first indication that something was wrong was silence. At 9:00P.M. every night Odie would meow, demanding to be fed. Thursday night it was 10:00P.M. before we heard a peep, and when he did remind us of his nightly meal, it wasn't as insistent as it normally was.

That night we slept in our bedroom in the new house for the first time. Odie didn't. 

We didn't think much of either. We thought our lack of a schedule disrupted his. We thought that after a night of sleeping in the new room, he'd realize that's where we were going to be from now on.

In the morning, Michelle was worried because he slept with his head against his water dish. He never did that before. I thought Michelle was being paranoid. Later that morning, I thought I saw him breathing erratically. Michelle thought I was being paranoid. We ran some errands that morning. After an hour out and about, we returned. It had become obvious by then that Odie's breathing had become laborious. 

Michelle called our vet. We managed to get him in before noon. The vet kept Odie for the day. He said several times that Odie's condition, whatever it was, was serious. Michelle called the vet at 3:00P.M. The vet told her he thought Odie had bronchitis, but he thought there may be an underlying condition. She was told that he had to be picked up at 5:00P.M., and that the vet would write a referral to a 24 hour animal hospital, should we want to take him. Odie's condition then seemed to be on the upswing. His breathing wasn't as labored, and we were told he was talking to the assistants at the vet clinic. 

At 5:00P.M. we returned to the vet's office to find out Odie's condition had worsened. Taking him to the 24 hour animal hospital no longer seemed like an option, it was a necessity. The vet was talking about cardiomyopathy causing there to be fluid in Odie's lungs. We gathered Odie's things and went immediately. Odie, I could tell by his muted meows, didn't like being moved so much. 

We waited at the animal hospital for over an hour to speak with their vet. They took digital x-rays and could see things with better clarity than or normal vet. The condition was far worse than our vet could tell with his x-ray machine.  Cardiomyopathy was indeed the diagnosis, what type exactly would have taken a echocardiogram to determine.  The walls of Odie's heart had thickened. His heart had enlarged and had become valentine-shaped. There was fluid throughout his lungs. The assistant brought us a list of things they were going to do to get Odie to make it through the night, maybe. The list was extensive, covering a full page. Even then there were no guarantees. In fact, the read we got from the vet was that it was a long shot. The treatment the first vet gave for bronchitis actually worsened his condition. (There is no way our vet could have known based on the information he had at the time.) The vet talked about DNRs and if we'd like to be called if his condition worsened throughout the night.  No one was talking about long-term treatment or care. The focus was only on finding a way for Odie to survive until morning. 

It was the thought of Odie dying alone in an oxygen cage that was too much. He died with us there, comforting him. 

When we bought this house, Michelle told Odie it was our forever home and that he would never have to move again. She "sold" him on the house's low windows and wide window ledge's, perfect for a catnap in the sun. Odie got to enjoy those windows for too short of a time, but he did enjoy them. 

Odie and I had an antagonistic relationship most of his life, but that had changed a lot since I went on shore duty. Over the last three years, I had become his second-choice for pets. This is a major step up. For a long time, I wasn't even a choice. Since we moved, there were a couple of times where I was his first-choice. 

Odie had his 15 minutes of fame in the mid-90s. He was featured in the Marmaduke comic strip's "Dog Gone Funny" section. We have the stip around here somewhere, in a box no doubt. It was his desire for affection that gained him fame. He loved giving "kisses." By that I mean, he would put his nose up to your mouth, about an inch away, and he would not go away until you made kissing noises. It was funny enough for Marmaduke's creator Brad Anderson to feature him one Sunday a decade ago.

Odie demanded affection. Kisses, head-butts, you name it. Woe be unto the book that got in between you and Odie. Odie would chew the corners of a book if he thought it was taking too much time away from him. That is if you could even read it with him head-butting the book until you stopped what you were doing and paid attention to him. 

Odie was also a hunter. One of the fastest cats I have ever seen, when it suited him. He's got mice and birds to his credit. He seemed to enjoy the hunt and would often stalk through the house just looking for a cricket or a moth or some other unfortunate creature to cross his path. 

Most of all, I'll remember his purr. He purred often and loudly. He couldn't help it. He purred when touched.

He purred at the end.

Edit:

I made a mistake. Odie was not featured in Marmaduke. Rather he was featured in Larry Wright's Carlyle's Cat Hall of Fame, part of the strip Kit 'n Carlyle, in 1998. The date on the strip is 11-23. I have a copy which I will scan and post later.

Effects of a Movie

Watch I Am Legend and you'll understand. It's a movie we both wanted to see, but didn't want to deal with people in the theater for. And for that I'm thankful. We're picky about what movies we will see in the theater. I won't give any spoilers. Just know the picture is all I really needed to post.

-Michelle

Free Ride!

If this story doesn't make you say, 'Aw isn't that cute?'. Then you have a heart of stone! Every once in a while it's nice to see a fluff article involving the Navy and I'm here to share it with you. See the military isn't evil to nature like the media would like you to believe.

-Michelle

And They Call It...

Puppy love!  

This past Friday we had our friends over for dinner.  And Kaiser was in heaven!

John and Ruth are friends from Norfolk.  John is the only man that Kaiser has ever liked.  In fact John has even pet sit for Kaiser.  It only took our loving dog a few minutes to remember his favorite guy.

Then we had to tell him to leave John in peace.  He was thrilled to see him and his wife Ruth.  He wasn't so sure about their little boy, Theo.  Theo, however, adored Kaiser.  Our pooch was very patient.  And no, he isn't staring longingly at John's wine glass.  It's not red.

-Michelle

Squirrel Feeders & The Joy They Bring

Back in Virginia Errol the squirrel gave us a lot of joy.  He was a HUGE squirrel that was quite bold.  But not obnoxious.  Sadly we had to leave Errol the squirrel behind.  But we seem to have found one of his little cousins up here in Rhode Island.  We set our squirrel feeder out right next to our back door just today and he arrived.  Peeking in at us.  Bold as can be.  As if to ask who are my gracious benefactors?  We've named him Flynn.  Phil you should be pleased he was very polite before he feasted.  He removed his Red Sox ball cap before chowing down on the good eats.  Sadly we didn't get any good pictures.  Maybe next time.

-Michelle