Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Someone Broke In

I went on a bike ride with a friend this morning. Maggie has lost the privilege of staying in the house while I work out...she chewed her last sandal, so she had to go out in the back. Sally came with me in a basket Clint put on the front of my bike for our Moab trip. I wanted to help her get used to sitting in it. I got back from the ride and when I got close to the house I could see the front door was open. I was trying to replay leaving the house in my mind and I was sure I shut the front door. I was walking up slowly and with caution...

then Maggie's head pops out the front door, so then I start trying to remember if I locked the back door. I go in the house and the back door is locked. I walk in the back yard and see her new escape hole. She dug a hole under the fence and then ran to the front of the house and opened the door. Nothing was going to keep her out of the house. Luckily the remotes, shoes, clothing, cords, and food all survived.

Maggie's escape hole that has now been filled in with rocks. She doesn't dig very deep, she is able to squeeze her body through shallow holes.

Digging out is hard work.

While my parents were in town we celebrated my dad's birthday. We left for a couple of hours and when we came home I looked in the cake box to find this...Sally had snuck up on the table and taste tested the cake. It was still REALLY good...Sally thought so too.

This is a common scene in our living room. Spoiled pets. No wonder Maggie doesn't think she belongs outside.

Sally and Maggie approve of our new PillowSac.

Terminator in turn has taken over the dog bed.

We may be dog people, but that cat sure seems comfy.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Just laugh, just laugh, just laugh, just laugh

My pets have given me quite excitement this past week. Terminator went in for his second set of shots last Wednesday. He got his second feline leukemia shot and his first rabies shot. He's a good cat, tripled his weight in two months. He is now a healthy 4 month old 6 lb kitten. I took him home and went about my business. At one point I saw him under the bed and noticed his chin was wet but I just figured that he had probably been drinking out of the dog bowl and Maggie chased him so he got a little wet. Then I go into the guest bathroom and see he has pooped on a rug. I clean that up and then find little piles of cat vomit all over. The poor thing just had shots so I'll let it go. About an hour after his appointment he was just crying in the hallway. I go to pick him up and his face is all puffy, he is vomiting, and he is drooling beyond excessively. I immediately called the vet and tell them I think he is having an allergic reaction to his vaccines. While I am on the phone with the receptionist he begins to pant like a dog. I tell the receptionist that and she says she will call the vet and call me right back. She called me back in like two minutes but in the process I had taken the cat to my bathroom to lock him in there and he pooped on my counter and down my side and on my bathroom rug. The vet told me to give him some Benadryl, clean the drool, and make sure he gets water. Then if he doesn't get better to bring him right in or I could just bring him in right then. I opted to just try treating him at home. I cleaned him up, forced Benadryl down his throat, and then forced a syringe of water down his throat. I put him in my bathroom and put up the baby gate and turned a small fan on to try to help cool him off. Within a couple of hours he drug himself off the bathroom floor and hid in the office. I figured if he felt good enough to escape that he could sleep where he wanted to. He would go out to get a drink of water from the dog bowl and just fall asleep sitting up. He spent a couple hours curled up around the water bowl sleeping. I really wish I had taken a picture of him all puffy and sleeping by the water bowl, but I missed my chance. He is doing really well now but I am pretty sure his reaction was to the rabies shot. So what do you do when he is allergic to the rabies vaccine? Sally has to go to the vet for a shot and I'm going to see what the vet says then.

For the past two weeks my mom and brother Jason, and for a few days my dad, stayed with us. To the dogs delight, they were continually petted, loved, played with, and hardly went outside. This morning I went to the gym so they were home along for about 45 minutes. We just let Maggie say inside with Sally because they usually just sleep. I always make sure the shoes are picked up, trash can lid is down, food put away, and other various things that might be fun to chew on put up so that the list of things Maggie has chewed up does not continue to grow. I cam home to quite the site this morning. Maggie first ran up to me and then ran off. I heard her chewing on something that did not sound like a toy...she had gotten into the trash and had pulled out the chocolate milk carton. Time for a new trash can, that one opens too easily. Then I looked around the living room and found a variety of "treasures" the dogs had left me. There were various pieces of chewed up plastic milk carton, the TV remote from the back room, toothpaste, Clint's hat, a large grasshopper, and to top it all off POOP! Maggie has chewed two remotes and lucky for her all she did was bring the TV remote up front and didn't chew another one, or chew the batteries that fell out of it. This is the third time she has gotten the toothpaste. You would think the minty taste would turn her off but now, not our dog. Putting it far back on the counter is not working, we must now get in the habit of putting it in the drawer. She chews the cap off the toothpaste and then just carries it around, so I'm glad we haven't had to deal with fluoride poisoning. This time Clint's hat survived and we did not lose another one to the jaws of Maggie. The grasshopper was still alive but was missing the bottom half of most his legs, so it wasn't moving and I was too upset to leave him around to let the cat and dogs have more fun. I know the grasshopper was the work of Terminator. He catches the bugs and then brings them inside to play with. Eventually Sally or Maggie sees how much fun it is and steals the bug. Depending on the size, it gets eaten. But the poop! I am thinking that someone probably brought it in versus someone pooping on the floor. Good thing I was at least destressed from just having gone to the gym and I had to get ready for work so there was no time to be upset. They have definitely taught me just laugh.
I had to steal this off my brother in laws blog. This is just too cute what my nephew Jackson said, his best knock-knock joke ever:
Jackson: Knock, Knock
Mom (Jenny): Who's There?
Jackson: Love
Mom: Love Who?
Jackson: Love You!!