Do You Realize?

Woofday Wednesday--Lorcan

It's been awhile since I've served up a crazy cute puppy with a sob story for you to "ooh" and "aah" over.

Our sixth dog at the "V" household is Lorcan. He was Eldest's ex-boyfriend's dog. XBF's mother is, I think, certifiably batshit, and was (and still is, as far as I know) constantly doing impulsive, ridiculous things that made normal people's jaws drop in amazement at the level of batshittery.

XBF's mother decided they were moving into an apartment to save money. She told XBF to find a place for Lorcan or he would be shipped off to a shelter. Nevermind the fact that they had owned Lorcan since he was a puppy, and was now six years old. Nevermind the fact that he was AKC registered. Nevermind that he was perfectly housebroken, a good watch dog, and knew all sorts of "people-pleasing doggy tricks" (you know, "sit"; "shake"; "high five"; etc.). She was ready to drop him like a bad habit.

We offered to take Lorcan if the apartments refused to allow animals. We made the mistake of letting him come to our house before La Loony Bitch made such inquiries. We ended up with a permanent house guest. A BIG permanent house guest.

He's lovely, and he's not going anywhere, but he's really a pain in the rear sometimes. He's unnaturally attached to Eldest, he's skittish, he tries to eat doesn't like little kids a whole lot, sometimes he's a little too effective in the watch dog department, and if we leave him out back too long he makes an incredible non-stop barking nuisance of himself. Come to think of it... WHY are we keeping him?

Woofday Wednesday--Perkins

This is Perkins. He is our Prince Charming. He has the sweetest, most laid-back disposition of any dog we own. In fact, were it not for the fact that whatever Bozo dumped him out didn't have him neutered as a puppy, he would be an indoor dog; as it stands now, we couldn't de-activate his sprinkler system in time to avoid that nagging desire to piss on every immobile object.

He has one other terrible trait: his wanderlust. This boy was born to run. If he ever gets loose, he will lead you on a footchase to the ends of the earth (I've had to chase him a half mile before). One day a couple of years back, he took off, lost us in the footchase, and didn't come home. He always came home. We searched for days, we made reward posters, we got a few tips, but, ultimately, nothing came of it. We were heartbroken. Then, one day, more than two weeks after he went missing, a neighbor called & said she'd been hearing a dog bark near her house for a few days. She'd thought it was in a faraway yard, but it turns out Perkins was trapped in the crawl space of a house next door to hers that was vacant and for sale at the time. My husband had to crawl through a tiny hole to retrieve him. The vet said his body had started to break itself down from lack of food, and he was dehydrated, but blood tests showed no harm to his kidneys; Perkins dodged a bullet. We were so very lucky.

Love a stray; neuter & spay!

Meowy Monday--Taylor Mae

Before we get to Meowy Monday, I want to mention my Blogiversary Giveaways again. Today, for Meowy Monday, I'll be drawing a random name from my comments to give away a bag of Feline Greenies and a can of Pet Promise cat food. (My kitties love it. It has no rendered animals, no factory farmed animals, and no animal by-products, like fur or toenails, in it.) You have to comment to be included, though!

And now...

Since you've already met all four of my beautiful kitties, I now get to have guest ambassadors for Meowy Monday. This week's guest is Taylor Mae, one of my aunt's kitties.

Mimi has two kitties, and they look exactly alike. How, then, you may wonder, do I know that this is Taylor Mae (and not Pepper Ann)? Because she let me take this photo. Pepper Ann only tolerates men, for whatever jacked-up reason, and I don't qualify.

My cousin is a veterinary technician, and she is always bringing home injured, abandoned, or otherwise misfit critters (witness Woody the Woodchuck, who weighed at least 15 pounds and had not a single hair on his pink ass). She has the sad, unfortunate job of going to help with her county's euthanizations once a week; if I'm not mistaken, Taylor Mae was in the queue that day. How Beth chooses which animals she takes home to the Farm of Misfit Critters, I'll never know. I could never choose; I want to save them all, even though I know I can't.

Love a stray; neuter & spay!

Blogiversary Giveaway & Woofday Wednesday

Happy blogiversary to me! I've been at this for a year now, at a pretty steady pace. Amazing to me, really, considering how many times life takes a detour around here. There's lots of new stuff to take in. A new format (not permanent, just until Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 becomes available at the end of March & I can work on a new banner), a new blogroll, a new promise (the iReply movement... it's simple... if you comment, I will reply, either here or by email). Let me know what you think.

Anyway, here's how my blogiversary giveaways are working this week. Every day has a different cool thing to be given away. Each day that there are twenty comments, I will randomly choose from that day's commenters to give away that day's item(s). Today, to go with our Woofday Wednesday theme, I will be drawing to give away a package of Greenies and a sample of Pet Promise dog food. It's what we feed our dogs. It's all-natural, and it guarantees no pet byproducts in its ingredients (no hair, bone, toenails, or euthanized shelter animals in this food!).

For Woofday Wednesday, we have a guest: Sparky, my parents' dog. Sparky is the world's most loving dog. In fact,I have never met a more gentle-spirited dog, and I have met a LOT of dogs. I find it ironic that he looks as if he has a bully breed of some sort mixed into his DNA, but he is a lover, not a fighter.

Sparky wandered up to my parents' place, attached to a chain and bloody from some kind of attack. The vet said it looked like feline bite marks, so his best guess was that Sparky was attacked by a bobcat. His neck was also raw and scarred from that chain around his neck. He was pitiful. Wherever Sparky lived before he came to live with my folks was not a good place to live; he is terrified of storms and firecrackers and loud noise in general. 

Love a stray; neuter & spay!

Woofday Wednesday--Soot & Ash

This is Soot & Ash. They are my cross to bear as an individual who takes in the unwanted. They are the ones I couldn't save. They followed my husband home while he was out jogging one day. They were the sweetest dogs, but they were big dogs, the biggest we'd ever taken in, and the kids... well, the kids weren't so big. When it came time to walk dogs, Soot & Ash would be so excited they would knock the kids over like bowling pins. When the gate was opened to the backyard, one or both would streak out & take off for an adventure, which would cause us to have to follow them and haul them back home, usually wet & muddy.

It was too much to handle for us at the time. We'd had them spayed, we tried the obedience classes, but they never got any calmer. It was an agonizing decision, because we loved them (even though I admit I jokingly called them Shit and Ass when I was irritated). I cried and cried when we took them to the animal shelter. I keep telling myself that labs & lab mixes are one of the most popular dogs & that someone adopted them because they were so sweet. But the fact is that I don't know that for sure, and it still troubles me, even after four-and-a-half years.

I miss you, girls.

Love a stray; neuter & spay!

Meowy Monday--Tybee

You've already met all my beautiful kitties, but I'm far from finished introducing you to the fabulous felines my family has found over the years.

This is Tybee, my sister's cat. Middle calls her "Moonrock," because he says she looks like an alien. I don't remember much about her origins, but I believe she was born a barn kitty. I do remember that she was once small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.

Love a stray; neuter & spay!

Woofday Wednesday--Nibbles

The story of how Nibbles joined our family is a sweet one but one that gives testament to the absolute disregard for animals that some people have. In late 2000, we had an ice storm that knocked out power all over our town. We decided to go out to eat for dinner, and as we passed Fairview Park, in the dusk I spotted a little dachshund struggling through the ice & snow. We stopped to pick him up, and he was so sweet and so cold. I wrapped him in my sweatshirt, and we began to drive through the neighborhood to find this little guy's home. On our second try, we found "home;" this angel's name was Rusty. We expected his family to be grateful or worried about him; instead, they simply said that he had been gone since that morning (eight hours in the snow & ice), and they figured he would come home on his own. They also had two other dogs that they said didn't really like Rusty. We sadly left, and for the rest of the evening we talked about Rusty and his terrible family. The next day, we went to his house & asked if we could take him home with us: it was a bittersweet moment, as they rather quickly let us have him. We changed his name to "Nibbles," and since that day, he has always been so humble and loving and grateful.

A couple of sad things that we've not been able to  overcome in the seven years we've had him: he still cringes when you reach for him, even to pet him, and he still treats all food as if he were starving, nipping fingers and growling for his spot at the dish.

He now has degenerative disc disease, common for dachshunds. Cold weather makes his back ache like arthritis, so he now stays indoors. We have to lift him up and down from high objects (like beds or sofas).

He is truly a "Mama's Boy." He makes the greatest grunts and whines and howls. He is a little spoiled and as a result is a pain, but after coming from the family he came from, it's all good.

Love a stray; neuter & spay!

Meowy Monday--Rosie

Last week, you met my kitty soul mate, Gilda. This week you meet her sister, Rosie, who looks a whole lot like Gilda; many people get them confused until they get to know the sisters. Rosie is Eldest's kitty; she is never far from her at all. She is quite talkative when she wants something, and although Circus terrorizes her frequently, she always gets respect at the food dish for some reason. She is truly the sweetest-natured cat we have.

When we went to adopt a cat from the rescue group, there were so many beautiful kitties to choose from, but my heart went out immediately to these two that looked alike and were in the same cage. It was obvious they were sisters, and I really felt torn; I asked if Hubby would mind getting both, he said okay, and they were mine.

Their naming process is one I've made scrapbook pages about. They have had so many names. Their adoption certificates say Annabelle and Annalise. Those names just did not really suit them. So for a while, we called them Pink and Red, for the colors of the collars they were wearing. We noticed that one stayed close to us, but one of them shied away from people in general, so they became Hither and Yon. The kids couldn't remember those, as they were very young. So we tried Nearly and Farly. Those names were too comical; these were more regal cats than comical, though, and those wouldn't do, either. After searching the internet I found a site dedicated to naming pairs of animals. Coming across their names, I knew immediately they were the ones for our kitties. And thus they became Rosencrantz & Gildenstern, a.k.a. Rosie & Gilda.

Truth be told, Rosie is the cat I chose that day. If we hadn't decided not to split the sisters up, I would not have found my kitty soul mate. A note of advice for anyone considering splitting up a pair: don't.

Love a stray; neuter & spay!

Meowy Monday--Gilda

Now that I'm somewhat back on schedule, let's get back to another love-- cute, cuddly, fuzzalicious kitties!

You've met one set of our sister kitties, Sapphire and Circus. Today, I present one-half of our other set of sister-kitties.

After Poogan came into the house, I decided it was missing some feline fancy, so I asked to get a cat. As a testament to his love (he was an avowed cat-disliker... not quite a hater, but, well... you get the picture), Hubby went with me to look at the rescues available at PetSmart through the local SPCA. Among all the beautiful kitties, there were two that really caught my eye. They were beautiful brown long-haired tabbies, they were in the same cage, and they were nearly identical. One was aggressively seeking love and rubs, while the other one gracefully let her sister take the limelight. I simply could not make up my mind. Luckily, Hubby came through and suggested we take them both, because had I had to decide, I would never have found my kitty soul-mate.

Gilda (short for Gildenstern, which I will explain next week, when you'll meet Rosencrantz) is definitely my cat and my cat only. Anyone who says cats don't display loyalty like dogs has never met this cat. She is the softest cat I've ever met, she sleeps next to my head every night, and we are like peas & carrots.

Gilda recently inexplicably lost about 30% of her body weight with no other symptoms whatsoever. After several blood panels, two ultrasounds, an endoscopy, a possible cancer, and a several-month-long regime of steroids, there is still no real explanation. It seems that eight pounds is her new "normal", as opposed to twelve. Bizarre, but I have decided to just go with it; I was worried so long that she was going to die, but now I just want to concentrate on how well she lives.


Love a stray; neuter & spay!

Woofday Wednesday--Marshmallow

Marshmallow has been with us for a little under a year. We found her in February running up a busy street with a television cable tied around her neck. That's how her "loving" owners kept her contained, by tying her up with a TV cable. She'd chewed through it and was running free, with no collar to be found. Eldest suggested her name because she's colored just like a toasted marshmallow.

She's the largest dog we have, at 40 pounds, and she's so hyper that she's a handful lots of times. It's amazing how friendly she is, considering her former living situation. She was still a puppy when we found her, so when she gets bored, she chews stuff up. She ate the hammock in the back yard. Ate it right off the frame. She's not picky; she'll chew on wood, plastic, or metal alike.

My favorite thing about Marsha is that one blue eye and how she "talks" to you, in short little howls. When she was in heat (right after we found her, so we couldn't spay her right away), and still sometimes at night, she'll start a dog symphony with long, wolf-like howls. I love to hear that.

Love a stray; neuter & spay!