Sidetracked Charley

Thicke and Quentin A lot of people my age are shedding their pets or at a minimum not replacing them. Yes, they may well out live me but what would live be without them. And the good news is more people are adopting older pets. Cats and dogs whose owners moved on or just into a care facility. I imagine a time when senior homes are more open to letting pets come too. Admittedly not two dogs and three cats like at my house. But when I look back over my pet history not many lived to the full extent of their lives. Yes, Mariah made it to 14. Which for a German Shepherd I full expected to die at nine was extraordinary. But her puppy, Maddy, developed a virulent and aggressive spinal cancer at five. It took me a month to come to terms with having to let her go. Other dogs fell from one cause or another around five to 8. But my standard poodle is now 15 and a half. The grand dame of canines. Magique, my labradoodle, is 11.  She will really miss Mardi and so in part the kittens are ...

Kittens on the window sill Transitions are never easy in life. There is something about the human animal which is happiest when change is not required. Probably why people go to Florida where there are not even seasons to consider. I love spring generally but no sooner had Thicke and Quent come into my life and the weather turned awful. I could not even go out to the garden to escape their antics. If, as an older person, you have no memory of kittens let me say they are educational and entertaining. I can now identify the sounds for approximately 100 different items being knocked over or pushed off of something. Including the television set. Which let to the new use for duck tape which comes in several colors and decorator patterns. Knowing what was pushed off helps you deduce what it was pushed off of.  I have decided kittens are a mental training program. Latest technical upgrade also available for computer screens Taking care of a friend's kitten led to the dis...

I and my family of fur pets have been out of balance for more than three months. I do not know if it is my PTSD effecting my fur kids or the loss of Scrappy effecting my pets who are effecting me or if it is a dynamic spiral. I do know it was depressing because I take a lot of comfort from my fur kids and they just were not providing it. Wee Willow went into stomp and meow mode. This is a cat I honestly thought for years could not meow because she never did. Until we lost The Darkness. Willow literally only stopped meowing when she was asleep. I figured she needed a new pal so brought Scrappy into the house. It was not an immediate solution but she went from meowing at me to hissing at him until one day they were fast friends and kitty bed buddies. Scrappy fit into studio life wonderfully and the house calmed down. Until Scrappy's violent death on December 20th. Life has been anything but normal since. Wee Willow went back to stomping and meowing and I tried to pretend it w...