Furry Children

Growing up on the farm, I befriended more than my fair share of the four-legged employees. Inevitably, there came a day when a "pet" appeared on the table in the form of a meal.  Despite the troubling experience, I still ate the food prepared for me and eventually, I became accustomed - desensitized may be more accurate - to the process of both working with and caring for animals that ultimately ended up at the dinner table.

The thought of animals as companions only was not a foreign concept, however. We owned several dogs and cats that shared our household.  For a brief part of college and the several years of Vermont apartment life, I did not have animal roommates. Now, though, I find myself with two cats and one dog (plus a tank teeming with guppies) and I am feeling  more like a "parent" as I referee their interactions and prevent broken belongings.

For several years, I enjoyed (for the most part) the dynamics between Scooby and Lilly, which were isolated incidents of "wrestling" and Lilly chasing Scooby.  With the addition of Ziva, the barn rescue kitten, it has changed the household completely.  She definitely has a personality, and Lilly and Scooby each interact with her in their own way.  

Lilly loves wrestling with Ziva, and despite the David-and-Goliath nature of the match-up, Ziva seems to enjoy it as well. In fact, I heard her purr as she bites, claws and twists to get away from the dog. Lilly tends to initiate contact with the kitten. Scooby, on the other hand, tries to avoid the kitten at all costs. Recently I did see him willingly chase her.  I haven't decided if it is out of playfulness or maliciousness yet.  The following photo was taken just after he hit her in the face, but he doesn't look overly upset.

Is there a grace period for resolutions?

Feeling guilty that I haven't been blogging lately, I decided to review all of my "new year's resolutions" while I thought of it. I haven't written 1000 words a day yet; missed blogging last week altogether; exercised for 30 minutes a day an average of six days a week (although it's been low intensity); attended church once this month; did some research on teacher certification; lost one pound total in the last three weeks; and I blew my monthly budget about a week ago - yikes!


In summary, I have some work to do to make progress with all of my resolutions but it's still early in the year. Even though I may not experience a lot of initial success, I know that things can turn around. There's plenty of time left in 2012!


On an unrelated note, I am very proud to say that Ziva is officially housebroken - thanks to Lilly the Super Sheltie-Aussie.  If I had to use one pet to house train the other, does that make me a horrible pet owner, or a spectacular one?

Training the dog to train the cat

It takes a village to raise a child and a household to raise a pet. We recently added an abandoned kitten to our household, which already consisted of a ten-year-old cat Scooby and a six-year-old Australian Shepherd-Sheltie dog Lilly.  I decided to name her Ziva (yes, in honor of NCIS) and she is a fiery little gray tiger cat.

For the most part, she is a fast learner. She is also quite stubborn, and if there is something she wants to do, she finds a way to do it.  I can't tell you how many times I have removed her from my laptop keyboard, only to have her promptly return. It is, after all, the warmest place to stretch out.  I even saw her get up from another comfortable spot, go running across the room, run up my leg and jump onto the computer as soon as I opened it up.

As a result of her stubbornness (and my admittedly inconsistent instruction), litter box training is not exactly on schedule. She will voluntarily urinate in it, but apparently feels the need to place her feces in the living room. Or the shower, if she is locked in the bathroom during potty break.

It's getting frustrating, and I am trying different methods but I wish she would accept the litter box as an adequate bowel movement receptacle. It's almost sad that my dog is now trained to chase Ziva away from the baseboards in the living room as soon as she begins scratching.  At least one pet has had her intelligence harnessed for good and not evil.

Decisions, decisions...

...to sacrifice sleep for the sake of meeting my daily and cumulative word count, or tackle it fresh tomorrow?  I am inclined to say that I will be ending my NaNoWriMo session short today, and will pick up tomorrow and cover more ground than I have in the last two days.  So, with a small twinge of regret, I have to admit that I am technically behind - on Day 4.  But I am on optimist and know that I have a lot left in me.

I make an effort not to make excuses, but today was a day out of the ordinary therefore, I have that much more confidence I can recover quickly.  We have a new member of the household here. She is a cute, 8-week-old or so, kitten that was abandoned at or near my grandfather's recently.  My mom decided it was too cute and friendly not to rescue.  She has a few health issues that we are addressing, but she and our Australian Shepherd/Sheltie mix dog Lilly are getting along quite well.  I have named the kitten Ziva, and she thoroughly enjoys the "loving" licks and nudges she gets from the dog, even if they are overwhelming at times.  She has also already played with the cat tunnel I purchased.  My other cat, Scooby, does not care for this latest development. All afternoon, he has avoided the area we have kept her and made frequent trips outside.  I am hopeful he will come around and the two can get along.

My 1st Wordless Wednesday: Baby, It's Cold Outside