She’s 11 weeks

Our little GraycieRoo is eleven weeks old today. She’s sporting a new collar and bell, and is getting into more and more trouble.

She’s finally gotten to a point where she isn’t trying to catch, chase, or eat the bell that’s hanging from her collar. However, she thinks the garland hanging on our TV stand, is a play toy. Every time we leave the house, she tears it down and rolls around on the floor with it. She carries it around in her mouth, like a comet shooting across the floor with its long tail.

I don’t fully understand the relationship between her and Ebony. The reason we started looking for another kitty, was because we felt Ebony needed a buddy. Unfortunately, ever since Graycie arrived, he’s looked nothing but annoyed. She follows him around, everywhere, and it’s obvious he gets tired of it. She grabs onto his legs as he’s walking by her, and sometimes when he’s just sitting still, she will come up in front of him and throw her arms around his neck like she’s hugging him. It’s absolutely adorable, but I know he is annoyed. He has several little scabs on the back on his neck. When I try to look at them, he pulls away.

Is Graycie hurting Ebony? I see them sleeping together, sometimes, and Ebony spends a LOT of time licking Graycie. When I see this stuff, I have to assume they’re getting along and that Ebony doesn’t hate Graycie, right? Maybe he is just putting up with her to make Mom & Dad happy?

Graycie Roo

Graycie Roo

She’s the newest member of our family. An 0.8lb medium-haired gray tabby kitten, that is full of energy.

She fits right into our family. Perfectly.

Because she is so tiny, it’s often we find her in small, tight spaces. We can usually figure this out because Ebony will be standing near her, staring at the space wondering when she will come out. Or perhaps he’s wondering if he can get in there.

For the first few days, we kept them separate because Ebony was not at all happy about having another cat in the house. He would try to attack her and scare her. Thankfully, she didn’t know any better, because she had never seen another big cat before, so didn’t know she needed to be scared, and she would just walk away from him. Eventually he came around, and I’m proud to say, Ebony is tolerating her.

Ebony is constantly grooming her, and it’s more times than not, that they’re cuddled up together. My heart is so happy with these two. It’s full of love and kitty guts.

And because I’ll probably get some questions about it, here’s how we came up with her name:

Well, first and foremost, she’s gray.
Secondly, she has these really long, solid white, back feet that look like rabbit feet. One day, she was kicking a ball with her back feet, and it made her look like a kangaroo. Remember baby Roo from Winnie the Pooh? Well, he’s little, she’s little. It just works.

Graycie Roo

A Kitten is Born

I mentioned in my last post that a coworker of mine works closely with a local animal rescue, and she recently rescued these little kittens from a house with horrible conditions.She knows that I wanted to get Ebony a friend or sibling, so when she mentioned to me that she had three little kittens, I knew I had to see them.

Because they were only about three weeks old, and desperately needed to see a Vet, we knew it best that she keep them until they are old enough to legally be released, and of course, healthy enough.

I’m proud to say, SS has given in and this cute little grey & white kitten will be coming home with us in just a few weeks.

#SaveAllTheKitties
#KittyLivesMatter

My Kitty

National Cat Day

I know, I know. They have a day for everything. I don’t usually buy into this stuff, except maybe Pizza day because SS loves it, but today, I thought it would be nice to celebrate my kitty. He will be getting a special treat for dinner tonight.

Ebony: The Alarm Clock

SS and I have a pretty steady routine about how we do things. It’s the same every day. Because of this, Ebony has apparently adapted his internal clock to this routine, and when we don’t do something at a specific time, he lets us know. Here’s what I mean…

Every night at 10pm, SS cleans the litter box and takes it out to the trash. He takes Ebony with him when he goes, so that Ebony can chase crickets in the hallway. This is Ebony’s outside/hunting time. If there’s a night when we are busy and not quite ready to do the litter at 10pm, the cat will stand by the front door and meow, loudly, until one of us get annoyed.

SS gets home from work between 6:30p and 6:45p. At this time, the cat is typically given his dinner. If SS has been home for ten mintues, and hasn’t fed the cat, he will absolutely let you know. He will stand in the middle of the living room, right in front of you, and meow. Loudly.

On and Saturday or Sunday morning, Ebony is literally in our face at the normal time SS’s alarm goes off. My alarm is set for a different time every day, so I guess SS’s is easier for him to understand. Either way, this cat IS our alarm clock.

Ebony: The Hunter

One of Ebony’s favorite things to do, is sit out on the ledge of the balcony, and look around at all the other animals and people that walk by. There’s a little girl that lives a few doors down, that loves to talk to him.
Sunday morning, SS and I are watching TV, when Ebony suddenly runs into the house with something in his mouth. I couldn’t tell what it was because the coffee table was blocking my view, but SS could see and jumped up yelling, “He’s got a BIRD in his mouth!” He was strutting around so proud of himself, until SS yelled. He instantly dropped the bird and cowered down as if he was scared. SS never yells like that, so he just didn’t know how to react.

SS grabbed the bird with a paper towel and took it outside. It was lifeless, just staring at him, with one leg dangling. There was no blood, but this bird was clearly not well. It wasn’t even moving.

Several mintues later, I went outside to see where SS went, and he was standing by the dumpster with a look of fear on his face. He knew he needed to put this bird out of its misery, but just couldn’t actually do the task. Let’s be real. SS is a sensitive soul.
I stood there, tears streaming down my face like a faucet, and told him to just put it down and let it die naturally. Maybe a bigger bird would come get it, and the food chain cycle would continue. I walked back into the house.

A few minutes later, he came back into the house with a smile. He said the bird flew away when he put it down. I couldn’t stop crying, so had a really hard time believing that it could have happened that way, but he swears up and down that the bird flew away. So, I have to believe him. And trust him.

I’m not mad at Ebony. He did nothing wrong. For him to be able to get that bird, the bird would have had to come down into the balcony. At that point, he thinks it’s just another cricket prey in his eyeline.

SS and I have talked about getting another cat. SS isn’t completely sold on the idea, which is why we are still in talks, but I would like Ebony to have a friend. A coworker fosters animals, and right now, she has a cute little grey & white kitten on which I’ve got my eye. The litter was rescued from horrible conditions, and she was one of the lucky ones to make it out safely. I’d like to give that little girl a loving home. And since a dog isn’t really the best option for someone that isn’t home all day, and doesn’t have a yard, I can’t give in to SS’s want of one. It’s just not realistic.

Until next time…

A Trip to the Vet

A few weeks ago, I noticed that Ebony was sneezing. I decided to go ahead and make an appointment with the vet, in order to avoid it turning into something more. Plus, we knew nothing about the shot history or even age. It was just the right thing to do.

After the vet did her exam, we were shocked to hear that Ebony was actually a neutered male. Whaaaaaaat?? We had spent months calling him ‘she’ and ‘her’, and now we had to completely flip that and start saying ‘him’ and ‘he’.

We also found out that she was microchipped, and the chip was registered to a woman. We contacted the microchip registry and they told us they will attempt to contact the registered owner for four days, and if they get no response, Ebony would be legally ours. SS and I were very sad to know that there was a strong chance someone would respond and want him back. It actually made us cry.

We waited the required four days and never heard a peep. Nobody called, emailed, or texted. She was legally ours. Now, we need to figure out how to change the chip registry to us, which is proving harder than originally thought. Grr!

Lost Cat

It’s Summertime, and you know what that means?

That means warm temperatures, weekend picnics, and trips to the beach. It also means that RJ and Lil’ SS are visiting.

A couple of days ago, RJ and Lil’ SS went to take the trash out. As they were coming back, a black cat caught up with them and started following them. As they were about to walk up the stairs to get to our place (garages are below us so our first floor is actually the second floor), the cat ran past them and beat them to the top of the stairs. He stood there waiting as if he was saying, “Come on!” No idea where the cat came from, but it was determined to come to our house.

At first, he layed outside our front door on the welcome mat. Because I have such bad cat allergies, SS and the kids gave it water and hung out with it. It seemed very tired, as all it wanted to do was lay down. It didn’t have the coat of an outdoor cat, and with ears as clean as they were, I knew this had to belong to someone. This wasn’t a stray cat.

After about a half hour of the kids going in and out the front door, they decided to go ahead and let it in the house. Remember, I have cat allergies, so I was against this the entire time. However, when there are three other people in the house that are voting against you, it’s harder than you think to come out the victor.

After the cat took a really long nap, we decided it best to put it back outside and allow it to go back to where it came from. Everyone was sad, but we knew we couldn’t keep it. It just wasn’t our cat.

About an hour later, SS decided to go downstairs and look around to see if he could find the cat. He walked all around, when suddenly it came wandering out from under one of the cars in a garage. According to the people that live there, the cat didn’t belong to them, so Lil’ SS came down and took the cat back to our place. A few hours later, SS and I found ourselves at the local PetSmart buying a litter box, litter, food, and a matching bowl set that SS just had to have.

The cat ended up staying the night. She slept with Sis most of the night. (Sis is in town for the weekend for a concert her and I went to. Will post details about that later.)

Day 2 - the cat seems to be very comfortable. Used the litter box during the night, and ate quite a bit for breakfast before using the litter box again. I think it’s safe to say she’s happy.

Day 3 - she snuck out the patio door when SS went to water one of the plants. She jumped up onto the ledge and acted as if she wanted to jump down, so when SS left for work, we decided it best to just let her out. She had a home somewhere else that she was likely wanting to get back to, and we weren’t going to prevent her from doing it. What if there was a little girl crying somewhere because her kitty is gone?

About 20 minutes later, I decided I’d go for a little walk around the area she originally came from. I looked all around, but never saw her. I went ahead and headed back home, but when I reached the stairs to our place, I saw this at the top…

So, she’s back at our house. The kids keep a good eye on her, so she doesn’t do things like this…

For now, we have a cat living with us. And we’ve named her Ebony.
We will keep an eye out for signs advertising a lost cat, but until then, she will get a lot of love from us.
Okay, maybe from SS and the kids.

 

One Fish, Two Fish, Old Fish, New Fish.

A little over three weeks ago, we lost our very awesome Betta Fish, Indy. He was an amazing fish. He would follow our finger around the glass, as if he was targeting his mark like a trained dog. He would jump up out of the water to catch pieces of food, as if he was a hungry Great White Shark. Simply put, he was the best fish I’ve ever had.

We started to notice he was laying on the bottom of the tank, which wasn’t his MO. It was the exact opposite of his normal. He would wave his little fins at us when we’d walk up to the tank as if he was trying to tell us he was still alive, just barely. After about 24hrs of this, we started to notice that he wasn’t even coming up to the top of the tank for air. We would watch him try to swim to the top, but ultimately fall back down without even getting all the way up. It was painful to watch.

We noticed his scales were not laying flat on his body anymore, and that he had taken on the shape of a strange looking pinecone. By this time, it had been about three days since he’d eaten. We lowered the water level in the tank so that he didn’t need to swim up so high, but it continued to be a struggle until he just couldn’t come up anymore.

Constipation, kidney failure, or Dropsy, we’re not sure.

We read about several different things to do to help save him, but after about four days of trying, he finally succumbed to whatever was killing him. I found him at the bottom of the tank when I came home for lunch, and his little fins weren’t moving to greet me. Although I knew it was only a matter of days, it broke my heart and I immediately fell to the ground in tears. I could barely see the numbers on the phone through the tears, but when SS answered the phone, he knew why I was calling. I couldn’t form words, it was just sounds coming out. I could hear him crying on the other end, and that made it so much worse for me.

It took us a couple of weeks to be able to talk about him without crying, and when that happened, we went ahead and got another one. He’s a completely different color, so hoping he brings a different kind of vibe to our home.

Meet Turq.

 

 

Poodle Visit

Guess who made a surprise visit to see me?

Yes, that’s the one and only #UdonThePoodle !!!

The trainer he lives with, made a trip up to our ranch to video a couple of dogs for an upcoming shoot, and she mentioned she could bring him along for a little one-on-one time.

I wasn’t about to turn that down, so a play date is what I got.

A Day at the Zoo

How many times, as a child, did you go to a zoo? How many times, as an adult, have you gone to the zoo?

Let me tell you something. No matter your age, the zoo is an AWESOME and FUN place to hang out! Especially when the zoo is across the street from the beach!

From the Penguins…..

…to the Elephants….

…and everything in between, each and every animal we saw, made us smile.

What’s your favorite zoo animal? Mine was the elephants. I could stand there all day and watch them do whatever they plan on doing for the day. Even if it’s just eating from a tall tree.

Our original reason for going to the zoo was to take the annual Anniversary photos of Sis and Squid. Every year, it’s somewhere different. This year, was the zoo.

 

After our morning at the zoo, we wandered over to the beach, and did a little toe-dipping. SS and Lil’ SS, climbed down some rock, and headed towards the water. Perfect way to end the day near the beach.

 

How did you spend YOUR weekend? Hopefully it was just as much fun!

 

15 Days of Happiness–Day One

 

Day One.

I received a call yesterday from my previous boss at The Ranch, saying they neeeeeeeded me to come in and help because the person that replaced me, just hasn’t been able to keep up fast enough. Surprise, surprise.
Being the wonderful person I am, with my amazing ability to go in and take care of weeks worth of stuff in four hours, I agreed to help assist the office for the next two weeks. Call me crazy, but I just don’t want to see the place fail. It was my home away from home for so long, I feel I owe it to them to at least do what I can to help. Plus, having a small paycheck is better than none. ;)

So, today, the thing that made me happy, was being back at my old stomping ground. MsNscr to the rescue!

 

SS’s daughter tagged along today, because she just can’t seem to get enough of the dogs and cats at her own home.  ;-)
Licking cats are what made her happy today….

 

Are you playing along? Leave a link in the comment section if you are so we can check it out.

See you tomorrow!

Always make time for fun

While we were out of town for Grandma’s funeral, we decided to take some time and play. Have to always find time to play. Playing is important.

 

The makeshift swing on a tree branch. My favorite kind.

We played with cousins….

…and King, the three-legged German Shepherd….

…I turned a sneaky kiss into a romantic moment….

…and I allowed this beautiful face to melt my mommy heart….

Family. We may not have it all together, but together, we have it all.

 

New kitties

We’ve acquired a couple of new Egyptian Mau kitties for an upcoming project. The project doesn’t shoot for a few more months, so in the meantime, these guys have full run of the house at which they’re staying.

Meet MauMau….

 

And Luxor…

 

Can’t wait to share some of the work they’ll do. #FutureCatStars

 

 

When the love of a dog takes the pain away

Pain. It can be described in so many ways. A physical suffering. An emotional suffering. Or even a laborious effort that sometimes goes unnoticed. No matter the way you feel it, it’s real, and it’s in everyone.

I went in to the doctor for a female procedure yesterday, and the cramping it causes, is painful. Not so painful that I walk hunched over like an old man with weights in his pockets, but a pain nonetheless. An uncomfortable one that has mentally talked me into not going to work. This pisses SS off to no end, but ultimately it’s my decision, and when it comes to my body, I’m the boss. No matter what.

This handsome, freshly groomed Poodle, is the best bed cuddler ever. He sneaks in between SS and I, and when he lays his head on our pillows, we just can’t help but feel our hearts melt. (We only allow this when he is groomed and clean.)
While cuddling this morning, it made me think about the dog I had as a child. She was a Beagle/Lab mix, and saved me a number of times from a bad situation. You see, my Dad would throw his cigarette butts out into the lawn in the backyard when he was done smoking them. Me, not knowing any better and assuming they were okay because my Dad was putting them in his mouth, would find them and put them in MY mouth. That awesome dog, used to take them out of my mouth and lay on them so I couldn’t eat them. Smartest dog ever.

Here’s me with her in the doghouse…..

She really was the best dog ever. We were ALWAYS together.

When I was five, my parents sold their house in the Valley, and moved to a huge 2-story home in a newly developed city called Valencia. You might all know it as the home of Six Flags Magic Mountain. There was very little here at the time, but now, it’s full of cars and people and is ultimately just overcrowded. Definitely not my favorite city anymore.
Not long after moving into that house, the dog somehow hung herself with a leash she was tied off to that afternoon. I can remember coming home from 1st grade and hearing the news. It was heartbreaking for a five-year-old, and the first time I can remember feeling emotional pain.

As the years past, we had other dogs. Labs, German Shepherds, a Cocker Spaniel, and even a Dachshund. And with all those dogs, I never could get close. I never developed a relationship that said we were friends. Sure, I would feed them, and maybe throw a ball once in a while, but didn’t go out of my way to bond with them.

Then I met this guy, and my whole outlook on dogs changed. I never thought a Poodle could steal my heart, but every day when he looks at me with excitement and recognition, my heart flutters and I know it’s true love.

LOVE is a 4-legged word.