Meet Mishka!

Meet Mishka, he's our new addition. Mishka is 10 years old and was given up by a friend who has become too ill to care for him. He is a beautiful Siberian Forest Cat and so far is fitting in well.

Compared to my other cats, he is a giant! Even though he only weighs about 15 pounds, he is so very long and tall. When he stretches out, he covers the entire length of our dining room table!

Really Cool Owl and Cat Video!

Location, Location, Location

Some very unscrupulous real estate agents have given some very bad advice to a family of squirrels in our neighborhood. You see, they have built their nest in the top of a very spindly carrotwood tree in the middle of my back yard. Let me rephrase that- her back yard ( see photo below).

This is Spirit, my very active, determined and lethal Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Nothing and I mean nothing, lives for more that ten minutes if it walks, climbs, or falls in her yard. This also includes the first six feet of air space above ground as well.

I see the squirrels here fall out of trees and off power lines all the time when they are racing about and playing. I have this sick feeling that any baby squirrels way up in that tree that venture out to play, will not live to see puberty.

She already knows they are there. I can see her pacing the ground under the tree with her nose in the air. I suppose it's too late to talk them into moving to a safer neighborhood, they will probably loose their escrow deposit.

Why I Now Need a Dishwasher

My excuse for not doing dishes and why I desperately need a dishwasher!

Even though my son is five, it's still just the two of us and I have been able to keep up with the dishes, until now.

Our eight month old kitten "Bug", has other ideas about the kitchen sink.

He won't even move if I turn the water on!

Mr. Bug is one funny cat! Meanwhile, I'll just keep wishing for an appliance fairy.

Is My Butt on Fire?

It was 38 degrees here this morning with a wind chill advisory in effect. "Here" would be South Florida. While I spend most of the fall bitching about never having cold weather for the holidays and having to spend Christmas with the air conditioning on, I'm always surprised when we really do get a cold front. Not cold by most standards of course, but still I'm never prepared.

This morning I had to get up and go walk dogs in flannel pajama pants, Crocs with socks and two T-shirts covered by an old flannel shirt. Thankfully, the rest of the world never sees me during my rounds (except maybe the nosy neighbors of the homes I'm pet sitting for).

My son on the other hand, is always better dressed than mom. He actually got some warm sweat pants for Christmas (thank you KT!) and has a sweater to match. He even had on matching socks and sneakers!

The one thing I am very grateful for is that my car is always prepared. I discovered last winter that my car had heated seats. I've own the car for five years now and found the button by accident. I must of hit it by mistake while trying to do something else. All I know is I was riding along and suddenly my butt was on fire! Or so I thought. I pulled over off the road, got my son out of the car and waited for it to blow up.

Nothing happened. I didn't smell smoke, nothing was melting, so I decided to investigate.
That's when I noticed the little icon on my dash that was suppose to look like a seat, with a red light next to it. There was a matching icon and light on the right side of the dash. Huh? I touched the passenger seat and it was cold, so I turned the button on.

Low and behold, the seat got warm.

How could I have owned this car for five years and never known this?! My butt, not to mention my aching back was angry and thrilled at the same time. Ever since then, I have taken full advantage of this wonderful and self indulgent feature. I'm not much of a car enthusiast (I just need one that works) but this thin skinned South Floridian with no clothes would like to shake the hand of the person who invented heated car seats!

*Photo Credit:US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Clara is Here For Christmas

This is Clara. I wanted to be sure she was going to live before I posted a photo. She is 12 weeks old now and doing well. It was touch and go for a while but I think she's out of the woods for now.

The only thing is, she is tiny! I mean teacup tiny. Clara is 3 months old and barely 2 1/2 pounds. She is very active however and something of a clown. I laugh all day watching her play, which is good for me, I can always use more laughter.

On another sad note however, I think the last of my very old cats, is going to leave me soon. Merlin is 19 now and not doing well this weekend. He seems comfortable but not eating much. I fear his kidneys have finally come to the end. I will not let him starve and euthanize if needed.

Merlin is the last of the kittens I took home when I first started working in veterinary medicine. Kittens come and old cats leave, such are the seasons of life.

Meet Mr. Grasshopper

We have a new kitten! This is Grasshopper, Bug for short.

He is a 12 week old British Shorthair.

My veterinarian friend asked me if I would consider adopting him because he was born without patella on one leg and a luxated one on the other leg.

So far he gets around fine and can even jump up to the bed. He's quite a character and keeps

my son busy playing hide and seek!

How to Keep a Good Pet Sitter

As you know by my profile, I'm a pet sitter. I have been doing this for a very long time, along with my vet tech work in earlier days. While I know it may be hard to find a good pet sitter, here is my tongue in cheek (not really) list of ways to keep a good pet sitter! I know this post has nothing to do with menopause other than the fact that I'm feeling bitchy today.

1. When you agreed to leave payment on the kitchen counter, don't instead leave a note saying how you were a little short on vacation spending cash, so you will "pop" the check in the mail when you get home. Chances are your sitter has budgeted that payment towards this weeks groceries for her family.


2. Don't leave without telling your sitter you recently changed the locks forcing her to use the doggy door. Of course this only works if you own a Great Dane anyway!


3. Please, please, please do not forget to mention your Uncle Billy sometimes stops by with his girlfriends to use the pool.....naked!


4. Don't forget to close the doors leading to anywhere in your home the diabetic cat can hide when it's time to get his insulin. This will result in your sitter re-arranging all the furniture in your house looking for said cat only to find he is up inside your king size bed's torn open box spring and isn't going to get his insulin at all. This will next result in a phone call to you requesting you return home as your cat will most likely not survive two weeks without his insulin.


5. Make sure to leave all sex toys in a secure spot where your dog will not find them and request a game of impromptu tug-a-war with your sitter.


6. Please inform nosy old Mrs Jones next door that it's ok for your sitter to walk around the outside of your home inspecting the premises and not to call the police (especially if she sees said sitter climbing through the doggy door).


7. During hurricane season, don't expect your sitter to put up your 35 plus shutters for no extra charge.


8. Don't asked your sitter to "as long as your here" run the vacuum.


9. Don't think your helping your sitter gain new clients by referring her to your crazy Aunt with 27 cats, 8 dogs (all Chihuahuas who pee on the floor), 4 parrots (who bite), 3 rabbits and a ferret. All of which she cooks "special" diets for. There is not enough pay in the world to make that job worth it!


10. If you arrive home early and forget to tell your sitter (who shows up at 7am), please don't ask her to join you for coffee in your underwear. Expect to be charged for the visit regardless.

Believe it or not, all these things have happen to me over the years, sometimes more than once!

Farewell My Sad Faced Friend.

My "Blue" dog has left us now.

Happy trails forever Blue!

1999-2009

Big Yellow Dog

This is my yellow lab "Blue"

This week I got some bad news, he has lung cancer.

It is not the kind of cancer that there

is any beneficial treatment for.

So we are spending our last days in the garden, playing and digging. We hope to have a few more weeks together.

Easter Eve

It’s 10pm Easter Eve and my son has finally fallen asleep. I have put together his Easter basket and now it goes back in the closet until after our pet sitting rounds in the am.

We had to do this at Christmas too, no time to stop and open gifts when there are dogs waiting to go out all over town.

Our holidays are not the same as most folks. Since most of my pet sitting clients are special needs animals (I’m also a vet tech) on medications, we make multiple visits to check on them during the day, so holiday meals and schedules are worked in around the animals. For my son who is four, it has always been this way. He knows that we go feed the pets first and Santa/Easter Bunny, comes while we are gone.

For me, it’s hard because this was not the way I envisioned holiday mornings with my son but then again, much of my life is not the way I envisioned it. Running my own business is what allows me to be at home with my son so I’m grateful for that. I doubt I will be doing this forever, but for now it sort of works.