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Category Archives: Pets

This was SO not a good morning.

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Yes, I cheated on my diet for three days, but it was a vacation weekend you know? But how the $%*@ did I gain 14# in one week? That is insane. I know my weight fluctuates anyway, but there is no way in hell I gained 14#. I have never ever gained 14# in one week IN MY LIFE.

And Tom? He took Maggie in for a vet appointment at 7:15 this morning. Except that, oh, they meant 7:15 *PM* and never once #%$&@# mentioned that fact. How the hell were we supposed to know they were open this one day until 8pm? That’s not their normal schedule, ever, and 7:15am made a lot more sense than 7:15pm. So Tom waited, in the parking lot, from 7am-8am until they got there, only to have their attitude be “Oh.” No apology or anything.

Our first day at the beach!

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Maggie beach

After being here three years, we finally decided to go to the beach (other than to take out-of-state visitors there to show them the ocean)! We went with a friend of ours (Jen) and her daughter (Isabelle)…and we took Maggie! We had a great time—Jen was thrilled because she actually got to swim (while either Tom or I watched Isabelle), Maggie had fun snarfing in the sand and playing in the water (plus, as a bonus, she got really tuckered out so she slept really well last night), and we all enjoyed an absolutely picture-perfect day with the most perfect weather (I think it may have been 85 at the most). The only downsides are that I lost my sunglasses (I’ve always worn them in the water, but a big wave caught me off guard) and we all got a little red. But, we had a good enough time that we definitely want to go back again!!

Maggie on the loose!

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So we were sitting at the table eating breakfast with Beth (a friend of a friend who spent the night at our house because we got home from the bar quite late) when Tom happens to look out the window and sees Maggie running across the street chasing a cat!

WHAT?

He said “There goes Maggie!” and we both froze for an instant before we jumped into action. I thought he ran out to get her, but he ran out the back so I think he went to see how she got loose (off her chain), and Beth and I ran out the front door to get the dog. I ran onto the porch and yelled her name and she was such a good girl—she came flying back across the street at top speed and right into my arms.

But oh my god, we were so scared! Our poor little baby!

When Tom came in, he said her collar was not latched (I had assumed she pulled it off over her head) but apparently when he put her collar on in the morning, in his morning-after-drinking stupor, he didn’t latch it fully…so when she saw the cat and took off, the collar popped and off she went!

Now we have to see about getting a fence.

The Evil of Maggie

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This is what she does to all her toys—completely chews out the eyes and nose. We have to watch closely, because she will chew up the little pieces and end up swallowing them…plus, once she chews off the plastic bits, she will start pulling at the stuffing. This is the third dead monkey in six months.

Mutilated monkey

This is what she did when we left her on her own all day—before we crated her full time. We would push her crate up against the guest bathroom so she could piddle or poo in there (and not in her crate). Well, she LOVES being in the tub, so over the course of a few days, she ruined everything in there. Of course, we didn’t notice it all at once because she hid things (her brush) and the curtain was closed.

evil maggie monkey

You will notice:

  1. Her toenail scrub brush. It’s made of wood and was originally about 4″ long. Now it’s 2″ long and it looks like a beaver got it (note the pointy end).
  2. The cap to her special $12 oatmeal shampoo. Of course, about 90% of the bottle went down the drain.
  3. Her detachable shower head. She plain chewed it right in half.

Maggie is the hit of the ‘hood.

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So I’m sitting at my computer (as usual) and I see a little girl walking down the street (maybe 4 years old). I hear her yell to her brother (who is farther down the street): “Don’t you want to stop and pet the little dog Maggie?” Her brother yelled back: “Maggie isn’t out right now!”

Everyone loves her—but the kids, especially. Every time she’s out (we often put her on a leash off the back porch) she gets visitors. Sometimes, they’ll come and play with her for like 20-30 minutes! If we take her for a walk, we’re sure to get stopped if the kids are out. One night, we had like four kids over here playing with her.

It’s strange to be known because of our dog… but it is cute!

Fuzzy Update

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Well, he seems to be just fine. He slept with me all night (a big treat, since we usually lock them all up at night) and it doesn’t seem like anything at all is wrong! So, we’re hoping that yesterday was just a fluke.

We did, however, have a fun challenge getting him his meds—he is the biggest frickin’ baby when it comes to anything like that (pills, flea stuff, etc.). It shouldn’t have been hard—a pill dissolved in water given through a syringe (squirted into his mouth). The first dose (last night) went all over me and him but we were successful this morning (although I was sure he was going to spit it out)!

So, we’re keeping our fingers crossed!!

A Fuzzy Scare

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So Tom had today off and called me about 4pm to say that Fuzzy was vomiting up blood! He was scrambling to get The Fuzz into our vet (who didn’t have any openings) or another vet they recommended (they weren’t available!). After about the longest five minutes of my life, he called to say that our vet did make room for him. Tom assured me that Fuzzy looked fine and didn’t appear to be any worse for the wear…but still, I was freaking out, wondering if I should go home to be with him. (After one cat we had that got sick and died within like four hours…I am paranoid about the timeline of emergencies and treatment.) But on Tom’s assurance that Fuzzy really did seem to be fine, I managed to make it through the rest of the day.

They had already been to the vet and back by the time I got home. Tom said that the vet said Fuzzy appeared to be fine—he just felt his innards and didn’t do any bloodwork or tests or x-rays or anything. He said something to the effect of Fuzzy possibly vomiting due to stress of some sort—and if you vomit enough times, eventually blood will come up. So, he gave him a shot of something to calm his stomach, some special moist food with extra vitamins in it, and medicine for the next few days. (I have no earthly idea what could be stressing him out. Nothing in his schedule or life has changed at all in the past month. I thought maybe he ate something that didn’t agree with him and he was just trying to get it out—but he’s never been one to eat strange crap off the floor or anything.)

We’re just keeping our fingers crossed that it was some odd thing that is not going to turn into a serious problem (or isn’t already a serious problem that we’re just not noticing). We love him to death, but there’s just no budget for hundreds or thousands of dollars in vet bills…….

Oh, and the topper of it all?? Guess how much he weighed? You will NEVER ever guess. Ready? 13.8#. THIRTEEN POINT EIGHT POUNDS! From the beefy guy who at one time weighed 24#!! The odd thing is that he doesn’t feel ANY lighter than he ever did! So now he only weighs like 1-2# more than the twins! And about the same as Maggie!

Poor Maggie!

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So she’s been scratching and digging practically since we brought her home. We felt bad for her, but didn’t think all that much about it.

Well, it started to get worse, and the vet recommended we wash all her bedding in dye-free/scent-free detergent (no fabric softener, either!) plus we changed her food to the ultra-expensive all-natural made-from-meat-and-veggies food. And she still itched and scratched herself RAW.

We took her back to the vet and he said it’s probably a food allergy—she’s most likely allergic to chicken! Hoo boy, there’s chicken in her treats, her bones, and of course the Ultra-Expensive Natural Food we just bought 30# of. Plus, he said she can’t have any toys for at least two weeks! He also wants to rule out germs or bacteria as the source (i.e. her saliva on the toys).

So in addition to the poor baby being scratched raw and going through ANOTHER food change (now we’re on an expensive lamb and rice formula)…she has no toys to play with! Which means she drives us nuts and is attacking Boots with more ferocity than ever! She does seem to be itching less, though, so it’s all worth it.

Bad dog. BAD BAD DOG!

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1:37pm

She has never really chewed anything (cords, furniture, shoes, etc.) so we’ve been very lucky. We also do NOT give her anything human-related to chew on (old shoes, toys shaped like shoes, etc.) so imagine our surprise when, after not having seen her for 15 or so minutes, we went looking and……she had a shoe of mine in her mouth! And it was a brand new shoe! Just bought yesterday.

GRRRRRRRR. Bad dog.

The shoes are still wearable, but they’re definitely chewed on. I guess it’s fate’s way of telling me I shouldn’t have bought a new pair of shoes yesterday, eh?

6:02pm

So after she chewed on my shoe earlier today, I put it back in the box and put the top on the box. Yes, I should have actually put the box away, but we’ve been busy around the house all day, plus we took Maggie over to play with Venus (Tom and Karen’s dog). We’ve been continuously busy since we got home from the play date…and just now took a break. Tom went into our bedroom and called out to me “What did you do with your shoes?”

What?

I went in the bedroom and my shoe—the same one she had been chewing on earlier—was OUT OF THE BOX and across the room. That damn kid! She remembered where it was and fished it out of the closed box!! She happened to be in the hallway outside the bedroom when we noticed it, so I took the shoe, held it in her face, and said NO very loudly. She cowered immediately and ran down the stairs—she KNOWS she did something wrong. Then we called her back, hugged her, gave her a treat, but her ears were still back.

Damn dog. If she weren’t so cute and totally adorable, I would be upset with her for longer.

Our fifth cat!

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No, we didn’t actually get another cat. But look at our dog…she just about qualifies as a cat! Here you can see where we found her when we went looking—after we hadn’t seen her or heard her for awhile—all splayed out on our bed in the sunshine! She also LOVES cat beds, cat toys (she plays with them more than the cats do), and she LOVES to cuddle with you. Today we actually took her to PetSmart to get “the works” (shampoo, conditioner, trimmed nails, cleaned ears, brushed teeth) and she smells SO good and is SO clean we don’t want to let her outside to play!

our fifth cat

I hate our neighbor’s dogs!

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Not our next-door neighbor’s dog, but the people who moved in across our back yard.

First, they put up a huge fence around their whole yard to house their two dogs. And when I say “house their dogs” I mean 24/7. Those poor dogs are always out there—they never seem to be let in the house and we never see anyone out playing with them or giving them any attention. We’re TOTALLY not that type of person—we just cannot understand why someone would want dogs if they’re never going to be with them.

Anyway, second, they bark. A lot. All the time, but especially in the mornings. It’s really annoying when I’m trying to get the last few possible minutes of sleep but they’re barking and barking and barking and barking. HELLO? People? Do you not hear your dogs barking? Do something about it! (Yes, they’re home—we can see their cars.)

Third, whenever we take Maggie out to do her business and she hears them barking, she loses all train of thought and wants to get as close as possible to them. So we end up wandering around the yard while she sniffs and listens…and she totally forgets about peeing or pooping.

Grrrrrrrrrr.

Dang Boots!

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We used to be able to leave stuff on the stove/counter and the cats would never touch it. Even if we accidentally left something out overnight, it would not be touched. EVER.

Until now.

Until Boots.

That damn cat is always on the counter and will eat/taste/try ANYTHING. The butter must now always be covered or in the cabinet. I even saw her eat a piece of bread crust the other day. She merely knocked off a coffee bean and started playing. This past weekend Tom made me bacon and pancakes (when you’re sick, you eat whatever sounds good) and left the bacon grease in the pan—as usual. The next morning, there was a little 1″ spot licked clean. ARGH!!!!!

EDITED TO ADD THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS FROM AFTER TONIGHT’S DINNER:

dang boots chicken

dang boots chicken

Here’s something you don’t see every day.

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roosterMaggie looking at rooster

I heard Tom yell my name from the kitchen and when I got there, he said “How often are you going to see that in your back yard?” Yes, folks, we had a rooster strolling through our yard. We have no idea where he came from, as there are no farms (that we know of, anyway) near us. He stayed for probably a half hour or so, just meandering around… and Maggie was going out of her mind! Of course, we were not going to let her out (even on a leash!) so we finally made her come upstairs with us…and even then, she found a way to watch him (out our bedroom window).

Boots is a bad influence!

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Our cats RARELY, if ever, got up on the counters. Every so often the table, yes, but not the counters. They just didn’t. Until now. Until Boots. Boots loves the counters…not necessarily scrounging for something to eat, but just exploring. I’m sure it originated with her jumping up there to escape from the other cats, but now….Charlie and Bella are just as bad! We catch all three of them on the counters at all times. We even saw Bella (I think it was) on top of the cupboards!!! Because Boots had been up there. One day, they were BOTH up there. At the same time.

Goodness.

So, consequently, nothing is safe on the counters. Well, I should have known that after the nail polish episode (the grout is still pink, by the way) but it was solidified this morning when I found our last Atkins chocolate/coconut bar on the ground, torn into, with little bite marks and pieces missing. Thankfully it happened last night, AFTER the dog was in bed, otherwise we might have had more serious issues to deal with.

Gross. Just gross.

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It’s one thing if a cat throws up and the dog eats it. Or even if one cat throws up and another cat eats it (hey, it’s a hot meal)… But when one cat throws up and then immediately eats it? Ewwwwwwwww. That’s just another level of gross altogether.

(No, I refuse to take a picture for this blog entry!)

My Friday Morning

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5:45am—I wake up because Boots is throwing up somewhere in the room. I can see it’s not on the bed so I’m not immediately worried.

5:46am—Debate getting up to find it and clean it up…or sleep until my alarm goes off in half an hour.

6:15am—Alarm goes off. (I normally sleep in until about 7:30 but I’m going to work early so I can get out early!)

6:30am—Drag myself out of bed. The dog is stirring and I need to take her out (normally Tom does this, but he had duty last night).

6:31am—Hope it’s not cold out, as I am in my robe and slippers. (Normally I’m showered and fully dressed when it’s my turn to take her out.)

6:35am—Feed Maggie and take her out. Not cold—yea! And she pees and poops—good girl!! (It’s so pathetic to be excited about this.)

6:37am—Make sure there’s food in the cats’ bowl for when I let them out (see 6:43am).

6:40am—Barricade Maggie upstairs (so she can’t sneak down and eat the cat food) while I take my shower and get ready. I feel safe doing this because she did pee and poop (otherwise, she’d be back in her crate).

6:41am—Step in Boots’ liquid frothy upchuck. Five large piles of dirty clothes on the floor (laundry tonight!) and she manages to vomit on the sliver of carpet between them.

6:43am—Let Fuzzy, Charlie, and Bella out of the living room (they get locked up at night). They barrel me over to get downstairs to their food.

6:55am—Exit shower and Maggie goes in to lick the water.

7:00am—Give Maggie some lovin’. I feel guilty because she was in the crate so long last night since Tom and I were both gone.

7:10am—Find something else to wear, as the pants I planned to wear were dirty.

7:12am—Dig out a pair of sandals, as it’s 62 degrees already—with a supposed high of 74.

7:15am—Fuzzy is whining at me—loudly—while sitting at the food bowl. There’s food there, so I’m not sure what his problem is. I think maybe he doesn’t like their new food (Boots needs special urinary tract health food so they’re all eating it because it can’t hurt) but he’s been eating it for a few days. So I put a second scoop of food in and…now he’s happy. Stupid cat.

7:17am—Make scrambled eggs for breakfast. Six of them. Ugh—I went to put a touch of milk in the first batch and it was, um, clumpy. EWWWWWWWWWWW!!! So those went down the sink and I made sure to use the fresh (unopened) heavy cream for the next batch (which ended up being REALLY yummy).

7:20am—Take Maggie out again while eggs are cooling. Just pee this time, but it’s okay since Tom will be home from duty around noon.

7:22am—Eat breakfast while keeping an eye on Maggie. It makes me nervous when she hasn’t pooped.

7:30am—Crate Maggie.

7:35am—Pack my lunch. While filling a jug with kool-aid, it overfills and spills into the sink. I thank my lucky stars it A) was in the sink and B) didn’t get on my white shirt. (Ironically, see 8:45am.)

7:50am—Arrive at work. Hmmm, boss isn’t here as she said she would be. That means I get to play instead of getting straight to work!

8:45am—While I am typing the 7:35 comment about the kool-aid, I take a moment to grab the kool-aid jug (with the cap on, mind you), and give it a quick tip upside down and back out of habit (to make sure it’s mixed—I hate it when stuff settles on the bottom), take the top off and…kool-aid splashes ALL over the desk. Obviously the cap held quite a bit of kool-aid after my quick tip. But, again, I thank my lucky stars because A) none got on the carpet and B) none got on my white shirt!

8:51am—The boss rolls in. Time to go to work!

Boots Update

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I just talked to the vet and she did pee overnight (phew!). He said she doesn’t have anything medically-treatable, but she does have crystals in her urine. The best treatment right now is to change to a special food (to help prevent crystals) and get her to drink more (by adding broth or water to the food). Part of me is glad it wasn’t something more serious, but part of me wishes it was something that could be fixed with a week’s worth of drugs.

Boots’ Overnight Stay

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Poor little Boots. I took her to the vet this morning to have a urinalysis done—we’ve seen her pee outside the box as well as squat to pee with nothing actually happening (both classic signs of something wrong) but we couldn’t get a sample, the vet couldn’t get near her with the needle (three people holding her down wasn’t nearly enough to get close to her), and after all day at the vet in a cage she still hasn’t peed. If she doesn’t pee overnight, they will have to sedate her to take the sample. Poor little baby.

Houdini Maggie

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So we put her to bed in her crate like we always do, probably around 10 or so. We were in the office with the main door shut to keep the cats in (so Boots can have free reign on the house—we’ve been having her sleep with us lately) and just now Tom heard some scratching on the door. We first thought it was a cat wanting to get out but it was louder than a cat would be so Tom went to the door and—SURPRISE!!—it was Maggie, who came bounding in with the energy of a puppy who just beat all the rules! What the—? How the—? She was zipped in—?

Of course, there was a trail of shredded toilet paper and other bathroom refuse leading to our bedroom. That damn dog somehow managed to UNZIP her crate enough so that she could get out. We’re not quite sure how since the zippers are on the outside…but best we can figure is that she just kept jumping and jumping at it and managed to get it to slide down a fraction at a time. We were so amazed and stupified that we couldn’t help but laugh and not be mad. Needless to say the zipper is now locked down with a caribiner.

Attention Buddies

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After dinner tonight, Maggie was underfoot (as usual) so Tom sat down to play with her. Within mere seconds, Boots (who is also usually underfoot in the kitchen) was up on his lap as well. They both got lovin’ scritchins until the other cats started to wander in and Boots got anxious and jumped off (they still don’t get along AT ALL). But for a few minutes, she was in pure heaven!

Attention Buddies

Attention Buddies

GRRR—sleeplessness

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I can’t believe I’m not exhausted—I only had five hours of sleep last night! I went to bed the first time at 10, tossed and turned wide awake—so got up around 11 and was on the computer until 1:30 (the time just flew!), then went to bed for the second time at 1:30. Then the cats were making noise (Bella found a twistie to play with, Fuzzy was purring crazy-loud next to me, and Boots was meowing downstairs) and Tom was snoring as well. Argh! The last time I looked at the clock it was just after 2… So I suppose the sleepiness will hit me later in the day.

Happy 3-month birthday, Maggie!

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Maggie Birthday

Maggie is three months old today!! She has been growing like a weed—I swear she has doubled in size since we brought her home! She hasn’t quite doubled in weight yet, although she’s trying—she sneaks downstairs to eat the cats’ food quite a bit (the stinker!). We’re STILL working on potty training—just when we start to think she has it down, she’ll pee right outside the paper or we find poop somewhere! Grrrrrrrr. I know, the joys of owning a puppy. But she’s so totally adorable that it makes up for it—and to watch her play with her toys just brings a smile to your face! We are VERY glad we got her…

Pink grout, anyone?

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So tonight Tom goes downstairs to get something and I hear “SONOFABITCH!” Then a moment later: “I’m going to need some help down here…” I can’t for the life of me imagine what it might be…and then I rounded the corner and saw it.

OH.

MY.

GOD.

Red nail polish (actually, OPI’s “I’m Not Really A Waitress” if you must know) and broken glass splattered ALL over the kitchen tile floor! Damn giblets had apparently been up on the island and knocked it off. Yes, I know it was my fault for leaving it there, but damn if it hasn’t been there for a week beforehand with no issues. I hope they were all scared shitless when it happened! That said, thankfully no one had traipsed through it, so we didn’t have to worry about cleaning kitty feet (the dog was with us), the rest of the kitchen, or the carpet.

Anyway, I know nail polish remover probably wasn’t the best thing for the finish on the tiles, but what else can you do when you’re in a major hurry to get it cleaned up (it was already half dry)? I also had to call a neighbor to borrow some because I only had a half bottle. So we started scrubbing and of course the polish came off the tiles beautifully, but the grout is forever stained.

I’m guessing we have to bleach the grout, but we’re going to have to research exactly the best way to do this. If it was just a little spot, I would try using a Clorox bleach pen, but there’s probably (conservatively) ten full inches of 1/4″ grout that needs bleaching. (Dad? Help!)

Of course, we had recently been talking about bleaching the grout anyway (because it should have been sealed by the builder, but of course it wasn’t) as there had been some miscellaneous kitchen spills we wanted to take care of. Then we were going to use Rejuvenate (seen on QVC and infomercials) to protect the floor. So, the timeline for this project has just moved up a little…

I know, I know…the animals are slowly but surely preparing us for the joys of parenthood. 🙂

An update on the zoo!

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Well, things are getting better. Boots still doesn’t get along well with the other cats, but there’s much less fighting and hissing and chasing. Best of all…Boots gets along smashingly with the dog!! They play and wrestle and fight and tumble…and we even found them sleeping together (pics to come soon—they’re still on the camera)!!! So, we feel much better now that she has someone to play with—we were feeling bad because the other cats were shunning her. She still rarely comes upstairs and has yet to sleep with us (since her first night) but things ARE getting better!

The strangest thing happened yesterday, however. The little girl who used to own her came to visit (and bring her vet paperwork) and it was obvious Boots/Elizabeth remembered her because she did something to her she’s NEVER done to us… pounce and attack! The little girl was just standing there and you could see Boots crouch down, get into pounce mode, then literally rush and LEAP at the girl, making it about to her stomach,wrapping her arms around the girl. (Of course, with no claws she couldn’t hold on or do any damage, but boy, was it a sight to behold!) We thought it might just be an odd occurrence, but Boots did it about five times while she was there! And she said Boots/Elizabeth used to do that to her ALL the time!

Of course, Maggie is as cute as ever! She’s still potty training—she had a few accidents when we took her to Roger & Ursula’s (to let her play with their puppy, Scrappy) but I assume that’s to be expected since it was a strange place. But for the most part she’s good—although we still watch her like a hawk. She sleeps a lot—she’s always in one of our laps—and she will even nap with us (cute pics to come of that, as well). We’re almost to the point of leaving her in her crate during the day, instead of leaving her in the bathroom (which she HATES). We just don’t want her to piddle in her crate and create bad habits.

Our small kitchen is even smaller now, what with all the animals underfoot—and there’s ALWAYS someone underfoot (although it’s mostly Boots or Maggie). Maggie likes the kitchen because that’s where the cats’ food is, and she eats their crumbs…and their actual food when we’re not paying attention or when we forget to move it. She’s sneaky that way.

So, overall, things are going well and we’re one big happy family!