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Where did this guy get the turtles? Did he raid a wildlife sanctuary, or plunder Rock Creek Park? Were they a rare species, smuggled into the country? Does he breed them in his home? I'm guessing he didn't have proper permits and whatnot.
As I walked by, I briefly thought about buying all of them, and setting them free, or bringing them to my friend who works at the zoo and who could likely assist in rescuing them. G, if you're reading, what do you advise? Then I thought I should just call the police, but decided otherwise when I imagined the conversation with the 911 dispatcher. By the time I thought to call the DC Humane Society, it was too late - the turtle seller had gone. If he comes back tomorrow, I'll try the humane society and see what they recommend.
- Mood:concerned
We used to have two female cats, and could see that they had 8 or so nipples, but we can't tell what the deal is with Oliver. I've never had a male cat before, and his fur is pretty thick along the chest/belly area. My wife just tried to examine the feisty little guy, and Mr. Scratchy wouldn't let her get a good look. Human males have nipples, but what about cats (and dogs)? Do males have 2 vestigial ones like us human guys?
- Mood:
amused
- Mood: hopeful
My wife had an adventure on the way to work this morning. She decided to walk to the office, taking advantage of the relatively low humidity, though it was still a bit warm. In the vicinity of 13th and I Streets NW, she spotted a stray cat that didn't look to be feral. It was a small male cat with semi-long hair, mostly white with black spots and tail, a little dirty but very friendly. She walked past him, then turned back and decided to investigate. Another woman came by and petted the cat, while J tried calling the Washington Humane Society. She had the wrong number, then didn't get an answer, and finally ended up with Animal Control. By this point, the other woman decided to just take the cat to her office, and had a purse large enough to accommodate him. She apparently now has the cat and has placed ads in Craigslist, etc trying to find his owner, if any. Yay, thank you to the woman, and hopefully the cat will end up in a good home.
My wife was late to work, but she'll do anything to help an animal in distress. It makes you think how many lost and stray cats there are in this city, scared and suffering in the streets and alleys. If you have a cat, please keep her indoors, and have her microchipped! And if you see a cat, dog, or other animal in need of assistance, just call 202-BE HUMAN(E).
- Mood: pleased
My wife made the tactical error of leaving a bagel wrapped in a paper towel on the kitchen counter last night, intending to eat it for breakfast this morning. I didn't think anything of it, aside from being jealous of her bagel, but our crazy teenage cat Oliver had other plans.
When I woke up and went downstairs this morning, the kitchen was a mess, there was water everywhere, and a soggy, beat-up bagel in the middle of the floor. While cleaning up the mess, I was able to reconstruct what must have happened from the paw prints and trail of crumbs.
After we went to bed, Oliver smelled the bagel, since it wasn't sealed in a plastic bag, and jumped on the counter. He knows he's not supposed to go up there, but when we're not home or asleep, he knows he can get away with it. He dragged the bagel to the edge of the counter, and pushed it off, with the paper towel still wrapped around it. He then went to work removing the paper towel, and shredded it and dragged it around a bit in the process. Eventually he freed the bagel and nibbled at it and licked it a bit, but decided he really didn't like it too much. A little bit at a time, he pushed or dragged it over to his water bowl, where he lifted it up and into the water, perhaps trying to "drown" it. What I don't understand is how he got the waterlogged and disintegrating bagel OUT of the water bowl, but he managed to do that as well. He dragged the soggy thing over towards his litter box before finally giving up. It was pretty much glued to the floor, which already has problems, so I was not too happy about it. I was able to clean everything up, but still have to sanitize the counters tonight.
We'll have to keep food locked away or creatively stored from now on, I suppose. Silly Oliver, you're quite clever and amusing, but please leave the bagels for us humans, OK?
- Mood:annoyed, yet amused
Another pea-brained move, from the pages of the Animal Watch column in the Washington Post:
Pit Bull Rejected
HARTFORD STREET SE, 2700 block, May 20. A woman got a pit bull puppy as a gift for her son, who was returning home from college. When the son got back, he told his mother he needed to work and did not have time for the dog. The woman took the dog to the league to be made available for adoption. The dog was being evaluated.
Mr. T says: Do not purchase a pet for anyone as a gift(!), especially a pit bull puppy, for someone returning home from college and starting a new job. Do adopt a dog or cat from a reputable animal shelter for yourself, if you feel you can provide a good home for an animal in need.
- Mood:
disappointed
He's still a good-natured, affectionate cat, and I think once he gets a little older he'll calm down. A little craziness is to be expected with a healthy, young cat. I just hope he doesn't hurt himself, or hurt one of us, or break any irreplaceable items while he's going through this hyper-maniacal phase.
Washington City Paper, 5/21/08
- Mood: amused
BUCHANAN ST. NW, 800 block, Feb. 29. A man took a 12-year-old mixed-breed to the league's medical center because the dog was having trouble walking. Blood tests revealed that the animal was lacking protein. When asked about the dog's diet, the man said that it ate mostly vegetables with an occasional croissant. The veterinarian recommended a regular diet of dog food and sent the dog home on medications.
OK, so how dumb do you have to be to feed your dog vegetables and an "occasional croissant"? Bad, bad bad pet parenting there. Dogs need nutrients found in meat and bones - protein, iron, etc. Some veggies are probably OK, but croissants? What were they thinking, that they were pampering their pet with butter-rich French bread products? Why croissants, and not brioche, or baguettes? Just go buy some good-quality kibble, Science Diet, or Iams, and you can give the dog a few treats on the side, even a bite or two of croissant. Sheesh!
- Mood:
irritated
In other news, this is shaping up to be a routine work week, except I'm taking the day off Wednesday, and will hopefully find something interesting to do. Then, J is off to Boston for the weekend, while I keep tabs on the kitty. He's going through an especially energetic phase, perhaps the feline equivalent of the "terrible twos." This evening, he jumped up into the kitchen sink, and started drinking the water in a dirty bowl left to soak. Yuck. Everything is a toy to this little guy: my shoelaces, J's knitting, electrical cords (yikes!), the cords that adjust the window blinds, etc. He'll eventually calm down, but for now, he's a handful!
- Mood:laughing here
The only problem so far is that he seems reluctant to use the litter box. He peed once, which was a relief as we were getting ready to rush him to Friendship Animal Hospital in case of a dangerous UT blockage. He hasn't pooped yet, but we gave him some poist food tonight, so hopefully that will move things along. The crux of the problem is that we're using shredded newspaper instead of clay litter, which will be necessary until his neutering incision heals completely. It looks good to me, but the vet at Friendship said we'd better avoid any litter products aside from the newspaper for a few more days.
This cat seems so perfect that J and I can hardly believe it. We keep thinking there must be something wrong with him. He does have a weird discoloration on the roof of his mouth. What if it's a tumor? We'll feel a LOT better after he gets a nose to tail examination at Friendship. In the meantime, the holiday weekend is pretty uneventful as we're staying close to home with the kitty.
- Mood:happy but worried
This approx. 6 month old male has asymmetrical tuxedo-like markings, and his fur is very soft. He doesn't seem to shed much, and seems to be quickly adjusting to his new home. His personality appears calm, and he doesn't mind being picked up and handled alot. He has a playful side, which came out when J used the laser pointer for a little play session. He doesn't seem to like string much, and has only a mild interest in the ball toys we bought him. Our major concern at this point is he hasn't used the litterbox yet, but hopefully he'll do so overnight.
Tomorrow, we're off to Petco, for what no doubt will be a triple digit shopping expedition, and in a couple of weeks he'll have his first checkup at Friendship Hospital for Animals. Welcome to the household, Oliver!
- Mood: excited
Tonight, we went to the other big DC animal shelter, the Washington Animal Rescue League, at 71 Oglethorpe St. NW. The facility there is amazing: it's clean, spacious, modern, and the animals are very well attended to. The cat room features cubicles for each cat with a separate litterbox area, glass doors, and lots of play time in the common areas for the more sociable cats. The trade off with the Humane Society is that since this is a no-kill shelter, the application process is more rigorous. We're going to have to provide all sorts of documentation, and even then might not get any of the 3 cats we put down as potential adoptees.
The cat we really liked was a cute boy kitty, with a pleasant demeanor, playful yet not too hyper, young, yet not a tiny kitten. We should hear back from them in a couple of days for a phone interview, home visit, and they'll check with our vet to make sure our previous cats were properly cared for. If we don't have any luck with them, it's back to the Washington Humane Society on Saturday.
Since WARL is so swanky, if we do get to take home a cat from them, we'll send a donation over to WHS, because they clearly don't have the resources that WARL has.
- Mood:purposeful
We were taken back to the two cat rooms, which were clean, and well-lit. The employee who assisted us was very helpful and encouraging. We looked closely at 3 young cats, all around 6 months old. They were all very sweet and friendly, though one in particular seemed to bond with J. She fits all our other criteria, so we filled out an adoption form, listing a second choice as well. No deposit was required, but they did check our ID. The next step is a phone interview, followed by a home visit. I don't think either will be a problem, by J is in a state of high anxiety at the moment.
She's had some tough breaks lately, and is concerned that something will go wrong, or someone else will end up with the cat she bonded with in the shelter. If they don't call her tomorrow, she's going to call and follow up. If all works out, we should have a new, feline addition to the family in one or two weeks!
- Mood: restless
Qualities we're looking for in a cat include being young, but not a rambunctious kitten, maybe in the 6-month to 2 year range. An ideal candidate would be a true shorthair; D-kitty was a semi-longhair cat, and her fur was high-maintenance in comparison with the shorthaired M-kitty. A calm demeanor and friendly disposition would be nice, too, as both our previous cats could be a bit ill-mannered at times, though I did enjoy their attacks on my mom, he he he. Also, a light-colored cat might be part of the plan, as I think I'm allergic to really dark cats such as Bertie, my mother-in-law's feline. There's been some research that this is actually scientifically plausible. Wish us luck!
- Mood: hopeful
So, this weekend I went down to the National Museum of Natural History, and sought out the exhibit on eurypterids. They had several fossils and models of the giant arthopods, and I was pretty excited to see them at a relatively tourist-free time of year. Wouldn't it be neat to go back in time and swim among these animals, or to have a pool full of them today, like a more bad-ass version of a koi pond?
- Mood:busy
I'm still sick, was up in the middle of the night coughing and feeling alternately cld and hot. J was also up in the middle of the night with various aches and pains. I miss being younger, when we recovered from illness more quickly. Between this and my upcoming flu shot, maybe I'll be in good shape for the winter cold & flu season.
In other news, we went down to the Washington Humane Society's shelter at 7319 Georgia Avenue NW (202-234-8626) the other day to drop off M-kitty's leftover food and litter as a donation. Even though I advised against it, J couldn't resist and asked to go in the back and see the animals, even though we're planning to wait awhile to adopt another. J reports there are MANY cute cats (and dogs) available, and of course there are never enough homes for them. One young male cat named "Sonic" was extremely friendly, and J really liked him and wanted to make sure he got adopted. I've kept tabs on him, and sure enough, he's now listed as "adoption pending", so that's good. If all else failed, we would have taken him even though that isn't really the plan right now with holiday travel and stress coming up. Also, I really need a pet-free period to recover from years of scooping litterboxes, cleaning up messes and dealing with chronic illnesses. I officially promise that J can someday adopt another kitty, as long as I get a little break from the action here. Anyway, there are lots of cute animals in need at the animal shelter, so if you know anybody who's looking for one, it's a good time to adopt.
- Mood:
sick
When we got her home, finally, she was limping on her bandaged leg and looked like she'd been through the ringer. She kept obsessively licking the bandage, so we decided to take it off, since it was only supposed to be on for a few hours. When we approached M-kitty to try to remove the bandage, she went into last-stand-at-the-Alamo mode and began hissing and trying to bite us. We were all upset, J and I were bickering with each other ("Why don't you hold her like I said?!" "Why don't you control your cat?!" J had a headache, we were both starving, and I said "I thought pets were supposed to have a calming effect!"
Finally, we got the bandage off, I used a pair of scissors to cut it off while J held the kitty, and she seems much happier with it off. I don't think we'll be bringing her to the vet or trying any new treatments - the next visit will be M-kitty's last. It's too traumatic, and we should focus on keeping her quality of life as good as possible. I'm thinking of it as hospice-type care OK, I'm exhausted so going to bed now.
- Mood:frazzled
Tonight, I'm home alone catching up on chores while J is meeting a friend downtown after work for dinner. Then, tomorrow evening we're walking a neighbor's dog while he's out, so that should be interesting. J loves dogs as well as cats, but I'm more of a cat person and am allergic to most dogs anyway. So, this will be J's chance to be a surrogate dog mom for a day. The dog in question is friendly, well-behaved, medium-large in size and sheds a lot. He won't be coming in the house because that would severely traumatize M-kitty, who doesn't prefer the company of other animals, especially dogs.
I've got some fun plans for the weekend, so if I can get all my chores done tonight, that will free up more leisure time Saturday and Sunday. More details later on!
- Mood:busy
Since M-kitty has a strong bond with J, the decision on when to have her put to sleep is hers alone, just like the late D-kitty's fate was my responsibility. J's not yet ready to say goodbye, so for now we have another vet appointment on Monday to get an accurate weight and talk about treatment options. She's a cute, sweet kitty and she's been with J since college, and only 11-12 years old, so we were hoping she'd be around a few more years.
- Mood: worried
- Mood: satisfied
