Toys, Toys, Toys

In abundance there are toys for the critters everywhere in our house.  Piles of them in every room....a trunk full of them in the living room.  There is no lack of entertainment for my four legged kids.  Each of them play in a different way.  Here are a few of their favorites:

Phoebe's ball - at least it used to be a pretty pink ball with little pieces of ribbon hanging out.  She has had this one for years and plays with it every day.  She is definitely the most interested in toys - she plays frequently and chooses a wide variety of toys each day.

 Nigel's stuffed hedgehog.  I just got this one in the mail a couple of days ago - when I put it in his cage he was pissed there was another hedgehog invading his space.  He was puffy and aggressive - biting the cute little stuffed critter.  I left him in there - the next morning I discovered they were friends and Nigel had dragged him under the covers and they were cuddled up together.

Emma's pink wiener dog. She goes through fits and spurts with what toys are her favorites.  This one is top of the list.  It has two incredibly annoying squeakers - one low pitched and one super high pitched one.  She is well versed at squeezing the low one with her mouth while she stands on the high pitched one with her front paws.  Oh joy....

 Zoey's catnip bunny.  This toy has been the source of many laughs in our house.  The pants are actually an elastic pocket -  you can open and put a pouch of catnip in there.  Zoey loves it and we make bad jokes at the toy's expense about it having stuff shoved in its pants.  Hey - whatever makes you laugh - run with it.....

Yes folks - that would be bubble wrap.  Aggie loves it.  She plays with it, lays on it, lays under it - basically has a ball with it.  Nevermind the zillions of dollars you spent on cat toys.....  Aggie is funny about playing.  She is a very self conscious cat and she doesn't want to play if anyone is looking.  If she sees you looking she stops - embarrassed.  What a funny girl....

Ah - the simplicity of a simple cat toy - a ball with a rattle in it.  Oliver will chase and bat this around for hours.  He loves the ones that make noise.  I have some with a bell inside - he likes those as well.  

Yep - its a hair clip.  Pony tail holders are also favorites with all the critters.  Emma loves it when you pluck the ponytail holder and it makes noise.  Kitties love to chase them.  Clooney loves to hoard them and Nigel likes to bite on them - maybe it feels good on his teeth?

And then there is Clooney's cow.  It is his absolute favorite.  He has is hoarded somewhere in the craft room. The only reason I have that much info is that a few weeks ago I saw him streaking down the hallway with it in his mouth.  He found that cute little cow in a pile of cat toys on his first day home and he has loved it ever since.  It is a black and white cow - you will have to use your imagination.....

Snoozing - anywhere, anytime

My "kids" have it made - full access to pretty much everywhere in the house.  The only off limits areas are the kitchen counters, the laundry area and for right now the garage - since we had a snake hatch and I would prefer to avoid an encounter if one managed to slither into the garage.

Sleeping occurs in all shapes and sizes around here.  At night the sleeping arrangements are as follows:

Emma - under or next to the bed
Aggie - on the back of the chair in our bedroom
Zoey - on the bed with us
Phoebe - on the bed with us
Oliver - on the bed with us
Clooney - in my husband's closet
Nigel - in his cage

During the day - all bets are off......

Oliver sleeping on top of Nigel's cage

Nigel sleeping in the bedding of his cage

Oliver sleeping in Clooney's chair - way too small for him but he loves it

Aggie sleeping on the sofa

Zoey sleeping on the office chair

Nigel sleeping on his bed

Clooney sleeping on the bed

Zoey sleeping on the hubby

Phoebe sleeping on the favorite red snuggie

Emma sacked out on the couch

Nigel's first trip to the vet

I was a little worried about what Nigel's first trip to the vet would look like.  He is not all that big on strangers.  Heck - some days he is not all that big on me.  I was so pleasantly surprised though - he was a very agreeable little boy this morning.

Of course - today - would be torrential downpour day with chilly wind.  Couldn't have a nice warm day for the temperature sensitive little guy to go out in.  I bought him a cute little critter carrier -

I wrapped him up in his favorite Spongebob fleece bag and slid him into the carrier.  I covered the top and sides of his carrier with his baby blanket so no wind would get to him through the mesh sides.  He did great in the car on the way - of course its like a two minute ride so he didn't have much opportunity to misbehave.

When we got there the whole practice came in to get a peek.  Nigel was great - let folks pet him and only huffed and puffed occasionally.  He never rolled in a ball and was great about letting me hold him in some funky ways to get "inspected".  He even let the vet listen to his heart with the stethoscope - around 300ish beats per minute which is normal for a little critter like him.  He weighed 1 pound today - he has gained 10 ounces since he came to live with us. 

Vet says his weight for his age is very good.  His quills and his fur both looked great.  His eyes were clear and bright and his lungs sound great.  All in all a great report and an excellent baseline for us to start against.

Who Knew?? - 3rd Edition

The Emma Dog - such a sweet and complicated beast.  We love her so much.  She is incredibly bright, stubborn and she tries so hard to please.  She is a gentle and kind dog who is not at all demanding.  She is a border collie and black lab mix - I think she got more collie traits than lab so I thought I would share some things I found about the breed:

• The Border Collie gets its names from its early ancestors, dogs developed and bred in the border lands between England and Scotland which were highly prized for their herding abilities
• They show a large range in size and coloration because historically they were bred as working stock and focus was placed on performance, not looks
• Border Collies can be almost any color, including red and completely white  
• Border Collies have been called by other names including 'working collie', 'farm collie', and 'old-fashioned collie' 
• The Border Collie was not granted full AKC recognition until 1995, but the recognition was strongly opposed by working Border Collie dog supporters 
• Border Collies are very intelligent; proof of Border Collie intelligence is Rico, a Border Collie study subject who could recognize more than 250 objects by name 
• The record for the "fastest car window opened by a dog" in the Guinness Book of World Records is held by a Border Collie named Striker; his record time is 11.34 seconds 
• Border Collies are used for more than just herding; they also make good tracking, search and rescue, and therapy dogs 
• Border Collies are sometimes used to chase birds and animals from airport runways and golf course greens

Border Collies have long been a favorite in Hollywood and continue to be today. These other Border Collie actors join the well-known Lassie.

• Fly and Rex starred in the movie Babe about a sheep-herding pig
• Bingo was a Border Collie mix
• Mike starred in Down and Out in Beverly Hills
• The NBC sitcom Mad About You starred Maui, a Border Collie mix who played Murray

Emma has a large vocabulary - some of which we wasted on useless commands like "watch TV".  She is a great girl - wouldn't trade her for anything.....  

Oliver the Escaper

 

Oliver - my former stray.  Oh how he loves to be my little escaper.  None of my little one's go outside.  Well - sometimes I set up the playpen Clooney has on the porch and put them out there for some sun but only when they are supervised.

Oliver likes to sneak out the door.  You can't leave it open for any length of time or he will zip right by you.  It used to be that he would run to the neighbors yard and hide in their bushes.  Recently the neighbors cut the bushes down so now he goes along the side of the house, across the back grass, over the drainage easement and into the woods in the neighbor's yard behind us.  Always this happens when I have on no shoes, when its wet or cold, etc.  Sometimes we let Emma out to help us herd the cat - her border collie instinct comes in handy here and she knows he is not supposed to be outside.

Since we did the big garage cleanout which included pet proofing, the cat and I can compromise and he and his kitty sisters can go out there and hang out.  They really seem to love it out there - not exactly sure why.  They investigate all our junk and play on the cars (thankfully they are covered so no kitty paw prints).  This seems to make him happy.  I will say that the wailing that occurs at the door of the garage can be so annoying.  He doesn't get to go out there after dark or on chilly days - awwww mom!!!

The interesting thing I have noticed is that my once fearless and brave boy from the outdoors is now a fraidy cat when he is outside and he hears a noise - the garbage truck or a lawnmower send him scrambling for the door....he is an indoor cat now even though he is in denial.

Vacuum - Friend or Foe?

The vacuum cleaner gets quite the workout at my house - with six hairy beasts and one pokey one who sheds the occasional quill there is lots to clean up.  I vacuum at least 3 times a week - ugh.  It's interesting to watch each of the critters and how they interact with the machine:

Aggie - petrified of the vacuum - all you have to do is get it out - she is gone before you even have a chance to plug it in
Oliver - not a fan but not quite as bad as Aggie - he will stay in the same room so long as you don't head his direction
Phoebe - she's indifferent - not fearful
Emma - she barks at the vacuum and tries to bite at it when you are in upright mode but she is terrified of the hose attachment
Clooney - he is fairly uninterested until the hose comes out - he thinks the hose must die and its his personal mission to conquer it
Nigel - completely indifferent - the vacuum doesn't even wake him

And then there is Zoey....

Rain, Rain Go Away

Several days of rain this last week have reminded me how each of my critters deal with the weather:

Most impacted is Emma - she hates the rain, terrified of thunder, uneasy from the time the clouds roll in.  She spends much of her time under the bed while it does its thing outside.

Kitties are pretty oblivious to the rain - unless its a real thunder-boomer - then Phoebe gets nervous and stays pretty close.

Nigel the Hedgehog - could really care less - he sleeps much of the day regardless of the weather so he probably doesn't even know its raining....

Clooney - he really sleeps well during the rain.  This can be a bad thing - it makes for a very wound up ferret full of mischief in the days following.  Unfortunately that mischief is usually exhibited in the middle of the night.

I will be happy to see some warmer temps, be able to open up the house again and not have a nervous and stressed pup!  :)