A Day in the Life of a Zookeeper

What does a typical day look like for me?  Well let's start with last night... naughty dog scratched on the carpet all freaking night - I finally gave up and left the room.  Hubs finally lost his temper and brought me naughty dog in the other room - lovely.  This morning - outside with Emma, treats for Clooney, scoop the cat boxes, vacuum the endless hair.  Love on kitties, dog ferret.  Afternoon - get baby Nigel out of the cage and give him loves.  Get him set up on the bed for afternoon napping and give him his worms and vitamins.  Keep kitties off of Nigel - geez.  Try to console the dog who is hiding under the bed because she heard thunder - UGH - July has not been kind in regards to fireworks and thunder.  Tonight will hold playing with the critters trying to wear them down so we can try to sleep.....our next house will have critter free sleep zones!  :)

Thunder Shirts and Colloidal Silver

Between thunderstorms every afternoon for the last week and a LONG weekend of fireworks the poor pup is not in good shape.  I popped into the pet store yesterday to pick up fresh worms for Nigel and they had a new product called a Thunder Shirt.  Evidently pressure is a way to treat anxiety in animals - for instance - when they vaccinate large animals like livestock they put them in pressure chutes to keep them calm.  So - I decided to spring for the pink thunder shirt.  I am ready to try anything at this point.  Luckily - Emma is spoiled with a sweatshirt, rain coat and 47 scarves so she kinda likes getting her "coat" on.  I read the instructions and put the coat on for a few minutes to try it out.  Emma often pants a nervous pant - that was gone and she happily sacked out on the bedroom floor.  After a couple of hours I took it off and gave her a break.  I knew that there were town fireworks planned for the 5th and that thunder was in the forecast so when it started to cloud up I put her back in her coat.  She still fled upstairs and got under the bed but when I checked on her she was calmly laying under there - no panting and no shaking.  Then, miracle of miracles she came out from under the bed after all had passed and joined us in the bonus room - that would have NEVER happened before.  So off with the coat and then on again in the middle of the night when I noticed some lightening.  She slept in her coat last night - no scratching on the carpet either.  Interesting stuff.  I think we will continue to use it and see if we get additional results.

Phoebe appears to have an eye issue going on in her right eye.  Guessing from the puncture wound close to her ear on that same side I am guessing that she and Oliver were playing a little too rough and he pokes or scratched her eye.  She is having yellowish eye gunk but has no other issues - the eye doesn't seem to have any damage.  Yesterday I decided to try the Colloidal Silver on her eye - using a Q-Tip to apply it in the corner and around the outside.  I was not comfortable putting it directly in her eye but I think some probably made its way in there when the wet cotton was applied to the corner.  She is very good about letting me apply it and I did four treatments yesterday.  The first treatment resulted in an increase amount of gunk - maybe it flushed out something that was in there?  The subsequent treatments showed a decrease in gunk each time.  This morning she had a bit of gunk but not much considering she went all night.  I will try this today and tomorrow and if its not cleared up then we will head to the vet for antibiotic ointment.  I always like to try the holistic approach first - especially on some of these minor issues.  Look for an update soon....

Who Knew?? Summertime Sweet Tea

Huh - who knew - ALL of my critters like sweet tea.  I made a pitcher the other day as its been unbearably hot here.  First to try was Ollie - he dips his toe in your cup when you aren't looking.   Once it was determined he liked it I offered to the other kitties to see if they felt the same - yep....  Then Clooney investigated my cup and had a drink as well.  Last night I let Nigel check it out and he had himself a little drink too.  Last but not least - Emma - she likes it too but I am not positive if its the tea or the ice cubes that she is more fond of.

Maybe its because my babies were born in the south?  Well - only some of them - Aggie was born in GA, Nigel, Emma, and Phoebe were born in NC.  Ollie was a stray so there is no telling, Zoey was born in CO and Clooney was born in PA.

Of course it goes without saying that you can't give critters sweet tea very often as its not very good for them.  Maybe an occasional treat....

Fourth of July....

From a critter perspective I really am not a fan of the fourth of July.  First and foremost the Emma dog spends the long weekend in nervous breakdown mode.  She is so frightened of the fireworks and unfortunately we live in a sub division where multiple families shoot off fireworks for multiple days.  Did I mention this is illegal in our city, did I mention we are in a drought,  did I mention this is just one of the redneck things (I will post about the bonfires some other day) that annoys me about living in the south..... as you can see - not my favorite.

My other concern is the the total disregard for safety.  For their personal safety - whatever - if you want to blow off a finger that's your choice - have at it.  I am a fire chiefs daughter - I know the stories first hand (no pun intended).  The concern is that said neighbors will catch my house on fire and I will suffer great injury or worse trying to get 7 critters out in a fire.  We have practiced this several times - all critters but Nigel come when called.  We have a plan - let's just hope this isn't the year the morons manage to do it.  Reason 654 that I want to move to a farm with no neighbors.

Ah yes - but the patriotism outweighs all this nonsense - right?  Potato salad, parades, flags?  Ummm - not so much.  Maybe the outcome of 2012 will renew my spirit.  For today - I will attempt to keep the dog calm and be at the ready for emergency evacuation.....   Happy Independence Day....

And you wonder why these are on the someday list???

OMG - we can't get a farm soon enough.....

Hit By A Bus Series - Post 3

Kitties, kitties, kitties - they are actually quite independent little creatures.  They interact with me and with each other but they are overly demanding.  Probably the easiest to care for is Aggie - she is not demanding for attention and is pretty easy going.  She loves her red fuzzy (its a snuggie that is usually downstairs on the loveseat).  She tends to carry a tiny bit of extra pudge so I try to be careful and not treat her too much.  She doesn't do so well with change, not a fan of rearranging things and definitely not a fan of the vacuum cleaner.

Zoey - she is snitty at times so you have to be careful else she might bite you.  She loves laps and attention.  She is a huge fan of hanging out on the porch - I put the gate up and leave her out out there for extended periods of time.  Check on her often.  She needs her eyes cleaned often - they get quite gunky.  Again - she is on the heavy side so easy on the treats.  She likes to be vacuumed - there is a post on this.....

Oliver - he wants to be loved often.  He loves people food.  He gets along with everyone but picks on Aggie. He is the king of ornery and will keep you on your toes.  He wants to escape into the great outdoors so you have to be careful not to let him slip out.  He needs people loves often....

Phoebe - she is a shy girl - it takes her a bit to warm up but she is so sweet.  She needs lots of toys and wants attention frequently.  She adores Oliver and Emma.  Not a bit fan of Aggie.  She has a new found fascination with people food and wants to check out whatever you have - most of which she isn't all that interested.

They eat Iams Indoor Weightloss cat food - they are free feeders and always have food and water available.  They need their boxes cleaned every day.  They occasionally suffer from hairballs - they have regular over the counter meds for this.  I try not to unnecessarily vaccinate them as they do not go outside and are only exposed to one another.  Vetting is on demand if they are sick or every year.  They all have pet insurance policies.  Nails need clipping - Zoey and Ollie are no problem.  Phoebe and Aggie - good luck.  They all like to be brushed.

Time Flies

How is it the first of July already?  Last month I had such grand plans to retrieve old critter pics - didn't happen.... to work on training and tricks for the critters - didn't happen.  Maybe this month.  Today I am off work - making the 3 day Forth of July holiday just a little longer.  As I type - Emma is sleeping on the bonus room floor.  Clooney is running around wreaking havoc with his siblings.  Phoebe is hanging out with me on the couch.  Zoey and Oliver have found patches of sun on the stairs and are sacked out.  Aggie is snoozing on the red fuzzy and Nigel is sleeping soundly in his cage after running for the majority of the night on his blue wheel.

My critter goals for this month - organize Nigel's room - otherwise known as the craft room and set up a play space for him so he can run around while I am in there crafting.  I would like to spruce up his cage as well and make it more snazzy.  Maybe a couple of play days for Emma at doggie day care - she could use the exercise.  I have to make final decisions on boarding or not boarding Nigel - leaning towards boarding - for an upcoming trip.  Need to work out the details with the vet.  I would like to pick up a couple more D-Link cameras as well.

As for today - I have to quit typing so I can go and meet the hunky hubby for lunch - maybe some dog park time for Emma later this afternoon.....

Still can't believe its July.....