Spin Cycle - Pets

JR and I have owned a lot of pets in the 30 years that we have been together.

We got our first cat about a year after we were married. Our landlord gave her to us. About 3 months after we got her some A$$hole shot her in the head. She lost her eye but she didn't let that phase her and she lived to the ripe old age of 13. not bad for having a rough start. She turned out to be an amazing hunter. When we moved to the country she would nicely leave me little presents by the front door, e.g. mice, voles, birds, and snakes.

When we moved into our country house I noticed that the basement had become home to what must have been a gaggle?, plethora? (A group of mice is commonly referred to as a family, and also as a horde, a mischief, or simply, and most frequently, a nest of mice. So says WikiAnswers.com.) The Saturday morning before we moved in I put our clever little kittah in the basement with a litter box and big bowl of water. I came back on Sunday to find about a dozen sets of ears and tails (the parts she wouldn't eat) and a very satisfied cat. We never had a mouse problem again.

We got our first dog a year after we got the cat. She was a mutt that we named Augie. As in Augie Doggie and Daddy Doggie (who remembers that cartoon?) We knew what her mother was, a cock-a-poo but we think her father was a long haired dachshund or as we liked to say; the  "dog-down-the-street". When I first convinced JR to get a dog (and I had to do some fast talking to convince him as he wasn't a dog person at the time) he thought he was laying down the rules. And his number one rule was; NO dogs in the house. HA! I told him the rule could be no dogs on the furniture. He fell totally in love with the dog and all the rules went out the window. Though she didn't get on the furniture. She was a fabulous dog that the kids still remember fondly. 

Since then, we have had 5 dogs and 3 cats with varying degrees of attachment by anyone in the household. Our Border Collie was a particular favorite.


That takes us to now.

 
Until Friday we had our long-suffering cat and Nessa. Our poor kitty had gotten very sick and very old (17 years old). JR decided that it was time to take him in for that long sleep. I didn't feel I could make this decision and offered no input since the cat wasn't mine. I did take him in to the vets though because JR could not have done this task. He was very attached to the cat. 

We are left with Nessa. Who most of you know through my Facebook posts and this blog. As an example of how crazy we are about this dog; I even painted her. We (I say we so I don't sound like one of those crazy pet owners because it is what I am) spend a boatload of money buying her just the right dog food, every time I go, she goes, we go to pet Smart of Petco she gets a new toy or two. I drive 5 miles 4 days a week to the park to take her for a run because she enjoys it. Oh sure, I get some exercise out of the deal but it is really for her. Acquit me of any spoiling here because I have no grandchildren. She sleeps (Let's be honest be, she takes up most of my side) on the bed. She spends her days on the couch. She badgers the shit out of us to throw her ball. She is just downright spoiled. And it is all my children's fault. Yes, I am laying blame. I'm not too proud to do that.

So there is my pet Spin for the week. Check out the others who are writing about their pets at Gretchen's site. 

Love,
M