Across the Rainbow Bridge

05 Apr 2017 Leave a comment

by Quietude's Junction in journal, pets Tags: , , , , , , , ,

On Monday I had to put my dog to sleep. He was a wonderful, old lab mix that the vets never could agree about. Some said he was part mastiff, others part Dane, but all agreed that it was part BIG. He was a sweetheart, a lover, a comforter, and a protector. He was there when we needed him every time, there to scare off anyone from coming inside that he didn’t personally agree with. He took care of us.

When we got kittens, he became their guardian. He understood that the babies were his new ones to be his to protect. He let them climb on him. He wagged his tail so they would play with it. They, in turn, treated him as their protector and de facto nanny. He didn’t even chase after the cats when one of them scented his nose.

Buddy was a silent protector who needed to know where everyone was at all points in time. He had to lie down in the best place to see all of the people in his home. So he, in essence, was a road block 99% of the time. After all, it is never easy stepping over a 112 pound dog whenever he blocked a door especially when he would unexpectedly raise his head or try to stand up while you are mid-step.

The decision to let my dog go over the Rainbow Bridge was not made easily. I waited and put it off as long as I could. I just couldn’t let him go until he started whimpering in pain each night. It became difficult for him to walk, to stand, and to remain standing even during his walks. I finally had to accept that his quality of life was not worth the struggle of the day to day. I talked with his vet and she agreed that it was time. We cried. We held onto him and let the tears flow. We hugged him and petted him and it seemed that he understood in the end. The vet came in and he placed his big, blocky head into her hand and looked into her eyes. Acceptance and love were there for all to see.

He died as he came to us, a big lover, protector, and a huge part of my family.

I love and miss you, Buddy. One day we will meet again, across the Rainbow Bridge.

 

Kitten Wars 2/15/15: Perfume is in the Nose of the Beholder ….

17 Feb 2015 Leave a comment

by Quietude's Junction in journal, Kitten Wars, reflections Tags: , , , , , , ,

Kitten Wars 2/15/15

Well, Teeny has been in one of her more affectionate heats of late. Alex and I have been going around removing anything that might possibly smell of us so the she doesn’t follow along and “scent” it up with that lovely (not so) perfume of hers. Evidently, after our walk, Buddy came back smelling a bit too much of me. Now I freely admit that I gave him a big hug and good pet after being such a wonderful dog, but I surely did not intend for the cat to determine that the dog was now free game. Doing the creepy crouch heat walk of hers, she made her way over to where he lay watching her with one eye. She sniffed the air daintily then promptly turned her rump towards him and perfumed his nose up properly. You’ve never seen a dog rise in such horrified confusion as poor Buddy did. He tried racing around the kitchen, running into the walls as tears welled up in his eyes. Finally, he ran over to where I was on the couch and started shoving his nose under all the cushions trying to get rid of it that way. Meanwhile, Teeny lifted her head up, looked over at us with enormous eyes and blinked as if not realizing just quite what she had done.

Needless to say, the dog got a good bathing of his nose. He has been keeping his distance from her rear ever since. Its kinda cute, he’s upset with her so he will do a quick pounce-bark at her, then remember what she did and run away.

Kitten Wars 1/2/15: Persona Non Grata in My Own Home

03 Jan 2015 Leave a comment

by Quietude's Junction in journal, Kitten Wars, reflections Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

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I’ve had the best holiday season ever thanks to family and friends. I had my best friend come and stay for a couple of weeks which was fabulous. Both of my cats and my dog were completely spoiled by Dallas. The cats took turns getting loved on by him and would hiss at poor Buddy when he ventured too close. By the end of his visit, Cleo, my normally very sweet, everyone loves me and I love everyone kitty, actually stalked over and swiped her claws across the poor dog’s nose completely confusing him. After all, since she was being petted, why couldn’t Buddy put his big dog head in Dallas’s lap and get some of the same. But the clincher came when I returned from the airport after dropping him off to fly away home. Both cats, not just Cleo, came running to the door with the perfect “pet me” meows echoing through the apartment. Cleo in specific looked at me, then watched in disgust as I closed the door and her favorite petting friend did not come through it after me. She glared in my direction, raised her head as high as it could go with her tail straight up and marched off filled with utter disgust that I had dared to come home without him. Persona NON Grata in my OWN place. Spoiled my pets, he did! It took Buddy almost 3 hours to get over it. He kept going back and forth to my son’s room, then back to the front door looking, waiting for Dallas to come through it. The cats are still trying to decide if I’ll ever be allowed to pet them again. I’m sure they will get over it by breakfast tomorrow.20140720-121721-44241475.jpg

A dog and his kibble

04 Nov 2014 Leave a comment

by Quietude's Junction in journal, reflections Tags: , , , ,

My dog is an easy 110 -115 pounds depending on what time of year it is. He is the sweetest of animals and the most loyal. He trails me everywhere I go and will happily lie on the edge of the runway kitchen while I make meals. The problem with a 110+ pound dog, is that they are a little bit more than a speed bump when it comes to moving beyond. And while he is very good about remaining still, occasionally he just can’t stop from popping his head up and nailing whomever is stepping over him well, in the center of all things painful. But that is not what today is about. Today is about the one thing that my dog absolutely refuses to learn and that is to keep his kibble in his bowl or the bathroom.

Buddy, has a head that is easily bigger than my own. It is a big, blocky head that is part labrador and part mastiff to give you a hint. He has droopy over hanging lips that seem to move on their own to pick up all kinds of things that I wish he wouldn’t. So when I feed him, I put the food in the bowl in the bathroom so that he is out of the way. Now for those of you who have never had a big dog who still has his tail, let me tell you that thing is LETHAL! When Buddy eats, his tail could hack down a tree from all the wagging it does.Ā  So, like I said, his kibble is in the bathroom. Well, he does not agree with this idea and never really has. You see, if he is eating it where the bowls are, then he cannot see what I or my son are doing. SO he painstakingly tucks pieces of kibble into his lips and drops them on my off white carpet at the entrance to the kitchen so that he can eat and watch me cook at the same time. He has the best of both worlds there, especially if I drop something to the floor that a dog might like.

Remember, I said Off White Carpet? Yes, Off White! It is now also Off Brown, Off Red, and Off Beige from where he and I have been having the kibble war. Thank goodness, kibble stains aren’t really stains. They do clean up, just not the first time. I love my dog. He is a sweet mountain of mess šŸ™‚

A Little Cat’s Music Kitten Wars at Peace time 8/23/14

23 Aug 2014 Leave a comment

by Quietude's Junction in journal, Kitten Wars, reflections Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

While writing “Songbird” I listened to “Phantom of the Opera” and other musicals that Andrew Lloyd Webber composed to get into the mood. While I frequently listen to all sorts of music, my cats usually ignore me and the computer. Until I put on Webber, overall, my computer was generally left alone, too. Little did I know that “Phantom” must be Teeny’s favorite music. I was singing along with “Think of Me” while I was composing the story on the keyboard when she leaped into my lap. Now most cat owners will think nothing of this, but keep in mind that Teeny is an affectionate in her own time kinda lady. She will talk to you, tell you she’s hungry, and knead on your shoulders on the couch, but getting into your lap is not her favorite thing. When she wants affection, she will call to you for you to come over to where ever she is poised ready for her scritch. SO for her to leap into my lap was very unusual.

Once in my lap, she started purring loudly, head bumping me, and kneading my legs as if she couldn’t decide which was the most important thing to do. At this point, I did a very silly thing. I STOPPED singing. Her head popped up. She put her face up to mine and took her paw to my lips where she proceeded to try to open them as if by that I would start singing once more. So, taking her clue, I started singing again. Once more the purring, the kneading, and the head bumping began. When the you tube vid was over, Teeny stared at the computer screen and very ladylike put her paw on the screen, then turned back to me with a look of “Make it happen! It can’t be over” So, I ran that video and sang for her that day. Can’t tell you how many times I sang just for my cat, but finally she dropped down off my lap. Supremely happy with herself, she walked over to Buddy, who was sleeping, and half-heartedly hissed at him telling him how stupid he was for sleeping while she and I had been communing.

Kitten Wars 8/3/14

03 Aug 2014 Leave a comment

by Quietude's Junction in journal, Kitten Wars Tags: , , , , , ,

Teeny is in heat. Any cat lover out there knows that each female cat has her own version of heat. While Cleo tells you about hers vocally and loudly in the middle of the night, Teeny is fairly quiet with purrrupping and bumping galore. While she is very receptive to human interactions (PET ME NOW, HUMAN) as she bumps her head into us, she is NOT receptive to dog interactions what-so-ever.

Poor Buddy was sound asleep on his bed this morning when Teeny went to bump into me. She was bumping my legs so forcefully and constantly that I was tripping over her. Evidently, she wasn’t looking where she was bumping and when I stepped by Buddy, she bumped him instead of me. In utter shock that the dog made contact with THE CAT, Teeny bounced back and hissed fairly loudly at him waking him up. As he opened his eyes very slowly from his deep slumber, Buddy got an eye full of angry cat telling him just how wrong he was for letting her bump into him.

In true dog fashion, Buddy lifted his head, looked at me, then put it back on his bed, covering it with his paws as Teeny flounced away. Its hard being the only male pet in this house sometimes and a dog at that.

Kitten Wars 7/26/14

26 Jul 2014 Leave a comment

by Quietude's Junction in Kitten Wars Tags: , , , , ,

 

Cleo and my coffee

Well, Cleo is definitely picking up more catlike attitude now that she is 9 months old. At 6 AM when Buddy was comatose and the rest of the house was, too, Cleo decided to voice her opinion on kitty food crumbs in her dish. I keep all kitty food and water on a counter in the bathrooms so that Buddy does not put the NOSE of destruction and doom into their food and gobble it all up. So at oh dark, oh my goodness it is NOT time to wake up yet summer morning, I heard something ceramic hit the floor hard then ring it a few more times for good luck. Disoriented, I jumped out of bed and dashed around the house trying to figure out where it came from. Did I mention disoriented? Let’s make that absolutely clueless and stumbling, bumping into things and finding Teeny, Alex, and Buddy still mostly asleep, in Buddy’s case so soundly asleep I tripped over him. I find nothing out of place. Then I make it back to my bedroom only to see Cleo walking with her head held high and her tail straight up as she saunters out of my bathroom. Now, Cleo is only about 3 pounds of kitty, so not much she can do, right? Well, upon entering my bathroom I found cat food crumbs scattered all over the floor with her food dish in the middle of it all. Somehow my kitty dragged, pushed, shoved her dish to the edge of the counter along with her food dish mat, then dumped it to the ground. Turning, I called her name in suspicion. She deigned to turn her head to me then promptly sat down next to Buddy to clean herself. Guess that was one more lesson in how to train a human.

A Kitty’s Life

22 Jul 2014 Leave a comment

by Quietude's Junction in Kitten Wars Tags: , , ,

This morning Teeny and Cleo both decided that they needed to verify that I was watering their plants just right. So they took turns at the window watching me pour water into the herb planters secretly hoping that I was growing fresh catnip, Iā€™m sure. Buddy just laid behind them with his ears back in his confused look wondering what all the fuss was over a bunch of green stuff on the porch. As I came back inside, both cats scattered with tails held high before looking over their shoulders to ensure I was not about to water them ā€¦. next.

 

Kitten Wars 7/16/14

16 Jul 2014 4 Comments

by Quietude's Junction in Kitten Wars Tags: ,

This morning Cleo decided that it wasn’t good enough to just sit in the middle of Buddy’s bed, she must now lie down on his favorite carpet, too. So while he was eating she trotted her petite kitty self into the living room, lay down in the middle of the carpet and began cleaning herself. When Buddy came in, he stopped and stared at her as she ignored him in her preening. Evidently, the dog has had enough of the kitty taking his favorite places to lie down! He walked over and gently nudged her OFF his carpet. Cleo looked back with a very shocked expression then walked off, tail held high. The carpet belongs to the dog!

Mom How Could You?

14 Jul 2014 Leave a comment

by Quietude's Junction in Kitten Wars Tags: , ,

Woke up REALLY late today after a long night having fun on my computer to my dog giving me the “Mom how could you make me wait this long?” face. Cleo jumped on the bandwagon of “get Mom UP” and started licking my nose as I was trying to sit up. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the distinct pleasure of a cat licking your nose in their sheer ecstasy of love for you, but, well, my nose no longer needs to be exfoliated if it ever did, particularly the tip. I rushed to get my dog outside with him sitting in the bathroom thumping his tail. Now this, too, was a distinct veer from normal behavior for Buddy since he normally avoids my room of doggy bath doom like the plague, so I knew that things were getting serious here. So I start racing to get street clothes on, tumbling in and around my jeans as my foot misses, landing me on the bed for Cleo to pounce on. After forcing myself to slow down as Buddy begins his Buddy Howl of Despair I finally get him to the door for the collar only to find out as soon as we go downstairs that …. its raining. But not just raining, pouring so hard you can hear the waves of water whooshing through the wind and, of course, my umbrella is where? In the car. Buddy looks up with another “Mom how could you?” as if I had something to do with the rain as we march out for him to do his business. Meanwhile, Teeny completely ignored all of us until we returned for the Buddy burgers with his medicine. That cat LOVES dead bird and becomes the most loving and friendly of beasties whenever she realizes that the dead bird is leaving the fridge. Thus begins the day at my house. All is well and as it should be if a bit out of whack and off kilter šŸ™‚

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