Me Zero, Animals Seven
Not including the Hermit Crab and fish, we have 7 pets. And they're winning.
Scout's nice, no complaints (she's our sweet, lovable German Shepard).
Gunther's a pain in the ass (he's the part shepard mix who got dropped off by his owner, with a claim he'd be back to get him in a few weeks once the family had completed a move into their new house. Never came back). He's jealous of the cats, so pees all over in the house to mark his territory. He's loud and barks all the time. He's skittish and will bite at you if you come up behind him too fast. And, he's cost us about $2000 in vet bills because he can't leave the porcupines alone and frequently gets a mouth and face full of quill.
Two outdoor feral cats--Pumpkin and Theresa. Nice. We adopted them, fixed them, and feed them. No problems.
Then . . . 1 neat little kitty who got outside and disappeared (owl food no doubt). So in my many treks to the shelters just in case, I cried at the sadness of orphaned kitties and brought home a mom and 2 kitties. Cha Ching. An easy $100. Get home, they're all sick--kennel cough? respitory and eye gunk. Cha Ching. Money for vet visits, medicines, testing to make sure it's not kitty aids. Cha Ching Cha Ching.
Can't let them out, since they're not owl-savvy. Kitty litter cleaned out 5 times a day and replenished. Cha Ching Cha Ching Cha Ching.
Now mommy kitty's in heat and attacking the kittens. Must get her fixed quickly (who knew a still nursing mommy could go into heat?). Extra for fixing them if they're in heat. Cha Ching Cha Ching Cha Ching.
Taking her to vet this a.m. for surgery, snow makes driving a nightmare. Princess breaks out of the cardboard box carrier the shelter gave us--shreds it in fact--and freaks out. While I'm trying to manuever treacherous roads, starts climbing all over me, the dash board, the steering wheel--claws out and grabbing at anything. Oh. Save. Me. From. This. Hell!
I pull into Yokes to get an emergency pet carrier, and as I'm parking in the diagonal slot across from a big blazer, she leaps between me and the steering, I lose control just like Jerilyn in my 1st chapter, and hit the blazer across from me. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!
So, I get out and look--no real damage to monstor vehicle, except for the plastic casing around license plate has snapped 1/2 off and laying in the snow. Didn't have a pen to leave a note. Okay. I'll race in, get the carrier, then wait for party to come out. Right. I'm in line and can see the spot from the cash register where I'm checking out. Turns out it was a handicap spot and some poor older man is practically crawling to get to this Blazer and pull himself up into it. Drives away. I've damaged a handicapped person's vehicle and did NOTHING about it!!!
There is a ring of Dante's hell that entails co-existing with this many animals. And that's where I'll spend eternity as punishment for that poor crippled man's truck. Next up, fix the 2 kitties before they start attacking each other. Plus more shots and boosters. What. Was. I. Thinking?!!! Next time I turn soft, just shoot me. I can't believe my husband hasn't shot me yet for the hell my big heart's brought to our household. It's like a Hitchcock movie at times--Chris came out of the bathroom last night to these 3 cats, another outdoor cat who comes in sometimes, and both dogs, all waiting outside the bathroom door. He looked down, looked at me, and just shook his head. Yikes.
Scout's nice, no complaints (she's our sweet, lovable German Shepard).
Gunther's a pain in the ass (he's the part shepard mix who got dropped off by his owner, with a claim he'd be back to get him in a few weeks once the family had completed a move into their new house. Never came back). He's jealous of the cats, so pees all over in the house to mark his territory. He's loud and barks all the time. He's skittish and will bite at you if you come up behind him too fast. And, he's cost us about $2000 in vet bills because he can't leave the porcupines alone and frequently gets a mouth and face full of quill.
Two outdoor feral cats--Pumpkin and Theresa. Nice. We adopted them, fixed them, and feed them. No problems.
Then . . . 1 neat little kitty who got outside and disappeared (owl food no doubt). So in my many treks to the shelters just in case, I cried at the sadness of orphaned kitties and brought home a mom and 2 kitties. Cha Ching. An easy $100. Get home, they're all sick--kennel cough? respitory and eye gunk. Cha Ching. Money for vet visits, medicines, testing to make sure it's not kitty aids. Cha Ching Cha Ching.
Can't let them out, since they're not owl-savvy. Kitty litter cleaned out 5 times a day and replenished. Cha Ching Cha Ching Cha Ching.
Now mommy kitty's in heat and attacking the kittens. Must get her fixed quickly (who knew a still nursing mommy could go into heat?). Extra for fixing them if they're in heat. Cha Ching Cha Ching Cha Ching.
Taking her to vet this a.m. for surgery, snow makes driving a nightmare. Princess breaks out of the cardboard box carrier the shelter gave us--shreds it in fact--and freaks out. While I'm trying to manuever treacherous roads, starts climbing all over me, the dash board, the steering wheel--claws out and grabbing at anything. Oh. Save. Me. From. This. Hell!
I pull into Yokes to get an emergency pet carrier, and as I'm parking in the diagonal slot across from a big blazer, she leaps between me and the steering, I lose control just like Jerilyn in my 1st chapter, and hit the blazer across from me. ARGH!!!!!!!!!!
So, I get out and look--no real damage to monstor vehicle, except for the plastic casing around license plate has snapped 1/2 off and laying in the snow. Didn't have a pen to leave a note. Okay. I'll race in, get the carrier, then wait for party to come out. Right. I'm in line and can see the spot from the cash register where I'm checking out. Turns out it was a handicap spot and some poor older man is practically crawling to get to this Blazer and pull himself up into it. Drives away. I've damaged a handicapped person's vehicle and did NOTHING about it!!!
There is a ring of Dante's hell that entails co-existing with this many animals. And that's where I'll spend eternity as punishment for that poor crippled man's truck. Next up, fix the 2 kitties before they start attacking each other. Plus more shots and boosters. What. Was. I. Thinking?!!! Next time I turn soft, just shoot me. I can't believe my husband hasn't shot me yet for the hell my big heart's brought to our household. It's like a Hitchcock movie at times--Chris came out of the bathroom last night to these 3 cats, another outdoor cat who comes in sometimes, and both dogs, all waiting outside the bathroom door. He looked down, looked at me, and just shook his head. Yikes.
posted by Ellen @ 12:03 PM
5 Comments:
At 1:02 PM,
Honey said…
Awww! Poor E. I hope the aminals all get taken care of and don't need any more vet trips. You've got such a big heart, someday it'll all be worth it. :)
At 4:59 PM,
Unknown said…
{{{hugs}}}
You do have a wonderful, big heart and karma will repay you.
Don't be so hard on yourself. It won't help. If you continue, one ankle biting session is in order.
[see the evil grin?]
Treat yourself to a nice cup of tea, a cookie, a moment or two to yourself and remember you are a good, kind, caring person who does much and doesn't take a bit for herself.
K.
already has her rabies shot, isn't contagious and doesn't need care or a trip to the vet. ;)
At 5:30 PM,
The Girl You Used to Know said…
hey ellen,
do the feral cats come to you? are they somewhat "tamed" for feral?
We have a buttload of feral cats in the woods across the street from our house. I'm ready to call animal control. If I thought they could be somewhat tamed, I would do something about it, but I think the inbreeding is so prevelant that there's little that can be done.
Oh, and by the way--I tagged you today. Come over to my blog and find out how... :)
At 9:36 PM,
Ellen said…
Hi Mel!
Thanks for the tag. The list was fun.
Our feral cats were not screaming wild. We have neighbors who have many cats who have many kittens, most of which end up owl food. Some make their way to us, hungry and cold. We take them in, get them fixed (so they don't have more hungry kitties), feed them, and let 'em be. One won't come near us. But she's not mean--just afraid. The other is more friendly.
I think when they're as wild as what you have where you live, there isn't much hope for them. It's sad. But, I'd probably call animal control too. (And I'd never say that if there was a chance to help them). Especially if they're breeding in large numbers (or inbreeding) and are most likely hungry. Argh!
At 4:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
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