Home Again

I always get a little stressed about leaving the pets behind when I head off on vacation.  I quickly let it go once I’m away from the house, but before I leave, I make lists and prep food, and make sure to leave emergency numbers, etc. This time, my son was taking care of all the babies, so I wanted to make it as simple for him as I could.

I left dog food in individual containers so an allergy pill could be added in the morning, and the containers could just be fed to the dog. No mixing of wet and dry food required, easy!

Hector D. Byrd’s food was made up and in the fridge, a scoop in her bowl, and she was all set.

The Dragon’s salad was ready to go, and the cats had a big dispenser of dry food.

Bean grew!

Cali decided not to eat while I was away. Well, she ate, but left enough food in her bowl to show my son she was displeased that I was away. Hector loves my son, so I’m pretty sure she didn’t even miss me.

Bean was naughty. He destroyed the new cover my husband and son made for the dragon tank. The one that was designed to keep him and Puck from hanging out on top of the tank. He also went into my son’s room at night and meowed at him to wake him up, then curled up on the bed and went to sleep. I guess he just wanted my son to know that he had arrived.

Cali and Puck were waiting for treats as usual, spoiled babies.

What else is new? I’m still trying to sort out Cali’s allergies.  Even though we increased her Apoquel, she is still itching, and it’s expensive.  She is due to see the vet in a couple of weeks, so I’ll go over the allergy thing with him then and see what new ideas we can come up with.

Logan the cat has been throwing up. It took me a little while to figure out which cat was throwing up.  With three in the house, it isn’t easy to narrow this stuff down. I’ve started added a bit of pumpkin to her diet to see if that helps fix the problem. The cats are currently getting a mix of dry food with half dental care formula, and half hairball remedy, then they get a little bit of canned food mixed with pumpkin once a day. Hopefully the pumpkin will help.

The Breeze litter box is still working out really well. I’m not convinced I would want all four of my boxes to be Breeze based on the cost of the pads and pellets, but the single one upstairs is working out really well. There is no odor at all, and really no work to it. The cats mostly use it to pee, so I just change the pad once a week and it is good to go. I still want to check out an automated litter box, but haven’t decided which one to invest in yet.

Hector is quiet today, the cats aren’t around at the moment, and Cali is napping. Time to get some work done.

Leave a comment and let me know what you do with your pets when you travel.

 

Hector blah, blah, blah

Life with a parrot is never dull. They aren’t quite pets, they aren’t clean pets, and they certainly aren’t pets you can ignore.

Today, I’m working from home, and Hector D. Byrd is in a super chatty mood. She’s been whistling and chatting at me for over half an hour now.

As usual, she’s quite entertaining: “Hi – eeeeeee, Pucky-boo, HELLO, Hello Bird, Hello Hector, Hector Bird, How do you do Hector? How ya doing? Hector the bird, Hello, HELLO, Wanna come up?” She is whistling, squeaking and making video game sounds in between calling me and the cats.

Here’s the crazy part about today… She has a small plastic fishbowl, truth be told, it was a fishbowl drink from bar years ago, but Hector loves it. She throws it around, I fill it with treats, and shredded paper for her to forage out of, and she loves to play fetch with it. Well, just now for the first time, she started sticking her head in the bowl and talking and whistling. I think she likes the different sound of her voice, because she keeps experimenting with different sounds, voices, and whistles.

I wish I could get it on video, but anytime I move from my desk, she stops and stares at me.  She’s really entertaining herself, going back and forth with words and sounds with her head in and out of the jar. She currently is saying “oooooooooo” in and out of the jar.  Then she laughs.  Nice she is entertaining herself!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!