Barry’s Daily Web News

A New Member of the Family

We picked up a kitten at the animal rescue league this morning. Her name is Zelda, and she is white and gray. She is 11 weeks old, and has fairly long legs and a long bushy tail for her size. (I’ll post some pictures tomorrow.) We didn’t name the cat, but the name she already had stuck right away. Zip and Zelda, the new cat duo! We have Zelda confined to the laundry room for now. She has her own food, water, litter box, and a new cat condo (small tower). Zelda was quite playful when we were at the rescue center, but since she has been home, she has been quite affectionate. She loves it every time you visit her, and she immediately goes up to you, rubs against your legs, and starts purring.

Picking a cat is much easier than picking out a dog. As experienced cat owners, we knew we wanted a combination of affection and playfulness. We had no problem picking out a kitten, as the rescue center had at least 70 kittens. They were all fixed and micro-chipped, so we don’t have to go back to the center. That’s probably good news for Ethan. He may have a mild allergy against cats, and the over 200 animals at the center definitely bothered him. While we were finishing the paperwork for Zelda, Ethan was sneezing non-stop, and his eyes were red for most of the day.

I do have to say that bringing a kitten into the house is easier than the dog. The kitten is already litter boxed trained. All we really have to do is make sure Zelda has a smooth introduction to Zip and Princess. After that, we just need to keep an eye on the kitten so that she doesn’t scratch the furniture. Of course we still love Princess, but it took quite a bit of effort to turn her into the lovable dog we have now.

The End of a Rough Week

This has been a tough week. We are still recovering from the loss of Floppy. We have a broken garage door opener. Cortney had the minivan in the shop all week, and they were unable to fix the problem. Well, at least the work week is over.

And, our heat wave is over. We should get cooler temperatures this weekend, and we also have a chance of thunderstorms. That’s somewhat exciting, as we haven’t had rain in 80 days.

Goodbye Floppy

We had to put Floppy down today. Cortney took Floppy to the vet first thing this morning. They did a chest x-ray to find out what was wrong with her. Her heart was full of fluid, and she could barely breath. The most likely treatment would have worsened her kidney problems, and would only extend her life a month or so. Cortney and I decided it was her time.

The vet’s office was very good about the whole thing. The staff was certainly all familiar with Floppy, as she has been coming every week for the last four years, and twice a week for the last few months. The tech had Sean and Ethan color and decorate with stickers so that Cortney and I could be alone with Floppy. In the end, Floppy had so little energy, that her last movement was lowering her head about an inch to the pillow, and then it was all over.

Floppy was my first pet as an adult. Cortney and I picked her out while she and I were still dating. Floppy was our first little “baby”, and we have a photo album full of pictures of her. I remember calling Floppy “satellite” kitty, as she always wanted to be between 4 and 6 feet away from me.

Floppy always seemed to like the sound of my voice. She liked it and would purr and blink her eyelids (a sign of affection for cats) when I would say “pretty kitty”. And when I would say “pitiful kitty”, she would twitch her tail in response.

Floppy was with us for 14 years. We have many fond memories of her. Floppy wasn’t very sociable, mainly since she seemed to prefer giving Cortney and me lots of attention. Floppy had many struggles, the first was when brought Zip home, and next was when we had Sean and Ethan. But she was also fairly adaptable. She quickly adapted to our new house in Arizona, and she became comfortable around Princess our dog weeks before Zip did. She also lived over four years with kidney disease. The vet told us most cats with levels as high as Floppy only live six months or so. We were certainly glad she was with us those few extra years.

Goodbye Floppy. We will never forget you.

Not so Happy 4th

Today was a holiday for me, but things could have been better for us. Our garage door opener is broken. We called a repair service, but they won’t do warranty work for our I-drive. We should be able to get the opener fixed under warranty, but it might be a day or two before that happens. Which means our cars our outside, stuck in the heat. And the high was 116 degrees today, so that’s pretty hot.

Perhaps the worst news is that Floppy is not feeling well. Even though she has been on and off for the last four years that she has been diagnosed with kidney disease, this is the first time she looks like she is either in pain, or she is just out of it. Cortney will take her to the vet tomorrow, so we hope for the best.

Today wasn’t all bad. I had dinner with Sean and Ethan out by the pool. For some reason, they like jumping in the water, coming out and taking one bite of food, and then jumping back in. At least they stay cool doing that. I prefer to finish my meal, then stay in the pool.

Mid-Week Beak

It seems strange to have a holiday in the middle of the week. I did not know quite what to do this evening, so I did not do much of anything. I’m going to spend tomorrow trying to fix up some things around the house.

Sean and Ethan go the Dentist

I took, Sean and Ethan to get their teeth cleaned this morning. The trip ended up taking close to an hour, as Sean had 4 new molars sealed. Both kids got good marks for clean and health teeth.

Today is Cortney’s mom, Leslie’s, birthday. She is now in the hospital after having her appendix removed. We hope you get well soon, Leslie.

The Yard Work is Done

Just when you think you know your kids, they surprise you. Yesterday, Ethan refused to help with the yard work, and Sean busily worked for hours. Today was just the opposite. Sean whined and complained how long it was going to take, and Ethan patiently worked until we had picked up all of the mesquite pods. The good news is that Sean and Ethan worked enough that I could finish the rest of the yard work, as Cortney went out for coffee followed by grocery shopping.

The rest of the day went well. I took Sean and Ethan to McDonald’s as a reward for helping in the yard. We had a nice dinner, followed up with a relaxing swim in the pool.