Pet Chronicles

I just wrote a blog last night and so I hate do another but the pets are acting so wonky that I have to. (Besides, the animals are much more entertaining then my whining.)

Before the move Theodore was stepping his paw tentatively in and out of Death's door. Smee hid from the kids and pets under our bed 85% of her day. She would come out at times and lay in the threshold of our bedroom to hiss and snarl at Theodore or the children. This was kind of cool actually because it kept my kids out of my room. Sinclaire had ballooned into quite the hefty girl that left her lazy. Then she had a sudden and drastic weight loss due to a hyperthyroid. She takes meds twice a day. (That's right people. I drop a pill down my cat's throat 2x a day.) The thyroid has not only brought her a new svelte physique but she is constanly thirsty and is now trying to drink out of toilet bowls, water that you leave out, or the tub. Ug. She is also all about playing outdoors again which I dig because it is one less beast in my home.

When we made the move we had all of the pets in crates in one vehicle and the Nuggets (my children) in another. Sinclaire was permitted to roam about the "cabin." Smee's crate was open but she never stepped out and Theodore slept most of the way only coming out at pit stops to use the restroom and drink water.

For the first week after we arrived here in CO, the pets seemed to have a new lease on life. The first night all three of them slept on the same air mattress as me! (I think they were as cold as I was.) It was shocking to see that they could be so close to each other with out any issues. They were courteous to one another, taking turns at the food and water dishes, and making way for one another to come in and out of entrances/exits.

Smee has stopped hissing and snarling at the children even allowing them to pet her. (Two strokes only.) She has not only been all over the house but has even ventured OUTSIDE! She spent all of 10 minutes outside the other day. This was shocking! In the past if she went outside she would cower and slink out low to the ground only to immediately run back inside. It's almost like she wanted to try it and then quickly decided that was enough.

The other morning Theodore woke up with an urgent need to use the restroom. The upstairs is all wood floors (sans the bedrooms.) He came barreling down the hall way, slid past the kitchen Risky Business Style (diaper and all), then slid past it again on the rebound. He gets through the kitchen to the back door and leaped off of the top step of the patio. Who is this dog?! He's supposed to be on his last leg! Dude, you are 16 years old! I'm not very good at math but I do know in dogs years that is ANCIENT! He has also been caught chasing the children in circles in the basement and in the yard. What the hell. We took him in "knowing" that his days were numbered, wanting to go with people he knew and loved. Now it seems he has 9 lives.

Sinclaire has been pretty much the same but her fur looks better and she has not been mewing her complaints of thirst.

Until this weekend.

Suddenly the honeymoon is over and the pets are back in form. Of sorts. It started Monday with Theodore howling/moaning the saddest howl you have ever heard. He kept restlessly wandering through the house with his tail tucked between his legs and periodically stopping to let out that awful cry. I think he is homesick. (Strangely enough it was the same day that I spent crying as well.)

This morning the kids and animals both were whining and barking and complaining all at once. Theodore took a spill down the stairs. He made it with out injury but all were a bit shaken. I was ready to crawl back into bed and call it a day by 8 a.m. On top of it for some reason Theodore kept barking for I Don't Know Why. He would be barking and I'd find him in the bedroom closet barking at nothing. Then he would be at the open back door barking at...nothing. Then barking at nothing on the stairs and so forth. One of the times he was barking I came upon him and finally saw what he had been barking at. SMEE!

She would be just around a corner taunting him and then when she would hear me coming she would slink away really fast. Poor Theodore was getting chewed out all morning. I was so mad at Smee! She was like those snotty kids that tease an old man just because he's weaker, slower, and can't see or hear well. Just awful!

Sinclaire is back to trying to drink from the toliet. Now where are those pills...? Theodore is still yowling sadly at random moments. Hopefully his day will get a little better. So I guess the pets are feeling the stress of the move now too. The only part of the family that seems to be unscathed by it all is Gary our snail and the boys. The boys are calling this home now and every day Drew says "Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day here in Denver!"