In our family, pets are equal family members to those of us with only 2 legs. They are characters and have more problems than we do. Let me just give you a brief history; my parents have 3 golden retrievers and 1 cat (we had 2 cats and 2 birds but 1 cat and both birds died- separate occurrences) and I have my Australian cattle dog-black lab mix.
The first golden, Alex, is a total mamma’s boy and cannot be away from my mom for more than 5 minutes. On two separate occasions he has made himself sick (literally sick) when my mom was away. Two summers ago when she was in Italy for 6 weeks he stressed himself out so badly that he just started scratching his face raw and it became infected with a flesh eating bacteria (it was even grosser than you can imagine). Then, last winter when my parents were going to Puerto Rico he must have gotten wind of that because his leg swelled up to 3 times its normal size and my parents ended up cancelling their trip. Not 2 hours after they cancelled the trip, Alex was off the couch walking around. Unbelievable.
Katie, the second golden, is the sweetest little thing you’ve ever seen in your life. All she wants is to be petted all day and to get love. She also has a major anxiety disorder. Any time it storms (or even looks ominous outside) she can be found in the shower, shaking. She is always panting like she’s having a heart attack-even if nothing is going on. She is also our little escape artist- she kept escaping so my parents had to build a 4 foot high fence in the backyard. She CLIMBS the fence.
And then we come to Jack. Jack is our ‘special boy’- my dad’s pride and joy. He is half golden and half Pyrenees (if you don’t know anything about dogs, they are these giant, fluffy, gentle white dogs with a very laid back but stubborn personality). Jack reminds me of an ageing hippie- he’s very go-with-the-flow but he can easily get off track and wander off. He’s getting old so he moves very slowly. His favorite activity is to go inside and then go outside and then want to go inside and then outside again. He will literally scratch at the door and as soon as we let him out he’s ready to come in again. We’re not sure if it’s dementia or just sheer boredom. Also, if there’s a dog outside or something that makes the other two dogs bark, it doesn’t matter what window they’re barking at (even the back windows) Jack always goes to the same kitchen window and barks out that one. He has no idea what’s going on. A few years ago Jack had cancer and my parents decided to do chemo and treat him as long as he wasn’t in uncomfortable. Well the treatment worked amazingly well and he’s still with us. He’s such a cool dog that when my parents would go to pick him up after treatment he wouldn’t be in the kennel, he would be in the doctor’s office or in the reception area just chilling out.
Also at my parent’s house we have Max- my little fur ball. He’s this incredibly fat and fluffy blonde cat. I remember the day we went to see him at the pound like it was yesterday: his name was Shrub (the names of cats and kittens were generated by a computer because there were so many of them) and he was curled up in a ball in the back of the cage. We fell in love with him instantly but as soon as we got him home we started realizing he wasn’t all there in the head. He would just whine and whine and whine for no reason all the time. If you tried to pick him up or pet him he would hiss and cry. If you even look at him sometimes he will hiss at you. Granted, our other cat at the time, Cubbie, used to beat him up, and we kept adding dogs to the family so Max had reason to hate his life. The only time he’s happy is when he’s in a box (like a cardboard box). He loves being in there. He has this ritual where every night without fail he spends the night dragging up socks from the laundry room to the top of the stairs and crying. It literally sounds like he’s saying ‘Mom, hello’. It’s mad creepy. He was very happy when I moved out of my parents’ house and moved into my own place where there were no other animals. He was a completely different cat- he was playful, affectionate, and just generally happy. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long- I brought home Archie (more to come on him) and Max was not having that- I came home one day from work and Max had his little bags packed and waiting by the door ready for me to take him back home.
Which brings me to the craziest of them all…Archie. I ran into Petsmart one rainy day in February 2010 to get some kitty litter and there was a Humane Society adoption day going on. I knew that I shouldn’t go in because I’ll want to adopt a dog. My friend was with me and she was like ‘oh we’ll just go straight to the kitty litter and leave’. Not so much. They were wrapping up the event and there was one dog left with his foster parent. He was 10 months old, black, and adorable. I went straight from Petsmart to the foster parent’s house for my first interview. A month (and two additional interviews) later he was mine! It was really rough at first- he would literally attack me and bite me. I almost called 911 the night I brought him home because he went crazy on me and literally ripped my pants off my body and I had to sprint across the backyard sans pants. I spent two or three solid months looking like I’d been beaten up. But after a few months we hit our stride and fell into a routine. About 6 months ago I enrolled him in doggie daycare three days a week and it has been the best thing that’s ever happened to both of us- he gets to socialize with other dogs and get all his energy out and we have a nice peaceful time at home. It warms my heart to see how excited he gets when we pull up to daycare but the best feeling is when I pick him up in the evening and his tail starts wagging and he runs towards me!
He’s still bat shit crazy. He has the out of control high pitched bark when he wants attention and he still has more energy than I thought possible. He still instinctively wants to bite things (me) but he now remembers that he can’t so he does this thing where he bites the air. He sees imaginary things and follows them around. His favorite game is to try and catch lightning bugs. He tears toys to shreds in record time. When we go to my parents’ house all the other dogs look at me like ‘really? Why is he here?’ because he’s just excited to play with his cousins.
Even though we have 4 crazy dogs and one strange cat I wouldn’t trade or change any of them for the world. They enrich our lives and are the source of endless entertainment. They are such characters and each hastheir own little (actually, big) personalities. We love them so much and they truly are members of our family!
No comments:
Post a Comment