Just call me Pet Mom of the Year. Again. Jackson badly tore his dewclaw over the weekend–the nail sheath was completely torn away from the nail bud. It was super painful for him and I knew the vet would need to put him under anesthesia to cut the nail back. I decided we may as well get his teeth cleaned at the same time. Unfortunately, he had a cracked tooth with an exposed, infected root. I am sure that this has been causing him considerable pain, especially when eating. So, turns out, the reason he acted as though eating his dinner was pure torture was because… it is. Every night he would look at me with agony as though to say, Please don’t make me eat..and every night I would sternly say, Jackson, this is ridiculous, eat your dinner. The end of his tail would wag: thunk, thunk, thunk, and then I would give him The Look. You know, the I-Mean-Business-Boy-and-Don’t-Make-Me-Come-Over-There Look. And because he is such a good boy, he would comply.
I have written before about how the animals learn from each other. This is not limited to the dogs, the cats do it too, particularly Baby Titten. She is a smart cookie and understands a lot of what goes on around her. Archie loves to sprawl all over the place, on his back, all fours in the air. Baby Titten sleeps in traditional cat positions—in a ball, or on her stomach with all her feet tucked underneath her body. Soon after adopting Archie, we would come into a room and see her awkwardly laying on her back, front legs stiffly in the air, eyes big as silver dollars, still as can be and obviously uncomfortable, but determined to copy Archie, and thereby proving the term, copy cat.
Although not as funny as the first time, Cheyenne struck again tonight by rolling in a dead animal. Still aromatic, this time wasn’t quite as pungent. In fact, my husband said he thought it was his feet, until he realized her neck was crusty. He thought this could be taken care of with a washcloth and having experience in this matter, I just laughed. Clearly, this did not work out and he soon announced that we were putting her in the tub. The crust was down the length of her body. I grabbed a pitcher, towel, and shampoo. My husband wrapped her up in a dirty towel and carried her into the bathroom. He set her in the tub and climbed in with her. I dumped the first pitcher of water over her and was as0tounded to see the water running off her body turn YELLOW. A moment later I realized my husband’s feet were in the water and that is precisely when the laughter started. I simply could not stop. Even Cheyenne’s dejected little face and trembling body did not deter me. Post-bath, we discovered her collar was covered in guts. I can’t wait to discover what poor little thing caused this ruckus.
Little buddies patroling the yard and keeping us safe!
You Put Your Left Paw In...
I’m not sure if everyone’s pets have idiosyncracies quite the same way that mine do–all I know is that mine have several! Maybe I just have unique animals, maybe I just pay more attention to every little thing they do–I don’t know, I just know that each one of my animals have their own eccentricities, and as much as they may frustrate me at times, these quirks make me laugh and ultimately bring me great joy.
Jackson sneezes. He must have a strange nose fetish, because as much as he fears the sound of sniffing, he repeatedly sneezes loudly when he is angry or frustrated. He slowly walks in a semicircle around the target of his vexation and dramatically shakes his head with every sneeze, constantly looking sideways to assess the effect of his sneezing. Sometimes I will say, “No guff, Mister!” and he will answer, “A-choo, choo!” I have never known another dog to do this, however, just recently, Cheyenne and Dixie have begun to copy this ever-so-amusing trait.
