Wednesday, October 24, 2012

What a weird day!  Terry was helping me out with all of my animal duties.  3 visits were cancelled last minute today, so we had a little time to kill.  I got to pick up a package from the post office at 9th and Dickenson (so out of the way!) and then I suggested that we go to visit the aquarium store at 7th and Morris.  Terry had never been there, and it is worth a trip.  Amazing fish, well kept, healthy, and a sweet cat that guards the door. :)  We get our fill of fish, and then get in the car.  We get a few blocks north and I see a rottweiler wandering on 7th St. She stopped the car and we looked around for a human to go along with the dog.  I didn't see one.  They were doing construction right next to her, so I asked one of the workers if the dog lived there.  They said they never saw the dog before.  So here is what is strange.  We were at 7th and Reed, there are tons of people walking around seeing an adult Rottweiler walking around the neighborhood, and no one cares.  No one knew who the dog was or where it lived.  She was super friendly and seemed to have a UTI.  I called QVAH to see if anyone reported a missing Rott, they hadn't.  I called animal control and waited on hold forever.  While on hold we started following the dog to make sure she didn't get hit by a car or wander too far away. I tried to give her some treats I had and some water from a bottle.  She decided that it was better to lick up feces with whole corn in it.  Yeah.....

 Another guy walked by and I asked him if he knew the dog.  This was about the 6th or 7th person we asked.  He said, "Oh yeah, it lives down that street by the second pole.  Lives with the Mexicans." This neighborhood is ALL Asian and Mexican it seems.  So we follow the dog down the street and she stops at this dilapidated old house with a wood door that is falling apart.  She starts sniffing the door, so I knock.  I hear kids screaming, and then a lady yells, "What? Who is there?" I ask if she lost her dog.  She comes to the door looking like she is about to give birth, and says, "Oh yeah."  The dog goes inside and she is just staring at us.  We tell her that the dog was wandering around at 7th and Reed, no collar, and seems to have a UTI.  I advised her to take the dog to a vet. She just nodded and smiled, didn't seem thankful at all... didn't notice that her 90lb dog was not in her house!  Ugh, I"m happy the dog is home, I just wish it was a better home. What an ordeal!


Me on hold offering water

I'm a little behind with some of these, but I have been saving them up! Here we go.

As a rule, workmen and pets never work.  They always do something like let them out, leave doors open, leave chemicals out, etc.  There is a house that has been having a ton of work done lately and most recently the steps were supposed to be refinished.  As you may know, no one can walk on the stairs after they are stained.  This poses a problem when you have a cat.  I was told to put the cat in the upstairs bedroom with all of his stuff (food, litter, etc)   I did it, showed the contractors, and was on my way.  When I came back the next day (when they said it was safe to use the stairs), the door was open and there was no cat.  No note, no warning.  He is an indoor/outdoor cat, but everything was exactly where I put it the day before.  I look for the cat EVERYWHERE.  I can't find him.  I go out back and stand on chairs looking around for him, calling his name.  Still no response.  After about an hour and countless mosquito bites, I go back outside 1 more time.  I see him sleeping on the neighbors roof right behind the wall.  He is completely camouflaged!




He is also dead asleep. Given the fact that he is 16 years old, his hearing isn't so great either.  I didn't know how to wake him up and get him to eat.  I just started picking up handfuls of his dry food and tossing it on him hoping to get him to stir.  Nothing!!  What will it take to wake this cat up?!  I go down to the kitchen and stand at the door while opening a can of fancy feast.  He wakes right up, stretches, and comes over to eat breakfast like nothing was ever wrong.  Little did he know, he nearly gave me a heart attack.



Sunday, October 21, 2012

What a busy weekend!  I was running around like a crazy person this morning because everyone had morning visits (including 2 diabetic cats)  In the midst of my first cat visit, I received a text from a dog neighbor that they were stuck out of state and they needed me to let the kids out.  I obliged because I love them (the guys and the dogs), but it added one more morning visit! Grr... I did however get showered with shih tzu kisses which made my morning from this face





So I continue on with all of my morning activities and I get another last minute dog walk text.  The instructions were to come whenever, so at least it was flexible.  It is a dog on Elfreths Alley.  The only downside of taking a dog out for a walk there is all of the tourists that watch you and ask, "So what's it like to live here?!"   So the rambunctious shepherd and I go for a walk, the destination being Bone Jour for a treat.  We make it over there and there is a handsome, big headed black and white dog in there already.  My dog is super jumpy as it is, and it's a small store.  I went in, and then tried to back up towards the door to give them room to sniff.  I stepped back with my left foot right into the water bowl, and then the dog did the same thing.  Nothing like a big fluffy tail in a water bowl wagging on your pants.  I decided we were being too destructive and that we should go back home.  While walking down the street I realized that the back of my pants are wet from the butt down due to her wet waggy tail.  Great, she is happy and I look like I peed all over myself in Old City on a Sunday afternoon.  Yeah... that was my day...