Corner of Bourbon & Division

Today has been A Day, and I still have to go to work in about five hours. *falls over* 

I cleaned out all the quail enclosures today, as I had been doing only very basic maintenance since getting Covid, and they were pretty gross. The quails deserve a nice clean environment to live in, after all. I also noticed that the quarantine box in which I was keeping my lone male was disintegrating because of the water spilling out of his water dish. The cardboard had softened without my noticing before, and last night I saw that the box was sagging to one side, and the mesh over the "window" in the front was gaping badly.

So today I cut a hole in a new box, lined it with duct tape and plastic, and cut a new window in it so the poor birb isn't just completely in the dark. I couldn't leave him in the old box while I transferred the mesh over, however, so I decided to stick him in for a couple of minutes with the other quail. How bad could it be? I thought. He'll only be in there long enough for me to attach the mesh to the new box. HAH. No sooner had his feet touched the pine chips on the floor of the enclosure, he immediately sprang onto the nearest female, grabbed a bunch of feathers at the base of her head and swung himself onto her back like a cowboy at a rodeo. He was VERY rough with her, and she bucked him off, so he immediately did the same thing to the next closest female. A third female then flew at him and started pecking at him pretty viciously, so I reached in and pulled him out and put him in a bucket while I worked.

Good Lord and butter!

At least now I know that he is, in fact, the problem bird in the bunch. The other male is very gentle with the ladies: all their feathers are growing back, they're all laying consistently every day, and they all like to hang out and tweedle softly together, whereas the first male has been screaming intermittently for the past couple of days. So once I am done with my night shifts he will be turned into dinner. Only gentleman birbs get to hang out with my ladies! Everyone else gets to be eaten.

I then sent my resume to the recruiter who'd asked for it, and then it was time to gather all the pets to take them to the vet for their annual shots. I want to say it went smoothly, but that would be a lie. First off, Octavia decided to hide in the walls and refused to come out. I was able to get Juno in her carrier, and then the dogs freaked the fuck out, because CAAAAAAAAT! I wrangled all three into KK's car and got them to the vet, figuring I would just reschedule Octavia for another day.

Once at the vet, the dogs got their shots, and KK messaged me to tell me that Octavia had graced the living room with her presence. I asked her to put Octavia in her kennel and arranged to leave Juno at the vet's while I drove the dogs home and picked up my truant cat. When I got back, the vet had some very bad news for me: namely, that Juno had lost a lot of weight and that it was very likely due to her teeth rotting in her head. One canine was so loose they were able to just yank it out then and there with no issue, and her other canine is super loose as well. When the vet examined Octavia, he found a really similar problem. So both cats need dental surgery ASAP, and I booked them in for May 28th, which is TWO DAYS before we're meant to move. But honestly, they are in pain and not eating, and I don't want to wait any longer than I have to, especially since I don't know what the vet care situation is in Maxville. There is a veterinary clinic there (I used to take my pets there when I first moved to Ottawa) but I don't know if they're taking new patients, and immediate dental surgery might be a stretch even for them.

So for now we're switching them to wet food until after the surgery, and then we'll see if they can have kibble after that still or if they'll need to be on soft food for the rest of their lives.

I came home just in time to have a Zoom call with my parents, which I totally forgot about until they called me to ask where I was. OOPS. My parents, as usual, immediately told me I should euthanize the cats rather than spend money on surgery for them. My parents are delightful that way. Then my mother asked me how much this "joke" was going to cost me, and when I asked her what "joke" she meant, she listed the number of pets I have (two cats, two dogs). I understand that they are worried about my finances, but fucking hell, it would be nice if they eased up a little. It's not like I'm not going to deny veterinary care to my pets, and I will only give up my pets as a very last resort. 

Anyway, apart from that little unpleasantness, we had a nice, if brief chat. Now it's time for me to go get some dinner, and hopefully have a nap and a shower before work.

*falls over*

It's not that I've forgotten LiveJournal exists. I come on here and read my friends' list almost every day. Few of you post that often, but enough of you post intermittently that I feel as if I'm keeping track of many of you. I suspect that may be a bit of an illusion, but that's okay. Social media is always a bit of an illusory beast.

I just saw slipjig link to a friending meme, and I think that it would behoove me to at least try to post more regularly. Sometimes I feel like my life is far too mundane to be of interest to anyone, but then, I love hearing about the little things that all my friends are doing. Going to work? I want to know how your day went! Planning a garden? Show me pictures of your squash! Taking your kids to school in the morning? Yes, please! Are your pets adorable? PICS, OR IT DIDN'T HAPPEN! Etc. So if I'm interested in all these small, daily victories and disappointments, it stands to reason that at least some of my LJ friends feel the same way.

So, what have I been up to since the last time I posted? That was in February, I am a little horrified to see, when my computer keyboard bit the dust. I got it repaired, it's working fine now, except every now and then it... decides not to. It's always a bit nervewracking when that happens, but it's never for more than about 10-15 seconds, and it's happened maybe twice or three times. I'm trying not to worry about it too much.

( Quaker Stuff )

( Pet updates, with cute pictures! )

( The Parental Units )

( Work and gardening )

Moving house is eating my brain and taking up all my CPU. With any luck I will be back and posting properly after I've moved. The date is set for November 4th. Yay! Also, ACK!

Quick update on the State of the Phnee:

1. I am trying to pack like the wind, and mostly packing like molasses uphill in January. Still, things progress.


2. Sergent finally got his ultrasound done (God, that shit is expensive!), and the good news is that he doesn't have cancer or Cushing's. The bad news is that the vet couldn't tell what the hell is going wrong with his liver, so we've got him on some expensive medication for a month to see if that helps his liver a little bit.


3. Octavia (my new kitten) got spayed the day before yesterday and is doing fine, except for how much she hates the Cone of Shame. It bends her whiskers out of shape and so messes with her balance and makes her walk funny. Poor kitty. I'm hoping to take the cone off in a couple of days, as soon as her surgical incision has healed a bit more.


4. I was planning to maybe throw a small going-away party, but I realise now that I can't pull it off in the time I have, given all the work I still have to do. Sorry, everyone. Either you'll have to come to my housewarming in Ottawa, or else we can have a get-together the next time I'm in Montreal. Deal?


5. Packing. ALL THE PACKING.


6. Moving is hard. And stressful. And expensive. Boy howdy, is it expensive.


7. Also, because I am a masochist, I've decided to do NaNoWriMo this year.

At 17:00 I decided to take the dog out for a walk to go look for Pan-Pan. I opened the front door, and George slipped between my legs and headed out for the evening. I locked the door, turned around, and watched as a car drove by and hit him.

( Cut for very graphic description of bodily harm to the cat )

It has been All Birthday, All The Time at Casa mousme this week. We started with a wee celebration on Monday because I wouldn't be there for Bean's actual birthday on Wednesday. Then Bean had a special birthday celebration at school on Wednesday, complete with Monster High-themed cupcakes, and received some presents from pdaughter as well.

( It my party NOW? )

I know I still owe an entry about my relationship with the French language, but it requires more time and thought than I can devote to it today. It will probably happen this weekend. I know you're all waiting with bated breath.

Bean was much better today, after spending yesterday with a fever that wavered between "low-grade" and "high enough to be very uncomfortable." We can always tell when he's truly under the weather, because he sits still and is quiet. He also got quite clingy and latched onto pdaughter like a limpet, switching to cling to me only when she got up to go to the bathroom. In the afternoon we watched Casper (the live-action movie) together, and he seemed to enjoy it, though predictably about 50 minutes in he declared the movie "too long" and announced he wanted to watch something else. He was too lethargic to really protest when pdaughter told him we were going to keep watching, though, and the movie piqued his interest again a few minutes later, so all was well.

In spite of pdaughter's repeated attempts to get him to nap, he stubbornly stayed awake until about 17:30, when he dozed off in her arms. He roused briefly when she tried to stealthily put him to bed, but went down again pretty easily about half an hour later. pdaughter went out to get more Children's Tylenol (he got one dose before bed, but that was all we had on hand), and of course while she was gone he woke up crying for her. Luckily I was deemed a suitable alternative to Mama for the time being, and he settled again and was fast asleep—though coughing in his sleep, poor bunny—by the time she got home.

Because Bean had an early night, we actually managed to watch three TV episodes in a row! Though, in retrospect, the third one was probably a mistake, as we ended up going to bed later than usual. Still, we caught up on Castle and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which FINALLY delivered an episode that hit the right notes for me and didn't feel forced or boring or have only one good part) before watching the 200th episode of Criminal Minds almost live.

Today I packed my bags, took the dog out, got George's antibiotics from the vet, and drove to Ottawa. It sounds like very little for a day in which I seemed to run out of time for everything. Bean was, as I said, feeling much better, which was a relief, but also meant he was back to his very energetic and rather loud self. He was not 100%, but still greatly improved. He spent the morning making cards for me and pdaughter. He made hers first, and carefully and spontaneously labelled it "MAMA," which made her go all misty-eyed. It was adorable. He decorated both with aluminium foil hearts which we helped him glue on, and then drew very elaborate pictures on them. Mine had a toilet (don't ask, I don't know), green grass, several doors, and a picture of someone I believe is meant to be me, as well as the aforementioned foil heart and a foil triangle ("A mountain triangle!"). I have brought the card with me to Ottawa, and need to find a good spot for it in my little room.

Being a step-parent rocks. :)

Even though I have no money, I bit the bullet today and bought some new clothes, because all the ones I have that were suitable for more "casual" office wear were nearly 10 years old, faded, misshapen, and had become irreparably stained. No longer office-worthy at all. I managed to find a few items on sale for $9 and a few cute shirts for $19, and hopefully that will set me up for a while. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this doesn't break the bank.

One of my self-improvement goals this year is to sit down and write out a proper budget. Then I need to stick to it and find a way to cut back even further on some of my spending. I think that some of the trouble comes from not having a strict budget when it comes to "extras" like presents and books and DVDs. (The rest of the trouble comes from trying to wrangle a mortgage, car payments, daycare, a 500km/week commute, and a frankly exorbitant monthly rent on an extra room to sleep in for my job, all on my salary and the contributions pdaughter is able to make, as well as some government money for daycare).

I think I'll save the money talk for a different post. I have Thoughts on the subject, and they deserve their own entry.

Does anyone local know someone in need of a cat?

Poor Smudge is not adjusting well to the dog.

Worse, the dog is not adjusting to Smudge either. The dog got into the spare room tonight where Smudge has been camping out, lunged up onto the furniture after him and tried to bite him. Or eat him, I honestly can't tell. He literally had his jaws around poor Smudge by the time I managed to intervene, and I nearly broke my finger getting them apart.

Since Sergent is here to stay and is fine with the other two cats, I think I need to re-home Smudge in a nice, calm place where there are no other cats or pets of any kind. He's a sweet, affectionate cat with people—it's just other animals he doesn't get along with. He hasn't had any behavioural issues in years: he always uses the litter box (even the whole time the dog was stressing him out, no less!), and cuddles with me and purrs whenever I go into the room.

As much as it breaks my heart, I think he would do better in a single cat household. Right now I feel like he's being punished for something that's not his fault or his doing.

Anyone in the area looking for a cat? Or do you know someone looking for a cat? If you do, point them my way, please. Smudge deserves a better life than the one he has now.

Sergeant (well, Sergent, but I think for the purposes of this LJ I'll stick to the English spelling) is now at home with me.



He's settling in pretty well. The cats are furious: Pan-Pan is hiding in the highest place he was able to find, Smudge has disappeared, and George is hissing sporadically at the proceedings from inside the recycling bin. Yeah, I don't know either.

Unfortunately, the poor guy is still waiting at the door for his Mommy and Daddy to come back. I'm going to take him for a walk in an hour or so in the hopes that this will cheer him up. His Mommy cried when she left, poor thing. I think this separation is going to be hard on all of them, but I have promised to email regular updates to them, and they live close enough that they can come visit if they want.

I'm beginning to think I may have to make a Decision™ regarding Gretzky. I was hoping to let her live out her days quietly, since she was obviously content and not in any obvious pain, and just one day go to sleep and not wake up.

I don't think that's going to happen anymore. She's getting increasingly confused and today not only missed the litter box, but missed it by a whole room rather than by a few inches or a few feet.

I'm torn. Part of me thinks that I'm just being overdramatic about one litter box-related accident. Except that it's not one accident, it's been that way every day for a few months now. I don't mind picking up after her, but I'm wondering if maybe there isn't a bigger problem here than what I was imagining.

Gretzky is eighteen years old. She's lost a lot of weight, she's gone pretty much blind and almost completely deaf. Her hips are bothering her, and her hind legs are getting a little weak when she moves around.

I think maybe I might have to let her go sooner than I ever wanted to.

Gretzky is positively frisky tonight. It's very sweet. Or it would be sweet if she weren't trying to chew on me.

I think this means it's time to feed the cats.

She's purring and lively, though, which I haven't seen in a while. It's lovely. :)