A Day with our Pets

People ask what I do out here on the ranch to keep busy!!  There are never enough hours in a day to do the things I would like to do. I know it takes longer to accomplish some things than it used to but I've also added The Care & Feeding of Pets to my daily routine.

Before Paws, the youngest member of our clan at almost 4 months came, I slept in -- now I'm up earlier each day as he wakes me up wanting food and attention & to begin running & playing. He runs from one end of the house to the other -- many times a day!!  He is so full of kitten energy & constantly in motion. Whenever he wears down he takes a nap.  He stays up with me & plays while I'm on the computer in the evening. Sometimes he helps me type.  Often he's a bit too curious and finds himself behind a closed door when others don't need a kitten underfoot!

When Paws sleeps he gets very comfortable!!! It might be on my bed or his or in a basket.  Sometimes it's hard to find his nose or his head!! 

 Princess the resident cat thinks she needs to come in & go out at her convenience.  She's not sure a kitten is what we need here & of course Paws would like to be near her.  After all she looks like what his mom probably looked like. I don't know how I was so lucky as to get this picture :-)  

Miss Ellie, the most recent adoptee, has been in the house for 2 days and is looking much better. She's enjoying eating more often than once a day and gets smaller portions. She's filling out and has an 'elegant' coat. I have hopes that she'll get over the need to hide and will find "her spot" in the house. Today she did venture to the downstairs to explore.
Princess doesn't understand why the downstairs isn't available to her whenever she needs to go to her bed. She doesn't realize that Miss Ellie is hiding in a box in the room at the top of the stairs! 

Goldie is the only one to let Paws snuggle up.  Paws is also right there to help Goldie eat her food.

Mindy knows she's  #1 around here!!  Some days she & Paws have some good play times. Other days Paws is a real nuisance to her.

This covers all the 4-legged friends here and in the order that they are fed. The 2 dogs are the only ones who eat the same food - every one else has their own can or bag. The 2 older cats will soon be eating the same thing which will simplify meal time.  Now if only I could line them all up -- but don't think that will happen.  Everyone has her/his own spot, it causes a much quieter time.

And that's my day --- feeding all of them in the morning and again at night.  After they are fed then it's time for us to get to eat.

Miss Ellie is spending the night

Today (Thursday) was a good day here!!!!  On Oct 18 we had a gray cat come to our door absolutely starved.  Since then she has had days of 2 meals, 1 meal or no meals -- depending on if I could locate her!!!   At first she'd come to the house, then one night the dogs chased her up a tree (it took some coaxing to get her to come down).  She didn't come when I'd call her and one day I saw her out in the hay field behind the house - went out and called and she came right to me.  For the past week she & I have been meeting in the field!!  I took the food out and we'd set there in the field to eat and have a petting session.

Yesterday I didn't have the food with me when I went out so I carried her to the house, after I had it fixed we went a ways from the house for her to eat. This morning I saw her out in the field & by the time I got dressed and out there she was out of site -- but came running when I called. This was the first running I've seen her do!!!!  I carried her to the house and INTO the house -- inside the back door is a little room  & I fed her there.  Then fixed her a bed and litter box and she's made her self at home!!!  She spent the day sleeping and eating --- 3 meals so far.  She is much prettier than when I first saw her and has filled out so much. Her coat is heavier and shiny. 

By the way --  I cooked some chicken to make a nutritious thick broth for her & she sure does like it!!  That's what she must have been running to get today!!!  She ate a bowl of it before she moved on to the salmon catfood!!!   We are sure happy to have gotten this far with her and hope it works out for her to live with us.

Miss Ellie

Miss Ellie - after 1st combing

Recently we were seeing a gray cat going across the field in front of the house. Last Tuesday (18th) she came to the front door and let me pick her up and then feed her.  She was absolutely famished - actually near starvation as she was skin and bones and her gray fur was so dull and in need of some care.

The next day she was back -- twice :-)  Besides food that day she got a good combing.  She even made herself at home on & in the cat's house outside. 

Miss Ellie - after combing & food

The next day she was still around & I thought I'd made great progress. Twice a day she was eating a full can of food along with a good amount of dry food and drinking a lot of water too.

Then we didn't see her for a couple days.  Sunday night she returned but with the dogs outside she ended up in a tree. It took quite a while but she finally came down to me. Now she's only coming at night. I'd like to get her 9 pm visit moved to about 7.

We have great petting and talking sessions while she's eating. She's also quite lovey when she's held.  I'm pretty sure she's been declawed so I really would like to make some good progress before winter gets here.  Oh! her name -- Miss Ellie. I knew she'd be an Elegant Lady after she had some care so she became Miss Ellie. That's how I call for her in the evening & tonight she answered as soon as I called -- so once again I think I'm making progress :-)

Time to Catch Up

Life in Paradise has been good this summer. Evidently busy also since I'm nearly 2 months behind!! I was traveling in September; it took a lot of preparation to be gone for 2 weeks. Then a lot of resting and catching up when I got back home. Taking care of our pets also keep me busy.

Our Mindy and Goldie have become good friends when it comes to outdoor hunting of mice, moles, toads, rabbits. They are real excavators when it comes to digging for something that might be down there!!   They think that anything that moves is fair game. The deer won't run any more so they have decided there's no longer a need to bark at them.  Inside the house they each show their own possessiveness of Gary & I.

In September a tiny kitten came to live with us. Princess didn't like her territory being invaded by this little ball of fur - and still won't let Paws be her friend. Goldie let Paws snuggle with her, until Paws became too playful -- and Mindy didn't care for Paws at all.  Mindy & Paws are now discovering they can be friends and have fun playing together. Pictures and more about my kitten Mr. Paws will have to wait for another day.

Fire Season

Once again fire season is upon us. Sunday night we experienced a thunderstorm that was the cause for many fires coming to life on Monday. Not long before I left on Monday to go to Miles City we became aware of a fire to the west of us - in the hills across the river from us. What we could see made us think it was a big one but as I got closer to town the size of it became more visible. These 3 pictures were taken on Monday.

It burned all day Tuesday and I could see it's red glow when I returned home late Tuesday nite. I thot it would be too dark to get a good picture so didn't try. Our air was very smoky last night.



While in Miles City I learned that many other fires had also been started the same night & were growing in size. I do hope that they are all put out before we have another round of lightning to set off another.

 


Wednesday our air was not nearly as smoky but by the looks of the sky it's still burning. We hope that the ranchers were all able to get their cattle to safer ground. Hopefully we'll learn more about the fire on Friday when we get our weekly newspaper.

Thunder storms

Our house becomes interesting when the rumbles begin to be heard and the sky starts lighting up. When the rumbles turn into loud claps of thunder the pacing goes into non-stop as well as the panting. We knew Goldie didn't like thunder storms when we brought her to live with us but I was still surprised at the amount of agitation they cause her. I have learned that a lavender spray and relaxing music do wonders, plus being able to curl up in a small space. I found a Reflections CD called Tranquil Moments that works very well. With a picture of a very relaxed Irish Setter on the front I concluded it should work and it does!!  

Mindy never showed any signs of storm agitation until this summer (her 3rd). During a storm I can find her in the basement under the laundry tubs or under a table. I fixed her 2 dark comfy places in the basement and her choices seem to work the best. When it begins to calm down she has now found a new place. The pictures tell her story!!  This bed was made when she got on it. It didn't take long for it to become "her haven".

Where's Mindy??

Nose and back feet showing!!!

 

 

Storm is over - I don't need the covers now!!!

    These 2 keep life interesting to say the least. When I go to bed Goldie will go to her bed. Sometime in the night Mindy will find her bed. Tomorrow will be another day and I'll have an extra bed to make :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nose and back side showing!!

Full Moon

Where did the week go?  One good thing this week was the cooler temperatures we've had with the feel of Fall at night. Down in the 50's at nite isn't bad at all, especially in mid August. We'll still have some 90's in the daytime, but looks mostly it looks like a lot of 80's which is also okay.

Mindy always lets us know when it's time for a full moon. Last night was one of those nights -- she lay out on the front doing little barks at everything imaginable. Mostly I think at the moon!!!  Finally at 4:30 she decided it was time to come in. The Princess and I were able to get in some quality petting time and reading time. A Nook works perfectly when you want to read in the dark or need a nite-lite to walk around a dark room :-)  

Tuesday - a good day for a nap

It was a quiet day here today and quite cool. In the early morning I had to get a quilt - it was actually cold. It never did get real warm today and was very cool when Mindy & Goldie & I went for a walk tonight. We go up a road behind the house along a hay meadow. When it was first cut the aroma was so wonderful. Goldie goes for excursions onto the meadow and Mindy's short legs keep her mostly on the road. Now if a deer is sited they are both off in an instant. Those darn deer are always off in a flash & disappear so quickly!!

 Yesterday I played Fetch with Tink - she loves to do this. It was a treat for me also as neither of our dogs will Fetch. I tried getting Mindy to do this when she was a puppy but she could never see the sense in running to get something that I was only going to throw again; now if it were Scamper Play she could do that for hours! 



Our weekend puppy-guest Tink went home early this morning. She had a great weekend here and we sure enjoyed having her & trying to keep up to her!!  My arms and shoulders told me I'd given that red bone a few too many good throws yesterday :-(  I'm sure she didn't need as much napping time to recuperate today like I did.

One of the perks of retirement --- you can nap nearly all day and it's not a problem!!

Very nice Sunday

Last night was certainly a busy one. We brot Tink (our guest) inside to sleep after the noise in the creek set all the dogs off. She's a busy girl and it was new surroundings for her. It was a while before they all settled down, but eventually our 2 dogs and cat found their beds for the night.

A late afternoon storm today cooled things off but also meant calming care for Goldie while Mindy went to her new safe place in the basement. Tink stayed outside and loved every minute in the rain. I learned today how much she likes to play fetch & she did keep me busy.

I was able to spend some time learning more about personalizing my blog design today. I'm not finished learning yet so there will be more to come. Each of our pets still needs to have her picture inserted. That's for another day.

Tonight is a beautiful night, the sky has some clouds and many stars. The temperature is perfect for sleeping. The only complaint I have it to the skunk who felt it necessary to walk passed leaving his awful smell behind. I don't like skunks.

Visiting Pet

We are puppy-sitting this weekend!! Our guest is a 9-mo old McNab.  We'd forgotten how busy puppies can be, but were reminded very quickly. This evening all 3 dogs were bothered by a sound over in the creek so it took a while to calm everyone down.  Plus locate the cat to have her inside to be fed and safe & sound for the night.

Guests

We had overnight guests & were treated to some excellent blueberry pancakes this morning, along with elk sausage my niece made!! They took a trailer load of stuff from the basement which means I have some cleaning and rearranging to do down there. We are dog-sitting an 8-month-old very busy dog this weekend. I'd forgotten how on-the-go puppies are; it's going to have a fun weekend :-)  I'll be adding some pictures of all the pets.

There was a lot of thunder this morning (2nd morning in a row) and rain with it.  Goldie became quite anxious about the storm and Mindy went to her new safe-from-the-storm place. It's somewhere in the living room but I haven't been able to figure out where yet. She won't come out while you are looking for her; she waits til I leave the room.  Right now everyone is peacefully napping, the sun is shining and it's just a nice temperature outside.

Today my mother-in-law would have celebrated her 86th birthday.

A new adventure

I've been encouraged to do a blog about my life on the ranch and with my special 4-legged friends. I enjoy reading updates of my friends so decided that today's the day!!! I'll give it a try and see how it goes. :-)