Our New Addition

Loosing Scooby was pretty hard. I miss him every day. He was always my "Dr. Phil" buddy. He'd curl up next to me every day for our daily dose! It's hard not calling his name. One of the toughest things we experienced was when someone would be at the door. Scoob took his job of guarding the house very seriously. Anyone at the door would be greeted by intense barking. He sounded scarier than he was.  In fact he'd get just as mad at anyone leaving the house.  After he was gone, the first time there was a knock at the door we almost jumped into our routine. Someone always had to sit with him to make him relax. It was weird answering the door without the Scooby Routine.

Now, several weeks later we have a new addition. Things still will not be the same without Scooby, but he will forever be a part of us.  We started searching for dogs at different shelters. At the last one we went, we planned for a younger dog, but we soon fell in love with Colt.

Colt is a 7 year old Jack Russel Terrier. He is energetic, well trained,  and loves people.  Since he's come home with us we discovered that he is a great jumper (he even cleared a half stone wall), he loves car rides and he can dig ( He thinks that is what our harvested garden is for.)

This new addition is a joy to have. He loves his family. He likes to play Catch and Tug-of-War. His energy sort of forces you to be energetic too, which is always something I find myself lacking. I have a feeling there is going to be some interesting stories featuring this guy.

So while I still miss my Scooby boy, I'm glad our family met Colt. In his own way he is helping us to continue to heal from the loss. But even better for him, he found a forever home with us.

Missing Scooby

Well when it rains, it pours, I guess.  Our 10 year old Rat-Cha mix started having some medical problems a few weeks ago. I thought it was just an eye infection and it turned out he had a detached retina. It had also caused blindness. While he was being treated for his eye, I had hoped the blindness would improve. He was actually getting pretty good at listening to my verbal cues of "up!" and "down," when approaching the steps.




After a week he went for a follow up and the doctor decided to treat him for high blood pressure since a detached retina and blindness is caused by high blood pressure. However, he had not improved over the next week. He had gotten slower and groaned often. If he had to go more than a half a block, he would need to be carried. He also lost interest in his food (including snacks! Our Scooby never, ever misses a snack)

I had a feeling this next visit to the vet would be a difficult one. The one thing I wasn't expecting was a diagnosis of Lymphoma. Every single lymph node on his body had become enlarged. We were told he could see an oncologist or get steroid treatments there, however these were not cures.

After discussing all the options, we opted for Euthanasia. It was very hard to do and there really are no words for the torment we went through that evening.

The vet was extremely caring and supportive. They made the process easier for Scooby and were always displaying respect and courtesy.

They sedated him first and placed him in a soft, fluffy, comfortable doggy bed. We laid his favorite stuffed toy (the purple platypus) under his paw as he was often found snuggling with this toy when he thought we weren't watching.

He passed calmly and without incident on November 2. Though it has been just about a week later, it is still difficult to come to terms with. He has been an intregal part of the family since my current senior in highschool was in second grade. In fact I wasn't even ready to blog about this until this evening.  I know he is in a better place now and no longer suffering. However, I will still miss him terribly until that day we meet again over the "Rainbow Bridge".

Farewell Simba

Just days after I started this blog, our cat Simba crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. It came as a surprise to us because he had seemed fine up until a day or so before his crossing over.

This cat did not have an easy life. He was found on the streets close to where I teach. A coworker started caring for him but knew her dog would not accept the cat. So I offered to take him in. I knew he was a nervous cat and had a tail injury, but also that we could give him a home.

When I first met him at my coworker's friend's house,  he hid and we had to lure him out. As soon as I saw him, I saw his injured tail. There was a bald spot about 3/4 down his tail. It never grew back and became a character trait of our Simba.  We immediately took him to the vet, who wasn't too concerned about his tail. We got him his shots, chipped, neutered and took him home.

During the last year and a half he had his ups and downs with our crazy pet family.  Peanut, who thinks he's king of the house, capitalized on Simba's fears to "keep him in his place".  If Simba felt brave enough, he would try to stand his ground.

And as nervous as he was, Simba would still socialize at times and always ate with the rest of the cats.

He was a loving cat. As soon as you would pet him he would purr a very loud pur. Sometimes he was able to hiss at another cat and go right back to purring and being pet. Often times we could redirect him and his fears by giving him some petting time.

We take comfort in knowing that as rough as his life was, he got to enjoy a happy home for his remaining time here.  We are confident that since his crossing over the Rainbow Bridge on October 17th, that he is in a happier place and never has to hide again.  Till we meet again, dear Simba!

Luna: Our Newest Member

Luna is the newest member of the family. When she came to us a couple of weeks ago she was between just 3-4 weeks old. My husband's boss brought her into work  after the litter was attacked by a fox. Luna was the only survivor and  Kevin (my husband) immediately wanted to take her in.

She has been ambitious from the start. She wanted nothing to do with a bottle and quickly learned how to lap up her fluids. She has been watching the other cats, especially Oreo who seemed to have taken on the role of Surrogate Mother.

The above picture was Oreo with Luna the first night. The other cats took a few days to warm up to her. Izzy, who has been used to being the center of attention, had a particularly rough couple of days before accepting Luna. In fact, whenever she thought nobody was watching, I would catch Izzy grooming her. 

It has been a few weeks now and Luna is adjusting well. She is a growing bundle of energy that will light up anyone's day. 

Welcome to the family, Luna

Introduction

Welcome to Pet Muses! I'm Jen Imlay and this blog is about my family's many pets. I plan do do some book reviews on pets and animals as well , so be sure to check back for that. We have 5 cats and a dog (yes, you read that right. That wasn't a typo. We have 5 cats.)
 With all these characters, there's always something interesting going on around here. Today, though, we'll focus on introductions so that you get to know these guys.

First is Scooby. He is a 10 year old black Rat-Cha mix (Rat Terrier/Chihuahua). Hi favorite things to do include sleeping, eating, cuddling and playing with the cats. He interacts with them all the time. I think he's picking up habits from them. For instance, I am pretty sure I caught him washing his face the way cats do (licking his paws and wiping his face.) We have a very shy cat (Simba  - more about him later) who Scooby thinks is fun to chase. He's a good companion though and will always cuddle up with you on the couch.

Next we have Peanut, one of our orange and white cats. He loves running outside as soon as someone opens the front door. Just a few minutes of fresh air, the grass and concrete makes his day. He will also follow us when we go downstairs to let Scooby outside. Many times they go out back together for a short time. Peanut can be quirky. Sometimes he's in a "You-all-annoy-me-don't-bother-me" mood. Other times he will cling to you to get his "kitty hug".  And every once in a while he feels the need to let Simba know that Peanut is in charge. (As if that poor cat would dethrone him anyway)

Then in comes Izzy and Oreo. We went to the humane center to look into adopting another cat. When we got there, the center was having a "clear the shelter" event. If you bought a kitten they would give you one free along with the first 30 days of medical care/pet insurance, We instantly fell in love with Izzy, a calico kitten, and her crate mate Oreo who was a black and white kitten. We didn't intend on bringing 2 home, but that's what happened We were nervous about how Peanut might react to the new kittens, but he was instantly intrigued. Before we brought them home he was "grumpy" pretty often. But after we brought them home, he began to play more and was much happier.  I never would have predicted that based on Peanut's previous behavior.

About a month later, a friend posts on Facebook about an orange and white cat who needed a home. Shelters couldn't take him and nobody else could. His tail was injured - it was missing hair in the middle of it. Some hair grew back, but not all. We took him in, and named him Simba.
Simba is a very nervous cat. He hides from sudden movements and noises. At the same time, he loves to be pet and played with. Its as if he craves human interaction.

After we adopted Simba, we promised ourselves that our pet family was beyond complete.  That changed October  2, 2017.  My husband Kevin sent me a text when he got to work.  All it said was "New Addition" and had this photo

It turns out Luna, this very young kitten,  was found that morning after a fox attacked her mother and the rest of her litter. She was the only one left. I knew she was family the minute I saw her picture. Welcome the the family Luna!

Now that you have a basic introduction to these animals, I'll be sharing stories about them all. Stay tuned. If you like my posts, please be sure to subscribe, comment and share!