April 2008
MAHLER
Wow! It
has been a year since we have written any notes. Let me give you a
quick update.
Last June
Tess went home. Her family is in a trailer now and she is able to be
with them. Don and I really do miss her. It is quiet without her.
Helen has seen her a few times and says that she is doing well.
Last
summer Krista move home. Don, Maggie and Morgan are really glad to
have her here. Between Helen and Krista, we get lots of walks, so we
are keeping our weight down.
When
Patches had her visit to the vet last fall, they were concerned that
she had lost weight. They took her in again in February and found
that she had lost even more weight and was showing some kidney
problems. You see, monitoring how the catz eat is really hard. Their
food and bathroom are in the room that was Erik’s. In fact,
Dick put a chain hook on the door so the catz can go in and out but
Don and I can’t. So no one actually sees the cats eat. People
have been trying to keep Maggie from eating, but, big as she is, she
can actually squeeze through the hole the same size as for the other
catz.
But there
were other things going on with the catz. Morgan and Patches were the
ones who were always competing. The vet put Patches on a special
diet, gave her some medicine in case she had an infection, and Helen
took her down to Ocean Park to live with Erik. When she went to the
vet about three weeks later, her blood work was much closer to normal
and she had gained over a pound. Dick says that he found articles on
the internet about catz becoming anorexic due to stress. Erik says
that Patches is just loving having the whole house to herself. And
Morgan now tries to hassle Bear, but Bear just ignores her, chases
her, or swats her back. Hope Morgan can be comfortable with her place
in the family. Well, she is working in that. She now waits for Helen
to finish her breakfast then licks the milk from the cereal.
DONOVAN
One more
thing. Last fall Helen started going to the Kennebec Valley Humane
Shelter to walk dawgs that were there waiting for new homes. So when
she comes home, there are new smells on her clothes. She would tell
us about the dawgs. Some of them did not seem to have a home and had
been brought to the shelter, and sometimes their families had given
them up for adoption. And she comes home excited when they find new
homes. There are other animals there, also. Plenty of catz, and
Krista sometimes goes in to clean them, but does not bring home the
same smells as Helen does with the dawgs. I guess that that there are
also rabbits and guinea pigs – we cannot envision those, as we
have never seen any. Sometimes Mahler and I do get a bit jealous with
Helen spending time with the shelter dawgs, but between Dick and Kris
and Helen, we do get plenty of attention and exercise, so have
decided that we can share. As long as she leaves them there.
I think
that that brings you up to date on how things are here.
June 8,
2008
MAHLER
This has
been a really bad year for turtles.
A week or
so ago, Helen came home and said that she had moved a turtle from the
middle of the road. We hear these stories every spring, but do not
get to see the turtles. Helen talked about painted turtles, and
snapping turtles. She says that the snappers have strong shoulders
and necks, and can really bite.
Anyway, in
the spring, they come up from the water to the gravel by the road to
lay eggs. A few days ago we went for a walk by the bridge. Helen was
really sad to see several – I think that she counted 5 –
places where eggs had been dug up and eaten. She thought that it
might have been dawgs or raccoons or maybe even kids. But she figured
that about a hundred eggs had been destroyed, and we have not seen
her that sad in a long time.
Then early
this morning we were walking toward the bridge and she saw a snapping
turtle at the edge. It had been hit by a car and a back leg had been
almost torn off. She tied us to the guard rail and went to put the
turtle back into the water. I got loose and went to help her –
mainly just watched as she edged it to the water. It slid down the
side and got caught on rocks, so we went down the edge to turn it
back over and ease it toward the water again. When it swam away, she
gave me a big hug. We went to untie Don, and had a very quiet walk
home. The turtle did not look very frightening, just a big blob, but
I had not gotten in front of it….
Hope the
turtles survive.
September
1, 2008
Labor Day,
so it is a holiday
DONOVAN
Helen
really went and did it! Friday all of us – Dick, Krista, Helen,
Mahler and I – went to the shelter to meet Chow and Mein. They
are two small hounds, one is the mother and the other the daughter.
They have been at the shelter for a long time, and Helen wanted to
have them visit us for a week or so – foster care, she called
it. They seemed docile enough. Helen brought them home Friday
afternoon. Things are going OK. Mahler says it is easier having them
around than it was with Tess. But I know that he was upset the first
night and took a tennis ball and went under Helen’s computer
desk. And sometimes one of them will take over his bed. We are trying
to be good sports about it. And we are also getting some added
attention and certainly lots of walks.
And it’s
only for a week.
September
15, 2008
MAHLER
It has been two weeks, and Chow and Mein are still with us. Not that they
haven’t tried to find homes. Sunday Helen took them to PetSmart Adoption
Weekend. Chow and Mein were exhausted when they got home, had been gone
for hours. I said that they could tell you about it themselves.
MEIN
We first went to the Shelter (Kennebec Valley Humane Society) to get
things ready for the PetSmart trip. Helen went in early to walk some of the
dogs that are still there. We had a front seat (of the car) view. She
walked some of our friends and others we did not know. We felt jealous of
her taking time to do that, but Chow reminded me that that is how she met
us, so we had to be patient. We finally got going to PetSmart. We had signs
that said “Adopt Me” and just tried to get everyone’s attention—our table
was right inside the front door. There were lots of people, including
children, and lots of other dogs, large and small, mostly young and going
to Obedience Training, whatever that is. There was a Great Dane that I
almost got into a fight with, and I really did not want to see any other
dogs or people by the end – the extra activity and number of contacts was
tiring. We were glad to be able to get people’s attention on behalf of the
Shelter and how PetSmart helps find families for dogs and cats – and 2 cats
from the Shelter were adopted yesterday at PetSmart. We will see if anyone
calls the Shelter about us. I hope so, yet I hope not, ‘cause we like it
here.
CHOW
I want to thank the PetSmart employee for some delicious bones (not real
bones, but made up of things that were good for us). He gave Helen one for
each of us. And we did not fight over them. And I want to thank Mahler and
Donovan for letting us share their house. I know that Mein follows Helen
everywhere. She really needs a constant person, and thanks, Mahler, for
being so patient with her. She can be a bother. And Donovan, I know that
you are allowed on the chairs and stuff, and I like to do that, also. I
will try to keep out of your way. I enjoy walking with you, as you walk
closer to my speed. And, of course, thanks to Helen and Dick and Krista
for taking us in even on a temporary arrangement.
DONOVAN
We have had a few confrontations. Especially Mein and Morgan, probably
because they both want to be dominant. That’s OK unless they demand too
much attention form our people. Everyone seems to managing overall. But it
is still longer than ‘a week’………
October 3, 2008
MAHLER
A day of change! Yesterday Helen took Mein back to Kennebec Valley Humane
Society. She was just getting a bit nasty here toward Chow, like wetting
in the crate where Chow had been sleeping. Within an hour of Mein’s return
to the shelter, she was adopted – by a friend of Helen’s who happened to
come to the shelter. Wish her the very best in her new home. She needs a
human and place of her own. And her new name is Dixie. Then …..well, I’ll
let Chow tell you the rest……
CHOW
It really was nice to have Mein gone. We have been together just too long.
Helen kept talking about mother-daughter relationships, and the need for
us to have identity separate from each other. Helen came home today with a
whole packet of papers – my medical record and adoption papers. I’m
staying! And my name is being changed to Lady. Helen says that name fits
because of my genteel personality and elegance of spirit. I do not know
that that means, but am taking it as a compliment. Thanks, Mahler and Don,
for making me feel welcome and for showing me the ways of this household.
I will do my best to be a good friend and to respect your places in the
family.
