Important Alert!

House Bill 3180 proposes limiting the number of dogs a person may own in the state of Texas within and surrounding counties containing at least one million people.

Even if you live in rural Texas, a law such as this could potentially effect you and your dogs, should it come to pass. If a person lives in a county where the population is at least one million residents, this law could regulate or specify how many dogs a person is allowed to own.

While enforcing such a law would be difficult and rely on any neighbors complaining to the proper authorities about the number of dogs you may have, the bill is already posing a serious threat.

As it is presently worded, it would affect responsible, legitimate breeders and pet owners, instead of just the intended target- puppy mills, puppy farmers and "people who own at least one intact female and produce 20 litters in one calendar year".

We all agree, puppy mills are a serious issue, and currently the state of Texas has no legislature at all regarding this subject (of course not, this is Texas, where there is also no legislature preventing the owning of exotic animals as pets, or the selling of tiger cubs in the Wal-Mart parking lot, for crying out loud!). I am not opposed to legislature regarding the regulation of or prevention of puppy mills. I only want to make sure such legislature doesn't also accidentally and adversely affect responsible pet owners like myself, and legitimate dog breeders. Regulating the number of animals a person is allowed to own does nothing for the overall welfare of dogs already in existence in the state of Texas. Bills like this only continue to thwart and frustrate those of us who have always done our best to abide by the rules, behave responsibly, raise well-behaved animals and strive to set a good example for others in the community to follow.

How can we let the government decide how many pets we can/can't have, tell us HOW we can/can't have them, etc... when the same government currently does nothing regarding the issue of exotic pets in this state? It has already been said that each level of law enforcement is hesitant to take responsibility for such issues, and expects the one higher up to be the "bad guy". Most local law enforcement does not have the means to handle such problems and most also are deterred by property owners arguing their property rights. Legislature is already NOT being enforced, why do we need more of it? Stronger laws are not going to make a difference. People MUST STEP UP!

Please take a moment to review your state's current proposed bills and contact your state governor's office accordingly.

You can also sign up to receive notification of legislative alerts in your area.

In the state of Texas, please go to http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/
select "I am registering my opinion" and click "submit".
Then fill out the pertinent information, state your stance on the issues regarding HB 3180 (you can even copy, paste and fill out the handy sample letter the AKC's aforementioned website provides), and make your voice heard.

This bill still needs some serious rewriting, retooling and reconsideration before it is going to be sufficient and a workable solution.

April: Be Kind to Animals Month

Lucky for me, I have feline demon spawn, and they are not classified as animals.

Animals wouldn't stoop so low as to get up on the stove (which I have discovered is where SOMEBODY has been standing, and spraying the side of the refrigerator... at least I finally located the source of the odor DH claims he can't smell...), mere minutes after being caught atop said stove and applied with consequences accordingly, and knock over and break a coffee mug. One of those that coordinates with the pottery I picked out as wedding gifts.

I hate it when these creatures break my shit!

I once laughed at a woman for whom I used to babysit, when she declared her kids were no longer allowed to watch Tom & Jerry. "101 ways to kill a cat", she labeled it. They'd just gotten a kitten.

I hereby rewrite my "That's ridiculous. Nobody gets that idea from that show." opinion to include "Ok, ok... perhaps it does plant seeds that don't reach maturity until a person is in her 30s..."

All I want to do, anymore, is throw every pot, pan and piece of pottery at these monsters.

Particularly when I find it all askew or on the floor because they have been atop counters and appliances they well know NOT to set foot on.

When they were kittens, they were this much trouble.
They were so bad I prayed for them to turn two and settle down.

Years two to six were for years of bliss.

Years six and seven have been absolute HELL.

Year eight had better bring about radical change, I have already caught myself making threats along the lines of
"THERE'S AN INTERSTATE RIGHT OUTSIDE WITH YOUR NAME ON IT!"

Not to mention overhearing myself make the statement "They go, or I go" to my husband.

From now on, all 4 of them are getting crated when I leave the apartment.

That's just pathetic, too. What kind of cat are you that you can't be-damn-have?! I shouldn't have to resort to this. Feliway is having absolutely no effect on them, for the first time ever.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

To Whom it May Concern,

I have two pets microchipped with the AVID FriendChip and PETtrac products. As a customer and consumer, and one who relocates almost yearly, I am constantly updating the address associated with my pets' microchips. I do this by mailing in copies of the registration/address change form that I recieved upon initially microchipping my pets. Most of the time I recieve no confirmation that my address has been updated, though my $6.00 personal check always clears the bank.

As I am planning yet another move, it is time once again for me to update my pets' residential addresses with PETtrac. An extensive search of the internet has provided me with some interesting information and given me cause to ask AVID/PETtrac a few questions:

It seems that both the UK and Canada branches of PETtrac not only supply downloadable, printable registration/address change forms via PDF, but also offer their customers the added feature of updating such information online. Candada even makes these features available FOR FREE! Not to mention the UK offers PETtrac Plus, which has a one time fee that then allows the consumer to update address information at no charge.

Why is it that consumers in the US aren't privy to such benefits?

I have no more copies of the appropriate forms on hand, and my only option (in addition to updating my physical location with my veterinary office) is to call AVID's 800-number in order to ensure that my pets, should they ever be separated from me, are returned to the appropriate location.

It is frustrating, as a consumer trying to do right by her pets, to be unable to make use of the modern conveniences other countries have in place.

Dissention in the Ranks

Am I ever sick of this shit.

I know that we are in a small space, and that living on top of each other means there will be skirmishes.

I also know that living in an all-tile house means this house holds a certain chill on cold days- no matter what.

Even though I have plenty of warm, soft crates, nest beds, spare beds, throw pillows, etc... somehow the area rugs and the dogs' beds become prime real estate.

The cats aren't allowed on the dogs' beds, so they're constantly being shoo-ed off.
The dogs pick up on this.
I want them to pick up on this.
I want them to stand up for themselves and order the cats off their beds on their own-
so that I don't have to. They nose the cats as it is, why not just give them a gentle shove? Hell, I wouldn't even mind a growl if that did the trick.

Instead, the dogs come and plant themselves in front of me, and whine petulantly until I do something about it.

And somehow -it doesn't matter if I try to firmly but gently discourage the cats, or give them an all out scolding- all this does (it seems, of late) is create animosity on the dogs' end.

I realize the dogs (Kansas, in particular) have picked up on my issues with the cats of late.
I remember that, back when we all used to live in other small places, on top of each other, I always relied upon and allowed the dogs to help control the cats. That shouldn't be any different.
Yes, I intervene when things get out-of-hand, or when I think the lesson has been learned, but for the most part, I feel the cats should bow to the dogs and I don't care that the cats are older or were here first. I consider my dogs an extension of me, they know my rules and they help keep them.

Particularly since the cats are so hell-bent on ignoring the rules these days.

What I don't get is why, in the past week, Tess and Kansas have decided to take issue with each other.

Tess is a royal pain in the ass.
She WILL NOT either stay IN, or stay OUT these days.
Wherever she is, she is CONSTANTLY meowing at you for whatever it is she wants that she thinks you absolutely MUST DO RIGHT THEN.
Open the door,
open the other door,
feed me, even though it's not time.
Can't put herself in the damn litter box.
Won't find a place to settle down and be quiet.
It never ends!

Particularly the "won't find a place to settle down and shut the hell up!" part.

Opportunistic little bitch queen.

Spike, Leila and Macie are quite content to all pile into ONE nest bed (when there are 3 right there, side-by-side), on top of the bed (covered with a quilt AND a blanket) and sleep there
ALL DAY!

Tess will not settle down anywhere.
She refuses to lie on the spare bed at all.
She absolutely refuses to occupy any space near any of the other cats at all.
If any of them comes near her, she has a hissing, spitting, growling FIT- and I've observed this particular charade enough to realize that nobody's doing anything to her. It's all HER!
I used to reprimand the other kitty, because mostly it was Spike and I really thought he was bullying her.
Nope.
It's just her.

So for the past couple of days, when Kansas and Leo and whatever other cats are all piled up on the couch with me, Tess hops up on to the couch-

and Kansas snaps at her.

At first, I was correcting Kansas, and making EVERYONE get off the couch.
Because it's MY couch.
Not theirs.
I am the human, the owner, the mommy. I am their GOD
and I CONTROL ACCESS TO ALL THINGS that they are PRIVILEGED to use.

Kansas also snapped at Spike another time, when he poked his head up like he was going to get up on the couch.
I don't really care if she does that, I've been having enough other problems with him that I know she's picked up on and I really think she's trying to help. She is a herding dog, after all. She knows the rules and knows the cats by name and has always helped enforce the rules.
Or maybe she thought he was Tess?
She snapped at Leila once, but she was dead asleep and Leila came up and started licking her ear.
Spike tends to bite Kansas on the ear, so I can understand... or am I rationalizing and making excuses?
I don't see the dogs as the problem.

Particularly not after last night, when I on purpose put Kansas AND Tess up on the couch with me. It was going well. Kansas was laid back, relaxed, eyes half closed, ears flopped over.
And then I noticed her locked in a staredown with Tess.
That's when I realized Tess was probably sitting there, glaring at Kansas - the same way she does all of the other cats before she starts her hissing, spitting, unnecessary fits.
I made them both get off the couch, and put Tess in her crate.

Where she proceeded to meow, and meow, and meow, and meow...
*sigh*
*roll eyes*

Why can't she just be happy, damnit?!

I think I can pinpoint at least part of the problem.
I've had this problem before.
It takes a while, but eventually, whichever cat I feed first gets the idea he/she is the Top Cat, and that always causes problems.
I can't free feed them, for alot of reasons, but mostly because if I do 3 of them get too fat and Macie becomes skin-and-bones.

Macie takes the longest to eat, because she licks up her food instead of chewing it.
The others gorge until they puke, and nobody self-regulates.

I have to feed them all in separate crates or separate areas of the house, because whomever finishes first then goes and forces somebody else out of the way and eats their share, as well.

I used to feed the slower eaters first, so that they'd be finished by the time the gobblers finished and went in search of food to steal.
But that caused problems between EVERYBODY.
I don't feed Tess first on purpose (and I feed the cats AFTER I feed the dogs, so they get the right idea of where they are in line), I do it to shut her the hell up!
For a while, she was getting canned food, and nobody else was, because I was trying to see if it helped her bladder issues at all. I think it did, but she's also better and I didn't buy any more when I ran out over two weeks ago, now, so while I can see where that would make her feel "special" I can't understand why it's suddenly an issue NOW when there's no special food being given out.
If I start feeding Leila first, then she and Tess start to fight amongst each other -
and pee on everything.
If I feed Spike first, he's going to become even more of a tyrant than he already is.

I don't dare feed Macie first.
She seems to be the only one content with her status and life.
I don't want her upset unnecessarily.
I don't want to force her into a role she doesn't want.
Plus, she's another female and I have enough issues between females at the moment.

I'm going to have to try and feed the other 3 on a rotating schedule- somebody different every time, I guess.

As for Tess and Kansas, I am going to try my best to let Kansas drive that lesson home, as I allowed her to do with Spike way back when.
Particularly after what just happened:

The dogs and I were in the backyard, playing.
Tess was doing her best to get in the way and demand to be let in the back door.
I didn't want her in, so I was ignoring her.
She did come in when the rest of us were ready to go back indoors.

I got the dogs each one of their frozen treats, which they usually get after being outside and active.

Kansas eats hers on the hall rug, one bite at a time.
Leo gulps his.

Tess decided to investigate what Kansas had, and this time Kansas really did give her what for.
I was washing dishes, so all I know of it is Kansas barked a protest/warning, Tess obviously ignored it (and maybe expressed an opinion of her own), I heard Kansas snap at her, and then there was a "chase the kitty" stampede, that Leo tried to join in.
Tess ran under the table, and that's when I called a timeout and put her back outside.

I didn't address the dogs at all.
I wasn't there to see what happened, so I can't referee or rule on what may have been right or wrong.

I also have to support my dog if she feels like she has been wronged.
I'm not going to have her tyrannized by an opportunistic bitch.
I hope she learned her lesson, because I am sick of this shit.
I'm also afraid she's starting to act more like Spike.
Great. Just what I need. Two of them.

DH keeps telling me to hang in there and to remember that everyone's a bit stressed from him being there for 2 weeks, from the weather being unstable, and because there are so many of us in such a small space.
I told him if they are going to start acting like this because they are all older (since we didn't have these problems the FIRST SEVEN YEARS), then we need to re-think how many pets (cats in particular) we have.
He just keeps telling me that it will get better when we move.

Oh, gee... didn't we just almost move, only for him to change his mind and subject me to two more months of this?

Why can't everyone just do what they've always done and what they're expected to do?
She never used to act like she was the only pet present in this household!
I don't want to have to change their damn feeding order every time somebody gets too big for their britches.

Why can't she just get the message?

Why does everything I try to do get taken the wrong way?

I know I'm not the most stable leader at the moment and I can see where that is causing problems, but still... creatures of habit are so reliable... until they're not.