Company

Sorry for the delay in posting. Things have been good. Just now I tried to snap a photo of Ana curled up with two of the kitties, but one of the kitties moved. Ana has been eating well and made playful overtures to her brothers. She'll play by herself once in awhile. Her worst sin is her incessant attempts to eat the cat food. Today we began switching the cats to almost the same food as the dogs (brand/flavor -- not species) so that should be fun. She's so teeny that we sometimes actually don't see her standing amongst the cats chowing down. Little bugger.

She's terribly fearful of thunderstorms. She will wake us up she's shaking so hard. With the 4th of July coming up ... sigh. We do still struggle to get her to pee and poop in a reasonable amount of time. Sometimes she's fine and sometimes we do a little dance.

The boys are good. We had an overnight guest and they were very well-behaved. She brought them treats so they were very happy. They start a new round of obedience classes next week. Well, Ledcat goes first and then all four of us attend the following week. It is being held in a park. That will be really nice.

Then we need obedience classes for the Banana. Her response to any command is to jump up on your legs and then whimper. :-)

Saying Good Bye

This article from the Post-Gazette's website really caught my eye tonight. It is about aging zoo animals and the new challenges they pose for their caretakers.

But by last fall, as Sheba neared her 27th birthday, it became clear that
pain and weakness were winning out. That left the zoo's veterinary staff,
managers and keepers with a very difficult choice.
"It's a lot easier to
second-guess yourself when you say, well, she probably would've lived four more
days, slipping slowly down the slope," said Victoria Milne, the zoo's
veterinarian.
They decided not to wait. On Nov. 8, vets anesthetized Sheba,
then administered a solution by intravenous drip that, in a few seconds, shut
down the big cat's body for good.
Then, as she lay there, keepers, vets and
other zoo workers gathered around the cat they'd cared for for 17 years. Some
whispered a few words, others reached out to lay a hand on her glossy black coat
as they wept.
Like many of the zoo's other geriatric animals, their girl had
lived a long, full life. But that didn't make it any easier to say goodbye.

Sometimes, days go by that I don't think of Mona and then I feel really sad. Tonight, my niece was looking at my cell phone photos and asked me about the white doggy. I teared up a little bit. I want to be the kind of dog owner who gets up every day and thanks her for being part of my life.

But I'm not.

Ana Banana

I pretty much call her the banana all the time. She's so wriggly and delightful. I'm amazed she can hold her bladder for like 14 hours at a time. She lives for belly rubs. She splits her time between us on the couch and the boys on the dog beds.

She met my grandmother this past weekend and was very delicate with her. Then we went with ice cream with my parents. Ana sat on my mother's lap and enjoyed licking some drips. They bonded.

We love her. Love, love, love.

Ana Snuggles

Yesterday, Ana was super chippy. When I went into the bedroom, I found her nestled on the dog bed between Deus and Xander. She got up to trot around the room and then ran over and laid down across Deus' paws. He nuzzled her and that was about it.

So ... that's good.

Right now, everyone is snoozing. Who can blame them? I think I could use a nap, too.

Sunday

Things are really progressing nicely. Friday night was our first family night in one bedroom and it went swimmingly. Ana trotted around the room, plopped herself on the ned and that was that. In the morning, she trotted out and everyone was fine.

Today, all three dogs are hanging out together. They went outside as a unit and enjoyed the sunshine. Ana batted around a tennis ball; when Deus went to join in, she walked away. It is the first time she's played since she arrived. At one point, Deus was sleeping in the sun and Ana was curled up next to him observing activities in the yard.

Ledcat informs me that Saturday evening, she and Ana were outside when our neighbor's dog, Winston, came out into her yard. Typically, the boys go nuts and she runs back inside. Winston wasn't afraid of Ana and came out to do her business. Ana ran up to the fence, curled her lip and growled at Winston. It was, according to Ledcat, too cute.

I took Ana to the vet yesterday where she got a clean bill of health. Dr. Nikki has a chihuaha which I did not know so she was very fond of Ana. Ana was a little scaredy cat when we first arrived, but reacted very well to the vet tech and the vet. No trembling. She wasn't happy to be toted off for her microchip, but overall she was fine. Then we stopped at Burton's Total Pet to exchange her leash (lifetime warranty). That didn't work out so we had to pick a new you (she picked glow in the dark blue) and had a treat.

Now this was interesting. She trotted around Burtons with me just fine. When I was chatting with the manager about the exchange, he bent down and she went RIGHT up to him and even took a treat. No hesitation, no cowering behind me, nothing. It was great.

At home, Ana has become my second shadow - Xander is first shadow. Wherever I go, behind me trots Xander followed by Ana. It is very cute. Ledcat says I have a shadow and a half. More like a shadow and 1/10 of a shadow! They are both stretched out on the floor here with me while I type. Deus, being a dog of intelligence, is down in the cool living room on his dog bed.

Hot, hot day. I've been doing laundry and switching out the rest of my summer clothing. I seem to have lost a dress and not sure how I managed to do it. Anyway, we may take Ana with us to get some ice cream tonight.

I have noticed that I'm slipping and calling her Mona every once in awhile. She doesn't seem to mind.

Analicious

We've made a lot of doggie integration progress this week. Right now, they are all laying in the living room in various positions of repose. Including Simon the cat. We've had Ana in the living room with the boys off leash for three consecutive nights and all seems well.

Ana has been good if a bit whiny. Ledcat informed me that this morning, she tried to wedge herself through the babygate to get into the kitchen and had to be de-wedged by Ledcat. We can't tell her whines apart. In the morning and when freed from her crate, she runs through the house and down to the backdoor to go outside. The rest of the time ... she just seems to whine.

As for going outside, that's a treat. She still won't jump off the deck, so we have to carry her out into the yard. In the rain. And the night. So far, she's had two incidents in the house. She's pretty good about pottying if a little long winded in finding the right spot. I need to put my flip flops by the back door.

We discovered that Ana likes pumpkin, cream cheese and pears (sort of). Rather, she likes to lick the cream cheese off the pears. :-)

Her first vet visit is Saturday. I'm sure they will love her.

Happy ANAversary!

One week ago, Ana joined our family. Yeah!

Things have been going well. Yesterday, Ledcat and I tried some exposure time on our own. We were a little nervous because Ana just plowed right between Deus and Xander. Everyone was all about the treat. Just a little sniffing going on.

To make things more interesting, Simon the cat decided he wanted some treats so we were using all four limbs each to try and keep some order in the crowd. No one got eated so that's a victory in my book.

I put Deus outside and we had Xander on a loose leash in the kitchen with Ana. He followed her around, but just seemed curious. She sat down and allowed him to snuffle her ear and then her tail. That was good.

Tonight, I fed them as usual right beside each other with a gate in between. Deus and Ana both ate their dinners and then lay down sniffing each other through the gate. Ana actually laid on her side and gave a big sigh. Xander followed me around as I prepared dinner (salad with baked chicken).

We were going to try another round of introductions, but PennDOT got in the way. They are actually tearing up the road the runs adjacent to our street so there is a lot of loud noise and such making everyone nervous. So Ledcat took the boys outside while she cut the grass and Ana helped me do laundry and the dishes. She's not very good at either. Well, she's afraid of the basement where the laundry is so that's a strike.

Last night was my turn to sleep with Ana. She's very clingy at night which is going to get old very quickly when the humidity kicks in .. yikes! I woke up at 6ish and put her outside. I'm really glad we got our "need an escort right to the exact spot in the grass" dog in the late spring. And very hopeful we can convince her to make the leap off the deck on her own by winter.

Last night, we also took Ana to have ice cream with her Grandma and Grandpap. They had been warned about her anxiety and were very appropriate with her. She wouldn't sit in their laps, but she did allow to pet her without shivering in return. She wasn't interested in ice cream. It was a nice visit and will be a good intro for our actual visit to their house this coming weekend.

Ana is good in the car. She curls up in the back seat and doesn't move. If you put her in the front seat, she wants in your lap.

I was thinking about Mona tonight. She would hate all this noise and would probably bark a lot at the big machine that looks like a Brontosaurus. I worry about the outside kitties. And my route to work. What cha gonna do?