Animalistic

A couple of weekends ago my dad decided he wanted to visit us in Chicago. He brought an entourage consisting of his girlfriend (Cheryl), his dog (Rosie), and my sister (Catherine). At the last minute they also decide to bring one of Cheryl's daughters. Initially I reacted the way that Monkey would to another cat being brought into the house, hissing at the thought of someone I didn't know invading my family's weekend. And on top of that they brought her dog! It seemed for a moment that we were headed for disaster, but I managed to remain calm on the outside and we actually ended up having a lot of fun! I thought I was a great hostess. I got to know Cheryl a little bit more, which was nice. And I really enjoyed spending time with Tasha, her daughter. And the dog (see Annie on the left) stole my heart the minute I petted her spotted back and looked into her blue eye and brown eye. She was very sweet, not incredibly barky, and did not harrass the cats, but had a healthy curiosity and fear of them.

I didn't get to take any pictures of us humans but I took some of Annie, since she was so darn cute. The weather was very humid and hot and it rained on Saturday morning, so we were stuck inside. It was a bit cramped in our place with six people, two dogs, two cats, and a turtle. After the rain quit we went up to Evanston to the Ethnic Arts Festival and it was great. The dogs loved it, too. They had such a great time that they slept for the rest of the evening. For dinner we all piled into the Subaru and drove down to Lincoln Park to go to the Kingston Mines blues club.

Elvis and Monkey did pretty well with all of this commotion. But they definitely were happy to see the dogs and the people go.

Speaking of le chats, I have been trying to get them on a better diet and have been doing all of this research into what nature intended for them to eat. Carbs are definitely bad. Most of the dry food on the market is full of carbs. That's why Monkey is so fat. My friend Erin is a big advocate of the raw diet for her cats and it makes sense. However, most vets do not really know much about it and therefore cannot give you any advice. You have to do your own research.

For now we are ixnaying the idea because Monkey's tummy has been really sensitive lately. Aside from litterbox issues she was not acting right, hiding under the bed, and not snuggling! But now she is feeling much better. We went to see Dr. Miller at the Uptown Animal Hospital (who, by the way, is an Albion alum) and she is having me give Monkey an antibiotic. All of you with cats know that this is not a fun process, but I think Monkey and I are both getting better at it, and it's almost over.

Monkey tries out for stuffonmycat.com

Elvis has issues of his own. He recently peed on one of the chairs again. The first time in months. And i have to spray the thing almost every day just to try to get rid of the smell.... grrrr....

About the only creature that is doing well in our household is turtle. His shell has molted producing a lovely new shiny shell underneath. He also enjoys noshing on some fancy krill snacks every other day or so. If you click here you can see more photos of him.