I live with five animals. Three dogs (hence the blog name), and two cats. Not sure how this happened. Like I say about some of the men I’ve slept with, “It just seemed right at the time.”
My housemate – (let me explain that word…she’s not my roommate because we live in a house, not a college dorm; she’s not my partner because we’re not lesbians, altho that’s the assumption that many people make, which makes it difficult for us to get dates. For many years, I’ve promoted homesharing for women as a means to increased financial freedom. But what to call this person? “My homesharer” is awkward. “The person I live with” is too long. I’ve called her “my affectionate daughter”…which is kind of silly. So, I use “housemate”. Your creative suggestions will be appreciated.)
Anyway…my housemate (Melanie) doesn’t travel with me often, but when she does we, of course, have to find some poor fool to take care of our brood. And, because she is a very organized person, Melanie always prepares a list of pet care instructions. This week-end we’re leaving Saturday afternoon and returning Sunday afternoon. Twenty-four hours we’ll be gone. Melanie’s list is two pages long! Look at these excerpts:
v Sleeping – If you sleep in your Mom’s bed follow step one, if you sleep in mine follow step two. Both beds are clean.
· Beau and Toby use the stairs on the far side of the bed to get up and down so they will come and go as they please. Chuy will not use any of the stairs and will not stay on that bed so don’t put him on the bed – just let him be and he will probably sleep on the floor, under the bed, or in one of the living room chairs.
· Beau and Toby will work out getting onto my bed. They don’t like the stairs as much but will use them. You can lift Chuy onto the bed but make sure to leash him to the bed using the blue leash that is hooked to the bedpost. He won’t jump down then. Jumping is an issue for him since he hurt his shoulder a couple of weeks ago. You can also just decide to leave him on the floor and he will find his own place to sleep. If he jumps too much and starts to limp call me and I will tell you what medication to give him to take the pain away.
v Feeding the Boys – The boys have cooked turkey, rice, and veggies for Sunday morning in the fridge. They each get a heaping half of a cup of the food – use the black measuring cup on the marble cutting board. Put Toby and Beau’s bowls of the food in the microwave for 20 seconds – no longer. Do not heat Chuy’s as he doesn’t like it warmed. Before you give Chuy his food add the liquid medication that is in the door of the fridge by the milk. Draw out 0.3 and just squirt it on the food. Just make sure you don’t mix up the bowls as he MUST have this medication. Chuy also gets one of the white quartered pills in the pill bottle by the marble cutting board. If you slip it into just a little peanut butter he’ll take it for you without a problem.
And my favorite:
v Hairballs and Potty Accidents– Sorry but you may see one or two – You have to pick up poo and hairballs if you find them as the dogs find them interesting and they will eat the hairballs. Don’t worry about stains on the carpet – I will take care of any when I get home with the carpet cleaner.
Chris (oldest son) has agreed to be our zookeeper this week-end, but, using his good skills for setting limits, has told me that A) it’s probably time to stop acquiring pets, and B) he’s probably not my best choice for future pet-sitting gigs because….he actually has a life.
After one of our trips, Melanie and I came home to find that our pet-sitter, whose eyesight isn’t the greatest, had missed an “under-the-tail” problem with one of the dogs. We had poo from stem to stern in our house. We’ve learned to allow an extra day, after traveling, to clean carpets, bedspreads, etc.
So that’s it for today. Think of Chris this week-end, will you? Send wishes for firm feces and no hairballs.
And God bless all pet-sitters!
