Our so-called "vacation" is over. We didn't go anywhere. Nowhere. It just wouldn't have worked out, even to go up north and spend the night for a day or two. I think the kitten is too young for this--I want him to get acclimated to this house first. Well, he's not in the "house" yet, just the upstairs, which is really cramped and filled with art and boxes and plants that he's not supposed to get into (I caught him peeing in the large coleus plants the other day, so Stan put this nylon "goat wire" over them.). Mostly the kitten is confined to the upstairs bathroom when we're not around to watch him. This quarantine is killer. Next time, we're getting the elder cat vaccinated for leukemia first. Had I only known...I guess we didn't even think about it back when we got Caligula--maybe we had been giving Persephone the shots, but I know we had stopped for Natasha. And that turned out ok. Maybe they're more cautious now. Who knows.

Note, if you're confused, here's the deal: Yes, we had Caligula vaccinated for feline leukemia, but we stopped when he was about 3 per the advice of the vets because he is an indoor cat, and they suggest not continuing the shots for indoor-only cats. Not forseeing that if we bring a new young kitten into the house who can't be verified leukemia-negative until a certain age, we cannot have Caligula exposed until that kitten's final leukemia test, just on the off-chance the kitten has it, we don't want it spreading to Caligula. (I doubt he does). Hence, we have Caligula on the first floor and basement access, and Apollo upstairs.

Needless to say, I have this antsy "I want to travel feeling" which won't be satisfied until spring at the soonest. I don't feel rested, even though I slept better than i would've on an actual vacation, being in my own bed and all.

OK, here's a thought. Why don't dry cat and dog food manufacturers offer a free cat or dog toy inside, like the way cereal does for kids? I think this would be great! I mean, pet toys are made as much for people, with all the sparkly bright colors, as they are for pets. Humans, even adults, like getting free brightly colored bonus things. If they didn't, store shelves wouldn't be as full of pink bippity balls and turquoise piddy mice and chartreuse dingle birds for kitties and all the multi-colored balls and faux-bones and stuffed chewtoys for dogs. If we didn't like these things, we'd just give our dogs old shoes and socks and our cats pieces of paper and tin foil. I think this would be a great marketing device, even if we educated pet owners buy food on the basis of the food itself. It couldn't hurt, right?

Labels: Animals