Dear Pet Journal or Adventures in Pet Ownership

[gracefulchaos01]

I didn't want to leave out the rest of my array. Heavens forbid they think I play favorites too much
Last night we got Tiberius and Beau in a couple of quick shots.

Here is Tiberius about to make a break for it, see his bulgy little eye? He is *not* a cuddler usually.



And here is Beauregard getting some much needed snuggles in a beard right after his little quick had been clipped. Jason was wearing blood, and you can see the cornstarch remains quite clearly.

[phoenix1964]

Dear Pet Journal! What a couple of weeks we have been having! Kevin the fish's tank filter blew up when we tried to clean his tank so we had to put him in a smaller tank. He was not a happy fish! When I felt so bad for the sad tings face I loaned my daughter money to go get him a decent set up. $300.00 later things seemed to be going great so we added a catfish and a frog to the mix. All seemed well until 3 days later Kevin the Betta fish ate Gilbert the Guppy! Cue one very sad teenaged daughter. As if that wasn't bad enough Kevin then died! Murder and suicide? My daughter and son set out to replace Kevin and now my son comes home with a Betta fish and a tank as well! His set up is black and very gothic looking and the kids decided the replacement fish would go to my son. My daughter has the orangey-red one. Everybody is happy..........
For about 5 minutes! The orangey red Betta is head butting the catfish, which we were assured were very compatible. Out comes Mr. Fish as fast as you can blink because we don't want a repeat of the last episode! Back to the pet store he goes!
The black Betta fish gets sucked up into the tank filter and is caught there! My son quickly unplugs the tank before Monster face can drown! (Yes that's his name, and apparently Betta Fish are surface breathers, so Yes they CAN drown)
OMG Murder face now goes into Kevin's old tank! That was last night.... Stay tuned for more info

[Melanie G.]

Dear Pet Journal,
Tomorrow I have to leave for Vancouver. I'm going with a heavy heart as my family is having a memorial service for my uncle. He passed away 6 weeks ago and the service has finally arrived and I am no longer numb to the pain- my loss has now became a reality. My uncle is not away on a trip. He will not be coming home.
This past week I've dropped out of school, had to spend one night in the emergency room, and cried my eyes out.
But I had Lucy and Gretta to snuggle with. They don't mind when I cry. They will contently sleep on the couch with me when I can't get off the couch.
Tomorrow I must leave my babies for the weekend. I wish I could bring my hedgies, but I can't. I know they will be well cared for while I am away.
Once again, I am reminded of how amazing these little, pokey critters are. Pokey on the outside making them appear hard to love, but soft and sweet when you get beneath that outer shell. Thank you my sweet hedgies for loving me when I am pokey and unlovable.

[SarahH]

Originally Posted by Melanie G.

Dear Pet Journal,
Tomorrow I have to leave for Vancouver. I'm going with a heavy heart as my family is having a memorial service for my uncle. He passed away 6 weeks ago and the service has finally arrived and I am no longer numb to the pain- my loss has now became a reality. My uncle is not away on a trip. He will not be coming home.
This past week I've dropped out of school, had to spend one night in the emergency room, and cried my eyes out.
But I had Lucy and Gretta to snuggle with. They don't mind when I cry. They will contently sleep on the couch with me when I can't get off the couch.
Tomorrow I must leave my babies for the weekend. I wish I could bring my hedgies, but I can't. I know they will be well cared for while I am away.
Once again, I am reminded of how amazing these little, pokey critters are. Pokey on the outside making them appear hard to love, but soft and sweet when you get beneath that outer shell. Thank you my sweet hedgies for loving me when I am pokey and unlovable.

I'll be thinking of you, and wishing you positive thoughts. Hope the trip goes as well as it can!

[CoffeeKat]

So sorry you are going through such a rough patch, and I know that "rough patch" doesn't begin to describe it. Will be thinking of you.

[Melanie G.]

Thank you both- it means a lot. I'm looking forward to coming home on Monday for some well needed hedgies snuggles.

[phoenix1964]

Dear Pet Journal: I am happy to report that things were nice and quiet over the weekend! The Betas are better (bad pun indeed!), the catfish is happy and the minnows are swimming along swimmingly, although one of the three of them kicked the bucket! Who knew fish were so fin-icky!!!!!
The cat and dog had a great week-end! They both had play dates while the humans spent some well needed quality time together on Saturday.
Penelope the hedgehog didn't even notice as we were home in plenty of time to feed, snuggle and clean her cage! It is, after all, all about HER!
We had a beautiful fall week-end with record breaking temperatures of 29 degrees in Edmonton, Alberta.
All the critters seemed to enjoy the weather! Penny was running like a mad woman on her wheel this morning!
Lets hope the rest of the week holds out like this!

[gracefulchaos01]

Trying this on the phone from the new super improved awesome phone view. .. Phoenix that is great news! I loled at your last post and felt terrible for you all at the same time.

[gracefulchaos01]

The moments. It's all about the moments. Sitting on the couch watching tv, but not really. Watching Beauregard snuggled up on top of his batman snuggle sack trying to sleep under the scrap of Spider-Man fleece we found next to Loki who also wants to be very close to me.
This is a good moment.

[Lilysmommy]

Grace, I want to thank you for being so vocal about how the fleece training that Nancy told you about has helped with Gabriel's biting issues (and thank Nancy too for suggesting it at all!). I was meeting with some petsitting clients tonight & the woman is a hairdresser. One of her clients has a hedgehog & talks about it. Apparently he's still extremely grumpy (she's had him for over 6 months or a year or something like that), and he likes to bite her a lot. Looks for skin to bite. She still gets him out every night and tries, but obviously that's not fun. I instantly thought of your work with Gabriel and told her to mention it to her client & see if it helps. Fingers crossed that maybe fleece training will help them as well as it has you and Gabe!