Friday, March 03, 2006

Animals in the House

It has been a very busy week, as I expected it would be. Now if we can just make it through next week, we will be doing great! March 9-11 is the ND Home School Assn. Convention, and I have been helping with the multitude of details that need to be worked through before next Thurs.

On top of all that craziness, our dog Selah decided to go into heat. I am not from a farming background, and although we had a dog when I was growing up, I had been oblivious to all of these events. We also have a male German Shepherd; Samson is 7 months old, and terribly interested in her. This all came at a very busy time, since we are so immersed in convention details. We didn't have a chance to think through what should be done. Needless to say, Selah has for the time being become a house dog.

Before we moved up here I stated very emphatically that I would not have a cat in the house unless there were signs of mice; there has been nothing of the sort, but now we have a cat in the house. It's my own doing, as this particular cat was born late in the season and when we got him I felt he was too little to be out in the cold with the rest of our cats. We don't have a barn or shed yet, but the boys have constructed what we call the cat house, and it seems to be more than adequate for the cats to curl up in together when it gets really cold outside. I must admit it has been fun to have Funny Face (named by our 6-year-old) inside, but I still have an aversion to litter boxes.

And now comes Selah inside the house. Not a good place for a high energy Border Collie cross! When she needs to go outside, we bring in Samson. This has been quite an experience for us! My poor husband is allergic to dogs, so he has been doing lots of sneezing. I guess this is one of those times when I'm thankful to live in a basement and have bare concrete floors -- they are much easier to clean up than carpeting!

2 comments:

Emily said...

Hi Lynn....hope the convention went well. Here I am, all better and catching up on everyone's blogs. I can relate to the no-pets in the house policy having made the rule in the past. While we were still in our apartment a stray cat adopted us. We thought she was pregnant and felt sorry for her. It was all a ruse to get us to take her in since her symptoms mysteriously disappeared once she was in our home! Clever of her. We brought her to the house thinking she would be a good mouser. Think again. She's afraid of her own shadow. I got more results with a trap. The last straw came when she threw up all over my son's room - the only carpeted room in the house - and began leaving..ahem...little surprises all over the house. Down cellar she went....where she began using the crawl space as a litter box. Today I put her outside with a bowl of food and some water. It's above freezing and the barn is available for shelter if she needs it. This evening as I sat reading to my daughter we heard yowling and suddenly a bang and there she was plastered up against the living room window staring in at us. Good grief.

Lynn Bartlett said...

I can feel for you regarding your cat! When we use our wood stove we keep a window slightly open to bring in some fresh air; that little opening is enough for the cats to feel a bit of warm air, and many times we have had them hanging on the screen! One window screen will have to be replaced before mosquito season begins. The cats have also been known to use the screens as ladders to climb up onto the roof, where the blue tarp covering the hay bale insulation absorbs the sun and feels warm to them. Sigh.