Critters.

We've got a full house o' critters again. Ed, the miniature pinscher and Hercules the cat. And, or course Farnsy and Flea. Ed and Hercules live together and have been here since Monday while their mama takes a vaykay. We had Ed in the summer - but not the cat. Hercules has been hiding most of the days and comin' out at night to test-swing the curtains and explore stuff. In the middle of the night, he'll sidle up to my side of the bed and make that questioning cat sound, "brrrrpp?"

We're seeing more of him though as he gets used to the place. He's a really super sweet, affectionate guy too but whenever Farnsworth sees him, he barks him back into hiding. It's not that he's a cat. My dog ain't no cat-ist. It's that he moves fast. In a ratdawg peanut brain, fast = chase-worthy. If Herk would just saunter about or even give Arty a smack, it would put him in his place. But - there ain't no reasoning with critters. I tried to draw Herk a diagram explaining this, but he asked if I would crumple it into a ball so he could play with it instead.

The sweet/sad part about it is - Hercules will get scared and go hide - say, under the bed. But when you stick your arm under to reach him - he doesn't growl or get snippy or slappy. He head butts you for pets! What a sweetheart. So, I've been makin' sure he gets some lovin'. He's easy to bribe out of hiding spots for rubdowns.

As I type this, Ed is scritching at my chair to be picked up. Hang on.........



On the lap, now.

Ed is a little on the...ahem, curvy side. She wears it well, however. But it does make for strange bedfellows. She sleeps in the bed, see? Which I like because she's bulbous enough to be non-squishable. And she's like spooning a hot water bottle, which is nice in the dead of winter. But sometimes Ed likes to sleep right between our heads with her head propped on my pillow. Which means her snout is inches from my face. That, I can handle. It's the snoring... she snores like it's goin' outta style. Wheezing, snorting, laboured inhaling...it's like sleeping with Lou Perlman.

So, my night times go like this: Min pin with sleep apnea in my face. Cat wandering around full o' beans (cuz he slept all day) saying, "brrrpp?" at my bedside. Arty all, "Grrrrr" from his crate cuz he sees the cat. Flea all - silent but awake planning how she will kill us all for waking her up - and Corn all "Sigh, I gotta pee" and me all "T minus 3 hours til work"....

But you know what? It's fun. :)

Oh - and I had to bring Farnsy the vet today because he's been sleeping, snotting, sneezing and hacking for a few days. He just ain't himself. Turns out he caught a cold at boarding. Poor bugger. I mean really, he's such a royal dick. But when he's not himself, I can't help but feel for the guy. He was curled up all day not wanting anything to do with anyone, hacking and boogers sliming outta his little nose. Even today, Hercules walked right past him and Arty didn't grumble a syllable of a threat from his sickbed. How much is he workin' the patheticness here?



Anyway, the vet sent us home with some antibiotics and he'll be right as rain in a couple days. No worries at all.

Oh my god. I was wondering how to end this post when Ed ended it for me. She totally just farted on my lap.

That's a wrap, guys.