slvrwhispr's furkids!

[slvrwhispr]

Do they make treadmills for cats? They should. Emmy has more energy than I can expend before she gets tired of playing with me and would rather tackle the (fake) plants. And she thinks the squirt bottle is just more play. She tries to pounce the spray...

Seriously though, a kitty-sized treadmill... I dream of this at night... as I hear her bouncing off the walls... lol.

[E's]

actually - lol - just go to Google and type in "cat exercise wheel" as I just did... and found really more than I wanted to know but seriously...

[slvrwhispr]

HAHAHAHAHAHA. Y'know, if I had a couple hundred bucks laying around, I would purchase that immediately. I think Emmy would LOVE it. That's a riot; I never imagined something like that actually existed.

[slvrwhispr]

Sigh. So, good news! Jon's done with the Army. Woo! No more going overseas.

Bad news, that means that we need to move all our stuff -- and two cats -- all the way from Texas to Michigan. To say I'm dreading this is an understatement. We're going to take five days to make the trip, only doing about 400 miles a day. I've found pet-friendly hotels along the way. I'm getting new tags for them made with the address in Michigan in case, God forbid, anything happens. Izzy will be fine because she actually likes the carrier. If I leave it on the floor with a blanket or towel in there, she'll actually sleep there sometimes. But Emmy... cries. In the carrier. I'm hoping that after a little while, she'll get used to it. Otherwise it's going to be a LONG five days.

Other than that, the humans and the kitties have been good. I was put on some medication to deal with anxiety (this dumb deployment took a lot out of me and I had a hard time recovering) and am in much better spirits than I have been. As a result, I've been actually wanting to spend more time with the cats. This has resulted in me letting the cats come into the bedroom with us at night. It's had mixed results. I think they're calmer during the day and they bicker less because they have more room to run and a whole new window sill to sit on. They'll sleep quietly on the bed with us for about half the night. The other half... they turn the apartment into a NASCAR track. But it's not too bad. And I like having them in there with us. Emmy sleeps near my feet and Izzy by my head. It's comforting to have them nearby.

We're heading back to my parents' house for a while to ride out the VERY long hiring processes of the various federal agencies where Jon has applied for work. Izzy and Tyler (black lab) get along fine, but I'm a little worried about Emmy's rambunctiousness since Tyler's really too old to play much. He's got bad arthritis, which is being treated, but fact is he's just an old man. So that'll have to be monitored. Jon and I will be moving our things into the finished basement, and there's a door down there, so if I need to, Emmy can be kept downstairs... but there are no windows and I know how much she loves to look outside, so hopefully she'll leave Tyler alone. We'll take our time adjusting them and hope for the best.

As for after that... the place we'll most likely end up is Grand Rapids, Michigan. And I'm really excited, except... all the apartment/rental homes in the area dictate that all cats must be DECLAWED. So we might have to leave the cats with my parents for a little while until we can save up for a house of our own. But it's not far away, and it won't be for long, so I'm not too worried.

Whew, hope you enjoyed that novel! I'll post some pics later to make up for it.

[momPaws]

Congrats to you both and pls tell Jon thanks for serving!

When I was your age I made a long interstate move. I don't know why I didn't buy carriers, but I made a big cage out of a huge box and spent hours on it..with feeding area, littler box, etc. Well about 15 mins out they escaped from it (into the car). My brother, who was driving the uhaul was not happy about having to stop already. Anyway we all survived the trip.

I wish you much peace and happiness on your trip and new life together - any excitement along the way may be fun to think about years later. You guys have a good life ahead of you and well deserved. Hope the kitties stay calm.

[slvrwhispr]

Ugh... Jon's mother is upset because we won't stop in Kentucky at the family farm for a few days on the way up. I said we can't because of the cats. She said the cats could be let out into the house. UM, NO. It's an old farmhouse, plus they have two dogs (one of which is a german shepherd hunting dog) that are NOT used to cats. And there are seven people who live in that house, none of which are used to having to watch doors to keep cats in. NO FREAKING WAY.

They never had cats so they don't understand that they're not adaptable like dogs. They need a quiet, peaceful trip.

[momPaws]

I would feel the same way as you about that. Besides bet you just want to get there.

[slvrwhispr]

That too!! But then, my MIL is the same woman who was upset that we wouldn't come to the hotel and spend time with family after the reception on our WEDDING NIGHT. No joke.

[k9Karen]

I know you'll be glad to get settled. Hope you have a good trip. My dad was born in Grand Rapids and I still have a lot of distant relatives there. Both of his parents were from very large families Are you or Jon originally from there? Who knows, we might be cousins!

[slvrwhispr]

Haha... I doubt that, Karen. My family's all from the east side of the state. Stranger things have happened, though! I love the GR area. It's so pretty there. And there's always something to do, especially outdoors.