Best of Friends

Cimba and Garth, with Boogie in the back

Cimba lives at a boarding facility and has done for 5-6 years.  He's well taken care of there.  He's happy with the owners and staff, and, best of all, he's made friends. 

During the day, Cimba runs in a herd of other geldings.  Garth is his best friend and is owned by the barn owners.  Garth is the Alpha male of the herd and therefore calls the shots.  Garth's call most of the time?  Pay attention to Cimba.  He loves Cimba, and Cimba loves him.  This leaves the other members of the herd, Boogie and Pary, out in the cold more often than Boogie would like.  (Pary doesn't care--he's happy to follow the rest of the herd around)  The picture I posted with this story pretty well exemplifies the relationship of the herd.  Cimba standing around,  Garth nibbling on him, Boogie trying to get some attention too, and Pary off who knows where. 

I find this relationship funny for several reasons.  One, Garth is the Alpha yet lavishes his attention on Cimba.  He's constantly gently nibbling on his back, nudging him on the shoulder, or resting his head on Cimba's back.  And two, Garth is huge, and beautiful, and he's enthralled with a tiny little Arab.  Cimba seems to like the attention, as he rarely walks away from Garth.  I don't know if that's because my vain horse likes the attention, or if he's happier that the attention is driving Boogie crazy.  I wouldn't put that past him.

Last week, Cimba was tranquilized for a veterinary procedure.  After we were done, Cimba was starting to wake up, and we put him outside with his herd, so the fresh air and breeze could help him wake up faster.  Nikki, the owner of the barn (and also Garth), said, "Cimba will be fine outside.  Garth will take care of him."

And take care of him he did.

It's not unusual for the herd to rally around another member who is returning to the pen.  What melted my heart is the fact that Garth wouldn't leave Cimba's side.  He walked alongside him, lavishing his usual attention, but in a gentler manner.  Keeping the other horses from Cimba, making sure he was safe.  And when I left, an hour later, Garth was still at Cimba's side.

Cimba is lucky to have such a good friend. 

Oh, It's a Guilt Trip, Is It?

There's been a lot of manipulation around our house lately.  And I don't mean between the humans.  Oh, no.  It's the four-legged critters who have been putting on their best guilt faces.  And you know what?  It works every time. 

Indiana is, well, Indy.  When you've battled cancer...twice...and won, you get pretty much whatever you want.

Isis has a new obsession with running.  Jim started running with her several months ago in an effort to get her into shape.  She's always been a horrible walker (she loves to stop and sniff every two feet, plus she has weird rules about where she will and won't walk--if you try to force the issue, she lays all 60 of her pounds down in the middle of the road.)  But surprisingly, she's a good runner.  And she loves it.  Fairly frequently, she sees Jim getting on his workout gear and is convinced they're going running, even if Jim only intends to work out in the house.  But when faced with such unbridled enthusiasm, and an, "Oh, Jim..." from me, Isis wins every time.

Mr. Squiggles, like Indiana, has a built in guilt-trip excuse--when you reappear after being missing for over a year, you want for very little.  But still, he has a trick that gets us every time.  Stage One of his trick is an expectant, very quiet meow, complete with an intense, expectant stare.  This trick means he wants you to sit down on the couch so he can snuggle with you.  Stage Two of the trick, from which we have no immunity, involves the quiet meow along with him standing up on his back legs, pawing at your legs as desperately as he can.  I'm pretty sure I'd commit a crime, if that's what he was asking for.

Gus doesn't really pile on guilt, per se, but he's got the whole disability thing that makes him impossible to resist.  Plus, he takes what he wants.  So if he wants to lay on your lap, you sit there until he's done.

Samson's trick is really handy, as it's what got him adopted by us in the first place.  Samson, like every Maine Coon, is very smart and very dexterous with his hands.  So when he wants something, he reaches his huge paw out to get it.  This includes people most of the time.  Who can resist 15 pounds of cat reaching out and lovingly placing a paw on your arm?  I sure can't.

Q*bert is newest to the household and therefore less equipped with guilt trips.  He's not sick/disabled/previously missing, so those tricks are out.  He's also not super smart, but honestly, that's what wins us over most of the time.  He's so...ummm...simple, that we can't resist him when he wants something.  His needs are so simple, basically food and an occasional lap, so who are we to say no?  Bless his heart.

Though he doesn't live in our house, Cimba has tricks of his own too.  I don't ignore him often, but sometimes I will walk away from his stall to pet another horse, and this makes him mad.  I'm his Mom, after all.  Most of the time, if he's craving attention, and some other horse is getting it, I'll hear a stern smack against his stall wall, and I'll turn around to see a very annoyed horse staring me down.  Flared nostrils, perked ears, and the brightest, sweetest eyes you've ever seen on a horse.  I am powerless against him.

Society has the idea that humankind is smarter and superior to the animal race.  Looking at all of this, though, I often wonder. 

Back to Work

Sam's staring at a large bug on the other side of the

pet door.  Can you see it?

The last few weeks have been crazy busy in the Schneider household, and by crazy busy, I mean I've been travelling and generally being a kept woman.  Oh, and Jim started a sort-of-new job.  Somebody's gotta pay for the horse, and it ain't me. 

Anyway, in Jim news, the new job is really a new position within the same company/department, and it's been a looooooooooong time coming.  When Jim was hired by Exelon (then ComEd) back in 2000, this new position (Licensed Control Room Operator) was the ultimate goal.  We were told by the company that Jim and his fellow newly hired co-workers could expect to be non-licensed operators for 3-5 years.  It's been 11.  So we're very happy that this new position finally came open (and it's based on seniority, not merit, so that's partly what's taken so long).  Jim is currently in Reactor Operator Training, which will take between 18-24 months.  For the time being, he works 7-3 Monday through Friday, and cannot be forced to work extra shifts.  He also gets holidays off.  After 11 years, we're finally living what is a relatively normal life.  Once he's passed the training, he'll go back to 12-hour shift work again, but it's still nice to have a break from that routine. 

Jim is now able to pursue interests he previously had no time for (12-hour shifts don't allow for much else in your day), like training for a half-marathon.  He also has time to take riding lessons and go for bike rides with me.  We can run errands and go grocery shopping together.  Oh, and lots more time for Criminal Minds.  Whew.  Don't forget that!

This new job will put a bit of a damper on our travel schedule, as he's not really able to take vacation days right now.  He can't really miss classroom training, so our travel, for the time being, will be relegated to weekends and holiday weeks.  That'll be the hardest part for us, honestly, but it's not forever.

Meanwhile, our critters are loving the new schedule.  Daddy is home at 3:30 every day, so if Mom is out, Daddy can feed them lunch, and give them snuggle time.  They have two parents home more of the time.  It's a win-win for them.

In other news, Indiana is doing well.  She's bright-eyed and alert, eating pretty well (though picky), and getting around as well as can be expected.  She has recovered from her earlier UTI, and we're waiting on test results to tell us how her kidneys are doing.  Her tumor on her back is larger now, and it's carrying a lot of heat.  This could mean one of several things: that the tumor has grown larger, that the hematoma around it has grown, or that there is some kind of abscess around it.  Our vet doesn't want to poke it to find out, so for now, we're simply putting a clay mask on it to draw out the heat, and adding in a drop of Frankincense, which is an essential oil with anti-tumor properties. 

Our horse, Cimba, was diagnosed with bursitis in his neck last month.  That's a swelling of the joint--for him, it's just behind his left ear.  He has a rather large lump there, and I know it causes him some discomfort.  Today, the equine vet is coming out to take an x-ray, to see if there is any arthritis, and to see what the extent of the lump is.  My poor boy has to be tranquilized, which freaks me out a little but is probably totally safe.  Anyway, I'm crossing my fingers for good results--nothing we've done to the lump so far has changed it in any way, so I'm anxious to find a treatment that works. 

I don't know why my lot in life is to have animals with every sort of lump or bump known to man.  Between Indy and Cimba, I'm gaining a pretty good knowledge of lumps.  Surely we have to run out of types pretty soon?

OMG OMG

What I've been doing instead of blogging.

I logged on to make a post this morning, and nearly gasped at the realization that the last time I posted was August 4.  And today is August 18.  Ugh.

Not that I think I have thousands of worshiping adorers out there, refreshing their browsers every 5 minutes, waiting for a new post about my animals to come up.  But I did make a personal vow to post every weekday--that's five days a week--and now I've really broken that vow.

However, it's not completely my fault.  After the August 4th post, my cell phone decided to stop charging, and I use my cell for everything--including internet service.  So I was without the internet for over a week while I waited for Amazon to ship my new charger (because Verizon doesn't sell them anymore--and they won't let me get an early upgrade--thanks, Verizon.  I'm glad that 10 years of on-time payments means so much to you.) 

Anyway, once I got my cell up and working again, I went on vacation with my Mom to Wisconsin Dells.  We had a great time, staying in a really nice motel with a great view, wearing belly packs, and touristing it up.  Then I leave on a quick weekend 11th Anniversary getaway tomorrow, but I promise I'll be back to posting adorable pictures and stories of my naughty cats next week.

For those who are curious (and there are at least one or two of you out there, right?), my clan are all doing well.  Indy is UTI-free for the time being and is eating relatively well.  The cats are being fairly harmonious, Isis is Isis, and Cimba has been neglected by Midwest-travelling me but has been well cared for by friends Nikki and Cassie.

Until Monday, my friends...

Oy vey

In the last week, we have:

• been to the doctor/lab for an exam/urinalysis/CT, because one of the humans thought they might have a kidney stone
• gone to dinner with some friends, and had a great time, despite back pain
• called the vet, because one of the canines was exhibiting signs of a UTI, and we were going out of town that day and needed antibiotics ASAP
• visited family out of town for the weekend
• shopped at my favorite store in the world, Charming Charlie's (please tell me you've experienced it)
• gone to a baptism/party
• picked up our very first Western trail saddle
• gotten bitten by a cat on the arm, requiring one of the humans to go to the ER, who were very, very unhelpful
• had friends over for dinner, and had a great time, despite two humans being ill and one being injured
• watched our equine family member getting shoed, which is basically a horse pedicure
• gotten frustrated/worried because the aforementioned canine with the UTI hasn't really improved and is still wetting herself all over the house
• taken said canine to the chiropractor and faced not one, not two, but three traffic delays, two being caused by accidents, which caused us to be ten whole minutes late
• spent the evening quite uncomfortable, because someones cat-bitten arm was sore
• woken up to diarrhea all over the floor, presumably caused by the canine with the UTI and on antibiotics
• woken up to an arm which looks better and feels better, but which started oozing pus, thus requiring the other human in the house to squeeze the wound to expel all of the pus.  This was actually more cool than gross.

Surely this next week will get better/be less interesting.

Happy Birthday, Gus!

Seriously, is there a cuter cat on the planet?

Today is Gus' birthday.  He's three-ish years old. 

Jim and I always like to do something special for the animals on their birthdays.  For the dogs, we go out for a Culver's hamburger, followed by Dairy Queen.  For the cats...not so simple.

What do you give the cat who has everything?  Hates riding in the car?  Gets everything he wants?  Hates affection?

We instituted a rule that you couldn't give a cat a hard time on his birthday, so in Gus' case, no making fun of his disability.  Not that we do...ummm...

We also decided that since Gus hates affection, we wouldn't pick him up at all on his birthday.  Or pet him unless invited to do so. 

Indiana is playing her part and allowing Gus to snuggle with her whenever he wants, which has been quite frequently the last couple of days.  What a kind sister. 

But Q*bert just literally attacked Gus as I am typing this.  Apparently he didn't get the birthday memo. 

So Happy Birthday to my favorite orange cat.  You are evil, but luckily so incredibly adorable.