The pets all have pretty consistent personalities. Zeeke is the dominant, possessive male. Zoe is the submissive, over-reactive, anxious little girl. Merlin is a happy-go-lucky, playful, cuddly cat. But there are some situations where things are totally unexpected.

Take, for instance, the vacuum cleaner. Zeeke HATES the vacuum cleaner. In fact, he’s rather terrified of it. He totally freaks out every time it gets turned on (or at this point, when we even pull it out). If given half the chance he will bark insanely at it, then attack the hose… and he’s very very jumpy. He hates that thing and he thinks it’s going to come eat him in his sleep. I vacuumed the bedroom the other day while he was crated, and Zeeke was flinging himself at the crate sides, digging frantically at the crate floor, and trying desperately to rip into the thing.

We have a shop vac, by the way… that’s what we use. It’s noisy. So Zoe runs and hides right? WRONG! Zoe isn’t very affected by it, which is the weirdest damn thing. She freaks out at new boxes in the house, but she’s okay with a shop vac?? Well I mean she’s not “okay” with it - she doesn’t want it to get too close to her. Yet it doesn’t send her diving for cover, either. She just cautiously moves to the other side of the room. And the weirdest thing yet is that she gets totally ticked off with Zeeke when he flips out… SHE attacks HIM whenever he goes for the vacuum cleaner. Explain that one?! She’ll grab him by the cheek, growling. I don’t understand it one little bit, but she definitely does NOT like it when he flips out at it.

The cats don’t really seem bothered by the vacuum. They’ll jump out of the way, but that’s about it. They don’t flee the room either. Pretty easy-going cats.

::

Merlin’s oddness came out when he got sick. He’s Merlin, the easy-going, tote-me-around huggable dude. So I figured pilling him would be easy, right? HA. Apparently he HATES to be held down. He squirmed and scratched and drove me insane. This also translates to cutting his nails, I’ve discovered. He HATES having his paw held like that. He’s suspicious when you first touch his paw, he gives a little tug, and when he can’t get free he starts doing that cat-fish thing where they flop around in three directions at once. But with claws. Sharp claws, since I can’t seem to cut them. I finally got tired of the show and wrapped him in a towel like a burrito. He sure didn’t like that, but at least his claws got clipped.

And Jo, who was once my total punk, picking fights with cats and people and just being obstinate? Cutting his nails is no problem.

Well at least I’m learning.

We’ve noticed lately that Zeeke and Zoe really don’t seem to play together much anymore. I also noticed that what “playing” they do involves Zeeke fitting Zoe’s entire head in his mouth. I don’t think she severely dislikes it… but I’m not so certain that she enjoys it, either. On the other hand, she does play with Merlin the cat…. and they beat each other up. I’ve never seen anything like it before…. I’ve seen Merlin licking her ear very cutely, grooming her…. right before he climbs on top of her and then starts biting her neck like he’s a big cat taking down gizelle. Of course this gizelle is quite large and really enjoys this game. They’re just strange.

Just now they (Merlin and Zoe) finished a wrestle match and she came over to snuggle with me for a few seconds. (Seconds is all she has for me!) Then she went and got a rawhide chew and layed down RIGHT next to the cat - facing him, in fact. The rawhide was inches from his head. I really don’t think she was trying to share it - she doesn’t share very well with others - but it was like she wanted to spend that time with him or something. Very odd indeed.

Zoe is adjusting very well to my pregnancy. She’s pretty low-maintainance, her playing with the cat on the bed beside me and then settling down to chew on a treat or a toy. Now that I have more energy I like to play with her a little bit every day, give her attention, tell her what a pretty girl she is. It doesn’t seem to matter how much I do or even what I do, as long as I’m focussed on her she’s the happiest girl ever. (Although that charactarizes much of her personality.)

The cats don’t seem to notice any difference - or don’t care if they have. They just want to be fed, and get attention. Jo solves this by standing in front of my monitor and refusing to move, and Merlin… well Merlin’s way of getting attention is by climbing on top of you and never giving up no matter how many times you shoo him off. Den can get quite annoyed by this constant yo-yo cat, which can go on for an excess of 10 minutes.

Zeeke… Zeeke doesn’t care as long as daddy is around to spend time with him. If daddy isn’t, however, he spends his time letting me know just how ticked off he is at my energy level and commitment to keeping him constantly occupied. OMG he drives me crazy barking at me. And there’s not much I could really do before, between the puking and the exhaustion and the work I still needed to get done in between, he was SOL until daddy got home. I really don’t know how Zeeke is possibly going to handle a new baby in a good way. He’s simply going to be ticked that we’re not paying enough attention to him.

So that’s my quick recap! We’re going to visit my parents over christmas, and we have booked the kennel and arranged with my work to watch the cats. I’m relieved. The kennel is expensive, but so worth it. The dogs come back to us SO happy and tired. They get such great attention there, time out with other dogs in the yard, they get to spend the entire time together. It’s perfect. It’s really really good that we have this kennel…. I don’t know how I’d leave Zoe otherwise!!

Why must Merlin always stand on my boobs? Every time I’m laying down in bed he must come over and say hi…. but he can’t just lay politely on my chest he must stand precisely on my boobs. And he is NOT a light cat like Jo is. Plus he prefers to do this at those times of the month when my boobs are more sore than usual.

Owwie man. And then he gets all upset because I pushed him off so obviously I don’t want to spend time with him. I do! I like cuddles! Just… lay on my stomach or my arm. Just not on my boobs!

I have never seen a cat without a temper. In my experience, even the loviest cat gets pissed off if you do certain things. For some cats it’s touch their tail, for others it’s picking them up. For some it’s looking at them. Whatever it is, almost all cats have times where they put their ears back and take a swipe at you… or maybe they just lay there pissed off, swishing their tail.

But Merlin doesn’t get mad. I have never seen him get angry in any way. He has many moods, including psycho-crazy-kitten - a mood which is coming out far more frequently now that spring is approaching… He gets spazzy and attacks random objects (like shoes). He’s also a cuddle-bug and will spend hours on your chest purring and nuzzling you. But he never gets mad. I’ve seen a couple times where Zeeke has him pinned down and is practically chewing on him, and Merlin’s just laying there like a dead fish. Granted that’s a very smart thing to do with Zeeke - if you don’t react to him he does tend to give up most of the time. But still, what cat just lays there getting chewed on?

There are times when Jo and Merlin are playing, and Jo gets too rough. I don’t know why he does it, but it’s like he gets ramped up into attack-mode and he just starts pulling fur out. Pulling him off doesn’t help, he goes right back at Merlin. And what does Merlin do? “Meeep!” and runs away. And soon as Jo stops (which usually takes a brief time-out), Merlin’s back to his old self again.

Zeeke just started chewing on him again. Merlin actually gave a half-assed swipe at him. (It was more of a “Gee, stooooop!” ) I got Zeeke to stop. And Merlin? Is still purring.

He’s a lot like Zoe, except for the freak-out thing. Zoe only gets mad at Zeeke infrequently, when he gets too rough. That’s the only time I’ve seen her put on her bitch-face. Otherwise she still only has two modes: happy happy lovey-whee! and omg-it’s-going-to-eat-me!! That’s it. It does make training her rather difficult, though. Half the time she’s so ramped up she’s bouncing around practically unable to sit still like a child overdosing on sugar - and therefore not all that receptive to direction. But if you correct her even slightly too “harsh” she shuts off completely. It’s very frustrating.

Two nights ago I dosed the dogs with K9 Advantix - spring is coming and I want to keep all nasty ticks and fleas away. Now Advantix is dangerous to cats, but my vet told me when we got it that we just need to seperate the dogs from the cats overnight after dosing the dogs. Me being the paranoid person that I am I’m keeping them seperated for two full days. We’re letting them in the same room together, but absolutely NO wrestling.

And Merlin I think is about to burst because of it. He’s had no good wrestle with Zoe in two days. He’s going psycho this morning, viciously attacking Den’s boot as he’s trying to put it on. Now both cats are running like elephants up and down the hallway… I can hear their little paws thundering on the hard wood.

I really never worried about the Advantix when it was just Zeeke and Jo. Even when Zoe was added. But now with Merlin and Zoe… ech. Makes me think I should switch to something else. But only Advantix repells fleas, and we KNOW it works so VERY well (not a tick in the 2-3 years since we started using it - and we live in the woods where there are most definitely ticks). I think I might talk to the vet again and check again how long advantix is dangerous to cats after applying. If it’s for sure only like one day then it’s not a huge issue.

I have been out of commission all this week due to surgery, so I’ve been spending an aweful lot of time in bed with my laptop, unable to do much else. The pets have been pretty good about it… the cats are still getting into everything (I think we’re going to have to purchase some cabinet locks) and Zeeke likes to bark just when I fall asleep, but all in all it’s going well.

The cutest thing is that I wake up and find all of Zoe’s toys piled on the bed. Yesterday there were 5 of them, including a kong, a rope, and a squeaky toy. They’re not for me, I don’t think - but she brings all her toys up to keep herself company while she’s keeping me company. She’s been very good at just occupying herself and napping until hubby gets home to take them outside and feed them.

I’ve just been careful to keep them all off my stomach, especially Merlin who has a habit of it. It’s been good, though - no accidental stepping on mommy’s incisions.

Well the change in daylight savings time seems to have solved Zoe’s waking up early. Maybe she was just trying to transition me?

I just had (minor) surgery, but it’s making it hard for me to deal with, well, anything. I have incisions on my stomach so it’s hard to get up, move around, and even hard to yell. Den has been home for most of the past two days to help me with the dogs. They’ve been pretty good, considering… Zeeke has been barky, which is annoying when I’m drifting in and out of sleep (the anesthesia really makes you drowsy for a day, then the pain meds do a number on you!). But other than that things are going pretty well.

Zoe has spent most of the two days on the bed beside me, whether napping or playing with Merlin or chewing on a toy. She’s good company, if a little pushy at times - whenever Den comes in to spend time with me she’s all over him with licks and wiggles and just won’t leave us alone! Den still needs to work on being more firm with her in not letting her get pushy. It’s funny because he definitely doesn’t let Zeeke get away with the same things, but when I tell him to push her away he gives me a sad look and says, “But she’s so small and cute!” Oy! He’s a softy sometimes.

The cats are doing really well still. Still into everything they can get into, of course. I set up Merlin’s water fountain again, and twice he’s already dis-assembled it. He’s not content just drinking the water from the fountain, he must find out where the water is coming from… which involves him popping off the top, sticking his paw into the bubbling part, and in the end pushing the fountain around the room so much it comes unplugged from the wall. :sigh: It’s cute that he loves it so much and all, but it’s annoying to have to put it all back together nearly every day!

Spring seems to be here - or at least a precursor to spring. The snow has almost all melted, finally… though what hasn’t melted is still in that dangerous icy mass stage. I think Zoe is excited to see grass again. When all there was on the ground was snow she’d spend half her time outside digging, I’m guessing to catch some scents from the ground itself. Now she wanders from grassy patch to grassy patch, sniffing before she squats to pee. It’s just really nice to not get numb fingers and toes when I take the dogs out. Hopefully we’ll get to spend a little more time out there letting them run around a bit on their long leads and burning off some of that energy.

We’ve been playing fetch with them indoors. Zeeke loves to chase, but he’s not so great at the bringing it back. He got as far as spitting the toy at Den’s feet - which, trust me, is better than he was doing. Den enjoys playing fetch with him, he just doesn’t like having to wrestle him for the toy every time. We do need a better space for it though… our hallway is narrow and not very long, plus it’s all hardwood and I worry about Zeeke’s hips (and my walls!). Too bad it’ll be a long while before we get the basement all done.

Hubby takes the dogs out every morning at 7am on those mornings when he’s working and I’m not, so I can stay in bed. (I return the favor in the evening.) So WHY does Zoe always wake me up at 6:30? Zeeke just lays down and waits. He knows when daddy’s coming. Zoe either still hasn’t figured it out, or is too impatient to care. She will whine and bark for half an hour. And yes, she always gets taken out before bed. She’s nearly 2 years old! She can’t possibly not be able to hold it.

Well anyways this morning she woke me up at 6. I got up to take her because there was no way I was going to listen to her for an hour - and since it’s rather unusual for her to wake me up that early I figured it was somewhat important. But when we got out there she didn’t even seem all that insistent in going. She did, finally, but she didn’t race off into the woods or anything - she actually was more interested in sniffing around. Gah. I swear.

Merlin has been a complete psycho of late. I don’t know if it’s his age, the weather, or a combo of the two - but he’s a little tazmanian devil. He runs around pushing things off tables, he tries to eat my food, he uses my carpet as a scratching post, he attacks any remotely string-like object (he attacks my pants as I’m pulling them on!). He’s still a major cuddler, he’s just… hyper. Sometimes I can’t wait for him to grow up!

Thank goodness he has both Jo and Zoe to vent his energy on…. between the two of them he does manage to get a complete work-out. The two cats run around during the day and night… up and down the hallway, up on tables, furniture, crashing into things as they roll around. Then with Zoe… it’s mainly on our bed that they have their wrestling matches.

Jo, by contrast, has mellowed out a lot. I think it’s in big part due to all the energy he expends playing with Merlin. He used to be pretty hyper himself, and now he’s almost always sleeping or just sitting around. He just acts much more mature than he did before. It’s kind of cool and sad at the same time. Jo is definitely still the pampered boy though. Hubby says he’s the cuter cat (I think Merlin is) and makes sure he gets his kitty treats and bonding time every morning. Yesterday Jo was in hubby’s office and wanted out, but Zeeke was running around… so hubby picked Jo up, cradled him protectively, and walked him to the kitchen. It was so sweet. (But of course, hubby doesn’t LIKE cats. Oh no. Not at all.)

Zeeke… is still frustrating. The last few weeks he has felt the need to bark from about noon until hubby comes home at 5. And it starts when I’m still in the bedroom with him. I don’t know if it’s boredom or frustration or maybe just a reaction to other dogs or kids he hears in the neighborhood… but it’s really freaking annoying. This is new behavior for him too, which is what makes me think it isn’t just normal boredom or frustration. He knows the routine, he’s generally okay with that.

We took down the babygate to the kitchen on monday. The dogs have been doing pretty well about it. Zeeke better than Zoe - Zeeke knows exactly where that line is and only creeps across if he knows no one is watching. Zoe on the other hand seems to be a bit of a valley girl… I swear sometimes she’s blond. Either she really is a ditz or she plays the innocent really really well. But while I’m sitting there she’ll kind of wander in only to come running back out when I tell her no. With her it all comes down to repetition. But it would be really really nice to not have that baby gate to step over every time.

I bought a couple of new toys for the dogs. One a nylabone. They are the ONLY chewie I will buy for the dogs (other than kongs, which neither of them care to chew on) because Zoe LOVES them and Zeeke ignores them. Anything that Zeeke likes? Gets destroyed in a day. So those nylabones actually stick around for weeks or months, occupying Zoe. I like that.

The other thing I bought her was a hand-puppet. She had a hand-puppet when she was a pup and it was her favorite toy! Plus she would actually play wrestle with “you” when you were using it (and it didn’t hurt when she got rough - well not usually, anyways).

Well unfortunately she is beating the crap out of that thing. Fluff everywhere (from it’s head). Stitches ripped, seams coming apart. I do not think Mr. Hand Puppet will be surviving much longer.

But in the meantime she is having a ball - wiggling around on the bed kicking it with her back legs, growling at it, throwing it around… you name it. She’s so entertaining.

:: ::

I am happy to report all animals are back to their normal (destructive) non-sick selves. Zeeke unfortunately got a touch of whatever Zoe had a couple days later and had a very large “accident” in the bathroom. (It was so BEYOND nasty.) But just the once. After that everyone seems to be chipper and healthy.

Merlin is still aiming to compete in the heavyweight category with the dogs. Jojo still weighs in at a nice 11.2lbs; Merlin clocks in at over 13lbs! The little porker. But he puts all his skills and strength to good use when he “pins” Zoe down and viciously bites her. Of course they both know that she could throw him off whenever she wanted to, but they kind of take turns playinig the helpless victim.

Zeeke however has never really caught on to the whole “moderation” thing and just plays too rough for the cats’ preferences - even ass-whooping Merlin - as my previous post indicated. The cats are unamused. And I’m afraid Zeeke will just never learn to be gentle with the kitties. He’s never mean to them or I wouldn’t let him around them… he’s just too rough. He tries playing with them the same way he plays with Zoe. I guess she’s tougher than I thought. Merlin still refuses to run from Zeeke, but he does give the most evil looks. Zeeke ignores those just as quickly as he ignores the squeaks and smacks.

I could wish for total household harmony. But I guess the best I’m going to get is the three of them peacefully coexisting.

Well now, we had a really shitty couple of days. Literally.

Saturday evening we gave the dogs each some steak leftover from a dinner we had out. We’ve given them the exact same leftovers before without issue, so we really didn’t expect what happened.

Zoe got sick. Real sick.

It started in the middle of the night, she woke me up frantic. I took her outside and she had a lot of diarrhea. We went back to sleep. An hour and a half later she woke me up to do the same thing again. A little while after that hubby got up and took them both out, but Zoe didn’t go. I fell asleep for once to try to catch up on a little bit of sleep. A couple of hours later Den bursts into the bedroom all upset because Zoe puked all over the living room rug.

And that’s pretty much how it went the rest of the day: diarrhea, and a whole lot of throwing up. I made sure she had access to water because I didn’t want her getting dehydrated, but every time she’d drink some she’d almost immediately throw it all up again. She couldn’t keep anything down at all. I’ve never seen so much puke in my life. It was a horrible mess.

Zoe very obviously felt horrible all day. She looked so upset… her tail was down, her head hung, her eyes were wide and sad. I went out and bought some Kaopectate from the drug store, as well as some pediatric electrolyte. From my boss I picked up a dosing syringe and some chicken flavored baby food. I did manage to give her one dose of the kaopectate, but she sure wasn’t happy with me. She didn’t have any more diarrhea after that thank god (just some more puking).

She napped a long time. I made sure she was undisturbed by the other animals and I just let her sleep on the bed beside me (though I got worried and put a blanket on the bed after a while - really didn’t want her puking on our comforter). When she woke up in the evening she obviously felt much better. Her tail was high, and she was even showing interest in the baby food (which earlier she outright refused). I mixed some of the baby food into the electrolytes and let her drink it up. She didn’t puke it all back out! Yeah!

What a horrible day that was, though. I don’t know why that steak went over so badly with her, or if she got into something else (though I don’t think she did). Zeeke had a little bit of the runs afterwards, but with him that’s pretty normal for eating anything other than his normal kibble. He certainly didn’t have the explosive stomach upset that she did.

Of course last night we locked the cats out of the bedroom so we could get some actual sleep, but middle of the night Merlin starts crying. “Mow-ow-ow-ow!” he’d sing-song right outside our door. And that was after scratching at the door for half an hour. I finally couldn’t take it anymore and let him in. So he was winding around my head purring and kneading with his sharp little claws - made sleeping rather difficult. Then I fall asleep only to hear scratching and meowing from Jo - but it didn’t sound like the bedroom door. I figured he must want into the linen closet (his new favorite spot). It was so annoying! Loud. I got up to check on him and bring him in too, and found out he had been locked in the linen closet all night! Poor guy! That explains why Merlin had been so upset all night too - he was all alone. So we ended up with Zoe, Merlin and Jo all piled on the bed between us, Zeeke asleep on the floor. Didn’t get much sleep after that.

Oh, plus - Merlin has come up with a new hobby: pushing dishes off the kitchen counter. So far he’s broken a drink glass and a plate. No more dishes left on the counter, I guess.

What a crazy weekend.