Little Doggie Monsters

I make no secret of the fact that I adore Lady Gaga.  I think she is incredibly talented, and really beautiful.  I have even converted Hubby as a fan, though he may never admit it.  But the fact that he bought me tickets to her concert for our first wedding anniversary gift shows that he totally "gets" my love for Mama Monster.  Lady Gaga calls her fans Little Monsters, and for once I am proud to get called a monster.

We often sing to Dexter, and "Bad Romance" has long been our go-to song.  Hubby actually knows some of the words, and sings along.  Of course, we make Dexter dance as we sing it.

Today, we introduced Chloe to Lady Gaga (gotta teach em young).  Both dogs did the "Bad Romance" monster claw move.  Chloe loves it.  Dexter tolerates it.  But either way, they are now Little Doggie Monsters.

Just like Lady Gaga, I love my Little Monsters!

Santa came back...and this is what he left today!

Meet our newest family member, Chloe.  We all just love her, well, ok, Nora is a little skeptical, but the rest of us adore her!

What could it mean?

Can you spot the tiny difference in the following two pictures?  It will require a sharp eye.

Did you find it?  What could it mean?

Stay tuned for a big announcement!

Merry Christmas!

Both the kids opened their Christmas presents this morning.  Dexter was so excited, even though he was still tired from his big day yesterday!

Nora mostly watched Daddy open her stuff for her, but once it was all out, she was pretty excited too, which is saying a lot because, well, you know, she is a cat.  Cats are usually too cool for Christmas.

All in all we are having a wonderful holiday, and the celebration will continue all through the coming week.  Stay tuned for more posts about our holidays!

Merry Christmas from Dexter, Nora, Mommy, and Daddy!

Oh Nora

I had to  run to the grocery store this morning for last minute Christmas dinner fixins.  While I was there, Hubby sent me a picture of Nora, messing with my computer.

So either she was trying to write me another love note, she was trying to email Santa Claws, or she finally decided to join eHarmony.

Holiday Hijinx

You have probably figured it out by now, that I treat our pets like our kids.  To me, they are more than just pets, they are part of the family.  And as family members, they celebrate with us.

That is why Nora and Dexter got their own stockings this year, since it is our first Christmas with Dexter.

Notice all 4 stockings are already full!  We are in full holiday mode here!

I even got the pets dressed up.  Dexter was way more into it that Nora was.  I think the pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

Ah well, they are both pretty stoked for all the upcoming excitement!  Nora even tried to open a couple of Daddy's presents.  Naughty kitty.  

I saw the following video on Facebook, and I really hope this does not end up happening with us:

Happy Birthday Dexter!

Today is Dexter's first birthday!

Hard to believe isn't it?

Like any good Mommy and Daddy, we got him some presents.

He got 2 new blankets...

and...

TREATS!

Oh my goodness, this is the best day ever!

Even Nora made an effort to be nice to him and celebrate!

He also got a little bit of steak for dinner, as well as some ice cream for dessert.  He is the happiest boy ever right now!

Happy Birthday baby boy!

I'm Helping!

Dexter decided to help me wrap presents the other day.  He was so well behaved, I got almost all my wrapping done.  And since he never bothered any of the wrapping stuff, I thought it would be ok to leave it in the living room.

Last night, he decided to help me some more, even though I was not wrapping anything.

I finally settled him down, and this is the look he gave me, as if to say "but MOM, I am HELPING!"

Sibling Rivalry

Lately, Dex and Nora have been engaging in some sibling rivalry.  It is not entirely a bad thing.  It has really helped both of them calm down a lot, and show us a lot more affection, especially Nora.

She sees Dexter snuggling on the bed or couch with us, and sees how good behavior is rewarded with kisses and treats, so she has also become a bit of a snuggle buggle.  After Dex goes to bed for the night, Nora will climb into bed with us and cuddle away.  She has even started being nicer to Hubby, and showing him more affection.  But now, she is taking it to the next level.

Last night, we had Dex in the bed with us, watching t.v., and instead of snuggling under the duvet, he kept climbing inside of it.  You see, our duvet has a removable cover. so he would climb inside the cover, and snuggle into the soft downy duvet.  We had to keep removing him, as adorable as it was, because one little chew, and we would have feathers everywhere.  Finally, he got the point, and just snuggled underneath all the covers, between my feet.

This morning, I got up to feed Dex, and it was so cold, I decided to lay in bed and read for a bit.  When I got back into the bedroom, this is what I saw.

Yes, that is Nora.  Yes, she is inside the duvet.

This is getting a little out of hand, this sibling rivalry.

Dexter is a Steelers Fan!

Yesterday, Hubby was watching the Steelers game, so I sneaked upstairs to wrap his stocking stuffers.

When I came downstairs, he was lying on the couch, and Dex had joined him.  He informed me that Dexter had jumped on the couch himself (that is his new thing) and sat there and watched the game with him, totally enchanted.

So, it looks like Dexter likes football.  It was pretty adorable.

Mommy saved the night

We had a harrowing experience last night/early this morning.

It was 1 am and I was awoken from a dead sleep by the sound of what could only have been a feral animal ripping and tearing through our house.  I heard the animal running, accompanied by frenzied hisses.  The animal was moving so fast (or was so small) I could not see it.  My sleep addled brain was trying to think of what animal could be making this ruckus.  A squirrel?  A raccoon?  A snake, wait, they do not have feet, ok, um, a mongoose (cut me some slack it was 1 am).  Did that evil bat come back?  What in the name of all that was holy was going on?

I woke up Hubby, as the animal was now in our bedroom.  He did not hear or see anything, and I am sure he thought me crazy.  He got up to go tinkle, and the creature darted into the spare room.  By now, Dex is flipping out.  I creep downstairs to calm him, as Hubby investigates the spare room.  I am almost at the bottom of the steps when Hubby lets out a "Holy $#!T" and I dive onto the couch, fearful of what creature (a lorax perhaps) may be trying to eat my feet once it finishes off Hubby.  "WHAT IS IT" I cry out.  Hubby yells "It was just Nora.  But she darted out so fast it scared me.  And something is wrong.  She is growling".

Nora.  The house had been turned caddywumpus by my little ole kitty?  Impossible!

Sure enough, I creep upstairs, and she had lept out at Hubby and stopped so abruptly she left skid marks in the carpet (thankfully, they were the kind left by her nails, not her butt).

At this point she was back in our room, and hissing like a cobra.  There was no way any of us were getting back to sleep until we figured out what turned her into the spawn of Satan.

I sit on the floor and try to get a look at her.  She darts out from under the bed, into the corner, hisses, then runs back under the bed.  I get her over to the side of the bed, and calmly start talking to her.  I reach my hand out slowly, and she sniffed it, which was a good sign, so I attempt to pet her.  She responded warmly, and started to come out from under the bed.  Once she had completely emerged, I immediately saw that the problem was.

A plastic sleeve that had been used to house something, probably something I purchased, that had been secured with tape, had somehow gotten stuck to her tail.  Probably because she had gotten into a trashcan.  So all this fuss was over a 3 inch piece of plastic packaging and a 1 inch section of tape.  I removed the offender and Nora sank into my arms like she had survived a war.  I began petting her, and she started purring louder than I have ever heard her purr.  If that cat could talk, she would have said thank you, I am certain of it.

Looks like Dexter is not the only drama queen in the family.

Do you like her nails?

I made a decision long ago to not get Nora declawed.  From everything I had read about the procedure, it seems pretty painful for the cat, and it can make cats more hostile, because you are taking away their defenses.  Since Nora can be temperamental at times, I do not want to run that risk.  Also, should anything ever happen that Nora escape outside for a long period of time, her claws will allow her to protect herself.  But, something has to give, because she is totally destroying our couch, which is only a year old.

In the past we had tried a temporary solution that worked well, then we stopped using it for a while.  It looked like it was time to re-institute the intervention.  They are called Soft Paws.  Soft Paws are little vinyl caps that you glue over the cat's individual nails.  The caps come in various colors, even holiday packs, and the glue is completely safe and non-toxic.  Each application lasts about a month to 6 weeks, so when you get a pack containing 40 caps, if you just put them on the front paws, that pack can last 6 months.  They stay on really well.  In fact the reason we stopped using them before was that the ones we had stayed on so well, the glue we had for new applications dried up, so when the caps did eventually fall off, we had no glue to reapply.

I will admit, the application process for us can be a bit tricky, because before we started using these, Nora was not used to getting her nails trimmed.  So she was really scared.  It is best to trim the nails before applying the caps.  Because Nora is not used to having her nails touched, she gets really anxious.  But she gets over it pretty quickly.  My advice to you is start trimming your cat's nails when it is a kitten.  In fact, they even make kitten sized Soft Paws.

Once all the caps are applied, you do have to hold your kitty for a few minutes to allow the glue to set.  And be prepared, kitty will try to chew the caps off at first.  You have to train kitty to get used to the caps.  So the first kit you get may seem to go pretty quickly if kitty chews the caps off and you must reapply often.  But kitty will get used to it, Nora sure did.  And look how pretty her nails look!

After she was finally able to get down, I will admit she did go and hide for about an hour, but by bedtime last night, she was back to cuddling up to me and loving all over me.  And now, she was able to show off her pretty new manicure at the same time!

For anyone looking for an alternative to declawing, I strongly encourage you to talk to your vet about Soft Paws, and check them out.  We just love them, don't we Nora?

P.S. They also make Soft Paws for doggies too, so if your doggie scratches things in your home, or scratches him or herself due to skin conditions, check them out!

Look at the pretty lights!

Last night we decided to go see some Christmas lights at a lovely display in Pittsburgh.  Since it was a driving tour, we decided to take Dexter.  He was such a good dog!  There was quite a wait once we got into the stream of traffic entering the light display.  We were in traffic for nearly an hour before reaching the lights.

He started to get a little weary of only seeing brake lights.

So we decided to let him sit in the backseat like a big boy.  This was a first for him.

He did really well, with the exception of once or twice trying to dig through the seat.  But no potty accidents or problems whatsoever.  Daddy even said this made him want to take Dexter more places, now that we saw how good he could be in the backseat.

Eventually he did get a little bored, so we found a ball to keep him occupied.  It worked well.

Once we got to the lights, he was not as excited as I thought he would be, he fussed, mostly because I was not holding him.  

I was taking pictures, and had the window down, so we made him sit in the back, and he was not a fan of not being up in front with us.  But, he did get to sit with me up front on the ride home.  He promptly snuggled into me and fell asleep.  

All in all, it was a pretty good family outing.