Roughy picks a new favorite human!

This is the exact thought that runs through Roughy's head everyday.

It's no secret that Roughy is a mean, aggressive, orange boy who still showers people with love and affection—just on his own terms. What was a secret? How quickly his alliance with any single person would change! Sure, we humans pick our favorite pet, kid, aunt/uncle, parent, grandparent, etc. But we sure don't let on that we have a favorite. That memo never made its way down to Roughy.

Roughy's favorite human was my cousin Joe. Roughy taught him that cats hate water and don't "stay" on command. Once, Joe placed Roughy on a truck tailgate and told him to stay, but Roughy left as soon as he was unattended. Open windows meant adventure for Roughy. Joe was the fun person who could get away with anything.

Roughy moved on, though - he realized that his human mom would be more than happy to spoil him - in a different way. One-on-one time - no other cats - for nap time, gentle pets - staying away from his back and never too much petting at one time. I would also always warn the other cats not to mess with him, or they would pay the price when he decided to fight them. I used to say we both looked forward to our nap time - he knew the difference between the true nap time and when I just wanted him to chill out. If I said nap time too late in the day, he would walk away. But say it mid-day, and it was a sure thing.

He slowly started favoring another person - Wally, our favorite long-distance hiker. Wally quickly learned the no-pet zones and stuck to them. He also started putting Roughy in a "headlock" and then pulled his arms away, saying he slipped out of it. To say Roughy loved that would be an understatement. Wally became his truest best human friend - ready to spend hours sitting on the couch binge-watching TV or playing video games. When Wally got the hiking itch and hit the trail, I thought Roughy would be back for his nap time routine with me.

Sadly for me - not the case. He moved on to Scatter, Wally's girlfriend. I'm miffed - because she gives him all the things I used to. The big exception is she's home more than I am - so now he has nap time, bedtime, and whenever he wants! He hunkers down on her bed and settles in for a long haul of sleep - no matter the time of day. When she leaves for work, he walks around the house looking for her, stands in front of her bedroom door, and cries because he wants to be let in. It's like her room is really his room, and he just lets her stay there. It could be that most of the other cats don't hang as long in her room, so he truly feels like an only cat in our multi-cat house.

Whatever his deal is, he has single-pawedly figured out how to manipulate all the humans around him. The days of him being scolded are long gone—we realized that if we scold him, he spitefully pees in places; reprimand him, and he takes his frustration out on the other cats. So he is the true King of the house. His favorite human may change, but it's always whoever gives him what he needs or wants at the current time.

Can't say that we blame him—he figured out the system and is making it work to his full advantage.

Till our tails cross,

Mel & Roughy

House sitting and managing my 11 cats!

So, about 2 and a half years ago, I had the brilliant idea to start pet sitting for some extra cash. I'm always open to new ways to make money and have fun while I do it. More than 7 years ago, I gave up the "corporate 9-5" job lifestyle. First, I panicked—I was collecting unemployment but dreaded going back to the office jobs that for sure included office politics and drama. So I started my first "fun and part-time job" at the chiropractor's office (working on 6 years here!). I love it—while it's not mentally challenging, I get to talk to people, be social, and make money. There's no drama as there are no other employees. Next, I stumbled on some other small jobs—working for a pool company remotely, a plumber also remote, a vodka company—also remote. None of which lasted super long. I then followed the wild hair and started working at a bridal shop. I started just working weekends (something I said I would NEVER do again), and not long after, I started working a few afternoons and weekends. I truly love this job. It allows me to be extremely social, help people find the dress of their dreams, and have fun!

At some point, I must have decided I had plenty of spare time on my hands (who knows why I felt that!), so I signed up on Rover as a pet sitter. Now I have branched out—I have repeat customers not on Rover, have business cards that I hand out, and a Google and Yelp listing. The thing I love about pet sitting is that I'm able to work at my other jobs, do stuff at home, continue my social life, and best of all—I get to hang out with all the best dogs!

How do I manage to take care of other people's pets, work my jobs, and take care of my 11 cats? I don't do that single-handedly—I have some help. Gene—the loving husband who never gets enough credit—handles the daily medicines that have to be given (Clara and Jasper, plus the occasional sick meds). When I'm house-sitting, he also keeps an eye on the food bowls and water bowls. His theory on them is a little different than mine. As long as they have one water bowl and food bowl filled upstairs and one set downstairs, they are good to go—so he keeps that up. I, on the other hand, keep several food and water bowls filled on both floors.

Gene doesn't do litter scooping; that waits for me. I try to make it home at least once a day (midday is my preferred time) to take care of the litter and puppy pads. I've got it down to a science, so it takes about an hour-ish if I stay focused and don't veer off to anything else. Gene will clean up the occasional throw-up spot or a really stinky poop.

He keeps me updated on the supplies we need (food, litter, medicine, etc.). When we get low on things, he tells me, and I push through the Chewy order. Sometimes, if we only need one or two things, I'll just head to PetSmart. I drop stuff off, and it ends up wherever it needs to be.

The only time I don't make it home midday or after work for a quick visit is if I have a super needy set of pets, multiple drop-in visits, plus an overnight. Then I spend my midday break letting out dogs, walking them, and tending to my house-sitting pets. During those times, if I'm really nice, Gene will do the litter once or twice during the week for me.

Gene absolutely does not get enough credit for taking care of my P.I.T.A. cats. More recently, we have been doing a weekly date day, and that ensures we get some quality time together to enjoy each other's company.

Without Gene, I wouldn't be able to focus on my house-sitting pets and be successful. My cats miss that I am not home as much, but I do try to make time for nap-time with Roughy, TV time with Smokey, facials with Clara, meat snacks for Dobby, and time with the general population for Jasper. Fortunately, the rest of the cats aren't as demanding for attention or one-on-one time with me.

A happy house, is a house that communicates and keeps a good calendar!

Till our tails cross again,

Melanie

#PURRFECTDOZEN #PETSITTING #BESTHUSBAND #PETLIFE #DOGS #CATS #GOODLIFE

Clara's surgery/not surgery visit.

Clara is working her way up to being the second most expensive cat in our house. Her polyp removal surgery was scheduled with no major issues. I was nervous at drop-off, as usual. She's a quirky little girl in all sorts of ways. She cries when she is "lost"—if she's alone in a room and doesn't hear any of our normal day-to-day sounds. I was concerned she would cry all day in the waiting area/recovery area and that she would struggle with the surgery itself. I had nothing to worry about—she was in great hands all day. Dr. Alex and all the vet techs loved on her and made her super comfortable! When I scheduled, I told them no litter box in her kennel—she refuses to use it and will make a bigger mess trying not to use it, so just put a puppy pad down for her. It's what we do at home for her, and she's used to it. Now I truly sound like a crazy person at the vet's office!

Drop-off went smoothly - off to work I go. She had what turned out to be a nice deep sleep and a very deep ear cleaning. When they put her under and got ready to start the surgery, they noticed that she did not, in fact, have a polyp in her ear! Such great news! No surgery needed! Why did we think it was a polyp? The ear infection was so bad that part of her ear canal was swollen to the point it appeared to be a polyp. Since we gave her meds previously to treat the ear infection, the swelling was going down by the surgery day. So they took advantage of her being under to do a really good cleaning of both her ears. She does have some aural hematoma spots, which could be genetic, and in our case, might be the case because her brother Jasper has them too!

What does that mean for us? Just her being more prone to ear infections—no surprise there. Our best course of action is daily ear cleaning (more so than usual) to prevent ear infections. If needed, we can always get a round of steroids for her. If it truly becomes a bigger problem or more persistent, we can opt to have ear canal surgery done. But that's the last thing we will do, unless something changes in a big way for her.

She struggled to fully wake up from the anesthesia. No worries, they have a medicine to "reverse" the anesthesia. I could wait about 15 minutes or come back. I opted to wait, sure she is ready to be home with her favorite people. She finally wakes up enough to be released. We leave, and she meows most of the way home. We gained one happy cat who no longer shakes her head when you pet her. Now, to add to the daily routine of cat things to do - deep ear cleanings.

Till our tails cross again,

Melanie & Clara

#PURRFECTDOZEN #CLARA #CATLIFE #MEDICALISSUES #VETVISITS #FELINELIFE