All My Babies

When I started writing this blog I only had 1 cat and 2 dogs. The furbaby mama life was still pretty new and I was blogging as I was figuring it all out. While I can't say I have all the answers now with 3 dogs and 3 cats, I can say that I'm experienced. On the other hand, parenting a baby girl is all brand new. Blogging is not just my creative outlet, it's become an amazing way for me to document my life as it changes seasons, connect with all of you on different levels and figure this whole mom thing out as I go. So if you've been around since the beginning. I apologize that The Ruff Life has gone from all about the furbablls to all about the baby. I promise our dogs and cats have not been brushed to the side at all. Chris and I make the extra effort to ensure everyone gets the love and attention they deserve. But we consider ourselves pros in the furbaby department at this point so the focus of blog posts has overwhelming turned to mommy and baby topics. And I'll be honest, that's most likely the way it will stay. Now, that does not mean I won't throw in some furbaby focused posts here and there. I'm always open to suggestions and questions. I just feel like I have to keep this blog current and my life right now is very different than it was when I started writing. A rebrand may be something I look into eventually but for now the name and our home here will remain unchanged. So with that said, this post is about all my babies.

We did things a little differently than probably most people do as far as introducing the kids' new baby sister to them. Our dogs are excitable with children especially so we knew we wanted to wait a bit before allowing close up interaction. We let them all get used to Fallon's scent and understand she was a new member of the family. The cats came and met her each on their own time but we had to control her relationship with the dogs early on. It might seem mean or harsh if you don't understand dog behavior and I am not suggesting everyone else should do things this way. But it ended up working out really well for us so I'll share our process. 

We actually waited a whole month before we let any of the dogs see Fallon up close. The initial meetings were brief and we made sure to bring Fallon to them on their beds as well as kept her at arm's length from them. We gradually increased the frequency and length of the time we let each dog interact with their new sister and closed the gap between their curious noses and her face. Chaos still gets upset when she cries and it takes all his will power to remain on command in his place instead of charging to her rescue. But we have yet to have any accidental injuries, no one getting underfoot while someone is holding the baby and she hasn't been scared by a friendly but very excited brother or sister in her face. She is getting to the age that she is starting to reach out for them and touch their faces and their fur. We will teach her to be gentle as soon as she understands but these calm and positive interactions now are setting the stage for that later. We are far from the people who treat their furballs like children and then toss them aside when a baby comes along. I promise we still love all our babies and our family dynamic has changed only for the better, even if it is mostly behind the scenes. 

This picture for our 2016 Christmas card picture could not showcase our babies' personalities any better and we are so excited to send it out to all our family and friends. 

A Spooky Surprise

We live in big neighborhood with lots of families who own pets. Some of the cats are free to roam outside their homes so it is not at all unusual to see them out and about. A few weeks ago when Chris came home from work in the morning he called me outside to see a cat hiding underneath our car. He said he had seen it wandering around several times over the last couple weeks but assumed it was someone's pet out for a stroll. But once he got a good look at it up close, it was clear this kitty was a stray. 

As you all know, we are both animal lovers to the core. When Chris said he wanted to try to catch and care for the cat my agreement came with no hesitation. If the cat was lost we wanted to find it's home and if not, we hoped to find it a new home. The cat was clearly starving, all skin and bones, and although clearly afraid it approached immediately when we brought out food. After being captured as gently as possible and put into a spare crate, we began mission nurse kitty back to health. 

We discovered the beautiful little calico was a she and since it was warm, felt comfortable leaving her in the garage for the first few days. She received water and food and time to get used to being off the streets. We also had to protect our resident cats in case she had fleas or any type of sickness/transmittable disease. We posted pictures on our neighborhood website but received zero response after a week and it is a very active community where many a lost pet is reunited with its family. It was clear she wasn't missing from a home nearby or no one was claiming her. She definitely did not have fleas and was showing us more and more of her sweet and loving personality each day so we brought her inside. Of course she had to stay in the crate when unattended until we made a trip to the vet and to allow Piper and Little O to get to know her scent. 

I knew at this point that not only were we going to find this little girl's home, if she ever had one, but she wasn't going to need to find a new one. She already had. Since it was a few weeks before Halloween and she's got those gorgeous haunting green eyes, we decided to name her Spooky and make her an official family member. A visit to the vet confirmed she's disease free and we got the all clear to introduce her to the rest of the crew. Today she is steadily gaining weight and strength and is so playful. The vet estimated her at about a year old but we will never really know her true age. The newest addition completely accepts Piper as the queen, O as her new nighttime romping buddy and all three dogs as teddy bears and is not afraid at all. She rubs up against Fallon, who in turn grabs her fur and tries to eat her, though she doesn't seem to mind, and snuggles with Chris or I when she's not busy exploring her new digs. We certainly did not plan on adding another furball to the mix but little Spooky literally showed up at our house and who were we to turn her away? Sometimes these things happen for a reason.

Shedding Season

Shedding season. I joke that it's the most wonderful time of the year. It's not. When you share your home with 4 dogs and 2 cats life can get hairy, literally. Piper used to be the worst culprit with her long, fluffy white fur. Of course we had dark wood furniture and dark wood flooring so even a few strands would be noticeable. Now it's not so not bad because her trail is mostly only visible on the kitchen table and floating off her body itself if you pet her. Little O, Chaos and Ares shed much more minimally, although Ares's little wiry hairs aren't the easiest to remove since they kind of weave through fabric. Somehow one always makes it's way into my bra and then I'm frantically trying to find it and remove it when I get poked while attempting to remain appropriate at work.

This is the first year we've had Tigger and Trinity so we had no idea how out of control the shedding situation was going to get. Trinity is an American Bulldog with technically short fur, but her thick undercoat has proven to rival Piper's floating white furballs. Tigger by far and away wins first prize for shedder of the year. The shepherd in her makes its appearance in her fluffy coat, which has shed so much lately it looks like she's lost weight. This is the life we have chosen to live but it comes with a lot of hard work if we want to keep our home from being overtaken with fur. In order to keep things, well, in order, all the kiddos are regularly brushed outside. You can find tufts of fur in our backyard on any given day. Feel free to stop by and collect it if you'd like to spin it into a blanket. I guarantee it would be the warmest one you've ever had. Our vacuum is used daily on floors, dog beds and in dog crates. If they would let us we would vacuum the fur right off the biggest offenders. Baths are also frequent and it's a good thing we have an extra bathroom just for the dogs. It looks like a disaster area afterward with fur EVERYWHERE. Dogs shake when wet, it's just a fact.

 

We do our very best to keep the evidence of the massive shedding epidemic that happens this time of year under wraps, but there is only so much we can do. If you visit our home, you'll probably leave with a few souvenirs on your clothes. Deal with it. Do I occasionally find a stray cat hair in my oatmeal? Yup. I pick it out and keep eating. It's just part of being a furbaby mama. #momlife #doglife #catlife #truelife. My best suggestions are to invest in quality essentials like brushes, shampoo and a vacuum and make sure you never run out of lint rollers.

The Furbaby Mama

When you find yourself in the company of people with kids but haven't had any yourself yet you will most likely hear a lot of sentences that begin with, "just wait...". Of course they are all talking about what you have to look forward to, or fear, when the day comes that you have human children. It suggests that you will enter into completely uncharted territory and nothing will prepare you. This is undoubtedly true in many respects, but not across the board if you already have furbabies. I've said it before and I'll say it a thousand more times I'm sure, having this baby I'm still cookin' won't make Chris and I parents. We already are. Now I'm also under no delusions that our dogs and cats are little kids stuffed inside furry 4 legged bodies. Humans and pets are different species and come with their own unique set of needs and wants. I get it. Having 4 dogs and 2 cats certainly is not a direct comparison to having a baby. But, while I totally understand parenting a little being of our same species is going to rock our world, parenthood isn't a totally new adventure for us. There's a few reasons I already know a little something about being a mom.
 

 

1. I worry - My goodness do I worry. I worry about their health, their well-being, their happiness. Am I giving them enough attention, enough love, enough freedom, enough structure? Are they eating the best diet, are they getting enough exercise, are they comfortable in their environment? I worry that I'm doing it all wrong or while I'm doing it right for one I'm not doing enough for another. And OMG what is that spot on someone's belly? Skin tag, cancer, some type of flesh eating bacteria that no one has ever heard of?! Oh wait, it's just a leaf.

 

2. I'm protective - I am mama bear, hear me roar. Most people think I'm a nice girl, but do not cross me when it comes to my kiddos. If you're slamming Pit Bulls I'm going to tell you what's up. If you ask me if I'll get rid of any of them when the baby comes, I'll probably ask you if you'll get rid of your first born when you have another. If you even dare try to hurt any of them I will come at you like a bull charging red. Don't let the fact that I'm little fool you, I'm scrappy and relentless and no one brings harm to my babies.

3. I schedule - We are very conscious of the fact that dogs and cats thrive on some type of daily routine. The goal is to keep it consistent without being too rigid so that if it has to change a bit here and there, shit isn't going to hit the fan. So yes, we get up early on weekends to keep up with this and we often schedule around events and activities. There's no need for alarms really because crying outside the door and orange paws underneath it will alert us if we've delayed waking up for too long. And of course there's keeping track of who needs to go to the vet and when, medications and Revolution applications.

 

4. I know - I have 4 dogs and 2 cats and I probably have a 99% accuracy rate on who is "talking" when I can't see them. I know their voices and I also usually know what they want/need by the particular sound they are making. Hungry cries, I gotta go potty chirps, give me attention wails and alert barks (which scare the crap out of me) are all distinct and unique to each kid. Of course it took me a bit to learn, but has been something that has come more easily with each addition to the family.
 

 

5. I hurt - Their pain is my pain. If somebody doesn't feel good I want to take it on myself so they don't have to. I never want them to be scared or lonely or sad and would rather it be me than them any day of the week. I hate that I often have to make them do things they don't want to do because I know it's for their own good. It's always worse for me than it is for them but when it's for the best, that's just the way it has to be.

 

I am still on the "just wait.." side of things for many aspects of parenting a human baby. But as a mother already, I think my experiences have taught me a thing or two in preparation. I may not be truly ready for the shit show coming this summer, but I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

Cat Tales

This one is for all the cat people! Lately I’ve had a few questions about our kitties and after I managed to catch a rare sweet moment of them on camera I thought it would be the perfect time to answer. A little recap for anyone one who is new, Piper is our female Siamese mix with the prettiest big blue eyes and attitude for days. She’ll be 13 this year and most would never guess she’s an old lady. Piper is half sass, half class and takes her queen bee role in the house pretty seriously. You don’t mess with the queen. And if you dare, she’s quick to give a warning or a full on reminder, depending on your crime. Orion, or Little O as we always call him, is still a baby, turning 3 this year. He’s mellowed out somewhat from his over the top wild ways but he’s still the biggest trouble maker in the house. I joke that he’s our sour patch kid and if you remember some of the commercials for the candy you get it. First he does something “sour” like jump on the table or counter and knock everything over and then he’s “sweet” coming over to snuggle up on my chest. It’s hard to stay mad at him even when he’s attempting to razz miss Piper and eliciting the most annoying shrieks and hisses from her.

Yes, our cats get along with each either other and the dogs, but in a way that works in our minds. Like I said, Piper is the reigning queen. She was first before anyone else and is a total diva. The dogs respect this for the most part and let her do her thing but Ares sometimes can’t help but stick his snout into her soft fur. He is promptly socked in the face in return. Occasionally she will bop Chaos as he walks by her perched on the couch, I guess just because she can. The girls (I swear I will introduce them soon) have been smart enough to leave her alone and she loves that. In our world, this is all just gravy. It’s the equivalent of Piper playing nice. Enter Little O. He was born into a foster home and lived there with several dogs and some rats, yes rats, before we adopted him around 4 months old. It has always been clear how comfortable he is around dogs and often his behaviors make him seem more of a cat-dog alien mix then the regular old orange tomcat he appears to be. Guests in our home continue to be surprised when walks right up to a dog to initiate play or just hang by the fire together. All of our dogs have grown up around cats so there is no issue with prey drive. Cats are friends not food at our house. While O does typically do his thing, getting into everything he shouldn’t and making us laugh at the same time, sometimes he just can’t resist riling up the queen. It goes a little something like this: O pounces at Piper, chases her from her comfy spot and then sits underneath whatever she has climbed up on, taunting her. Piper makes maniacal cat noises and boxes him like a pro until he finally gives up.

Most of the time the cats peacefully co-exist with simple acknowledgement of each other. And here’s the funny part. There are times we catch Piper grooming O or them snuggled together on the couch. But if you get caught looking or try to take a picture, game over. It’s like Piper secretly likes O but doesn’t want anyone to know. It would totally ruin her badass rep and street cred ya know? Nobody tries to kill each other and 95% of the time everyone gets along just fine so we feel like it’s a generally positive environment for them all.

Do your furry kids all get along?