Finn destroyed his leash at the groomer's

[conuly]

And when he was done chewing on the leash, he chewed on the cage. Oh, dear! Moonpie was no better about having her nails clipped, she tried to bite and had to be muzzled :( I've got to move on having her let me clip her nails myself, because clearly the vet's office is no place she wants to be.

Still, we now have Finn. They asked "Is that your dog?" and I did not recognize him! He's a completely different dog! He looks like a little lamb, a little lamb that people care about. Pictures are forthcoming. Actually, I want to get current pics of all the animals, so maybe I'll post them all.

Comments

[sitonmyinterface]

Can't wait to see the pics!

is moonpie a cat?

[beachglass]

hi, I'm new.

when I clipped my cat ohgr's claws, I would wrap him snugly, but not too snugly, in a towel & hold him in my lap(head facing away).
then, I would pull out each paw.
when we were finished, I let him attack the clippers to relieve his frustrations.
and he did. every time.

Re: is moonpie a cat?

[conuly]

I've never had success with the burrito technique, alas. I got the cats to sit for nail clipping through patience, carefully building up to them letting me play with their feet, then tug a nail gently, then clip one single nail at a time with lots of cuddles and treats. Our chihuahua, Moonpie, is in the beginning stages of that same routine. We're making progress, but s l o w l y ! Oh, so very slowly!

I'm actually a little scared of the next step - most of her toenails are black! OMG WHERE IS THE QUICK I JUST DO NOT KNOW!!!!

And since you are new, the rundown as things stand now:

Two cats, Callie and Mama Cat. Callie is my cat, very much so. She doesn't like to share!

Two dogs, Moonpie and Finn. Moonpie we got from the shelter. Finn we took to the shelter, then adopted him out again. If you scroll down, you will see my long, long litany of complaints against his previous, highly neglectful owners.

We shared a cat with a neighbor for a while, Tommy, after his first owners left the block and abandoned him and his sister (?) here, but he wandered off over the winter. Given his propensity for hopping in people's cars and houses, and his extreme friendliness in general (towards people, not other cats), I suspect he had yet another family and decided to just move in full time. (He was never really our cat, he was mostly next door's, but she doesn't want indoor cats and I didn't mind letting him in, so he would come in in bad weather and get snuggles until Mama or Callie chased him out again. I paid to have him fixed and get his shots and put flea medicine on, next door mostly fed him.)

There is also a feral cat who likes to sit on our porch. Every year I think I ought to track down somebody who is willing to rehabilitate an adult feral cat, because I really think she'd be a good candidate, but I haven't done it yet.

Re: is moonpie a cat?

[willnot_willso]

I love this brief history of your animal friends. And of course I'll love seeing their pictures.

Re: is moonpie a cat?

[beachglass]

ah, I see.
thank you for the introduction :)))

the "burrito technique" doesn't work on everyone-it never worked for my kiddos when they were infants either. I had to sing to them, in a voice only a baby could love. ;)

I'm a veterinary nurse. if a dog is aggressive, or anxious, two people do the nail trimming job. one holds the dog-small dogs are put in an arm lock(think head lock, but looser) while the other tech trims, large dogs are laid on the floor, on their side and held loosely. it usually works. when the animal is nutty, we sedate. obviously, you can't do that.
cats, we scruff. if needed.

it all depends on the animal. usually, when they're in their home environment, it's completely different. all of these scenarios are at an animal clinic.

I'm pleased to meet someone who clearly adores & deeply cares for their animal companions. can never have too many animal loving friends!!

Re: is moonpie a cat?

[conuly]

Well. You could be a hoarder. Then you'd have too many, and to their detriment. (That's how our porch cat, Lola, came to us - somebody finally chased the hoarder off our block, and he left a few strays behind, two of whom, Max* and Maxine, are annoying ferals, and one of whom, Lola, is the friendliest little feral cat you'll ever meet, so long as you never come closer than six feet.) But I don't think we're at that stage right now.

* Max came into our house a few weeks ago. Three stories and a basement. It took us several days to get rid of him, and several more days to get rid of the smell. He didn't want to be here, but every time we thought we had him cornered such that he could only go outside, he'd find another way to escape us without doing that!

Re: is moonpie a cat?

[beachglass]

funny you say that,
I'm actually quite the opposite of a hoarder. (although I know it was stated in a joking manner)

I'm a minimalist & a neat freak :P

poor max, sounds like a bit of an outsider!!

Re: is moonpie a cat?

[conuly]

I'd like Max a lot more if he didn't keep finding his way into our house and making it all smell like scared, unhappy, unaltered tom. The girls like him, and swear he comes to them. Well, it's possible - he and Maxine and Lola are only semi-feral.

[chanter1944]

Oh puppies. Silly, wonderful, occasionally exasperating fuzzes that they are. *offers ear scritchies to the duo mentioned in the post*

[conuly]

He even looks like a puppy now! He's really quite an old man, clocking in at 7 or 8 years.

And he's so much more energetic and eager to run now that we've been keeping his toenails trimmed and feeding him. He's put on a lot of weight! (Not that you can tell by the scale, because we lopped off two dogs' worth of fur, but you can tell when you pet his back that his spine isn't so pokey anymore.) The first time he showed up, he couldn't climb up and down stairs, he couldn't jump off a bed, he yelped and growled if you touched his back legs, and he did everything in a slow, careful plod. Now he goes up and down the stairs, he's practicing jumping on and off things, he doesn't seem to mind at all if you touch his legs (!), and he will run. He can even keep pace with Moonie if she's not going too fast, and she's one active doggie.