Halloween Treats

Ladies the gentlemen, the latest Halloween treats, picked up by yours truly.

From Target (though they did not have the majority of their Halloween stuff out yet):

Chocolate candy bar. Dark chocolate made by Bloomsberry. Really delicious, velvety, cocoa tasting! A cackling good ride? I'm sold!

Pumpkin Pie flavored Poptarts. Delicious right out of the box, with festively colored sprinkles, but to DIE for when toasted. Mmm.. warm pumpkin pie.

You didn't think I'd forget Locksley did you you?

From Petsmart:

The purple set of medium sized Halloween Toy Assortment. Includes a tennis ball, two small rope toys, a vinyl bone, and a sturdy bat chew toy.

That's all for now!

Ponies Ponies Ponies!! Part 1

If you didn't know it already, horses are pretty much drugs to girls. At least some girls. Specifically, me.



Horses are something I keep coming back to and the only reason I can figure out is that there must be something inherently narcotic about them.

As a little girl I adored them, and refused to give up on loving them even when I figured out that my toys and storybooks had lied about them: horses were not magical, loyal best friends but real, live, instinct driven animals.
As a young adult I was committed to them. I bought my own horse. I stuck through learning how to raise and train her. I worked at a barn and I became a competent horseperson, trainer's assistant, and instructor.
As a grown up I'm seeking to make it up to them. I betrayed them (I moved away from the barn and sold my horse) and I owe them. But most importantly, I miss them.

This Saturday I'm going to visit HorseNet Horse Rescue in Maryland. Partly because I miss horses, and partly because I feel like I need to do a penance for the horse life I gave up.

But mostly because these guys are super cute:

I can't help it. I'm a junky.

Addiction + Addiction = Blog Post

We've established that I'm a Halloween junkie. It's also pretty well documented that I'm a nerd for pet-related things. Put the two addictions together, and it's a whole obsession in itself.

I swore I wouldn't get anything before October, but I didn't want to risk something being SOLD OUT. So I caved.

I visited not one, but TWO Petsmarts today to check out their Halloween swag. One shop had an abbreviated selected, but the other was pretty well stocked. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of my restraint. I only purchased one item there today. But I have to admit the restraint was fueled a bit by being overwhelmed by selection. So many great toys! I have to space out the Halloween bounty.

I came away with this:


Dog treats! They had another variety where instead of bat cookies they had pumpkin cookies, but these were my favorite. The ingredients are all natural. The cashier at check out admitted that the manager had them try one of these cookies and they were palatable, though not at all sugary like a human cookie.

The surprise find of the day, though, was at Old Navy. We stopped in on a whim and I--like a blood hound--sniffed out their Halloween products promptly. Imagine my delight when I found these:


Sort of a holy grail. Halloween pet toys, cute design, that glow-in-the-dark. Jackpot! The plush skeleton guy is too cute, and the bone glows entirely and has BATS on it. It's like they read my mind.

A side note: I have a dog and a bird. I've always loved the wonderous variety of toys and THINGS for dogs, but I've always wondered why birds and small mammals get the shaft. Where are the Halloween bird toys? The Trick-Or-Treat foodstuffs? Get on it, pet product producers of the world!

Of course, as I was treating my pets, I treated myself. Starbucks now has available their autumnal offerings. I had a tall Pumpkin Spice Latte today -- the first of the season. I also picked up an autumn designed travel mug.


I had held off getting one for ages because I knew Starbucks would come up with something cute and autumny and I wasn't disappointed. YOINK.

Dorsia, progressing

I'm pleased to report that Dorsia is getting along rather well with us. She very quickly got used to having hands in her cage, learned to dutifully "step up" on to a finger, and is getting more and more comfortable spending time outside of the cage with people.

She'll even ride around on my shoulder, though she does get bored and tries to fly off on her own. Her wings are clipped, and she lands on the floor, but rather cutely will run over to jump back on your finger (and to higher ground).

Good work, little Dorsia!

New Addition

Our new addition: a yet unnamed parakeet. Still settling in -- he (or she) doesn't quite know what to make of the place, yet. Eating plenty of breakfast is a good sign, though!

I love Animal People

In memory of Nooch the rat, I made a tribute donation in his name to AAVS—which is dedicated to ending animal testing. Nooch wasn't a test rat, but he was a great example of how intelligent and sweets rats can be.

One of my coworkers very sweetly donated a tribute to Nooch as well. I realize that rats aren't number one of everyone's list—some people are creeped out by them, don't think they're cuddly, or whatever. I mean, even if someone likes MOST animals, they might not like rats. It was really nice to have someone say, "I know what it's like to love and lose a pet rat."

I was already feeling pretty warm and fuzzy and then I received this email:


It says:

"Rats are quite loved here at AAVS, both personally and professionaly — our condolences for your loss. May happy memories of your buddy provide comfort at this time."

The exchange made my day. I am so grateful for a community of animal people that have such compassion—not only for the animals—but for each other.

<3 !

Rest in Peace, Nooch the Super Rat

After three years of excellent friendship, Nooch the rat has died.

I bought Nooch to save him from being snake food. Fancier rats—ones that have cool colors and markings—usually make it as pets, but brown "sewer rats" like Nooch don't seem to fare as well. So I brought him home to keep me company. He was the first pet I would have since moving from North Carolina to Maryland. I had missed having an animal to take care of. More importantly I was at a rough spot in my life—work was stressful, and to make matters worse I was having neck surgery. The time I would have to take off of work was perfect for bonding with my new addition.

I've had rats before but Nooch was, by far, the best (no offense to Cooper, Lewis, and Oswald). He was puppy like—always seeking out my company, ready for a game of chase, or a session of mutual grooming. He was cheerful and cuddly even when he developed a lump on his side.

Death is hard to watch, but I'm glad I was able to be with Nooch the evening he died.

I wanted to bury Nooch, but I live in an apartment. So, I had to get a little creative. My solution—a small, mobile cemetery in the form of a flower pot.

A flower pot, or urn (if you like), befitting Nooch's final resting place.

We drilled a hole in the bottom and put small river rocks for good drainage.

Next, a comfortable layer of dirt was added. Nooch was placed cozily on that—along with a yogie for the after-life.

More dirt was added over Nooch, up to nearly the top.

Since we'll being going out of town in a couple days we decided not to plant anything just yet. We want to make sure it gets a good start with watering and such. For now, an orange flower will be Nooch's token.

A ritual deserving of a super rat. Rest in peace, Noochy.

Rats!

Nooch the rat will be 3 years old in June. That's pretty old for a rat! With his age Nooch has developed some health problems the biggest of which (literally) is a growth on his side. It showed up late in his life which makes a rat-loving person consider the options: risk the peril and expense of surgery to remove it, or make sure that your pal is comfortable and let him live out his natural lifespan.

I opted for that last method. Nooch has a great appetite (especially for yogies) and is pretty active despite having this cumbersome nodule. But in the last couple of months he's gotten a little mopey. Don't ask me how you can tell if a rat is depressed -- I think it has a lot to with the personal knowledge of a particular individual rat. But It worried me so I brought him to A.P.A.W Vet in Lanham, MD to see what I could do for Nooch.

The visit was great! Dr. Johnson was very understanding and had a great bedside (cage side?) manner. Nooch came home with two medicines: antibiotics for a boo-boo on his foot, and childrens' aspirin for discomfort. They were both flavored (one cherry, the other bubble gum).

We've been taking the medicine for a couple days now and WOW what an improvement. Nooch is his regular cheerful self. Medicating is no sweat -- in fact he likes the flavors so much he tries to drag the oral syringes into the cage when his dose is done.

I realize Nooch won't live forever but I am grateful to have him around for however long we're allowed.