Introductions!

'Beta' the Betta is still alive!

I'm not sure if switching to bottled "Spring" water did the trick in keeping him alive or if the other fish was sick. Either way I'm not complaining. Put a thermometer on the bowl to keep track of the temperature. Whenever it dips to low 70s I put a heating pad between the bowl and the wall. Seems to do the trick!

A few weeks ago I couldn't ignore the feeling that it was time to add to our little furry family besides a rat or a fish. Volunteering at the shelter was supposed to keep the desire to own a kitten at bay and it was working. I don't know how to explain it! I wanted a kitten!

There were other reasons as well. Kaylee was being a pest and terrorizing Shyla. Jessica and I wondered if Kaylee needed a playmate (so blame Jessica, too!) Not to mention November happened to be free adoptions on cats! As if I would be able to turn down a free kitten :D

First day at home!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her name is Jade. I held her a lot on the day I volunteered and decided to give her a chance to be adopted by someone else over the weekend. I mulled over the pros and cons of bringing another fluff ball into our apartment.

Well, Monday came and she was still there...so we adopted her! The name Jade seemed to fit her quite well so we kept it. We did the same with Shyla. Kaylee's name was Petunia....blech...that had to change.

As you can see in the picture Jade was very dirty! Her diet consisted of wet food mixed with a milk substitute. She always seemed to manage to get it all over her face and whiskers.

Cuddling on Jessica

Unfortunately, a few days after we adopted Jade she began to sneeze quite often. Jessica and I knew exactly what that meant - Jade had caught the upper respiratory infection that is ever present at the Humane Society. I took her to the vet who seemed more concerned with the diarrhea than the sneezing. Jade became more and more sick. She wasn't running around any longer and her eyes were constantly running.

We took her back to the Humane Society for her second round of dewormer medication. While there the technician gave us some drugs to take care of the infection. The next day Jade couldn't breathe through her nose. She would sleep by tilting her head all the way back in order to open up her airway as much as possible. I stayed up with her all night and held her head so she could relax enough to sleep a little bit.

Fingers are delicious!

The days following were very stressful as I wondered if Jade was going to make it. After losing our five kittens several months ago I didn't think I could handle another death. We fed her with a syringe in order to keep her hydrated. Gradually, she started eating more and seemed to have more energy. She moved around the house on her own and I started to call her "Wheezy/Wheezer" because of her raspy breathing.

She has been running and pouncing all over the place the past two days. She is such a little pest! Shyla still hates her while Kaylee is being very tolerant. I hope they can be wrestling buddies soon!

The biggest surprise is how Jade is lacking any fear towards Diesel. She loves to pounce on his feet and chase his tail. Diesel seems very confused. I don't think he realized cats came in that size!

Friendzies!

 And now our zoo consists of - 3 cats, 1 dog, 2 rats and a fish. Whew! Taking care of them sure keeps us busy and happy!

Jade says - Leave a comment or I will find you and NOM your nose!

Fish Drama

Most people know that I am, to put it mildly, a cat person. I have a few theories as to why I am this way:

1 - When I was very young we babysat my neighbor's dog, Sparky. Said dog nipped me on the thumb and scarred me for life. The only reasonable response would be to love Sparky's natural enemy.

2 - I ate cat food as a kid. What do you expect? It was on the floor and I am a creature of opportunity.

3 - My parents took me to a museum and a genetically altered cat bit me and I became a cat man.

4 - Because cats are better than dogs (yeah, I said it!)

I also am a fish person. Aquariums are cost money and take up room - two things that are not in abundance 'round these parts. This past summer I found a nifty hanging fish bowl on amazon and before I knew what was happening my subconscious took over and the rest is history. That can be said for a lot of my amazon purchases!

Alpha - July 2011

We named the Betta fish Alpha, har har har. He was a good fish until about two weeks ago when he decided to die. The next day we replaced him with another Betta fish (Beta/Bravo...we never got that far) who also took the cowards way out and died within three hours.

Now, I'm not a fish n00b. I've had many aquariums in my life - 20 gallon, 10 gallon, 5 gallon...odd. They appear to get smaller as time passed. Regardless, I know what I am doing when it comes to fish. Therefore, my only conclusion was the water where I am currently residing is dumb.

I took the unnamed carcass back to Wal-Mart for a refund. Have you noticed how small the North Logan Wal-Mart's fish section has become? Probably because it was a joke and Petsmart was dominating them on sales. After getting our money back we went to Petsmart and picked out a new Beta/Bravo (still haven't decided). He has been hanging out in the cup we purchased him in because I am none too eager to place him into the bowl and watch the poor thing die.

Tomorrow will be the day of days for our little fishy. Be strong, future Beta/Bravo!

PS - Cast your vote to the right and influence what I will be blogging about next :D