Something is going on

Hi everyone

Something is going on in our fifth wheel. The weather is getting even warmer than what it was all winter long and it seems that the season is changing. Spring is in the air and with this come some changes around here. André and Sue seem to get antsy to hit the road again. They have been talking more and more about travel plans for this summer and the other day André washed the whole fifth wheel down while Sue went golfing. She sure took the easy way out there. Anyways, they are getting ready to leave Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park and head North. So far as we can tell, it's still pretty cold in Ontario and so we hope they have enough smarts to take it slow. We don't want to go see snow!

That just might be wishful thinking, though. As you may know by now, André and Sue went off the deep end a couple of weeks ago and adopted a dog! What were they thinking?! And not just any dog. I mean not one of those small ones called one sort of toy breed or another. No! Princess (what's up with that name anyways? Is she going to get the royal treatment while we have to share our space with her?) is a Shepherd/Collie mix and weights in at about 60 lbs. She is huge, I mean like 10 feet tall or so. At least it looks like that from where we stand.

Don't go over board there, buddy. She's no more than 7 feet if you ask me. The good thing about her is that she has all green lights from the vet, all her shots, a micro chip and is spayed. André and Sue got her at the animal shelter in Inverness. An animal shelter is the same as the human society which means she is a rescue dog. André and Sue are all excited about her and claim that she is very well behaved. To us the only thing that really matters is that she leaves us alone for the most part. Even to the point of outright ignoring us. We still don't trust her all the way though and will keep an eye on her for the time being.

I don't think we have anything to say about her living with us. She is here to stay so we better get used to it. Meantime we enjoy that Sue takes us out for walks almost every single day. Must be the bad conscious although we must admit that we got to go outside regularly lately. We'll see how that is going to play out once we're traveling again. So come back and see - we will keep you posted.

See you around

hunter and trapper

PS: don't forget to read André's and Sue's blogs (listed on the side), too and to follow our trip on Google map and on facebook. You can also check our web site for more pictures.

Sick to the stomach

Unfortunately I became sick a second time in my life. This time real bad. It had something to do with my bowels. I was sick to the stomach and had a bad (and stinky) diarrhea and had become badly dehydrated. It was so bad, that I didn't even eat or drink anything anymore.

Based on previous experience and knowing that the vet would want to take my temperature again (and you know how that goes) both André and Sue came along to give the vet a hand. Yes, you read that right: 3 against 1! We went through the usual procedure and the vet made his diagnoses and determined the necessary treatment which would include pills - again.

The vet gave me two shots and then trimmed some fur around my back end to clean up a mess from my diarrhea and prevent it from building up again. Then he injected 2 large syringes of liquid under my skin to rehydrate me (I got two more of those a few days later). After supplying André and Sue with the necessary medications and giving them some instruction on getting food into me, he sent us on our way.

For the next ten days Andre and Sue looked after me real good and gave me tender loving care and my medications every day. Only once did we have a slight problem with the medicaion. Other than that we all did really good. I told you once before I am a good patient - and Sue is not too bad a nurse. The one part I didn't like was when they tried to force-feed me with soft and rather liquid food out of a syringe. It's kind of like taking pills - same principle and method.

I got all well again and have never been sick since then. Let's hope it will keep being this way for the rest of my life.
hunter

How to give a cat a pill

Two weeks ago I told you about the time I was sick and admitted to the animal hospital. But then the next morning the vet sent me home because of the havoc I was raising in there. The vet gave Sue pills which she and André were supposed to give to me over the next 10 days. And that was when it got interesting. If there is one thing all cats agree on it is that they do not want to take pills. And so, over the years, we have developed instinctive defense mechanisms for this situation. That I am pretty big and strong and can get frighteningly wild if I dislike something probably made it even more of a wrestling match.

First day Sue tried to trick me into swallowing the pill by giving it to me with some food. But I'm not stupid and ate everything but the nasty little bit. So she tried again, now giving me some of my favourite treats and sneaking the pill in there. Forget it - same story, different way. As if I would fall for this old trick. Finally André tried and ended up holding me down and when I opened my mouth to protest, he shoved the pill into my throat.

The next day I was prepared for that trick and determined not to let it happen again. First of all I put up a little bit of a fight when André tried to hold me so he was forced to try to corner me somehow. Unfortunately I was not at my best and didn't see that one coming. It is relatively easy to back out of a hold but once your back is to the wall it becomes a bit more difficult. So he got me again.

Third day I tired to scare Sue off by growling and trying to bite her, which I really don't like to do to her, but she left me no choice. This was really making it difficult for her - but not impossible. I had to find a way of holding them off and quick. So on day four I combine my efforts to backing away and growling at the same time and biting as soon as they got their hands on me. They now had to join forces, one trying to hold me while the other was attempting to make me take the pill. I lost that wrestling match but not without putting up a fight for several minutes.

From that moment on the odds were stacked heavily against me since now they teamed up right from the get-go every morning. After trying different ways of holding me down they finally settled on this strategy: André would kneel over me so I could not back out with my back up against him and stuck between his legs. He would then hold my head with both hands in what looked as if he was strangling me. Then Sue moved in and tried to pry my jaws open and then shove the pill so far back into my mouth that I had no other way to get rid of it than to swallow. This was a mean maneuver and I finally had to admit defeat.

I had fought hard and as long as I could but in the end 2 humans against 1 cat turned out to be more than one cat - any cat - could possibly handle.

See you next week
hunter

Trapper's accident

Unlike Hunter I hate to drive in the car - especially when Sue drives. So any visit to the vet is bad even when it is just for a check-up and it turns out that I am healthy.

Once I am there this guy starts pocking me and listening to my heart and lungs and whatnot. Then he gives me my shots and I am all set for a couple more years. No big deal one would think. But who likes needles? I hate them and so I try to bolt for the door any chance I get. But the vet knows me well enough and keeps that door closed. Darn! So last time I was there I tried to jump up on the top shelf in the room to escape but Sue, knowing me even better than the vet, caught me just in time to prevent that. When we were done and Sue was paying the bill it was time for me to take revenge and jumped on the shelf near the secretary's desk. See Sue had not put me in a carrier but had put a harness and leash on me thinking that this way I would be more comfortable in the car. As I said: I jumped up and things went flying when Sue tried to get me down again.

Other then routine checkups I had to go see the vet only once: One day I tried to jump on something but slipped and fell. In the process I hit really hard and it hurt a lot. That afternoon when Sue tried to pick me up it hurt so bad, that I screamed. At first she thought this was protest because I didn't get my way but when she tried it again and I screamed again, she knew something was wrong. She let me be and kept an eye on me to see what was going to happen. I went for a snooze on André's bed but after laying there for a while even breathing hurt and I started to moan a bit with every breath. Enough is enough, Sue said to André, this is not good and I am taking him to the vet. She put me in the car and drove off. As you know I don't like driving in the car and the excitement and pain combined got me to hang my tongue out and pant like a dog. Sue was very concerned by know, thinking that I had punctured a lung or something and was going to die.

Turned out that I had broken the end of my sternum - that is the bone along the chest, between the ribs. The vet gave me a shot with antibiotics and painkiller that lasted for several days and I was released home with a very, very relieved Sue. He advised Sue that she and André were not allow to pick me up for 3 weeks to give the bone a chance to grow back together which it eventually did. Just not in the right position. Instead of going front to back it now goes off to the side. It doesn't hurt anymore but I have a lasting memory of that incident and sure hope it will never happen again.

I still don't like to go to the vet but I know he is only trying to help me when I need it and he, as everybody else there, is actually very nice. So: thanks a lot vets and staff of the Callander Animal Hospital for all you do for us. Not just from me but from Hunter, too.

This is about it with regards to me and my vet. Hunter on the other hand has some more stories he can tell you. So check in again next week.
trapper