The dogs and Caligula are now off at camp. Plato is probably barking his head off and Lucifer Sam is probably purcolating alongside him. Caligula is probably freaked out and hiding in his kitty kennel, that is if the boarding people put it in his kitty room. All that is left is Persephone, and she's loving being queen of the castle. Although she gets along fine with other animals, she'd be the only pet of ours that would be perfectly content to be the only pet. She loves being the sole possessor of the house, and last fall when we returned from Colorado, she *stopped* eating for a few days, although she ate fine when we were gone (she put on weight during that time, which is a good thing). Go figure. We're the only people in the world who have a reverse problem like that.

OK, there's probably people reading this wondering why we have 3 of our animals boarded, and 1 not. Here's a little explanation:

First of all, we have to board the dogs, no two ways about it. We will be in hot weather in places where dogs are not allowed with no where to keep them except the car. This is not a dog-friendly trip.

Second of all, ideally we would leave the cats at home with a big dispenser of food and water and have the neighbors check in on them every few days, but this is not possible because Persephone is medicated. She takes medicine for hyperthyroidism, along with Potassium and some stinky fish smelling stuff for her joints. Stan mixes up a prorated batch of this concoction up along with pet food in a blender and pours it into an ice cube tray. Every day we feed her a cube, which contains the equivalent of a day's dose of medication. We do this because, despite her petite size, she is very strong and squirmy and impossible to medicate traditionally, i.e., popping a pill down her throat. Plus, this makes it easy for the neighbors who feed her, all they have to do is give her a cube a day. And since she is medicated, we can't have Caligula eating her cubes, so that's why he's not staying home with her. And, like with the dogs, it would not be a trip we could take him on either.

I am missing the other animals a lot right now. It's sad. I know once I'm on the road I'll get over it since it'll break the routine.

Labels: Route-66-Part1, Vacation